All of the cards are stored in an index card box and filed alphabetically. Each child gets their own box and their own set of cards.
This is what works for us!
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Sight Words
I teach sight words by combining different reading specialists' advice into one method, and so far it's working like a charm! It's fairly standard for reading and spelling curriculum to teach with BLUE CONSONANTS and RED VOWELS. Therefore many of our resources are already color coded that way, and I decided to stay consistent with that by writing our sight words this way. I write them on a LARGE index card. I position the cards in such a way that the child has to look UP and TO THE LEFT with his eyes while keeping his head facing straight ahead. This causes the child to "cross the mid-line" of his brain, so he's utilizing his right and left brain at the same time. The children REVIEW THEIR SIGHT WORDS DAILY until they prove mastery. Then we pick four more sight words to learn. Here is an example:
Three of these four sight words were picked as words to learn after an evaluation was given. I use a "Most Common Words" list from our reading and spelling curriculum. My children have to be able to 1) read the sight word, 2) orally spell the sight word correctly and 4) write the sight word correctly. (Just because a child can spell a word orally does not mean he can spell it correctly on paper. These are two different brain processes, and children need to be able to do both correctly.) If they cannot do all three of those things with a word, the word becomes a word we focus on. The fourth word was chosen because my child asked to add it out of a desire to be able to spell it correctly while writing which I thought was super cool because that means there is a desire to do well and spell correctly.
All of the cards are stored in an index card box and filed alphabetically. Each child gets their own box and their own set of cards.
This is what works for us!
All of the cards are stored in an index card box and filed alphabetically. Each child gets their own box and their own set of cards.
This is what works for us!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Geography: Map Skills
In the summer of 2012, while planning our upcoming school year, I decided it was time to change the direction of our geography studies and switch gears! Over the years, we've completed some fantastic geography unit studies as well as studied various places based on our history studies, but we had never focused solely on basic map skills. While at The School Box store, I found a book titled Daily Geography Practice and decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did, because we are learning more geography than ever and having a terrific time doing it!
Even though this is a workbook, it's a hands-on approach to learning! The way the book is laid out, the teacher teaches the lesson on Monday with the lesson book in hand and usually a globe and/or a map, and the children answer 2 questions every day of the week for a total of 10 answered questions. Every Friday there is a "Challenge." All of the questions and challenges require the children to refer back to the map. At the end of each week, the children have learned A LOT about the particular mapping skill, learned several new vocabulary words, answered two pages of questions, completed a challenge and produced a colorful map in the process. Here are a few samples of our work:
This has been a favorite for all of us this homeschool year! We are always eager to do Geography!
The contents for the Grade 5 book include:
Week 1 Parts of a Map
Week 2 Globe Lines
Week 3 The Four Hemishpheres
Week 4 A Map Grid
Week 5 Lines of Latitude and Longitude
Week 6 Map Coordinates
Week 7 A Robinson Projection Map
Week 8 A Mercator Projection Map
Week 9 Picturing North America
Week 10 Picturing the World
Week 11 A Road Map: Montana
Week 12 The Saint lawrence Seaway
Week 13 A Physical Map: Washington
Week 14 Mountains and Desserts of the United States
Week 15 Waterways of the United States
Week 16 A Physical Map: Canada
Week 17 A Physical Map: Mexico
Week 18 A Physical Map: South America
Week 19 Regions of the United States
Week 20 Regions of Canada
Week 21 The Region of Central America
Week 22 Regions of the United Kingdom
Week 23 A National Symbol: Washington, D.C.
Week 24 A Cultural Landmark: Yellowstone National Park
Week 25 Climate Zones of the United States
Week 26 The Arctic Tundra
Week 27 Twenty Largest Cities in the United States
Weel 28 A Cultural Map: National Football League
Week 29 A Product Map: Nebraska
Week 30 Boroughs of New York City
Week 31 Time Zones of the United States
Week 32 Sharing the Colorado River
Week 33 A Tourist Map: Florida
Week 34 The Top Oil-Producing States
Week 35 A History ap: The United States in 1861
Week 36 A City Plan
The standard book is $29.99. Evan-Moor has several options (EBooks, Student Editions for $7.99, etc.) on their website, so you can figure out what works best for you.
Here is a link to get you started:
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
STATIONS!
Several years ago, a friend told me about how she set up "stations" around her house for her child to go through. These stations are educational places that provide opportunities for learning. I'm not exactly sure how she set up her stations, but the idea sounded grand, so I ran with it!
I wanted to give life to the resources in the house that were being neglected and that I knew the children would enjoy spending time with. I found a bunch of hands-on resources, set each thing up in it's own place and gave it a number. I have always made twenty stations, but you can make as many or as few as you want. Twenty stations gave me enough time to get some things done around the house. Since the children could do most of these activities independently, this was a time for me to unload the dishwasher, fold a basket of clothes, etc. I was close by if they needed me, but still able to be productive around the house.
I then made a page of directions for each child. They had to read the directions for each station and check off each station as soon as they completed it. One child carried the directions with him from station to station while the other left the directions in one spot and came back to it in between stations. Also, one child would go in order from 1 - 20 while the other hopped around to wherever he wanted to go next. The point is to give them a fun and extraordinary learning experience, so I was flexible and let each child do it the way they wanted to. My children LOVED stations, and I wish I would have done it more often.
