If I Only Could Learn To Spell It

I was doing All About Spelling Level 3 Step 11 today with my kids.  I came across a word that really stumped me.  When you read the word, you’ll probably laugh out loud.  But this word really had me perplexed.  The word is “only”.

Now how on earth could anyone be stumped by that word, you may ask.  Well, I’ll tell you. =)

But first, let’s review some of the rules of spelling.  Syllable Division Rule #2 tells us that you locate the two vowels.  If there are two consonants between them, you usually divide between the consonants.

So in the word “only” it would be divided

on / ly

Now another rule is, that when a syllable ends in a consonant, the vowel is usually short.  That says [on-lee].   We all know that this is a two syllable word.  And we do not pronounce it [on-lee], but rather [own-lee].

We also know that it cannot be divided as:

o / nly

Because nly cannot be pronounced in one syllable.  It naturally goes to two syllables when saying it.  That would make “only” a three syllable word, which we all know it’s not.  [o / n / ly]  Not only because we know it, but because every syllable has to have at least one vowel. 

The book considered this word a v-c-c-v word and not a v-c-suffix. (I could tell by the example phonogram letters they had in the book).  So that blows out any theory of the suffix being the cause.  For example: the word only is actually one + the syllable ly, but we drop the silent e.

The book also claims that this is a word that obeys the rules.  It was being taught at the same time as the two rule breakers, “one” and “once” were being taught.   Now this is where I have a problem with that.  The letter o may say one of its phonetic sounds in the word “only”, but the word as a whole does not obey the rule: The vowel is usually short in a closed syllable.  I know this rule has the word “usually” in there, but this word was being taught as a rule abider.  So I questioned my ability to understand how this word was obeying the rules.

To further drive my point home, I put the letters up on the board.

My son read it as [on-lee].  I corrected him, but I had no explanation as to why he pronounce it the wrong way due to the fact that the book was referring to it as obeying the rules.

Later in the lesson I asked him to spell the word on the board.  He used the magnet letters and spelled

 This didn’t surprise me, because we had just learned that most of the time we use ow to say the long o sound at the end of words.  We had also learned one of the exceptions: own in which we use ow at the beginning.  So carrying that same thought from the lesson before, and then having a word that has the first syllable saying /own/, it makes sense that he spelled it that way.

My son is a rule loving speller, so I had to get to the bottom of this.  I ended up emailing AAS and asking them my question, in hopes for a rule that I could tell my son for our ‘quandary little problem’. (Shout out to “Better Off Dead” there)

Luckily their reply was exactly what I ended up telling my son.

1.  The word "only" goes against the norm for rules of a closed syllable.

2.  It is not considered a rule breaker because the o actually says one of its phonetic sounds.

3.  But, treat it as if it were a rule breaker just for 'breaking the peace' if the student is having a hard time with it breaking the syllable rule.

So Alas! Another word goes to jail.

So I think it's good to note that as long as a phonogram is obeying its sound, it's not considered a rule breaker in this program.  But if it breaks another rule, feel free to throw it in jail! 

[Another word from Level 2 that is not considered a rule breaker because the letters follow their phonetic sounds, yet disobeys another rule is the word: you.  Ou says the correct sound, but it disobeys the important rule "English words don't end in u".  We caught this non rule breaking- rule breaker and threw it in jail!]

Math Facts

I still believe to this day, that Flash Master was a great purchase.  But as with anything, my kids grow bored.  So, I've had to become creative and encourage them to keep practicing.

I've made up a FlashMaster Chart.

The Rules:
1.  Each row represents a week.
2.  The child must practice 5 minutes a day for every day of the week in order to get the prize.

The prize is 30 minutes of alone media time (Wii, DS, Leapster, Computer games, etc) of their choice for on the weekend.

3.  If the child misses 1 day, they do not get rewarded the prize.
4.  If the child misses more than one day of practice, they get a half hour of media taken away from them.  (We allow our kids an hour and a half of media a day) - This rule is to encourage them not to give up if they miss a day.

