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.