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Nov. 13, 2009
Here Comes Trouble...
Posted By Jenn 4 Him in 2009 Journal
Trevor, having just earned his blue belt in karate, also earned the right to buy a bo staff. Now both boys have one. Oh boy! Should be interesting around here.
Posted By Homeschooling6
Today Caleb and I worked on his first outline using CQLA. It was so fun to do this with him. I really enjoy my time teaching Caleb. We read a picture book on David & Goliath. We had to write the title, author and when it was published. He then had to give a short summary which I wrote down, we wrote the main characters and the plot. Next wee I think we will finish it.
Caleb doesn't like reading the same passage everyday of the week but hey, it's life. We read the passage. He had to highlight the main subjects. We used an orange highlighter. He really enjoys using highlighters. Makes it more fun than just underlining or circling  .
On the Well Trained Mind forum someone mentioned that they use Elementary Speller by William Henry Wheeler, so I took a peek and loved what I saw  . I thought I would add it to our homeschool. Today, Brent & Caleb copied the first half of the poem, underlined the vowels and illustrated it. I love how Caleb, put different layers of soil. He made top soil and other layers under it. Brent, made a picture of a seed sleeping deep in the soil. Next week we will finish copying the poem and illustrate how the seed will wake.
Here is the first half of the poem: In the heart of a seed,
Buried deep, so deep
A dear little plant
Lay fast asleep
Caleb & Brent also finished Week 10 of The Phonics Road to Spelling & Reading. They still need to practice some words but I think they will be ready for week 11 on Monday. I keep their spelling list on the wall and through out the week I drill them (weekends too). The list hangs in the kitchen so it makes it easy to remember. I just call out, "Brent, how do you spell house?" 
Something great is happening at the Beltran house. Caleb is a reader. He is reading books. Yesterday he said, "Mom, the reason I don't read very well, I think it's because I'm not desperate to read."
He has not been interested until now. He wants to work at Yellowstone National Park when he grows up . He knows if he is going to work there that he must know about the plants, animals and so forth. Now he is interested in reading about animals. Yahoo! He has been reading Christian Liberty Nature Reader.
I'm so much more relaxed than I was with Josh. I look back and see how stressed out I was with Joshua. Feeling he was 'behind'. I know I did a real disservice to him. I see how I was shoving so much curriculum down his throat trying to keep at 'grade' level with his peers. By doing so I think I hindered him more than anything.
As we all know, each child is so different. We can read books like The Well Trained Mind or Never Too Early which promote early reading or Better Late Than Early or School Can Wait which is more for waiting until a chld is older. And to make it more confusing they all have their research to back-up their book. You get pulled in so many different directions. Unfortunately I found books that were bent toward reading early. I panicked when Josh wasn't reading at an early age.
It seems my boys aren't in the 'early' category and I'm fine with that now. We still start phonics instruction in 1st grade but I don't expect them to 'get it' all at that age. I see with my boys that phonics and all the spelling rules is very overwhelming for then at that age. Even though I would love to get phonics over with and be done with it after 2nd grade  that it's not happening here. My boys need to continue their spelling & phonics instruction. I'm so thankful that we found The Phonics Road. This seems to be what we need. It's not cartoonish or anything, so even though the program is technically for 1st grade, my 3rd grader doesn't feel that it's babyish. No cute little animals or title. The binder cover actually looks more for the mature and grown-up .
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Some of the things the children are up to these days.
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Joshua, is making a rope from plastic bags.
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Annette, is writing down all the states & capitals as well as the state birds.
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Caleb, is reading and loving it!
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Brent, loves to copy maps
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Ethan, continues to catch lizards.
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Lance, loves to act like he is reading.
Blessings,
Linda<><
Nov. 13, 2009
Featured Blogger ~ ElCloud
Posted By HomeschoolBlogger Company Blog in Featured Blogger of the Week
Here is yet another blogger that I thought for sure had already been Featured Blogger of the Week before, ElCloud of ElCloud Homeschool: Busy Minds, Busy Hands, Busy Feet. As near as I can tell, I was wrong.
