Teaching ABC's and Learning to Read

My daughter was a quick learner. She loved learning her letter sounds and was reading confidently by the age of 5. She knew all her letters and their sounds before we sat down to work on blending words. My son is another story. He has absolutely no interest in sitting still long enough to learn anything! The computer program that was a treat for my daughter to play, is like torture for him! He turned 5 in May and is doing Kindergarten level work. Despite the struggle, he affirms our decision to homeschool each and every day. The two of them are proof that kids develop differently and are all unique. If Taylor was in a classroom with 30 other kids his age, he very likely would be lagging behind and bringing home hours of work he did not complete while at school. Because he  is one out of a classroom of three, I have time for lots of trial and error! Here are some of the things we've tried.

Between book work and reading lessons, I switch things up as frequently as possible. Taylor has a short attention span, so we work on something for a while, then change the scenery. This video by Julia has come in handy. It's an opportunity to cement a concept we have been working on in our book, and also a welcomed breather for me!

This is the same book my mom used to teach me to read, and the one I used with Natalie. Though Natalie knew all her letters before using this book, I still really like the approach when using it with Taylor. Taylor has not completely mastered the whole alphabet, but this book provides quick and rewarding results. Teaching kids to sound out words phonetically, and giving them easy words to read on their own almost immediately. Find it HERE.

Although Taylor has to be be forced to sit and use Starfall, it is still one of my favorite resources for letter sound learning. Natalie loved it and my 2 year old daughter loves it. The abc portion is free, but I highly recommend the extended membership based portion as well. Their app is great too.

We also love the Leap Frog fridge magnets. We have this one and this one.

Rewards...

Taylor is very rewards driven. We have a school store full of small and big prizes. This is the light saber he won when he was finally able to put all the letter magnets in order!

We use Handwriting without Tears - find it HERE

They also have great apps available for iPad and Android.

Games...

Another thing we know about Taylor is that he's very competitive. Any way we can turn something into a game where he competes against someone, is more likely to hold his attention. I wish I could find the picture I took!! My husband created a large grid using sidewalk chalk on the driveway. He  mixed all the letters up, then would call out a letter and make the kids race to stand on the letter he called. Taylor actually loved this, as he loves racing and competing. He was upset when he didn't win, but it kept his attention!

We have this puzzle by Melissa and Doug and all three kids 

have loved putting it together. Find it HERE

Hang in there! Every child is different and some are not ready to learn as early as others. If you find you are pushing too hard and they are not responding at all, maybe it's ok to take a break and wait a little while. Don't feel pressured! But most importantly, YOU CAN DO THIS!

Living Books

The thing I loved best about Sonlight curriculum as a child, was their use of "living books" that brought history to life, rather than being limited to a dry textbook. Many homeschooling families enjoy this approach, and as I searched for the "perfect" curriculum this year, I found that many companies are adopting this philosophy of learning. Now, I am bound and determined to instill a love for reading into my children, and I want to follow this model as close as possible by using quality read-alouds, and early readers of historical fiction and biographies to supplement my history curriculum. 

The reason Sonlight curriculum can be quite costly, is because you get SO MUCH from them. I am grateful that my mom saved most of the books from our years of Sonlight curriculum, and I am always on the hunt for other ways of collecting quality books at a reasonable price. What's nice, is that books lists can be found from a number of sites and discounted books can also be found in a number of ways. Here are some examples I use:

The local library (duh, guess this should be a no brainer!) 

Open Library - A huge on-line collection of ebooks that you can check-out for free! 

A Book in Time - Book lists in chronological order and by age/grade level 

Heart of Dakota Book Store - Lists of books by age level and topic that correspond with their curriculum 

Christianbook.com - I order a lot of stuff through them 

Amazon.com - Also a place I frequent for new and used books 

Sonlight.com - Book lists like this can be found for all their core programs 

Redshift.com - A long list of books in chronological order with levels noted and links to movies that are also based in the noted time periods

Linked-Up Here:

BOOK IT!

I looooved BOOK IT! as a child. The cool buttons, the stickers, the free pizza... and all you had to do was read some books?? Coming from a family that hardly ever ate out, getting that free personal pan pizza was pretty exciting stuff.

I am really glad to see Pizza Hut is still running this program. I haven't come across anyone that has been involved in it recently, so I will be interested to see what changes they have made over the years. I believe public school teachers are responsible to individually enroll their classrooms. Homeschool families enroll on an individual basis as well, as apposed to an entire homeschool group enrolling together. It's a free program to encourage your child's love for reading, click on the link below to enroll. Hurry, enrollment ends September 1st!!