Here's hoping this works!!
__________________________________
12/15/2011
We finished the 1st week of this and this is how it went:
1 Student was awarded a media prize for completing the whole week.
2 Students were not awarded a prize, but they didn't lose any media either.
So for week one, I call this a success! =)

Show & Tell

I love Show & Tell days.  It's so much fun to hear the kids talk about their prized possessions.  Plus it's great to hear some questions that the others come up with to ask.  Well, today we did Show & Tell...

Gv brought his remote control truck to show us.  He explained every part of the truck down to the screws that held things together.  =)

C showed us her Rhiney.  This little fella accompanied her on her trip to the Orthopedic and comforted her while she got her cast put on.  She explained to us that she has had him since she was 3.

K showed us his GeoMags

He told us how they can even stick together through fingers.

He made us a cube showing how the steel balls helped create things.

 

 

 

Forever A Student

I can't believe we are almost done with our first quarter!  The school year has been going pretty well so far.  I've had very few complaints (but I have had them).  And, there has been plenty of learning (by students and teacher alike). 

For example, we hit spelling full throttle at the beginning of the school year.  Everything was going well.  The kids were loving it and looking forward to it.  And then, next thing I knew, kids were crying, eyes were rolling, etc.  I couldn't figure it out.  It was all going so smoothly.  But, soon I found myself dreading school and especially spelling.  Two things that we tried helped us out greatly.  First, I moved spelling up to the very first thing (after Bible) that we did during the school day.  Second, I slowed us way down.  Instead of making it a spelling marathon, I spent a couple days on each new step, making sure that they could fully understand the rule, or new sound, before going on.  Once again, spelling is a big hit!  They are so much more confident and making fewer mistakes.

I've also implemented the kid's Wednesday Night Wild memory verses into our curriculum.  They have to memorize it for that, so why not practice them daily during school. [It's the memory verse of the week on my blog]  I have them repeat it 4x a day.  Twice at the beginning of the school day and twice at the end.  It's much easier on them (and me) to memorize just one verse a week instead of our scheduled verse & their Wild verse. The former way would give me a lot of interesting meshed verses by the end of the week.

One other thing I've learned through trial and error, is giving my kids a snack break in the middle of their studies.  They pay much better attention after their snack.  I had taken out the snack break after Kindergarten for all three of them.  My thinking was, I didn't get a snack break in school after Kindergarten, why should they?  They can just trudge through it like I did.  Hmmm...realizing how much better they do after that break, makes me wonder how much better I would have done if I would've had the same snack break time in 1st grade on.

But probably the biggest lesson for me is that flexibility is key!  I'm one of those, 'I planned it this way.  I have to do it this way.  And if anyone throws a monkey wrench into my schedule, I'm doomed!'  Well, God is forever growing me, because I've had a ton of monkey wrenches thrown at me since our school year has started; I'm surprised I don't have goose eggs all over my head!  It seems that almost daily, something comes up, out of my control, that changes our school day.  I'm learning to become flexible. -- Notice I said learning and not learned. 

Take yesterday for example.  Wednesday is my hands-down craziest day of the week.  I had to get school in, do laundry (because I heard the cries earlier in the morning how children had nothing to wear),  make all the meals throughout the day, get everybody fed and ready for Wednesday Night Wild, go and teach Cubbies, get back and clean up the horrible tornado-mess of a kitchen I had left because I had no time to clean it up earlier, get the kids to do their bedtime routine and get them to bed, then try to spend a few minutes of quiet time before my husband got home from work (the quiet part never happened btw).  And somewhere in all that, I needed to take a shower and get some brief exercise in.  I knew this was my day.  I planned it out in my head the night before.  What I didn't plan for, was my husband talking to me at breakfast.  That in itself wasn't a big deal, but to me, the content was.  He asked me if a former co-worker could spend the night.  That meant cleaning my oldest son's room and stripping his bed, washing it, getting it back together, blah, blah, blah.  Then he followed that with asking me to help him clean the garage.  It really did need cleaned.  But I thought, Today?  Now?  Out of all the days of the week?  I realized though, that the disarray of the garage was truly stressing him out, and he really needed my help.  I knew it was the right thing to do, even though it threw my schedule way off my self-imposed timeline.  God did bless me.  I helped clean out the garage, got all of our school day in, cleaned my son's room and changed the bedding, plus everything else I had already planned, with time to spare.  Time to spare?  That never happens on a Wednesday.  But I had finished everything I had to do a half hour before making supper and getting the kids out the door for Wild & Cubbies.  It wasn't a quiet half hour, but it was a half hour none-the-less.  Thirty sweet minutes to sit down and do whatever I wanted, with a whirlwind of kids running around me.

So in fact I have learned something this year, besides all those history or science facts that I never knew (or didn't remember).  I am forever a student.  Always learning.  And, life is a huge lesson.  Always teaching.  So I need to do what I always tell my kids to do:  Be a good student.  Learn your lessons well.  Apply them to life.  And don't forget what you've learned.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

And for those of you that know me, yes, I've been counting down.  Thirty-three days down and only 147 to go!! =)

Books on CD & Reading (for lack of a better title)

My oldest son is not a huge fan of reading.  The material has to 100% captivate him, or he ends up yawning around every other word.  That makes for a very LONG reading session.  I have been trying to find topics that he is interested in and picking out books at his level of reading that coincide with that.  I haven't been too successful.  I think I picked one book that he liked (because he asked to read it daily to find out what the score was going to be, not necessarily because of the content -- it was about baseball), but yet there was a lot of yawning involved.  I was becoming very discouraged.  I knew he needed the practice, but the only books he was interested in reading was Star Wars books.  Have you ever read one of those??  I have.  All the strange names and cities alone would give a struggling reader the desire to quit reading for the rest of his life!  I was constantly correcting him as he was trying to pronounce "Coruscant" or "Separatist Alliance".  Even the Easy Readers had difficult names in them.  It was discouraging for him and for me.

About a week ago, I had to drive over to the Atlanta area.  The day before we left, I went to the library and found some books on CD.  My daughter has been an avid reader since she was four.  She loves to read!  My oldest son, not so much.  So I thought, maybe he'll listen to a book being read to him.  He listens to me read (most the time).  I picked a book on CD from a series that my daughter loves to read and wasn't too girlie.  We listened to a couple of the CD's on the way to ATL and I don't think my children even spoke the entire drive.  (even my four year old was silent)  Every once in a while I would hear them laugh at a funny part, but that was it.  I was amazed when we got to our destination.  I was kind of wondering if they were still alive back there. 

So after that trip, I got a couple more of the books in the same series, and we listened to them on our way to church, the store, where ever.  Again, the same result.  Complete driving silence with a couple interruptions of laughter.  What miracle had I discovered?  Was it just a fluke?  So again, I got another book on CD in the series.  Again, silence and laughter.  I had hit the driving jackpot!

Then it hit me.  If he loves to listen to it so much, maybe he'd enjoy reading it just as much.  And I was right!  He does!  In fact, as I was just typing this sentence, he asked me if he could read the next chapter of the book.  Luckily for me, there are about 20 books in each of the series that this author has written.  That at least gives me 40 books to go through, unless of course he gets bored.

My only downside, which isn't really a downside because it's a good lesson, is that in the book some of the characters call other characters "dumbhead" or they say "I hate [so-and-so]".  But I look at this as a good teaching opportunity.  Actually, my son read one of the sentences about someone being a dumbhead, and he said, "Mommy, that wasn't really nice.  We're not supposed to call people names.  That's just mean and he's disobeying, right mom?"  And when the other sentence came up about hating people, he told me that we are never to say that to anyone and that Jesus loves everybody and we are supposed to too!  So while these books have those two no-no's for us written every once in a while throughout them, my kids know better and explain to me why it is wrong.

Now for the upside, my child enjoys reading and asks to read to me everyday, because quote, "I want to be a good reader like my sister.  I have been waiting all my life to read books like this!"  Just the fact that he is wanting to read, brings great joy to my heart.  It's something he has been struggling with his entire school career.