I'm glad I stopped by her blog today because she has two posts on the subject of no longer taking certain children to the store: Being Banned From Wal-Mart and I Should Probably Clarify. These posts encouraged me because I have recently had to ban one of my children from going into any store, not just Wal-Mart.
This week on the Porch we've been talking about home economics. ElCloud has a great post on making your own antibacterial soap.
Crafting is another home ec subject, one I haven't been able to get a passing grade on. ElCloud shares some interesting information about UHU glue and how you can get some for free, if you are willing to blog your craft projects. What homeschooler isn't? (Aside from me of course.)
Go greet ElCloud, a.k.a. April, and tell her all sorts of wonderful things about yourselves and your blogs.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Nov. 13, 2009
Artifically Induced Dyslexia?
Posted By Gena Suarez, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Recently I was introduced to an article that piqued my interest. I read the article carefully to make sure I was understanding it, and to make sure I wasn't skipping any clues that the author might be a crack-pot. Plenty of people think I'm one, so I suppose I should be able to recognize one when I see it.
The article is called, "Can Dyslexia Be Artificially Induced in School? Yes, Says Researcher Edward Miller" and it's written by Samuel L. Blumenfeld, a name many homeschoolers should recognize because he's the author of Alpha Phonics.
Now, I admit that I know next to nothing about dyslexia. So I thought I'd do a little research on what dyslexia is. Interestingly, it isn't just about seeing and writing letters backwards or upside down, that is only one symptom, and someone with dyslexia may not have that symptom at all. Basically, it's anyone who struggles with reading. Not necessarily a dislike of reading, but someone who truly struggles with decoding and comprehension. That is not a medical description, but the sum of what I read from several dyslexia help websites. All of them agreed, however, that dyslexia is always either inherited or neurological in nature.
Mr. Blumenfeld and Mr. Miller disagree with the above theory. They believe that the cause of this artificially induced dyslexia is caused by the sight word reading method and they offer evidence that backs their theory. Read the article, it's very fascinating! (Note: There was one "bad" word in the article but not so bad that I didn't want to write this post and link you to the article. Just be aware that's it's there and I know that it's there.)
Now one of the things mentioned in the article are the Dr. Seuss books. Dr. Seuss himself apparently thought sight word reading was a lot of twaddle. Still, he wrote the books and made tons of money. Why this interested me is because two of my children went to bed one night with Green Eggs and Ham and the next day they could read nearly anything I put before them. Wallah! The mystery of decoding words was revealed! So if sight reading can cause dyslexia why could my daughters read anything and with a voracious appetite? The simple reason is that I had been teaching them phonics, not how to sight read. They didn't memorize the words in the book, they sounded them out.
My youngest daughter didn't learn to read until the end of her third grade year. She struggled with reading until that point. All of her symptoms pointed to dyslexia. After reading the linked to article, I began to think more about the change. If what the article says is true, then my youngest daughter should still be dyslexic, and yet three months after she started learning to read she was reading The Hobbit. It struck me that what I had been using to teach my daughter to read prior to the few months before her night with Green Eggs and Ham had been sight word books like Dick and Jane, and Rod and Staff Pathway readers. The books themselves don't teach using phonics, but I was still trying to use them to do just that and supplementing with phonics because I knew phonics was the best way to teach reading. My daughter was caught in that limbo state mentioned in the article.
Because my daughter struggled with reading, I kept reading her schoolwork to her knowing that when she was ready to read, she would. We never made a big deal out of it. Then in the middle of her third grade year I switched to just a phonics reading program. The night my daughter went to bed with Green Eggs and Ham she read the words by sound, not sight. She then took off with her reading, the method of reading set. Praise the Lord it was phonics and not sight reading! By fourth grade many of the students reading method is set, and for many of those it was set before then. I think my daughter wasn't set before that because we weren't forcing her to learn to read like they would have in the public school.
