Help me figure out English, grades 1 and 3?

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

A little background: I homeschooled my older ds for grades K and 1 and my younger for PreK. Last year, I went back to school and put the kids in Montessori school (where they thrived!). Then last August, my boys and I moved to Indonesia. This year, they have been in the international, English-language Montessori school where I teach. While the first half of the year has gone well, it looks like they will be moving to a local school where all instruction will be in Indonesian, starting in January. As my kids' Indonesian is very, very rudimentary at this point, I will need to keep them going in math and of course English. I'll be using SM for math, but I can't figure out English.

 

I don't want anything too time consuming, as they will have full days at school and will need time to play outside with their buddies, play piano, and just be kids. DS 9 is a voracious reader, has a huge vocabulary, is a horrible speller (out of carelessness, primarily), and is a natural writer. His time in Montessori has given him a very solid foundation in the parts of speech but not much other grammar. DS 6 is still working on his reading. Henry and Mudge, Frog and Toad, and similar books are a breeze, but Magic Tree House is still a bit of a stretch. Both boys write in messy cursive, but both are capable of decent handwriting if they put forth effort.

 

I've been considering Bravewriter for both boys and MCT for my older. I am considering Dancing Bears Fast Track for my younger, and perhaps Apples and Pears for my older. (Or R&S Spelling? I've heard good things about it, but am a bit hesitant to use non-secular materials.) We read together tons and will continue to do so. I'm looking for depth, and not fill-in-the-blank worksheets.

 

Suggestions?

[Writerdaddy]

Hi,

I don't know how much help I can be, but I just got back from a year in Thailand where I had to take over the English instruction even though my two 2nd graders went to an english curric school there-- kind of makeshift and they were the only native speakers.

 

It looks like your kids are on track with reading-- much better than mine. So at least you are not catching up. I think a natural writer will do well with bravewriter. If he's motivated and creative-- but only if you are too! IEW is also excellent and can be done in short chunks, and contains grammar lessons implicitly (although it also reveals gaps which it doesnt fill but at least lets you know what you need to teach). I would also highly recomend the book "No More 'I'm Done!'"

 

I am a fan of fasttrack for my boy with reading problems (sight-guessing). It's simple, easy, fast, and effective. I wonder if it is necessary for yours though, since Frog and Toad is great reading at 6 (in my reality, maybe not in other families on the board here)? Still, it could be a great use of 15 min a day-- but why fasttrack and not just start with A? He's only six-- but hey, wish my boy was like that.

 

I wonder about spelling these days-- will it just work itself out someday in the future? I put a lot of effort into spelling programs like AAS and the like, and they retained what they learned. But somehow I'm left wondering if it was worth the effort. We don't miss it now that it is gone.

 

Well at least one thing I can help with: age 6 is a very impressionable age for young kids, regarding various philosophical matters. I am almost ready to let my 8 year olds encounter most any concepts out there and ask questions and such, but only because at age 6 and 7 I set things up in a certain way. I am convinced that our first "deep" conversations at that age were formative and I still feel their presence in how they process things now.

[Clarkd]

I use the How to Teach Spelling Series, with accompanying How to Spell workbooks, combined with Natural Speller. I like having a basic workbook that isn't cutesy or full of busy work. How to Spell fits the bill. I like the dictation provided in both programs. The combined wordlists from the two program provide a nice level of variety. Go Phonics also has a nice single book for teaching spelling across multiple grade levels. AAS was too much hassle with all the tiles and cards. It is a great program if organization of materials within a lesson, transitions between activities within each lesson, and materials storage/organization is your strength. With four young children who were not too far apart within the AAS program it was too much for me. I do like the All About Reading readers. I don't use the whole reading program but I find the AAR readers have a higher level of vocabulary and sentence complexity than most readers. The readers would be applicable for your first grader but not your third grader. After their initial reading instruction I use traditional texts rather than a reading program. The children read to me, read independently, and I read to them each day. Spelling and grammar are separated from the reading. For grammar we are using Shurley Grammar, but I do not recommend it. I am looking for something else right now. The jingles are awkward and not helpful. The stories intended to make grammar kid friendly are overly cumbersome. The classifying that composes the first half of the first year is a waste of time. Let us know how it works out for you.

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

It turns out shipping MCT here would cost $50, so that's out for now. Maybe I'll pick it up on my next trip to the States. In the meantime, I'll need something else. I love the look of Bravewriter, but I worry that it won't actually get done. IEW and WWE are appealing in that they are more "do this today" sort of programs. But, in that same vein I don't get too excited about something so regimented. WWE is downloadable, which is a big plus.

 

As for Dancing Bears, I was thinking about Fast Track over A because ds6 is already reading. His intonation and comprehension is great, but he has a tendency to guess at longer words.

 

For spelling, I know I don't want AAS. I love the program, ds9 did two levels as a little guy, but I can't handle all the pieces! I just want something to draw ds's attention to the basic rules of spelling so he pays attention to "those pesky details" at least sometimes.

[kiwik]

Do you have internet access? If you do then you could try KISS for grammar. It is free and downloadable. My ds5.5 likes the progressive phonics readers which I have put on an ereader (colour is best). They are also free. Good luck.