give_me_a_latte
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Posts posted by give_me_a_latte
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We just finished BFIAR. I wish I had started it sooner because my son "outgrew" many of the activities and lessons by the time we were done. If you look through the books you'll notice some are simpler than others. I'd start with those! Have you checked out the BFIAR go-alongs at HSS? We loved those!!!
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I'm going to go against the flow here. My ds, now 9.5 yo, used HWOT for K-2nd. He often started at the bottom, no matter what I said. Today, he still does letters that way, frequently, and has lovely handwriting... actually the best in most of the family. And for my left-handed daughter, starting at the bottom of some letters works better for her than starting at the top. So I am not certain that in the long term, starting letters at the top is that important. We all write differently... look at your own writing. Do all of your letters follow the "correct" format?
Just my two cents.
My son is left-handed as well. I wondered about that.
I agree with you too. It's definitely not an issue I'm going to get anyone worked up into tears over. I'll keep reminding him to start at the top and we'll see where it goes.
I distinctly remember one summer in my middle school years I decided I wanted new handwriting. I designed each letter and practiced them over and over until they were natural. I still use that style today! So yes, we all write differently ;-)
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That all makes sense. I'm a definite "pick my battles" kind of mom so I guess this is a battle I'll have to choose. Everything you all say definitely makes sense.
I decided to bring out a small dry erase board and markers and he was so excited to get to write on it that he started his letters at the top when I corrected him. Usually on the slate he gets aggravated and gives up when I remind him to start at the top. But I guess the thrill of using markers gave him a little extra patience ;-) I'll have to switch things up every so often.
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We're almost finished with HWT Pre-K and my son is doing a really good job forming capital letters. However. He insists on forming his letters from the bottom up, no matter how many times I redirect him. Is this really something I need to work on or should I let it go? The HWT manuals make it seem like it's a huge no-no but I'm not sure I see the harm.
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Nu suggestions, just empathy. We're crammed in a less-than-700-square-foot home so I feel your pain! I found a cool table at Ikea that collapsed down into a small rectangle.....but our closest Ikea is about four hours away. So. We're in a constant state of chaos around here.
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I'll be excited with you!!!! I've known I wanted to use TOG for years!! I plan to buy it over my son's K year so I have that year to wrap my head around it before starting in 1st grade. I can't wait!! Plus, buying it early means you won't have the big TOG expense for the upper grades, when the books are more important to have.
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He was bored with BOB books, and he's already reading Dr. Seuss. Little stinker ;-) All I can remember from when I was an early reader are things like Amelia Bedilia or Nate the Great. There HAS to be better options out there!!!! Maybe I'll poke around curriculum sites and see what they include in their packages.
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Thanks for the ideas! His handwriting is okay. He's almost finished with HWT Pre-K, so he can write capitals. He's writing some words on his own...like POP or DAD. One reason I chose AAS is because it isn't completely dependent on writing in the early levels. I think I'll go ahead and order AAS level 1 to have on hand when he finishes HOP.
Can anyone suggest a reading list? We do plenty of read alouds....but what about good beginner books for him to work through?
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My son (age 4) is really exploding with his reading. We've been doing HOP, and we kind of stalled mid way through the 1st grade level back in October. On his own he has picked up so much over the last few months, I'm thinking we can cruise through the rest of 1st grade HOP in a week or so. And I fully anticipate him cruising through the 2nd grade level quickly as well.
My question.....do we move from phonics into spelling? He's already starting to spell simple words and sound words out in his head, so I'm thinking that would be our next logical step. I plan to use AAS, and I think we could probably do Level 1 right now...but I want to go ahead and finish HOP first.
Advice?
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I can't believe I actually got mine posted before the weekend! Woohoo! We started the Harvest Time curriculum this week and had SO MUCH fun with apples! Week in Review
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My son will be 4 next month and we're about halfway through BFIAR. I wish we had started sooner! I'm starting to struggle finding activities that aren't below his level right now. Some of that is good, as it helps reinforce things or gives us a light easy activity. But when the boy has known his shapes forever it seems, he gets aggravated if I say, "what shapes do you see on this page?". Ha!
That said...we really have loved using BFIAR. We do a lapbook for just about every book we row and my son really likes when I bring out all the lapbooks at once. The activities don't really require a lot of prep or time. I'll definitely be using BFIAR with my youngest when she gets older.
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We're about half way through BFIAR and we've really enjoyed it. Although I do wish we had started sooner. I supplement with the fabulous ideas at Home School Share (they have a page for each BFIAR book with activities and lapbook ideas....my son has LOVED these!). He's really picked up a lot from the activities, such as animal classification (nothing fancy..just mammals versus birds versus fish), songs, weather...
There is Christian content in the manual. I just ignore it. You can easily utilize BFIAR without it (except those two books mentioned by a PP....I think those are the only ones you may want to preview and/or skip).
