The Curriculum Choice

Hooked on Phonics

May 122011

I’ve never wanted to be that homeschool mom that pushed and pushed her kids so hard that they felt like all she wanted was perfection from them. I decided at the beginning of this school year that I would do some “school” with my 5-year-old, but nothing too intense. I decided our goal for the year would be to learn all our consonant sounds and that would be good.

One of the beauties of homeschooling is that it’s OK if they’re not super brainiacs. There should be no one making comparisons and making a child feel like a failure if they’re not learning things as quickly as someone else. But when my little guy was picking up books and wanted to learn to read, I knew he was ready and that we could push a little more.

I tried two reading programs before I settled on one that worked, and that “one” was Hooked on Phonics. I am so excited about this program and my “student” has grown in leaps and bounds with this program.

Want to know why I like it so much?? Ok, I’ll tell ya.

1. It’s a complete program.
You can start at Pre-K and go all the way through 2nd grade. There’s even programs for older children, too. It’s not like it’s done after they’re reading…it keeps going. There are two levels to each grade. Each kit includes a guide for parents, readers, reward stickers, a CD-ROM, and the main daily book.

2. It’s reusable.
There’s nothing that makes me more happy then to spend my money on something that will get used time and time again. Everything in the kits are completely reusable, so I’m happy to know I can use them over again on my daughter.

3. It’s user friendly.
You can go as fast as your child goes or as slow as he goes. You can redo a certain section over and over if you need to. It’s super easy to teach from…not a lot of “fluff” and unnecessary wordage.

4. It’s engaging.
Each kit has a CD-ROM that is used when you introduce a new section. Each section in fun and engaging. My guy laughs every time. Also, they read along with the voice on the CD-ROM, which is really great for kids in such a techology driven age.

5. Workbooks.
Sometimes I like a little more to enforce what we’re learning. These kits also have workbooks available, if you like them. I have not used them, but I’m planning on purchasing some to work on over the summer.

6. Instant results.
Kids like to see they’re progressing. With Hooked on Phonics, kids feel like they’re reading right away. They use small steps to master each section before moving on, so children feel immediate victory!

Overall, I give this program a 10! I’ve told all my homeschool friends to use it…I love it that much. I am planning on ordering the Pre-K level for my 3-year-old too, as she is now ready to get in on all the action!
There’s nothing like teaching a child to read…and I can assuredly say that Hooked on Phonics has worked for us

Alicia is a homeschooling mama to three little students. She’s having a blast teaching them the joy of reading. You can read more about her on her personal blog: La Famille

Beginning Readers from All About Reading

Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Reading 1 Response »

Apr 212011

My beginning readers are children who have been raised on a wide variety of literature, from Dora the Explorer books (which do not really count as literature) to classics like Heidi and everything in between. As they have begun learning to read one thing I have tried to find are beautiful books on their level. I’m sorry, I’ve seen those beginning readers where the whole story is 3 or 4 words repeated in different combinations with varying punctuation. You know, ones that say:

“A cat?
A cat.
A mat.
A cat sat.
Cat on mat.
Cat sat.”

My children very quickly made it clear that those insipid readers were not worth their time and effort. I heartily agreed. On the other end of the spectrum you find beginning readers that include a whole list of ‘sight words’, words the child is simply expected to memorize by sight so they can read a story. Most of these sight words are, in fact, decodable, once you learn the spelling rules, but with a beginning reader I want to find beautiful stories that do not depend on a list of sight words outside the child’s reading level. Imagine my excitement two years ago when I discovered the readers put out by All About Learning Press, publishers of the All About Spelling curriculum.

We own all the readers available at this point. They are beautiful! The illustrations tell an often funny story, one that goes beyond the beginning reader text. Even at this very early level a story is not limited to 3-5 words repeated over and over. Currently there are 3 readers for level 1 and two available for level 2.