BOOK IT! Homeschool Enrollment

School this Fall

Well, the Summer is passing quickly, as it always does! I am trying not to stress over preparations for this coming school year. As many of you know, I was homeschooled myself from Kindergarten (back when it was practically illegal!) up through my highschool graduation. I have a great memory of my childhood and remember pretty clearly what curriculum worked well for my siblings and I, which books we loved and what books we despised. This knowledge has definitely given me a head start and extra confidence, but there are so many options out there and new publishers springing up all the time.



My oldest daughter is going to be 6 this Fall and will be working at the 1st grade level. I've pieced together a variety of books and activities for her over the past couple years to cover Preschool and Kindergarten level work. I've purchased a lot of stuff at Dollar Tree, library book sales, Costco and Amazon. Not to mention all the free stuff found on-line and in my mom's home library. She has tested at a 2nd grade reading level and 1st grade math level. Even though her birth date is on the line between placing her in Kindergarten or 1st grade, we'll proceed with first grade level curriculum. I feel that with her officially starting 1st grade, it is time to get serious!

I want to share my journey with you through the vast sea of curriculum choices. I haven't made any final decisions yet, but I wanted to share what I am currently looking into. Though I was homeschooled myself, this will be my first child starting out in homeschooling. I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old following behind her. I am also departing on this journey with a friend and her son who will be in 2nd grade. My hope is to find a curriculum that is all-encompassing, complete, with an easy to use teachers guide, lots of customization options and flexibility, i want it to follow the classical education and Charlotte Mason models, to be literature rich and use lots of stories that bring history to life, oh and I want it to be cheap! Am I asking too much? We shall see...

If money was no object, I would totally just purchase, without question, a complete package through Sonlight Curriculum. My family used this for years, and we loved it! But a complete package through them can cost $800+ dollars. You get A LOT of stuff for your money, but still, that's a lot of money. Their packages can also be used for multiple siblings at various grade levels, which helps cut the cost for families with multiple school age kids. Of course, the advantage I have that my parents did not, is the invention of ebay, craigslist and Amazon used books. No matter what curriculum path I choose to follow, I will always explore the option of piecing things together individually, be it used or discounted.

Follow my trail! Here is a list of the places I have stopped in at this week:

1. Cathy Duffy Reviews - Number one site for reviews! Buy her e-book for a complete list, some of her reviews are available free on this site
2. Sonlight Curriculum - Somewhat pricey, but a great curriculum that is super fun!
3. My Fathers World Curriculum - A top contender for this Fall
4. Heart of Dakota Publishing - An other top contender for this Fall
5. Calvert Homeschool - A serious education with live support and optional teacher involvement/assessment, but it will cost you over $1,000 a year. Not for me.
6. Christian Liberty Press - A basic package of everything you'd need, without a lot of extras. No reading books included. Uses basic text books, so it would be up to you to supplement with stories and activities to bring things to life. Not a bad price though; around $150 for younger grades, $200 for older students.
7. The Well Trained Mind
8. CBD: Homeschooling
9. 10 Tips

My main focuses is to find a good math and science curriculum that works well with my daughter's learning style, build a history program that is literature rich and works through time chronologically, then add in handwriting, spelling, Bible, etc. I want my friend and I, who has the son in 2nd grade, to be on the same page in history (literally!). To work through stories from history and read the same classic literature pieces, so that our kids have that continuity and we can team up for field trips and reports that support the period we are studying. I also want to lay the groundwork, so that when my two youngest children are school age, they can jump in on the same time period in history we are currently studying, only using their own age specific math, science, reading level books, etc.

 Has anyone out there used Heart of Dakota or My Fathers World curriculum? I am currently searching for reviews. Keep checking in and sharing insights from your own journey through curriculum choices!
~Sarah

My Top Picks

I was in the process of compiling a list of homeschooling resources for a friend, when I thought, why not utilize this for a blog entry? So here ya go, a collection of some of my favorites (just off the top of my head)!
 General Information:
Information Network for Christian Homes
Home School Legal Defense 
The Well Trained Mind

Curriculum:
Sonlight Curriculum
CBD Homeschool Store
Calvert School

Conventions:
INCH Convention - MI

Blogs:
Confessions of a Homeschooler
Living Life Intentionally

Educational Games:
Starfall
PBS Kids

Specifics:
Power Glide: French
Power Glide: Spanish
Key Curriculum Math
Apologia Science
Explode the Code: Phonics and Reading
Italic Handwriting
Saxon Math
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons


Must Reads: