May. 2, 2006
sing, spell, read and write
I bought this curriculum to teach both my
kids how to spell, read and write. I thought the singing would be
a fun way to get them to do this. This was a decision I made
before I discovered Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Online. It was
my first homeschooling decision at all, to be honest. I felt that
I could do this hs thing if I just had something to follow.
The program is working okay for my daughter. We don't use the
singing because we have found that the songs are too hard to
distinquish the phonics sounds. The spelling lists and the reader
books are a good combo for her level of reading right now. I have
also seen some progress with handwriting.
I have found that I really don't like it for my son. The first
book teaches him letters but the activities repeat too much. Not
in a teaching a lesson kind of a way, but in a "I can't think of
anything more creative" type of way. It bores me too, I must
admit. I expected a lot more out of this program for him.
In truth, I am not sure how to handle my son and hs. He is an
energetic child who doesn't like "work". We are in week 8
of our homeschooling journey. I have made some realizations, like
mornings are a precious time to work. I have switched my exercise
routine to evenings as a result.
I am not sure if we are too much alike so that I can't work with his
flightiness, or if he is more energetic than I can understand.
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Comments
May. 3, 2006 - Hi!
 Posted by kindredspiritMom
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I saw your comment on "joyful homeschool" about laughing so hard you have to pee and thought I just had to meet you! :) This does happen to me, and now my husband is used to me laughing hysterically and running to the bathroom. Anyway, we had a similiar experience with the Sing, Spell etc. It worked fine for dd #1 and only a bit with #2. She was okay with learning the letter sounds with the song and games but after that the ferris wheel did her in. We switched to "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 easy lessons" by Siegfried Englemann. It has worked very well with my short attention span, wiggler, Robin Wiliams-type crazy tangents child. Besides...it cost me $5 as opposed to the big bucks I spent on SSRW. At least we still use the card games and the bingo!
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May. 3, 2006 - ferris wheel
 Posted by poweredbynature
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Thank you for your wonderful input! Seriously when I got to the ferris wheel part I doubted my ability to hs - or maybe more my ability to withstand torture.
We started this program about 8 weeks ago. My daughter had 4 years of Montessori preparation for reading and was reading, sort of. She has a speech pronunciation issue, as well as a Zimbabwe accent (which she picked up from her daddy who has not lived there since he was 18!) I wanted to start at square 1 in hopes that her speech would improve. I felt very confident in my ability to teach phonics with this material (a subject that I never picked up on myself- I am a sight reader.) Then we hit the Ferris Wheel. Many yawns and tears later, we decided to stop that portion and go on to the next step.
When my son got to that part in his kindergarten material, I skipped it. I couldn't torture myself again. However when I watched the instructional video I realized that the wheel was the foundation of the whole program and it was needed to proceed. I can vouch for that because the next lesson was really too big of a jump for my son.
And to make myself sound completely szichophrenic (a word I have never had reason to spell, and have completely botched) I did notice my son singing one of the songs to himself today. Since my son has just turned 5, I think I will content myself on him singing songs rather than reading at this point.
I am very glad to know there are other programs out there. I got this one for my wiggly willy, and it doesn't quite match.
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May. 3, 2006 - Back again!
 Posted by
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I'll never ride a Ferris Wheel again!!! Don't sweat it. The whole reason that we homeschool is to be able to make a custom-fit curriculum for each child as an individual. Learning is not one size fits all. I shop on e-bay for resources and tgive away or sell materials that don't work for us. A lot of the veteran homeschoolers in the book I just read agree that little boys should not be pushed to do workbooks/reading until they have a desire and readiness. When I stopped doing the SSRW with Ally she was so happy. She listened to our read alouds. Eventually we found the 100 seps book and she is now reading (and we're not even finished). We keep it short and sweet. I cuddle with her on my window seat. We don't even do it every day...and its working.
To answer your comment on my blog:
Yes...I can guess what you're reading! I was just looking at a new illustrated version of "Anne" that we have. It is unabridged but has some pictures, which my 6 year old really enjoys. I am hoping to start it after we finish "George Mueller."
I have had one true bosom friend in my life. I have also been in the "depths of despair" a few times :) I think the Anne books are so full of beauty. We are going to visit the "Green Gables" house in P.E.I this summer. I will post pictures. Have a great night fellow kindred-spirit!
Michele
Edited by kindredspiritMom on May. 3, 2006 at 8:24 PM
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Aug. 9, 2007 - Child-Led Unit Studies
Posted by Jan Zeiger |
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I recommend these for your son. :)
Jan
HSing mom and former teacher
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