Our most recent purchase is the Run, Bug, Run! reader. In the 157 pages the only words that were not ‘short vowels’, and therefore completely decodable for my beginning readers, were “the” and “A”. A quick talk about open syllables and closed syllables explained why the vowels had long sounds. Here is a peek at a page from this book: My 5 and 6 year old both love these readers. Even the 3 year old is beginning the sound out letters from this reader.

Here is a picture from one of the level 2 readers, The Queen Bee. As you can see, the artwork is simply beautiful, and the stories are original and sweet. In this book the facing page often has a few short paragraphs of text, combined with this text above the illustration. (You can read the rest of this storyin the sample HERE to see more.)

Every family has different tastes in reading material. Finding books for beginning readers can often be frustrating. If you are looking for beautiful books for a beginning reader be sure to check out the samples for each book in this series!

Tristan is the happily homeschooling mother to 6 blessings age 9, 6, 5, 3, 1, and 2 months old. You can drop in and visit anytime over at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready

Hands On, Mom Helps, Phonics, Preschool 4 Responses »

Feb 022011

Today, after three-year-old finished her page from Color, Count and Cut, we pulled from our Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready book. The activity below is called Finish It. I read the beginning of each sentence and almost four-year-old finished it.

I went to the ice cream shop.
I am going on a vacation to see horses.
Yesterday I played in the snow.
Mother and I took a walk and saw a bumblebee.
Daddy gave me a prize.
A tree is a nature thing.
My car will drive.
My name is (three-year-old said her name
I am great at staying in the lines of stuff I am drawing.
I like to have hot chocolate in the winter.

That was terrific!! (her quick response when I paused. I was going to say, “That was the ‘finish it’ activity.”

We also use this book for Lil’ Buddy. His activity, at almost two years old, was Find and Touch. We found his head, eye, nose, ear, mouth, arm, hand, leg, foot and stomach (tummy).

Since I first recorded these activities, the youngest two are now five and three years old. Still, we pull out the Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready for each of them.

How often?

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready by June R. Oberlander has age appropriate activities from birth to age 5. Weekly developmental activities. Just one activity a week.

How much preparation? How much time?

Little preparation is necessary. I often pull the book down from the shelf and flip to the age-appropriate week just for inspiration. Sometimes I need to hunt a box from the garage, sometimes a string, buttons, construction paper. Always I have the supplies on hand. Most activities are five to 10 minutes at most.

Basic skills

The “My name is…” activity pictured above was an easy prompt to remind me to ask three-year-old his name and age. You’d think that would be something I’d remember to work on but in our busy Hodgepodge, I sometimes forget. Until someone at church asks him, “So, how old are you now?” The activities have also given me ideas for skills to include on a morning Room Time CD.

Introductory material for the new homeschooler/parent

Author June R. Oberlander encourages parents to introduce the material true to the title. “Avoid introducing activities too soon…” She also encourages repetition throughout the week since babies and preschoolers often learn that way.

“Since babies don’t come with directions, try these…” (examples include skill in grasping an object for infants to fine and gross motor skills for four-year-olds)
“Provides 5 years of activities at approximately a penny a day. Saves money by using home materials for the activities.”
“The best thing to spend on your children is your time!”
Also included are four pages of tips for solving behavioral dilemmas. “Keep calm and make your values clear to the child. Show interest, love, praise and above all, be consistent in following the rules you have established.”

A low key phonics program

When third grader was four years old we did the one letter a week activity. That year we filled a box up with alphabet puppets. Now I’ve been able to pull the box down with the younger two. Not rigorous but a gentle, easy way to introduce sounds and letters.

How much does it cost?

I am blessed to have been given this as a homeschool hand me down. Don’t I have a great friend? The 2003 version of Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready is available for $17.99 here.

Timeless for an age range

We are into our fifth year of pulling this resource off our bookshelf. When we first started using it, there were three of my children I could use it for: an almost five-year-old, two-year-old and a newborn.

