Classical Writing Primer

I have Spring in my possession and I've been paging through it. I'd like to briefly compare it to Writing with Ease.

Classical Writing Primer (CW) is a consumable workbook. There is also a teacher help book, and a file to download with pictures for picture study.
-the lines for writing are single lines, no dotted mid line
-lots of space for illustration
-has around 7-10 sentences per day from what I've seen
-includes copywork, narration, picture study, nature study, grammar, and spelling

I think that the selections are really sweet. I like the length of the writing assignments.

Writing with Ease (WWE) also has a consumable student book. There is a separate teacher's manual.
-dotted lines, but large
-has pictures you can color, no illustration
-1-2 sentences per day
-includes copywork, narration, and dictation (at higher levels)

Overall, I really prefer CW's primer to the WWE level we used. I didn't feel like WWE contained enough writing and I wasn't really thrilled with the books the samples were drawn from. Both programs are similar in price.

I'm looking forward to working through Primer and seeing how we like the rest of Classical Writing!

End of the year curricula reviews!

The exclamation point makes it much more exciting, don't you think?

Now that we've either finished or are nearly finished with the year, I thought I'd start reviewing the choices.

Cursive First: I really liked this program. It's very economical and you are allowed to reproduce the sheets for use in family- so one book will work for all of my children! It's got a good multi-sensory approach that I think would appeal to most kids. It's easy to implement, and takes a very minimal amount of time. Despite the small time commitment, it yields some pretty great results. I liked this a lot, and I plan to use it again for Little Bird when her turn comes up.

First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind: When I first started using this, I gave it a pretty good review. It's all laid out for you, so it's easy to use. It's meant to work together with the writing and phonics we used, so that seemed like a great plus. There's no pre-planning needed, other then figuring out about how quickly you want to chug through it. That being said, we didn't stick with it, and we didn't love it. It was very, very slow moving. It seemed a little redundant at points. I think that teaching grammar at a young age is a good goal, but if the child needs things this slow and piecemeal, perhaps it's better to wait and focus on something else.

Math Mammoth: We aren't using this as our primary program, rather as a supplement. I do know that there are people who use it exclusively, and in a program with a child who doesn't love math and ask for the amounts Sweet Pea does I think that it's probably plenty. It's very easy to use and you can make copies as needed. This is nice because you can reuse pages as many times as needed. Parent involvement with a child who is a good reader and reasonably mathy is minimal. I like Math Mammoth. I think it's a great value and we plan to continue to use it in conjunction with a more traditional book math program.

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading: This is a very traditional phonics program. There aren't colorful illustrations. There aren't cute leveled readers with it. There are optional flashcards (which I didn't buy). It is, however, really easy to use, as implied by the name. It's completely scripted, and you can read the script as closely or loosely as possible. It's decently quick moving and covers phonics through 4th grade from what I understand. We haven't yet finished it, but I hope to by the end of the summer. I really like it and what it's done for Sweet Pea's reading abilities and her confidence. It's been great to have the rules laid out explicitly and condensed into a short lesson. We'll use this again for Little Bird.

Primary Mathematics: This is a really great math program. I really think that the Home Instructor's Guides make it, so if you are considering using it, buy them. Please. It really takes the program to the next level and makes so much sense and lets you know what to focus on.

Rod and Staff Science: Gentle, focused on nature, lots of coloring? Check! It covers plants and animals and other things that are easy for little kids to relate to and understand, because they can see them. There's no experiments in the book we have, and although I did buy the teacher's book I don't think that you'd need it.

Spelling Workout: I may be missing something, but this didn't really grab us. It didn't really teach the spelling words, and the activities were something that Sweet Pea just kind of whipped through. It didn't seem to increase her comprehension of the wonderful world of spelling rules, though, so we'll be trying something else.

Writing with Ease: I was SO on board with this and SO prepared to love this. I really, really wanted to. And I really tried to. And I just... didn't. It wasn't enough meat for Sweet Pea, although we did like the books chosen enough to pick some to read in their entirety. Sorry, WWE!

Story of the World: I don't know if I can fully review this yet. It was going a little over Sweet Pea's head, so we set it aside after a few lessons. Lessons she really enjoyed, but didn't seem to retain much from. So we'll be picking it back up and giving it another chance. I like what I've seen so far, but I can't fully say how it'll work for us until we try again.

That's my summation- any questions? Comments? Hints about what I missed with WWE and SW? ;)

Reading Instruction and Reviews

Pretty formal title, right?

In my seemingly never ending quest to be the perfect homeschooling mother I tend to over-research and over think nearly everything. Reading has been no different.
Fortunately for the sanity of everyone around me and the ease of use for myself and Sweet Pea we were able to work together to weed through the options and settle on things that worked for us, and things that in general just seemed silly.

First on phonics vs. whole language vs. sight words vs. whatever else is out there- I am a firm and staunch supporter of phonics with a few, select sight words thrown in. I do not like "pure" phonics that waits to introduce every single word until you have discussed the applicable rules and the child can sound it out. It's not a horrible idea, but it really limits the available reading material for the child and keeps them only in the phonics program, and in my experience it gets exasperating for the child. Who wants to be limited to, "A rat sat" longer then needed?

Whole language and the thankfully no longer widely used sight word only methods are too far in the other direction. Some children DO learn to read just by being immersed in a language and print rich environment and pick up the rules rather instinctively. Some of these children learn to read very early and without their parents knowing exactly how it happened, and some learn later. For these children as long as they don't run into future problems a spelling program when appropriate seems to be enough.