All I can say is that the article totally fit the pattern that my family experienced. I know that it was teaching reading by sight that caused my niece in public school no end of struggle and tears for many years. The public school system still believes that sight word reading is a valuable tool and it refuses to look at the evidence that shows the dangers of it. I won't say that sight reading is bad for all students, it is used to teach the deaf, but we are talking about a handful of students who need to learn to read this way. If the schools would quit pushing students to learn to read before they are even ready, and use phonics to teach reading in the mean time, they would have a much better success rate at making children literate.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Nov. 13, 2009
Last Weeks to Subscribe or Renew for Winter--Save 68%
Posted By HomeschoolBlogger Company Blog in TOS News
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Nov. 13, 2009
Special Words for Special Needs ~ Home Ec and My Big Projects Week
Posted By HomeschoolBlogger Company Blog in specialneeds
This week we are talking about Home Ec around the Porch. I am excited that I have a ton of pics this week to share. We just got done with our big project week.
I homeschool all year around. For us it allows lee way for doctor appointments, longer holiday seasons, and in general it keep the information flowing so there is no summer brain drain. I like to stop every 6 weeks and have an off week. That didn't work very well for my most autistic child. She didn't understand the week off and it became very agitating for her. I needed to weigh her anxiety and the problems it caused with giving the kids their well deserved week off. So big project week was born.
During big project week we focus on things like sewing projects, large art projects, service projects,any thing that doesn't comfortably fit into a normal homeschooling day. We still get work done and yet there is plenty of time to relax.
This pile gets cut, pinned, sewn, and pressed together.
Out comes a happy Laura Ingalls Wilder fan! We also made one other dress.
I hope you take the time to sew with your children. Teach basic skills like button sewing, hemming, and basic tear fixes. Accidents happen and your children will be so much better off having a knowledge of sewing to fix wardrobe accidents. Well wishes on your journey into Home Ec. God bless!
Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling.
Nov. 12, 2009
CCC & more on MFW combining
Posted By Homeschooling6
So many things going on. Christ-Centered Phonics is going well with Ethan. A little bit slower than I hoped. There is so much to cover in this curriculum. We are going over suffixes, and some spelling rules.
Ethan is six years old but like the rest of my boys at this age, some of this just flies over his head. Since he will eventually use The Phonics Road to Spelling & Reading I am not having him master everything. It is a lot. I'm mainly concentrating on the phonics portion and of course Bible.
We usually start with going over the flashcards, then practice some blends and go over our Bible lesson. We are suppose to do a lot more but if we did EVERYTHING that is in the teacher manual; it becomes to much and Ethan gets bored. Once we are done with what's in the TM then we do the workbook pages. He enjoys the workbook. It takes us about 30 minutes. If we did everything it would be longer and we would have to break up our day.
Other times, I'll do flashcards, blends and so forth one day and do the workbook pages another. It depends on our day and how much time we have.
Regarding MFW Exp1850; I mentioned that I am not going to combine, well that is not set in stone. I would like Annette to use MFW Exp1850 in 7th grade & 1850 to Modern times for 8th (like I have it planned for Josh) so if we combine than she would be done. I know I'm making it more complicated than it needs to be, but we are not your average MFW users. As you know for the last two years we have been using textbooks . Anyway, I'm fine if we combine or not. For today it looks like we won't combine. I might find something that will be around the same time period for, Annette.
To complicate things more, I might combine my three youngest with Josh, since it's kind of like they would start Adventures. I have all the books because we used this with Josh, Annette & Caleb three years ago.
Why am I even thinking about all this? It's only November. LOL. I think it's because I want to pre read the books for MFW Exp1850, so it's got me thinking about the rest of the clan . Also Annette & Josh work well with workboods/textbooks but Caleb I'm not so sure. For some reason Ii can't see him sitting with his textbook. I think it's because he is still learning how to read. When we did MFW Adventures Caleb really enjoyed the States sheets. I am sure he would love to go through Adventures again.....
That's it for now ;)
Blessings,
Linda<><
Nov. 12, 2009
Job Opportunity for Ladies in Hutcheson, Minnesota!
Posted By HomeschoolBlogger Company Blog in General Interest
Do you live in the Hutcheson, Minnesota area? Jill Novak's friend, Audrey Hollatz, who does the tea section of the Girlhood Home Companion magazine, runs a tea room in Hutcheson and is looking for some help during the day. It is a wonderful opportunity for some older daughters/mothers to learn first hand about running a tea house!
If you are interested please contact:
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