Our Month Ahead ~ February and A Brand New Learning Year

February:  This is our first month back to academic learning and a very busy month for family celebrations -  three family birthdays and one wedding anniversary, all within the same week.

One of Daisy's favourite, shady, reading spots in summer

In previous years we preferred to ramp the subjects back up slowly but have found that is not really possible with Te Kura, so we try to make as many adjustments as we can: no extracurricular courses or activities in the first term and only sign up to start three subjects with Tekura, then once we have those up and running we reevaluate in March to see if the children have the space and energy to add on more which is usually something like a Barista course, Red Shirts with the Warehouse, First Aid  Course, etc...

This week Daisy is spending time setting up her initial course selections and getting started.  She'll be working through Maths, English, and, Digital Studies courses with Te Kura this year; we've bulked up the English course to include components we are wanting to Daisy to have had exposure to, which will include lots of reading, discussion, and complementary lectures.

Here's a rough outline of what our first week back looks like...

Morning Book Basket  (yes, we still start our learning day this way and share the reading load between us)

Bible:

• The Book of Esther ~ The Life Application Bible  KJV   (this a lovely bible to read and discuss together with young adults)

Poetry: 

• A Child's Anthology of Poetry ~ Edited by Elizabeth Hauge Sword      Reading from:    I Saw a Man Pursuing the Horizon ~ Stephen Crane p.58,     to:   Souvenir of the Ancient World by Carlos Drummond De Andrade p.65  (this book is purely for read-aloud enjoyment, and a gentle re-entry into this year's, potential, poetry study)

Other:

• The Fallacy Detective ~ Nathaniel, and, Hans Bluedorn   Intro p.3  to  Lesson 4  p.37  (Daisy is reading this to us)
• The Student Leadership Challenge ~ Kouzes & Posner  (Daisy is reading this to  herself, and then we're discussing it together)

English 

• Poetry and Film, intro unit  NCEA 

Math

• awaiting contact from Te Kura teacher   (tap, tap ... anyone out there)

Digital Students

• Started .... but I can't remember what Daisy said she was working on 

Delight Led Courses/Hobbies This Year

• Photoshop (select areas)
• Art
• Card crafting
• Life Skills   (which also still includes raising and selling livestock.  She has three miniature Angus this year, a first ... photos will follow in another post sometime.)
• Learning to Drive    (I've been out of action for a while with less-than-health and surgery, so this didn't even 'get started' last year.  Daisy's quite happy as she's in no hurry to learn to drive.)
• Piano and guitar

Free Reading

• Various  :)
• The Traitor's Game ~ Jennifer Nielsen, narrated by Jesse Vilinski   (epukapuka audio) younger listen by a favourite author for Daisy

Contents of a Dead Man's Pocket~ Short Story & Test

A few years back mention was made of the short story Content of a Dead Man's Pocket on the Sonlight Forums, so I went looking for it to archive and use later ☺ 

Later has now arrived, and as we're about to use this story I thought I'd share it here too as others may wish to have their students read it.

Quizlet currently has 2 items I'll have Jay use with this short story; timed typing practice with the speller, and the test

Review: Writing with Ease and First Language Lesson

We use, and have really enjoyed using Writing With Ease.
First Language Lesson, umm , yes , well...

My Sonlight friend, reader19 of Fleur de Lis Homeschooling Blog, has written a review from her time of using both Writing With Ease and First Langauage Lessons with enjoyment.

We get other homeschoolers asking about FLL .... we'll FLL didn't work for *me* so I really wanted to share Reader19's view point with you, from someone who uses FLL and is enjoying it. 

Thanks Reader19.

All About Spelling With An Older Student

I thought I'd post something about using AAS with an older student as sometimes we get asked , or see posts asking how others use AAS with their older students.
(AAS purists may like to just ignore this post  ☺☺)

We are doing AAS with 12 year old Jay our way, he'll have completed all the books by the end of this year.... unless something very untoward happens. 

We go for just covering the rules in AAS, no completing the whole lesson with tiles or spelling through the simpler word list, or writing out the easier dictation pieces. (Jay would baulk!)

Getting an older student to read through the lesson first works well!