This past November, the one who completed the Finish It activity (mentioned at top) turned five years old. She was able to say, as it does on the last page, “Slow and steady, now I am ready!” Now, I just pull it out for our youngest. He still has two more years. Slow and steady!

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Spelling is a Zoo!

Phonics, Spelling No Responses »

Nov 292010

Ever since my daughter was in Kindergarten she has struggled with spelling. We had a few good years due to a great curriculum and active hands on word studies. However as she hit the junior high level she was no longer interested in spelling games yet still lacked spelling skills. She is a very intelligent girl but spelling is not her forte. I thought that she would simply have to live out the rest of her life as a poor speller. After all, I know plenty of people who have resigned themselves to be poor spellers.

My daughter, now in 7th grade, was not satisfied being a poor speller. So I was on the hunt again for a spelling program that would speak to my child. Once we pinpointed her trouble stemmed from phonics, I wanted to find a program that addressed this issue in particular. Well, short of Hooked on Phonics for a child half her age I was out of luck. That is until I found the Phonetic Zoo.

The Phonetic Zoo is unlike any program I had used before. Instead of textbook that had you memorize spelling in a one dimensional manner, The Phonetic Zoo is multi sensory. The child will have the opportunity to hear the word while seeing the word and vice versa. The Phonetic Zoo breaks learning style barriers by effectively teaching spelling properly to all students. The program is based on how the brain stores and retrieves information. The program is not designed so your child will get 100% on a spelling test only to forget the words the next week. This program is designed to teach your child how to spell which will in turn make him a better speller all around and not just a better speller for one test.

So far my daughter is seeing great success with this method. She enjoys the multi-sensory and unique approach. I enjoy seeing her succeed in an area she was struggling in for so long.

So my challenge to you is to visit the site, read the teacher’s notes and have your child take the placement test. The program is guaranteed to improve your child’s spelling or you will be refunded. You have nothing to lose!

Phonetic Zoo Package includes:

5 audio CDs (Level C has 6 CDs)

Spelling and the Brain and Introduction to The Phonetic Zoo DVD with the following:

- Spelling and the Brain video seminar

- Introduction to The Phonetic Zoo video

- The Phonetic Zoo teacher’s notes PDF file

-Lesson Cards with all three levels of spelling words and jingles

-Personal Spelling Cards to keep track of your student’s typical misspellings.

-Zoo Cards, which serve as a way to practice jingles or as rewards.

Cost: $99.00

Disclosure: Program provided by the Institute for Excellence in Writing for the purpose of review. The thoughts and opinions presented are my own. EIW may or may not agree with this content.

All About Spelling

Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Spelling 5 Responses »

Oct 112010

Spelling is one subject I’ve never enjoyed teaching. (And my son has never enjoyed learning.) This is probably because I’ve never found a program that’s the right fit for my son – multisensory, phonetical and builds upon precepts. As a result, he still struggles a bit with spelling in the 5th grade.

During my summer planning, I came across the All About Spelling website and quickly became intrigued. Their program is:

multisensory – involving sight, sound and touch
logical – following a sequential order
thorough – not leaving out anything
phonics-based – introducing sounds from the simple to complex
full of review – so your child can’t forget
clear for the child and scripted for the parent
very reasonably priced

They even claim to take older students (like my 5th grader) back to the beginning, fill in the gaps and quickly bring them up to grade level. I challenged the company and asked if I could review their program from the perspective of a mom who wanted to start from scratch and see how quickly she could build spelling skills with her 5th grader using their program.

It’s working!

We started at the very beginning with Level One. Much of this was very simple and I often found him rolling his eyes at the lessons. But, there were small gaps even at this first level that we were able to fill in! I tried to ease his “boredom” by telling him that we were going to whiz through the book and try to finish it as quickly as possible. We were able to complete Level One in about three weeks. (For a younger child, this first book would probably take more like a full semester to a year.)