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Trudging in from our horrid last week. But we survived. And we're moving forward. With apples. Lots and lots of apples in our plans this week ;-)
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If you already have RightStart I'd go ahead and try with everyone involved. We started RightStart Level A maybe a month or two ago. (My son will be 4 in November). At first he was pointing and counting items instead of visualizing them. But all of a sudden I noticed he didn't have to count the items anymore. We've been moving very slowly, but so far it's a good fit. You'll know if your child is ready for it or not once you get into it!
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My son will be 4 in November and we're using Level A. Granted, we aren't very far. And we move very slow. But so far so good. I figure we'll probably reach a point where we'll need to hit pause for awhile, and I'm okay with that. But like you've noticed...the early lessons are pretty basic.
As for other programs I know many have had success with Saxon K for preschool. We used Lesson Pathways math for awhile too, before starting RightStart. It's free and uses mostly games/activities to introduce math concepts, which I liked.
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Ours is up! Learning a Latte
Hoping to make the rounds later this evening!!
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I thought about doing this. I am SO EXCITED to start TOG, so I thought I'd buy it early and work through it on my own. But I ended up getting The Well-Educated Mind and doing that instead. I'm kind of glad too, because I'm not moving very fast though the books in WEM!! I am going to buy TOG about 6-12 months before I plan to start teaching it though, just to give myself ample time to get familiar with it and comfortable. But I really can't wait. It covers SO MUCH and I get all giggly and excited wen I look over the scope and sequence.
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I'm late to the game but mine is up! We're doing preschool this year.
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If your child already knows how to write then you definitely don't need PreK. It starts with crayon squiggles and pre-writing, progressing into actual writing. I'd start with K for the extra reinforcement and practice. The TM has lots of extras, such as activities and songs, etc. to go along with the lessons in the workbooks. So if you want JUST the handwriting practice you can probably pass it up. But if you want to make it multi-sensory and fun, then get the TM. Also, to access most of the online content (extras, patterns, song lyrics, etc) you need a code in the TM.
The block paper only helps them remember which letters start in a corner or in the middle, etc. So if he's already writing well you could probably skip that as well.
Honestly, if you're only going to use the student workbook I don't know that I'd bother with HWT. The beauty of the program is all the multi-sensory extras, IMHO. Without those it's just another handwriting workbook.
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You could also add simple Geography using black line world maps and teaching the directional compass by geo-caching or sending him on a treasure hunt.
Ooh yes! I can't wait until my littles are old enough for geocaching!!
Like pp's I also plan to study dinosaurs in K, if there is an interest. Right now he likes friendly dinos ;-) so we'll see where he's at next year!
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I plan to cover the History topics outlined in What Your Kindergartner Needs To Know and filling in with living books. We'll start TOG in 1st grade so I'm not really going to focus too much on history before then. I am going to cover geography/cultures in K though, just not really from a historical viewpoint. Could you maybe pick the topics you know you want to cover and then find books/activities for each one?
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I always freeze my flour. When I bring it home it automatically goes in the freezer for a few days, then I transfer it to the fridge for regular storage. I do a lot of baking so I go through it, but I'd say you should be able to keep it in the freezer for a while. Few months at the very least.
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Something else that came to mind....Signing Time. It does double duty of helping with language AND getting those little hands moving and working! Plus it's full of songs and music! We LOVE it here!
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Sounds like my kiddos!
Hooked on Phonics PreK might be a good fit. It teaches letter names and sounds, but it's cute and catchy. It includes DVD clips with songs and videos, and an online portion you can access with games and videos and more songs. I used it along with Letter of the Week kind of stuff and it was a lot of fun. My son already knew the letter sounds when we worked through it, but he wasn't ready to start blending, so it was a good fit.
HWT Pre-K has been a blast, and might be something to look into when she gets a wee bit older. It starts with crayon scribbling but progresses to writing pretty quickly. You could also go with their wood pieces and letter cards and teach her to "build" her letters. My son LOVED doing that, and I still bring them out from time to time.
If she needs more fine motor practice I can't rave enough about the Kumon First Steps books. They were the best thing EVER to help my son with fine motor skills.
The only other thing I can think of is Before FIAR.
And lots and lots of running ;-)
RightStart vs Singapore for a 4 y.o. who likes math
in K-8 Curriculum Board
Posted
We're not very far into RightStart so I can't really give you a "been there done that" answer...but so far so good! It's not really "fun", but it's laying a great foundation. And it's very easy to implement in short bursts throughout the week.
On the other hand, I have a used version of Saxon K math which uses a lot of play in the lessons, so that may be something to look into as well. I didn't end up using it because I really liked the way RightStart approaches math. But I remember thinking that Saxon K looked like a lot of fun!