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Enjoy 1005 words of homeschool inspiration below. β¬
This past school year my two younger kids both took off reading...so much so that I am now completely rethinking what I want to do for reading/phonics/language arts this coming school year. We used All About Reading for my oldest, and he completed levels 1-4. However, by the time he started level 3 he was already reading most of the words that the book covered. So, I just used levels 3-4 to teach the phonics after the fact rather than to introduce the concepts.
Now my younger two kids have taken off reading at approximately the same time, and I'm in the process of deciding what to do. Not to mention that my oldest is starting 5th grade and he's also switching gears in all his language arts.
Here are my thoughts (some finalized, others TBD)....
π Fresh Picks
For my 1st and 3rd Graders Language Arts:
I've added the terms neutral, Christian, etc. after each program to describe its "religious" content.
βAll About Reading* - [neutral] We have loved this program for the younger years. My 8-year-old is now at the point he says he doesn't really care to do the games. But I may continue to use it with my 6-year-old, and just fly through the activities. She just finished level 1 but then "tested into" the 4th level. I don't want to skip over the phonics just because she is intuitively picking up on it. I'm thrilled that she is, but I still want her to have the foundation to back it up.
βLogic of English Essentials program* - [neutral] I decided to give this curriculum a try for my 8-year-old (rising 3rd grader). It incorporates the language arts into the phonics/spelling curriculum. I don't think it includes reading comprehension (but I just ordered it so I haven't had a chance to look through it thoroughly). However, I'm not concerned about rigid comprehension studies this year. I'm realizing that kids don't have to cover every single skill every single year to be successful. So, now we focus on phonics and spelling. Later we'll focus on writing, literary terms, etc. [Note: I applied to become an affiliate with them after I purchased the first LOE Essentials book with my personal money.]
βAll About Spelling* - [neutral] Rather than doing AAS 1 alongside AAR level 2 as the program suggests, I ended up postponing spelling until further into their reading journey. In the meantime, I've seen that my kids' spelling skills improved naturally as they have matured as readers and then they seem to be ready for formal spelling instruction. Currently, I am trying to decide whether to use AAR or AAS (or maybe both?) with my "advanced" first grade reader this fall. I'll keep you posted!!!
βThe Good and the Beautiful - [Mormon] I have looked at this curriculum before in the past but have never used it. I specifically want a structured phonics curriculum, and TGATB is not that. Just FYI, as a Christian, I don't agree with Mormon theology, but the references to God in this curriculum appear to be fairly "neutral" for lack of a better word. If I use it, I would simply treat it just like I would any secular curriculum. There will be stuff I disagree with. And I point it out to my kids as we come across it.
So why consider it now? My rising first grader loves workbooks. She loves to "do school." And her reading is above her grade level. So, I might print out the 2nd grade level language arts curriculum and let her work through it along with whichever phonics program I decide on. (It's FREE to download the PDF version.)
For my fifth grader's Language Arts:
βMosdos Literature - [secular] I purchased this set for my fifth grader's literature. I want him to become familiar with literacy terms and how to interact with a text in a format he'll see as he moves toward high school and college. So, I purchased the student book and workbook along with the teacher's guides. (I was able to get the TG and textbook used from eBay). I'll keep you posted on how this goes. Not sure I need the TG's for my purposes.
βSpelling Plus by Purposeful Design - [Christian] I'm going "back" a year with my fifth grader and using the fourth grade Spelling program because they start a set of Greek and Latin roots with 4th and continue through 6th. I chose this program for two reasons - it is a workbook that he can do pretty independently. And it incorporates some phonics teaching into that workbook. I did buy the teacher's guides (off eBay) so he will have the answer key to check himself. But, I'm not sure they are necessary given their price.
βIEW - Structure and Style for Students - [neutral] I'm using this program with my fifth grader this year. He did one of their other writing programs last year in a class, so he's familiar with it. But this time I'm going to let Andrew Pudewa do the teaching via the streaming videos. I'll still be involved, but I'm hoping this will lessen my load with teaching three kids!
π§° Teaching Tools
All of the "fresh picks" this week are technically "teaching tools" as well. But I'll add one more in this section but keep it short since the above is so long...
βFree Homophones Poster from TPT seller on TPT - there, their, there with visuals connected to each word. I love finding tools like this to help my kiddos.
Since the "fresh picks" section got so long, I'm skipping the Book Recs section this week. But, I'll be back with more book recs next week!
π° Deals and Steals
βTuttleTwins 250 Mega Sale* - 25% off all books with code USA250
βAll About Learning Press* - monthly GIVEAWAY signup
I hope you had a wonderful and safe Fourth!
Emily
βTeacherTutorMom.comβ
P.S. Donβt miss my latest posts on TeacherTutorMom.com for encouragement, strategies, reviews, and more.
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