I've done this several times, and some of the stations are the same but not all of them. I changed it up as the children grew older and as our interests and studies changed. It's been since 2010 since we've done stations, but after writing this post I feel inspired to see what I can come up with if anything. My children are older now, so we have little time for these fun, little extras. Here are some pictures from one of our days doing STATIONS!
I wanted to give life to the resources in the house that were being neglected and that I knew the children would enjoy spending time with. I found a bunch of hands-on resources, set each thing up in it's own place and gave it a number. I have always made twenty stations, but you can make as many or as few as you want. Twenty stations gave me enough time to get some things done around the house. Since the children could do most of these activities independently, this was a time for me to unload the dishwasher, fold a basket of clothes, etc. I was close by if they needed me, but still able to be productive around the house.
I then made a page of directions for each child. They had to read the directions for each station and check off each station as soon as they completed it. One child carried the directions with him from station to station while the other left the directions in one spot and came back to it in between stations. Also, one child would go in order from 1 - 20 while the other hopped around to wherever he wanted to go next. The point is to give them a fun and extraordinary learning experience, so I was flexible and let each child do it the way they wanted to. My children LOVED stations, and I wish I would have done it more often.
I've done this several times, and some of the stations are the same but not all of them. I changed it up as the children grew older and as our interests and studies changed. It's been since 2010 since we've done stations, but after writing this post I feel inspired to see what I can come up with if anything. My children are older now, so we have little time for these fun, little extras. Here are some pictures from one of our days doing STATIONS!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Times Tales: Multiplication Math Facts
Times Tales is a multi-sensory approach to learning the most difficult to memorize times tables:
3x6,3x7,3x8,3x9,4x6,4x7,4x8,4x9,6x6,6x7,6x8,6x9,7x7,7x8,7x9,8x8,8x9,9x9.
My children have totally different learning styles yet this program was effective for both of them. I started using it in the summer of 2010, and I still use the flashcards every week.
Here is an excerpt from the Times Tales website:
"Times Tales is a creative, innovative mnemonic-based program that makes it fun and
easy to memorize the upper multiplication and division facts. Times Tales uses cute, simple stories to provide students with a "memory peg", allowing them to quickly recall otherwise abstract facts.
Students are introduced to each number as a "character" that makes sense in some way. For example, the number seven is Mrs. Weeks because there are seven days in a week. Once students learn the number characters, they learn short, simple stories where the numbers interact in some way. Students simply picture two number characters together to recall the story, which includes the answer to the multiplication fact. It's amazing how much easier it is for students to recall a simple story, than an abstract fact!..."
I used the big flip chart (not the DVD) to teach my children. I followed the directions in the Teacher's Manual with one exception. Instead of my children saying the two digit answers as two separate numbers such as "3, 6" I had them go ahead and say the number the proper way such as "36."
When I taught Part 1, it took about 45 minutes. As soon as we finished reading and talking about the stories, the children took the Part 1 test. Both of them scored a 100%! We continued to review the stories and take the Part 1 test again every day. Not only were the children successful, but they enjoyed the process.
I waited a month before I taught Part 2 to ensure that the children had definitely memorized Part 1. It took closer to an hour to teach Part 2. I gave them the Part 2 test and again, they both scored 100%!
At that point, I began to give both the Part 1 and the Part 2 tests, so on Mondays and Wednesdays they took the Part 1 test and on Tuesdays and Thursdays they took the Part 2 test. Somewhere in there we managed to squeeze in the flashcards for additional review. The tests and flashcards were our supplementary math for the entire 2010 - 2011 school year.
For the 2011 - 2012 school year, we stopped taking the tests and used the flashcards every now and then as review along with traditional flashcards. First, we go through the Times Tales flashcards (which doesn't take very long but provides a good review) and then we go through the traditional flashcards. This school year (2012-2013) we have been using this flashcard method once a week, every Monday. Although both of my children know their math facts, I want them to get faster. I have been noticing lately that they are super fast with their recall.
I'm so proud of how hard they've worked, how far they've come and how much they've accomplished. Over the last couple of months, they have even managed to memorize the 11 and 12 math facts, although I have never pushed them to memorize these. They just did that on their own as we went through the traditional cards that included these facts. So they've exceeded my expectations! Yeah!
These are the traditional Multiplication Flash Cards we use:
Trend Multiplication Flashcards
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
The Sentence Family: Introducing Grammar Through Art and Story
As the subtitle suggests, it is an "introduction" to grammar, but it is a thorough introduction that creates a good, solid foundation to build upon. Children learn about the four types of sentences, the parts of speech and how to diagram sentences in a fun and engaging way.
Someone recently asked me, "What ages or grades is it for?" Children are all so unique and ready for different things at different times, so I think it all depends on the child. It was created for a 4th grade class, but more importantly, keep in mind that it is an "introduction" and not a complete program.
The program uses story and art to teach grammar. Here are several snapshots of what we've been doing over the last few months:
By the way, the directions in the book suggest using 12" X 18", heavy paper. It's easier for the children to draw big pictures, and the heavier the paper the better because it won't tear easily.
We did all of our diagramming on the dry erase board. I believe this was less intimidating and more fun than doing it on paper. We diagrammed the first sentence together, and then the children took turns diagramming the rest of the sentences.
Click on this link if you're interested in learning more about The Sentence Family from the school that created it:
St. Michael's Orthodox School
Click on this link if you'd like to purchase it as an ebook:
CurrClick
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Local Homeschool Programs
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