Then:
1.   Review spelling rule cards, along with any other cards that may need reinforcement.
2.   Discuss the rule being covered in 'todays'  lesson together.
3.   Work through testing some words that are more suited to the students level.
4.   Write a piece of dictation, sans AAS, but with a more complex sentence structure.  Again, suited to the student.

I like to reinvent the AAS word lists with a more involved variant, often using word lists out of Natural Speller by Kathryn Stout.

ie: For words that end in C+le we'll go for words like scramble, triangle, etc.. taken from the Grade 7 list in Natural Speller. 

Or, I'll ramp up the base words in the AAS word lists. 

ie: For a base word like reach, I'll have Jay spell unreachable (which also reinforces previous lessons).

With the dictation I generate a longer, more involved, portion of dictation at the end of each spelling session.

I prefer to invest in a Charlotte Mason inspired piece of writing here with the dictation piece being a snippet relating to a history topic, or from a read aloud we are currently going through. 

This piece of dictation is also a chance to review grammar concepts.

Jay is doing AAS only 3 days per week, covering 1 lesson a day.

That's it. All done.... until next the lesson.

Rod n Staff - Grammar

We've had to change our plans for grammar, Advance Language Lessons is on hold, and Bobs needs to be using something this year.

I am not proficient in grammar, thanks to the legacy of our NZ school system, so *I* need a guide to help us through this aspect of language arts.

After looking at many options, I really do mean many, and with the help of other home educators who had been there, or are doing this, we purchased Rod and Staff.
On others advise, I chose Level 5, Following the Plan, for Bobs on purpose.
I wanted to be sure he really did have the basic grammar topics sorted before we moved on.
Much of this book has been review, thanks to FLL, and we're moving through it pretty quickly which is a great confidence booster for Bobs, who assures me that he likes these books.

We've been going through Level 5 orally, and will continue to do so until he needs to start doing portions of the diagramming lessons we haven't encountered in our FLL journey.

We use Rod and Staff for the grammar portion of their book only, skipping the writing portions.
Our written work for language arts is completed inside our history lessons,
also while we use Writing With Skill - more about that in another post-
and in our scheduled 'creative' writing weeks (where Bobs and Daisy write letters or poetry).

Daisy is just starting her first year of 'formal' grammar and she'll be going through Level 3, Beginning Wisely. I've decide not to use FLL 3 & 4 with her. With RnS level 3 we are just using the grammar portion of the Level 3 book, though she is completing some of the Written Practice (grammar) exercises.
Much of this text is turning out to be review for her also, thanks in part to osmosis - her being 'right there' at the table during Bobs grammar instruction to date ☺ .

For those wanting to read a concise review about this series of books a Christian homeschooler, Annie Kate, has written one for Curriculum Choice - here and if you'd like a schedule to go with the Rod and Staff English books, pop over to Core Foundations and look under the grammar heading.

A.L.L Bites the Dust - Now What?

ALL (Advance Language Lessons by Peace Hill Press) bites the dust… for now and I don't want to start a grammar text (free download and all) that is incomplete.

We were asked what we are going to use for grammar in 2012?
Good question I was wondering that too.

(I've pulled this post forward and tidied it up a little, so others who may be interested can browse the books too.)

We had a look back over grammar options I’d browsed through before and they all still seem to bring out that ugh-shudder action - a little like Goldilocks and the porridge tasting episode.
I did happen to find something that I think may be.. just right for Bobs logic level grammar: a few pdfs in my language arts hoarding folder by William Henry Maxwell.
For those outside the US, visiting this archive.org link takes your straight to a list of Maxwell's books online.

I'm archiving these next links for my own reference - they will take you straight to the grammar books in pdf:
Introductory lessons for intermediate grades
Advanced lessons for higher grammar grades
School grammar book

My plan is to get the introductory and advance lessons pdf's printed and spiral bound, then Bobs can work fairly independently with them.

I'll let you know how we get on, once we get to using these vintage texts.

**Update Feb ... We've decide we'll try Rod n Staff, grammar only, as I need a continuing grammar guide that will take us through a few years of grammar. I do still really like Maxwell's vintage text though - just lacking the confidence to use it :-o

Alphabet Bingo - Memory Lane with Sonlight

I'm currently having a rather large homeschooling items purge - ouch, who knew selling memories pinches just a little - and as I was typing the pictured item up for sale tonight .. all the fun times the children and I had playing with those very simple looking Sonlight language arts games just brought back a flood of good 'early' home educating memories .... I haven't checked to see if Sonlight still sells these, if they do snaffle a set for the elementary age learners in your home.
They are really fun!
Here are some of the ways we used these sets, all while playing bingo, mind.