We’re working through Level Two now and I’m finding this book to hold some of the spelling keys that are really making a difference. He’s learning rules about when the y says /i/, when to use oi/oy and other similar exchanges, what vowel teams make the long e sound and so much more. In fact, not only are his spelling skills growing, so are decoding skills during reading and grammar!

What I love about the program:

It’s hands-on! Manipulative tiles that make up every phonetic sound are included in the material packet you receive. Your child is asked to say, hear, touch and move these phonographs with each lesson. You can even turn them into magnet tiles with small magnets that are included in the materials packet.
Each lesson builds on previous lessons – and reviews past skills.
Phonics rules are taught directly with flashcards.
The lessons are built so that you can move as quickly or as slowly as you need to. There’s no set number of activities that must be completed per day.

I only experienced a tad bit of frustration. Since this is a manipulative-based program, there are manipulatives to prepare. In the material packet, you receive everything you need for all the magnetic tiles and flashcards. However, they are found on (colorful and sometimes laminated or perforated) card stock. You have to cut out all the tiles and stick the little magnets on, and tear apart all the flashcards to file in your own note card filing box. So, the preparation is a bit time-consuming. I would estimate it took me about an hour and a half to get everything ready.

On the positive side – the directions for preparation are top-notch. I never had a question about what to do next!

You can check out each of the levels and what skills they include by clicking here and choosing the level of interest.

If you’re just starting out, you will need to purchase the entire set that comes with a teacher’s guide and the material packet.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that the program is reusable! There are no consumables, so you can use the entire set again for another student. (Unless, like me, you have a three-year-old who might lose some of the manipulatives before his turn comes around to use the program!)

What’s your favorite spelling program?

-Cindy is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her nature studies at Shining Dawn Books.

AlphaTales are Fun for Phonics

Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Preschool, Reading No Responses »

Sep 152010

One of my favorite book series to read to my younger children is the AlphaTales set by Scholastic. I found mine at a yard sale one summer and we have had lots of laughs and phonics fun since then.

Each book focuses a letter of the alphabet with an animal main character who begins with that letter. The silly stories and cheerful illustrations draw your child through many words that begin with the highlighted letter sound. A few titles include:

Vera Viper’s Valentine
The Yak who Yelled Yuck
Fifi Ferret’s Flute
Detective Dog and the Disappearing Doughnuts

After each story is a two page illustration asking “How many things can you find that begin with the letter __?” This illustration uses the characters and items from the story, so they are already familiar to the child. It is like a built in game, which is great. The last page of the book is a letter cheer. For example, here is the cheer from Seal’s Silly Sandwich:

“ S is for spider, snake, snail and seal. S is for a super-sized sandwich meal. S is for sailboat, smile, and swing. S is for spaghetti, seesaw, and swing. Hooray for S, big and small – the most sensational letter of all!”

These books have one more neat feature. The inside back cover has reading tips, quick, fun ways to use the story with your child and build their letter recognition ability. You could literally read one letter book each week with young preschoolers, reading the same story each day, and focusing on a different reading tip every time. I know that having the ideas right there has been a wonderful thing for me, I don’t have to be creative every moment of the day.

My children each have their favorite books from the series, ones they will take with them to quiet time over and over. Once a story is familiar they are also able to tell me the story using the illustrations as a reminder. As their reading ability develops the books become a fun way to practice those new skills. Even my 9 year old will grab a stack of these books to read to a sibling.

You can find AlphaTales and a few related series for numbers, word families, and more on Amazon.

Written by Tristan, mom to 5 going on 6 children, homeschooling through unit studies with a side of lapbooks. You can visit her at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

Letter of the Week Curriculum Review

Elementary, Hands On, Phonics, Preschool 4 Responses »

Aug 302010

I have to admit that I am not able to be creative every minute of every day. I just do not have the energy. When I was preparing for our summer learning adventures I knew I wanted something fun for my younger 4 children, ages 1-5, to do each day. The other big requirement was that it was laid out for me. Enter the Letter of the Week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler. I am really not sure quite how I found her blog, but boy are my children glad I did!