Reading 'Miss Suki is Kooky' by Dan Gutman

So, I think I'm on to something.  1. Listening to books on CD to see if there is an interest, and  2. Borrowing the book for him to read if there is.

My Personal Book Review:

The books are from author Dan Gutman.  The series are: My Weird School, My Weird School Daze, and My Weirder School.  They are about a 2nd Grade boy (or 3rd grade depending on which series your reading), AJ, whose teachers are a little more than weird, and their methods of teaching are wacky.  Even though they think all their teachers have lost it, and the students feel the need to teach them, he and his classmates always end up learning in the end.  The Characters: AJ has two buddies, Michael and Ryan who sometimes get him into trouble.  And he has two classmates who drive him crazy; Andrea the know-it-all and Emily the crier.  The titles are catchy (ie Miss Daisy is Crazy, Ms. Hannah is Bananas, Coach Hyatt is a Riot, etc).  

These books, in my opinion, are meant for readers 8+ (although my daughter started reading them at 6).  I think as long as your reader knows right from wrong and is grounded in it, and if he/she is able to read chapter books, this series will be a good, fun fit. 

Side Note:

[I say for your reader to know right from wrong, because as I said above, there is some name calling (ie dumbhead) and the main character AJ says that he hates Andrea every once in a while throughout the books.  Both name calling and saying that you hate someone are big no-no's in our family.  But even my 4 & 6 year old have listened to the books and know that it is wrong.  They haven't started using those phrases toward each other, but I don't want them exposed to it too often either, so they don't get those phrases stuck in their heads and then later use them in their vocabulary.]

Science

I have a love/hate relationship with science.  I love seeing how things are made or how they work.  I love it when a science project actually works and it's really cool.  I love learning new things about animals, space, weather, you name it.  But what I can't stand is gathering materials for the experiment.  I don't like having to find a horseshoe magnet when I already have a bar magnet.  I don't like trying to find what are called 'common household products', but yet I have never heard of them before and would have no clue where to find them.  Know what I mean?  Does anyone else have this problem?

A couple things have really helped me out with this annoying problem.  First, I have been using Sonlight's Science which comes with science supplies, both re-usable and consumable.  They also have a great little book each year called, "Science Activities".  Sonlight's science supplies coincide with this book.  So most of the time you have everything you need.

 

One of Sonlight's Science Experiment Supplies kits

Another thing that has helped out in the whole science experiment world, is a product called "Real Science".  My mother-in-law got these for me at Ollies.  Oh how I love and miss Ollies.  I have asked if they were going to get an Ollies in B'ham and I was told by an employee that, quote, "The General is way too busy to be building new stores anywhere else."  *tear*  OK, I know I need to get over it, but I love that store!!  End of tangent. =)  These science kits come with absolutely everything that you need for the science experiments included.  Including a workbook and log book.  They truly are a lot of fun.

 Inside the Electricity kit

Because they were a gift, I don't know how much they cost.

But even with most of the supplies at my fingertips, I still don't like to get the projects together...What gives??  So I have decided to man up! (or is that woman up?) and take the time to gather supplies and read through how to do it, because the joy on my children's faces as they see an experiment come to life is totally worth it!  A couple days ago we did the compass experiment from pp 34-35 of Science Activities (pictured above) and my kids absolutely loved it!  They thought it was so cool that the magnet kept on swinging the same direction.  And we also figured out which direction was true north and which direction our house faced, etc.

 My son was absolutely amazed that the magnet insisted on pointing the same direction no matter what direction they put it in the water

The huge smile makes it worth it to gather up all those pesky supplies. =)

So I hope this help encourage you to do the science experiments with your kids.  It can be a pain in the backside sometimes, but it is totally worth it to see them learn and experience things for themselves.  But best of all, is their smiles and excitement as you do the project together.

Teaching Textbooks (TT3)

My mom has told me that I sound like a salesperson when it comes to curricula that I love...Well, get ready for a sales pitch. =)

*I'll be referring to the student in the masculine tense.