Sometimes the games had to go really slowly and be played with just a few letters/blends/words at a time.
As the confidence and 'reading' ability grew the games became a counter-placing-race:
Use the alphabet bingo set to assist little ones to recognise each letter by it’s name.

Then using the same cards, the students recognise the (short) phonetic sound of each letter. (Add long phonetic, or alternate phonetic sounds at a later stage .. you know these cards go so well with All About Spelling and any reading program.)

The letter blends (groups) cards are perfect to use with an emergent readers or to re-enforce letter blends for spelling.

The word cards are excellent for practising common sight reading words.

Can also be used for spelling - the parent or teacher spells the words and the students are to find them ...

Bingo!

(sorry, ☺ just couldn't resist it )

All About Spelling - A Spelling Victory!

Just so you know: this is not a paid, nor an intentional advertising post for All About Spelling - it's a post about our journey to date with this spelling curriculum.
Here goes ......

Daisy (9) has completed her All About Spelling book after a good 12 month stretch of steady go, pause, restart, go, pause, back up, pause, go, pause, etc.
Monday rolled around and she mastered all the review and nailed the last lesson down!!! No pause, or back up, or restart - just nailed it.
I was so excited, and pleased, and proud, and thankful. Our Monday was a pretty high emotional buzzy sort of day in our house.

Why such emotion over completing a spelling book?
Well, Daisy who is a very strong reader and skilled at narrations struggled with spelling. Spelling was just flat-out hard work for her, so I went looking for a spelling guide (a good while back) to help me to teach her with tools that would encourage memory retention, was hands on, systematic, and interactive with a capital *I*.

The tools that work for her; little coloured tiles, rules with review, cards to handle and shuffle, a white board and marker, a mumma right there "helping", and a lessons completed chart to colour -those tools would have to include ones that make me struggle as a teacher to use. All those tiles and index cards; and a semi scripted text (shudder).
The process used in All About Spelling is just the extreme opposite to how I learn or like to teach. But the issue at hand was not about me and my preferences. The issue was using what works for Daisy, to help her to start mastering spelling.

After going back and forth, and reading through Merry of Hope for Homeschooling's sonlight forum posts, which detailed her success with All About Spelling, I caved in on a really rough spelling week and made a desperation purchase.
♥Thanks Merry, your posts and generous advice have been such a help to us!♥

Product then in hand, I sat down to cut up and assemble all those "lovely" AAS titles and organised the cards.

AAS was my hair shirt - I did not enjoy using it - Daisy loved it! She started to make small spelling leaps forward using AAS so ........ I gritted my teeth and carried on.
I've slowly adjusted the way I use AAS (sipping aromatic cups of coffee also helps) and it's no longer a hair shirt, just a necessary part of my spelling journey with Daisy.

The learning area that has been the hardest for Daisy is the subject she enjoys doing with mum the most. She thinks spelling is fun - we do laugh a lot through her spelling lessons; one of *her* favourite spelling rules, she made it up, was " If in doubt try 'e' ".

Success leaves such a sweet taste in one's mouth too, and that has helped to make AAS a favourite time of her day.

For anyone wondering about the benefits of using a program that seems to have so many pieces and parts, and incorporates so much review - if your child is like Daisy, for whom spelling is a very tricky logic puzzle, All About Spelling may be an option for you to seriously consider.

We've used the same program for Jay, our natural speller, as a rules based and overview tool. No fussing around with tiles, just the white board, the book (an occasional card), and a good deal of auditory interaction. Great program when you can use it this way ☺).

2012 UPDATE: Daisy has found her platform and is completing a lesson a day (!!!) in her AAS book this year. Having a solid base, of all those rules, means she is now able to think in syllabic chunks and apply the rules to each syllable to master them.
I'm one very happy marmee .... & no, I'm still not fussed on using this program ☺, yet the benefits are huge so I persevere.