Let me start out by saying this wonderful homeschool mom offers her entire curriculum for free on her website. However, with over 1400 printable pages, that is a lot of individual files to download. I decided it was completely worth $10.00 to receive an instant download that gathered those files into sets for me, and even had a few neat bonuses like weekly lesson plans. The Letter of the Week curriculum is also available on CD for $15.00 if you prefer that route.

So just what is this curriculum like? Colorful and fun! Basically, each letter has a theme, such as Dd is for Dinosaur, Kk is for Kite, or Vv is for Valentines. The activities available for each letter vary, but typically include:

Weekly Bible Verse
Read aloud books list
Phonics practice
Capital/lowercase letter recognition
1-10 Numbers recognition
Counting practice
Colors
Shapes
Fine Motor skills: Lacing cards, cutting, coloring & pre-writing
Logic skills: Puzzles, size sorting, matching games
Large Muscle Movement: Large Floor Numbers/Letters Hopscotch
Singing: Leapfrog A-Z letter sound songs, Bible Verse Songs
Arts & Crafts for each letter
Daily Calendar and Weather Activities

Click Here to see a typical week’s materials. There are also review materials to use at the end of your 26 letter adventure.

How do I use it? I go each month to my local office supply store to print 4 weeks of materials. There are some pages I simply print at home in black and white, but many are printed in color at the office supply store. I never print all the activities for a letter, there is simply too much to do in one week for me. That is a great thing, though, because it gives us variety. When I get home I begin a laminating and cutting party. I laminate most of the activities to make them durable. In three years I can use them again with the newest preschoolers, while right now they are also safe to hand to the 1 year old who likes to taste his letters. Once all the activities for a letter are laminated and cut out I store them in a file folder labeled with the letter. Each week I grab out a file and hand out a few activities each day. It’s that simple.

Here is the way I have found works best for us with 4 children using the materials, we call it stations:

Instead of passing the materials around the table and mixing up pieces in the process (yep, tried it – trust me, not a good idea) the children move from chair to chair. Of course, with energetic little ones any movement is a great thing to help get those wiggles out. In the photo above the stations are making a kite out of pattern blocks, sorting kites by size, putting numbered kites in order from 1-10, a kite color matching file folder game, uppercase/lowercase letter k sort, and a dry erase board to practice writing the letter k. Everything but the dry erase board came from files in the Letter of the Week curriculum, and on subsequent days that week I was able to replace all those stations with the other letter K activities. You can see the letter Kk printables here to see just how many options we had that week.

So if you are looking for something fun to do with your preschoolers, or maybe you need some independent review materials for a kindergartener’s workboxes, I highly recommend checking out the Letter of the Week curriculum!

Written by Tristan, mom to 5 going on 6 children, homeschooling through unit studies with a side of lapbooks. You can visit her at her blog, Our Busy Homeschool.

Red Chair Press Tickles your Funny Bone

Elementary, Hands On, Language Arts, Phonics 5 Responses »

Aug 252010

Red Chair Press graciously allowed me to review their Funny Bone Readers: Developing Character series of books along with the lesson plan and activity book. Having one child just entering the world of reading, I was excited to get started on this series, especially since it focused on character development. These colorful and delightful books help a child learn to read while nurturing a quality character.

Funny Bone Readers uses fun and silly characters to make connections to several important character traits.

Fairness
Trustworthiness
Respect
Responsibility
Caring
Citizenship

I found these books to be truly enjoyable. My daughter and I had a wonderful time reading all the stories. Even my older children loved reading these books to my younger children. This is a wonderful way to reinforce reaching skills and character development in one sitting.

The lesson plan and activity book enhanced the books by giving you plenty of ideas to reinforce the lessons. Along with the lesson plan book, you can divide up these books by traits, phonics, or into weeks to gain the full benefit. You could plan a six week study using two books a week that focus on each character trait. You could plan a 12 week study using one book a week to focus on phonics and one character trait every two weeks. The books are short and flexible enough to add into your current reading or character development program.