We have been using Teaching Textbooks 3.  It is a math program that is on CD-ROM.  It comes with a workbook, an answer key & has a built in grade book.  It has a lecture that is given by a former Harvard professor.  Your child has full control of the lecture, meaning if he doesn't understand something, with one click of a button, he can repeat that part of the lesson.  There are practice problems to see if he is understanding as the lecture is taking place.  He has to get it right the first time.  If he doesn't, the program shows him how to do it the correct way and he has to answer another problem dealing with the same concept.

Then there are the workbook problems.  I have my kids work the problem out in their workbooks and then answer on the computer.  This way, they have worked it out and if they get it wrong, they can see on paper where their mistake came from and correct it.  If they answer the question wrong, they have one chance to try it again, if they miss it again, they have to see how it is done properly before they can move on.  If they answer it right the second time, they have the option of seeing how it is done, or they can move on to the next question.

There are quizzes about every ten lessons.  I have my children treat it like a lesson, without a lecture, so they don't get nervous and freeze up.

And then there are the bonus rounds.  Bonus rounds are after a lesson every so often.  In TT3, they give you a timed "flashcard" session.  It is set up like a game show.  Crazy robot, Dudley Dunbar hosts it along with his many cheering robot buddies.  Your child tries to answer as many of the math problems as possible in the allotted time.  Depending on how many answers he gets right, depends on how many bonus points he gets.  Those bonus points reflect on the day's lesson.  For example, let's just say your child gets 20/22 problems right on the lesson, a 91%.  Then he does his bonus round and gets +3 points for getting 26/40 flashcard problems right.  His Lesson score then goes up to 105%.  It builds great self esteem while keeping math facts fresh in his mind.

TT3 is intended for Grade 3, but may I say, that if you did a Math program prior that was intense, I don't see why you couldn't start it in 2nd grade.  My kids did Horizons Math up to the first part of 3rd grade (where it got so hard and we had to quit) before I started making up my own Math worksheets (a pain in the back for sure), and then we discovered TT3.  I thought to myself, they learned all this stuff in 2nd grade with Horizons, plus some.  So here are my thoughts.  If your child was in an advanced Math, you could start TT3 in 2nd grade.  Let's say it's too easy for your child, then have him do more than one lesson a day.  I don't suggest skipping any lessons, because each lesson has a new concept introduced and there is no index to let you know when and where they are introduced.  I had my kids doing two lessons a day at first, but as things started to get harder, I made them stick to just one.  They are still doing stuff that they learned in Horizons 2, but I think reinforcement is great!  Plus the major bonus for me, is that they are still being challenged, yet they aren't crying about it.

Not only do my kids love this program, but it frees up some time for me to teach my younger child.  My child goes off into another room with my laptop and quietly does his math, while I devote some much needed teacher to student time with my 1st grader who is working on reading.  Very rarely do my students who are doing TT3 ask for help, because they can go back to that particular part of their lesson to find the answer.

Bonus for parents!  The grade book is printable, reviewable, and changeable if needed.  Changeable, you ask??  Let's just say, my daughter has accidentally pressed the wrong key when entering an answer.  After her lesson is over, she comes to me and tells me.  I look at the question and ask a very similar one to see if she understands the concept.  If she does, I get into the grade book (using my parental pass code) and change it in her grade book.  If she still gets it wrong, I help her figure out what she is doing wrong and leave the grade as is.  Make sense?  -- My kids also love to check out their grade books (they cannot change it) and check out their scores.  It's a great encouragement to them.

Sample of one of my kid's grade book

So, have I sold you on it? ;)

Arch Enemies: b,d and p

Who knew that three little letters could give me such a big headache.  The word big is pronounced "dig", bad is pronounced "dab", pat is pronounced "bat"...You get the picture.

My first grader  has the hardest time with these three.  (I remember my now fourth grader having the same problem in K and 1st)  So, I'm going to try with him, the same thing I tried with my first child.  It took time, but it worked.

I cut a capital and lower case of each letter out of felt, glued them to an index card and had my student trace over them with his finger while saying the letter.  I have also done it with rice on a cookie sheet and sand in a cake pan.   Anything tactile.  I have also heard of people using fine grit sandpaper to make the letters.