2013 UPDATE: Daisy is completing a lesson over a 2 day stretch and is applying the rules she has learnt in AAS to edit her own personal diary entries.  I am so proud of her and her steady progress; and yes, spelling is still a subject she 'works at' but is mastering - from one AAS book to the next AAS book.

ETA 1: A quick post about using AAS, and spelling in general,  with our older student.

ETA 2: For those looking for an AAS New Zealand supplier, Engaging Minds is an agent.

Tossing up Between IEW and WWS?

Curricula choices can create some pretty heated debates, especially when someone else starts poking at anothers sacred cow. This post is not going to do that ☺

If you enjoy IEW as your family's choice - please, just ignore this post .... use what works in your space and count yourself so blessed that you've found a writing tool that works for you.

I've found it best to not read opinion shopping posts when I've found a program, or learning tool, that is working for the children and I. Making Math Meaningful and Writing with Ease are non-changers for us - no opinion shopping for alternate tools to use in those two learning areas.

However, for those that are wanting to opinion shop for writing programs; read on ☻
I've been quietly looking and, just of late, asking other home instructors opinions on these two writing curricula as possible writing instruction to use with Daisy, later.

I'm already sold on Writing With Skill as Bobs next writing tool.
A few days back I read Janice in NJ's succinct and persuaive post which is penned in WWS favour. For Bobs, I'm now doubly sold on Writing With Skill.

I've pored over WWS free 20-week pdf and what Janice writes about WWS is bang on.
WWS may be instrumental in teaching me how to write also. Smile

I like the children and I to read, or have read, the fiction based books we are going to be studying from in a language arts curriculum. So I'm looking for a copy of The Pepins and Their Problems and will pull out our copy Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Anyone out there read either of those two books? Your opinion in the comments section is welcomed!

One of my dear friends will be wanting a heads up about the Fairy Tales topics, a Wizard of Oz tie-in title and an E. Nesbit - Book of Dragons excerpt in WWS, so I'll add that detail here for others too. For anyone thinking about using WWS, you'll have no trouble switching those titles out for something else if you wanted to, Susan has placed the very clearest instructions in WWS.

Mrs. Bauer has included a good range of fiction and non-fiction literature to study from, with some of the science topics being nature study. Nice!
After going through all the literature selections we'll be using as our base for writing instruction, I'm really looking forward to Bobs (& I) using Writing with Skill in February 2012.

Institute for Excellence in Writing? Other than the samples I've looked through over at christian book dot com, I have not been able to locate anyone locally, whom I know, to be able to have a thorough look through an IRL IEW set; so I'm unable to comment on that aspect of Janice's review.

Who knows, WWS may be a good writing tool for Daisy too and I can just quietly forget needing (okay, wanting to) look through IEW.

One can but hope ☺

The Broken Blade ~ Language Arts and Notebooking Pages

I was in the frame of mind to toss together some notebooking pages to go with our scheduled Sonlight Core 7/H Reader for Bobs. I didn't make them 'pretty' - otherwise he won't want to use them.

He'll use this book and those sheets as part of his language arts instruction next week.

The pages include grammar useage, a copywork and dictation exercise, a narration page, and a map-while-you-read (as yet untested) sheet.

You can find our pdf over at hslaunch:
The Broken Blade ~ Language Art and Notebooking Pages

(& I think I'll be taking a break from any blog posting for a wee bit {smile} and use my afternoon computer time to really get into .... Spring cleaning. Oh goodie. )

Grammar-Land by M.L. Nesbit
I really enjoy being the last-in-line with an idea, topic or book since I then get to use the skilled work of other home educating moms/mums. A perfect example of me benefiting from being last-in-line is with our current use of Grammar-Land by M.L. Nesbitt. We purchased our copy through Learnex, but for those wanting other options: a free on line, or downloadable edition , or for a more economical printed copy go here.
For others, like us, hoping to do some written review with this book beneath are two options for free Grammar-Land worksheets:
These FREE grammer worksheets and games were created by Karen of God's Gem 4 Life. Nice job!
And these FREE grammar worksheets were created by Jessica of We Don't Need No Education. Really helpful and nicely crafted! Jessica has very thoughtfully placed her pages up on google documents since not everyone has success using scribd.
It's great being last-in-line :)