Red Chair Press offers a few ways to purchase the sets. You can purchase 12 books and ebooks (on CD) for $48.00 until August 31st. You can purchase the Lesson Plan and Activity book for $29.95. If you are in a co-op you can purchase Complete Classroom Set 72 books (6 each of all 12 titles) plus a Lesson Planner and interactive eBooks CD-ROM for $295.00. You may also purchase additional sets if your co-op has more than six children.

Games for Reading: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Read

Elementary, Hands On, Language Arts, Phonics, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 142010

At the risk of being redundant, I’d like to highlight one more of Peggy Kaye’s Games books. I’ve already reviewed Games for Math and Games for Writing here at The Curriculum Choice. All three books are similar in format, but I’ve found each of them to be of such great value that I just had to share Games for Reading with you.

Games are a wonderful way to spice up any reading method or curriculum. Children love to play, and fun games can take the drudgery out of drill. Plus, games are a great pastime when it’s too hot to go outside!

This book contains seventy-six games that cover nearly every skill needed for reading. Although they are aimed at beginning readers, meaning 1st through 3rd graders, these games are valuable for proficient readers too.

The games are organized into four parts:

•Part 1 – Games to improve sight vocabulary

•Part 2 – Games that develop phonics/sounding out skills

•Part 3 – Games to strengthen reading comprehension

•Part 4 – Games to get children to love books and want to read!

If you’d like to check out some of these games, you can visit Peggy Kaye’s website to download samples from each of her books.

There are two additional Games books which I have not seen, Games for Learning and Games with Books. If anyone has used these, I’d be interested in hearing about them.

I hope that you and your children can get your hands on a copy of Games for Reading and have some fun playing and learning together!

-Written by Shannon, who blogs about her family’s homeschool adventures at Song of My Heart.

Get Ready for the Code

Phonics, Preschool 5 Responses »

May 052010

There are a few curriculum choices that have and will remain consistent through all three of my children. One of those is the Get Ready for the Code series of workbooks. And as I’m planning ahead for my little guy who will probably jump into simple workbooks within the next year, Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code and Go for the Code are on my list of phonics to-do’s.

Why do I like this early learning curriculum so much?

They’re simple for me to use.
They’re short and sweet for my preschooler. There’s only one type of activity per page, which keeps a preschooler’s attention much better than a busy page.
Each book focuses in-depth on only 6-8 lower-case consonants, giving my child lots of practice with each letter.
They cover letter recognition, letter formation, letter sounds, relating beginning sounds to pictures, left-right orientation, and using small motor skills.
They’re black and white. Yep, you heard right, I LIKE that they text and pictures are in black and white. With preschoolers, I feel like too much color can actually distract them from the task at hand.
Within each book, letter comparisons are made. In other words, after learning three letters, there will be a worksheet that asks the child to distinguish in some way between those letters.
And, maybe most importantly, my first two children found the workbooks to be fun. They never complained and actually liked having their own “school work” to do.

Once finished with all three books, a preschooler should be ready to dive into more formal phonics lessons such as those covered in the Explode the Code series which begins in Kindergarten. I like this series, too, but will save its review for another post.

There is one teacher’s guide available to cover all three of the Get Set for the Code books, but I’ve never seen it so I won’t give my opinion one way or another. I will tell you that I’ve never found a teacher’s guide necessary. Although, the description on their website says it gives additional teaching ideas and reinforcement activities which could prove to be helpful.

Honestly, you could probably find plenty of phonics workbooks for $1.00 at the local dollar store, but I really like the planned progression of these books. And for only $6.00-$7.00 each, it doesn’t put a large dent in my pocketbook.

I’d love to hear your early phonics favorites!

-Written by Cindy, an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and Shining Dawn Books.