I don't know how long it took for my first child to recognize the difference, but it did eventually happen.  I do know that my method of saying, "No, no honey, that's a diver letter not a magic c letter." is not helping him recognize the difference.  [If you are confused by that last statement, you must not use Handwriting Without Tears - which, by the way,  I highly recommend for hand printing]

So, starting tomorrow, I go back to the old tactile & auditory method.  I'll let you know how long it takes till he gets his b,d and p's right.  I'm hoping it doesn't take long.  My poor little guy needs more confidence in reading, and these three letters are definitely not giving him that.

I sticky-tacked them to his desk for reference and practice throughout the school day.

_____________________________________

*9-1-11 - He did great with the letters on his desk.  I don't know why, but he read almost flawlessly (and there were a lot of b, d & p words) without looking at his prompts much.  I had him trace them with his finger before reading.  I know it was a 1st try and next time could be different.  I'll update in a week.

*9-20-11 - Ok, so it's been over a week...Sorry bout that. - I have not been faithful with making him trace his fingers over the letters everyday, but I have made him do it when I remember.  I have noticed with the little amount that I have done it and having the letters stuck to his desk for him to see at all times, he has confused b,d & p much less than he had before.  Now if I can just have him to do it regularly, I think he'll benefit from it greatly.  I'd better get on the ball!

I Love Homeschooling...

I love that we can school where we want, when we want & how we want.  Today, my son practiced his guitar lesson in the backyard on a stool with his dad.

 Age 9 - 4th Grade

Mighty Machines

Listed below are just a few of my favorite school related machines!

First off, I want to assure you that what I'm going to talk about is in no way required to have a good school experience.  I just love them and they have helped me out a lot in the last few years.

Okay, let's start with the copier.  I bought the Canon Image Class D320 about five years ago before I started teaching my first two kids in Kindergarten.  I had been drooling over copiers for years.  (Don't ask me why, I just love office equipment! haha!)  I did my research.  I figured out how much it would cost me to make all the copies I had to make at our local library for our first school year.  I don't remember what the figure was now, but it was upward of $70.  Plus there was the inconvenience of the time involved and the having to run out to make copies.  I had flipped through a Staples ad and saw that the Canon D320 was on sale.  The original cost was $299 and they had it on sale for $149.  Half off!!  I couldn't pass that up.  That meant in just over two years, I would have paid for my copier and had the convenience of using it at home whenever I felt like it!!  -- I also took into consideration the cost of paper and toner.  1.  There are always sales on paper (especially if you buy it by the box) and 2. if you get the store brand toner, it's half off.  I replace the toner about once every year and a half to two years depending on my copy load ($30 for the replacement cartridge) and I only go through 1 package of paper a school year (sometimes more).  That's under $5.  I have over 3000 copies on my copy machine since I bought it.  Let's just say that copies are $0.20 (I think it is more, but I want to be fair) .  That would have been $600 of copies at the library.  I have spent $149 for the copier, plus 3 toner cartridges for $90 total, plus a box of paper for $25.  Since the beginning of my copier's life, I have spent a total of $264.  That's a savings of $336 and counting!  Plus, did I mention the convenience???  Having a copier (doesn't need to be fancy) is such a help.  I don't know what I'd do without it.  Lots of hand-cramping, I'm sure.

Simple.  Handy.  Love it!! (oh, and my laptop connects up to, so I can print stuff off the internet)

On to my next love: The Thermal Laminator.  

 

If I could, I would laminate EVERYTHING!!  But rest assured, I haven't. =)  I do use it a lot though.  I bought this about three years ago.  I have made plenty of things with it (even non-school related).  I purchased it at Sam's Club for about $25 and it came with a package of thermal laminating pouches -- 25 I think.  Replacement pouches are about $20 for a package of 200.

Oh the things you can make with this bad boy!  Not only have I made dry erase-like worksheets for the kids, I have made Bingo games, Flashcards, School room decorations, etc.