Most kids need methodical reading instruction in my experience, and in the experience of most moms I know. So if you don't have a self taught reader and you are facing down the scary prospect of welcoming your child into the wonderful world of literacy- this is for you.

Sweet Pea learned to read simple words at 4.5 and now at 5.5 is between a late 2nd and early 3rd grade reading level. For a free and simple reading test I really like : http://www.sonlight.com/quick-reading-assessment.html which is by no means exhaustive, but provides an excellent starting place- especially if you click the samples at the bottom when your child is at the top level to see if they can read the page as well as the list of words. Words in a vacuum is not the same as comprehending a sentence!

How did we get there? Did my hair go white in the process? (It did not.)

The very first, earliest foray into reading in this home was through Starfall, and I really like it. It's phonics based, mildly interactive and keeps the attention of older toddlers and young preschoolers. We used it mostly to pique Sweet Pea's interest and to cement the names of letters in her mind. There's a big jump between knowing letters, knowing letter sounds, and being able to blend letters together. For us this was perfect way to learn letter names and letter sounds. It does not really help with letter order since the alphabet is so often taken one letter at a time on the site. And that was fine with me.

After we were solid and Sweet Pea was showing readiness to being the blending journey we introduced new things and left Starfall behind. First thing that I tried with her was How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. I had read a lot of reviews on reading programs- pages and pages and talked to many mothers online and in real life. I heard some really great things about this book, and I was fully prepared to love it.

We HATED it. Sweet Pea cried when it would come out. I disliked the special markings around the text. I found it condescending, too scripted, and loathed that it included writing as an important part. Sweet Pea was ready to read, but not to write. It was a really poor fit, and after we realised that I came across a swarm of other people that had the same complaints. I know some people have great luck with it, and it's not an unsound approach- it just didn't work for a child not ready to write and who didn't like all the extra markings. And I was a poor teacher of it.

I cast my net around a little desperately, feeling mostly like a failure. Reading is so basic, so needed- so intergal to schooling that I had to teach it well or I'd feel like a failure and despair. See the drama?

I came across the Hooked on Phonics kits by chance at this point, and latched on. The exact kits we used are the ones linked- I believe that they have retooled and I am not familiar with what is in the new packages. I had no experience with the program outside the commercials I had seen on TV, but I was willing to try. And it was a perfect fit. Relief. It blended sounds, introduced short stories for interest right away, and had some flash cards with sight words that really opened up our available options. We didn't use the computer program, and didn't use the audio CD. Some pages we rushed through and some we were stuck on for quite a while. We completed the whole Kindergarten package and then the 1st grade package, and although we also had the 2nd grade kit I began tentatively looking around for other options.

It was becoming a little tedious- Sweet Pea was ready to move forward at a more brisque pace and I was looking for something that didn't just introduce sounds but also told the rules- and explained them.

At this point I tried the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. Jessie Wise is the co-author of the Well Trained Mind, along with her daughter Susan Wise Bauer. It was exactly what I was looking for at that point. It would have been too dry and to the point when Sweet Pea was just starting, but at the point where she could get her fun from easy readers, it was perfect. It was pretty easy to figure out where in the book we needed to start and surprising there wasn't too much we'd missed.

This book is what we are currently meandering through. Our daily intense phonics instruction has fallen a little since Sweet Pea is reading so well, but we're still addressing the lessons and will probably until we dnish the book. It goes through about a 4th grade level from what I've read.

So that's what I know at this point. I have successfully taken one child from pre-reading to reading confidently and happily, and will soon begin gently introducing the pieces to a second. My way works for my family- we have enough programs that I think we can address differently learning styles, but it doesn't mean it would be exactly the right way with your family. My point is more that with reading programs- don't feel tied at all to one program or approach. If it's not working or you are spending a lot of time tweaking and changing and altering, it may be the sign that it's time to switch. Throw it overboard and cast the net on for the right fit.

Curricula review time!

Now that we're getting a feel for what we're using, how it fits, and what we like.

For Math: we're continuing with our tangrams- still a win! Singapore- still a win. Miquon- Sweet Pea is enjoying this a little less right now, although I'm not sure why. Some of it the way that they are introducing addition- sliding the blocks and then sliding numbers. We'll see.
For Reading: I have to admit that we are in a McGuffey slump. We are doing the Ordinary Parent's Guide regularly, and while I can't say that Sweet Pea really LIKES it, it's short and effective. We are not using Hooked on Phonics any longer, unless I feel like Sweet Pea needs reinforcing or if she wants to read one of the stories.
For Language Arts: I like Spelling Power. It's pretty independent and so far all review. Sweet Pea enjoys it and is working steadily. Writing With Ease- this one is tougher. I like it, and I like it a lot. Sweet Pea on the other hand does not enjoy it quite so much, mostly because it's work. It's probably one of the more academically challenging things she's doing right now. We will continue to do it, and be grateful that it's short. First Language Lessons is a much bigger hit, on all sides.
For History: Story of the World is a hit. The activity guide is a bigger hit. I'm not sure how much is being retained- and that's the big benefit is the history rotation. There's no pressure to pund all the finer points of ancient history into my little one's head- it's just an introduction.
Latin and all others: I must confess that we are not yet doing any extras. So far we are doing our core, and regularly. Once we're more settled we'll add in the electives.

Initial plug

We got the Early Reader's Bible from Zonderkids today and as far as I've seen so far I am very impressed. There are 64 stories and they use words that are right at Sweet Pea's level. There's a short comprehension question section at the end of each story. Sweet Pea likes it and I like it- two votes of yes!