Just one of the many, many Bingo games I have made for my kids.  This one focuses on the -ai- and -ay words.  I have made about 10 of these focusing on different blends, vowel pairs, sight words and so on.

Having them laminated makes them much more durable.

The last of the machines, is FlashMaster.  We have owned this for about half a year. 

"I think it's fun and it helps you learn your math facts very quickly" says Courtney, a 3rd grader. 
"It teaches you billions of math facts," says Kaidin of Alabama. 
Gavin claims, "It makes you learn and I like it!"  

 

With recommendations like that, How can it be wrong?  Haha!  Seriously, my kids didn't like to do the drills.  But they will sit down and spend 10 to 15 minutes on this handheld everyday.  Their math fact knowledge has gone up significantly since they started.  It cost about $50.  I got mine through Sonlight Curriculum.  (I'm sure they sell it elsewhere too.)   Personally, for me, it was $50 well spent.  No more tears when I say, "It's time to do math facts!"  They actually beg to go first.  (and if you've read through my blog, yes we have had lots of tears when it comes to school - not all by my children, if you know what I mean.)

As I said at the beginning, these are just great tools.  In no way do you need them to do school.  They work great for me and I'm glad I have them!

Spelling

I have had a very interesting time with spelling.  I started it in 1st grade with Sonlight's LA program.  It entailed memorizing words that were all spelled similarly with a couple sight words included each week.  For my kids...a total fail.  They remembered it for the week that we spelled it, but when we reviewed it weeks later, they had no idea how to spell.  I decided to do it again in 2nd grade thinking that they were older, and it would come more easily to them.  Again...FAIL.  So in 3rd grade I decided to drop Sonlight's LA all together (lots of tears during Language Arts, but that's another story) and I did Sequential Spelling instead.  At first it was great, but my kids weren't quite making the connection and forgetting all the patterns.  And once again, many, many tears.  I was just about beside myself.  I was a failure.  My kids were in 3rd & 2nd grade, and they had no idea how to spell. I was so embarrassed that other kids their age could spell, and my kids were like Kindergartners when it came to spelling.  In this particular subject, I was ashamed to say that I homeschooled my kids.

I was tired of spending money on programs, tired of failing, and tired of tears.  I had seen on some homeschooling forums a program called "All About Spelling" (AAS).  It was a little more...well, a lot more...expensive than the other programs I had been purchasing, so I was nervous to try it out.  I bit the bullet, so to speak, and bought the program.  I'm glad I did.

My kids love the program and beg to do it every day.  There is a lot of memorizing, but they don't seem to mind it.  There is plenty of repetition, plenty of rules, then there are the rule breakers in which they get to throw in jail - and that brings great pleasure to my kids.  I love this program.  There are no tears.  My kids are learning how to spell.  And if they make a mistake, I help prompt their memory by asking about the rule.  Right away, they know what they did wrong, and they fix it.

I may have started this program late with my two older kids, but they are picking up on it fantastically.  We started it mid-year last year.  Gavin (my then Kindergartner) was in the classroom too, so when he started the program this year, he picked up on the phonetic sounds amazingly quick.  He hears all the "rules" while I teach the other two and when it's his turn to do them, he memorizes them in no time at all.

This is our magnetic chalkboard with the AAS tiles up.  These are all the tiles needed for Level 2.  [When you buy the Level One Packet, you get all tiles for all levels.  The Jail comes with level two and the practice cards you need to buy with each level]

 I bought a little plastic Tupperware container to keep all the practice cards in.  The tabbed cards come with Level 1, and you can reuse with each level.

Here is an example of a Key Card (aka the 'rule' card) for Level 2.  And just in case you're wondering...the answer is f,l & s.

Included in each Level, there are progress charts and certificates of completion.  My kids love to track how many things they've learned.  It also comes with little sticky magnets that you put on the back of each tile (after you cut them out - It's a lot of work, but well worth it in my opinion).  If you choose to use the magnets, you will need a magnetic board about 2'X3' at the smallest.  If you don't use the magnets, you can use a large desk or table.  I highly recommend using the magnets.  The tiles stay in place, so the workspace stays tidy.  I painted a magnetic chalkboard on my wall.  The magnetic paint was easy to apply.  The chalkboard paint??  Well let's just say, I'll never paint another one again. =)  With the magnetic paint, you can paint another (or the same) wall color over it and outline it with a painted border (so you don't lose it on your wall if you choose the same wall color).

I highly recommend this program!  My kids who couldn't spell well a year ago, are now doing great and spelling whole sentences according to their spelling level. And they love it too!!  It makes for a much easier school day, when your kids are begging to do subjects as opposed to crying as soon as you mention the word "Spelling".

Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum

I did not learn typing until I was fourteen.  Back then, there really wasn't a need for it.  But let's face it...It's a qwerty world we live in.  I purchased Typing Instructor for Kids Platinum so my kids wouldn't peck at the keyboard.  I hadn't read any reviews on it.  I looked at it online and just hoped for the best.

And luckily for me (and my wallet), it was a great purchase.  There are plenty of lessons and games that practice only the keys that you've learned.  There is a treasure to find and bonus coins and everything a kid from 6-12 would love.  My kids beg to do typing everyday and even on weekends.  They'll spend at least an hour practicing.  Courtney ran downstairs after practicing for about an hour and a half and exclaimed, "I love typing!  It's so much fun!  And guess what mom...I didn't even know I was learning.  This is great!!"

Now granted, we are only two weeks into it and they've only learned keys a,s,d,f,j,k,l,; but they absolutely love it!

Downsides?  They have it set up so that it takes you from lesson to lesson each time you finish one and it memorizes it.  Sounds good except it doesn't allow for practice and mastery.  It took me forever to find out where the individual lessons and practice games were.  Once I figured that out, it's been smooth sailing.

It allows 4 different kid accounts at a time.  You can either use it with the CD or Install it.  It works with Windows 7, Vista, XP or 2000 & Mac.  You can find it at CBD or Sonlight Curriculum(and I'm sure other places) for $18-$20. 

On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being best, I rate it a 9 due to the fact that it was a little hard to navigate at first to the practice lessons.  But then again, I'm not big into reading instructions (they're in a pdf file).  I just like to sit and do.

School Day & Curriculum

This year I have a 4th grader, 3rd grader, 1st grader and a pre-schooler (when he feels like it). =)  Our day starts sometime in the morning and lasts for 4-5 hours.  We are having a great year this year and all the kids seem to be enjoying themselves.  We started on August 1st and hope to end in late May.  That pretty much means we need to get 17 days of school in a month (except for December when we can take an extra week off for Christmas & New Years)  We plan on taking a 2 month break during the summer.  Let's face it,  not only do the kids need it, but I do too!

I have decided to use Sonlight for Bible, Science and History (Core 1) for all my kids.  I am using Sonlight's LA program for my 1st grader (except for Spelling).

Other resources I am using are:
Modern Press Curriculum Phonics Level C (3rd & 4th grade phonics)
HWT (for 5th grade and 1st grade)
Explode the Code Books 1-3 (1st grade phonics)
Typing for Kids
Drawing Basics with Thomas Kinkade
English Grade 3
Horizons Math Grade 1
Teaching Textbooks 3 & 4 (Math for 3rd & 4th)
Flashmaster (for math facts)
All About Spelling (Levels 1 & 2 and hopefully 3 at some point)
Wordly Wise B (for 3rd & 4th grade vocabulary)
With my older kids, I am borrowing books from the library for Reading.

Below is pretty much what school looks like.

 I have charted out their day.  I highlight the subject once they have done it, so I'm not asking myself, "Now, who needs to do what?"  I put faint A's in at the end of some of the days because Art is always on a Tuesday, but some weeks it can be on other days too.

I typed this out for the weekly schedule.  It's broken down by subjects and then again by individual books.  I got this idea from Sonlight, but added all my extra-curricular stuff in so that I'm not bouncing back and forth from schedule to schedule.  It's all on one page.

It has only taken me four whole years of home-schooling to come up with this.  It has been working great so far and I'm feeling organized.