To teach it or not to teach it. That has been the question!
For YEARS have put off doing cursive writing. I'm not sure why, I knew I always wanted my kids to learn it, to read it, to write it. I just kept putting it off. At first it was because I felt they were not ready for it, then it was because I couldn't find resources like I liked, then it was because they were older and the resources were geared for younger kids.
I decided that at 13/12 years of age, 8th/7th grade, that there was no need to keep waiting on it. I could no longer keep putting it on the back burner. I had to address it! If we were going to do it it was going to be now or never.
So last week I borrowed resources from the library, because libraries are awesome, and we dived right in. We are working through the workbooks I borrowed, but I also printed off a sheet with all the letters and have told the kids to just start writing in cursive and if they didn't know how to make the letters to use the sheet with all the letters as the guide.
Over all it has been going good. My husband after 3 days of writing in cursive is impressed with their penmanship. I am impressed with their penmanship. Yes we started late, but truly it hasn't been bad and their penmanship looks just as good to me as their peers that have been writing in cursive for years. There is some minor errors they are making with connecting letters, but I'm able critique the writing and tell the kids where and how to do better.
It's a good thing to see them write in cursive. It's a good thing to see that over all their penmanship is good and they understand the mistakes they are making and able to correct them easily. It's a relief to know that even though we started cursive writing late in the game the kids are just as good at it as their peers that have been doing it for a long time. -- or at least compared to the hand writing I have seen from their homeschooled an non-homeschooled peers. Do you teach your kids to write in cursive?
As a side note it was also a good thing to get a pat on the back from the librarian. When I was returning some the materials I borrowed she asked me how I liked them. I told her it was good, but not for us, seeing the kids are a little older. I openly admitted to her that I kept putting it off, but it was time to address it. She said well at least you are doing it. So many schools don't even teach it now!
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
October 26, 2014
November 2, 2011
Spelling Power
Spelling Power. Have you heard of it? Have you used it? Do you like it? What are your thoughts of the program? I was able to buy the book used along with the resource CD and quick start DVD. This is our second day of using it and so far so good.
The kids seem to enjoy it. Set up hasn't been to bad. We are still trying to get into the flow of it. I think things will move much smoother then they do now once we are use to the program.
Because of using this program I realized that my daughter doesn't use lower case letter or capital letters in the correct format. For example she'll right things like SEvEnTh. I've, also, noticed that certain letters like B, D, G, E, T are always written in the capital form. She did this before when working with spelling list, but I never really correct that, nor did I really pay attention to how often she did that. Spelling Power wants you to correct those kind of mistakes. So I've been correcting her. Luckily that doesn't bother her much. Hopefully it will stay that way.
We haven't done much "traditional" writing. I've let my kids over the last few years do writing on the computer, because I wanted to build on their computer skills. However now I'm seeing that perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing seeing their true writing and penmanship skills have suffered.
Do any of you have any suggestions for workbooks and activities to improve writing and penmanship for OLDER children?
The kids seem to enjoy it. Set up hasn't been to bad. We are still trying to get into the flow of it. I think things will move much smoother then they do now once we are use to the program.
Because of using this program I realized that my daughter doesn't use lower case letter or capital letters in the correct format. For example she'll right things like SEvEnTh. I've, also, noticed that certain letters like B, D, G, E, T are always written in the capital form. She did this before when working with spelling list, but I never really correct that, nor did I really pay attention to how often she did that. Spelling Power wants you to correct those kind of mistakes. So I've been correcting her. Luckily that doesn't bother her much. Hopefully it will stay that way.
We haven't done much "traditional" writing. I've let my kids over the last few years do writing on the computer, because I wanted to build on their computer skills. However now I'm seeing that perhaps that wasn't the wisest thing seeing their true writing and penmanship skills have suffered.
Do any of you have any suggestions for workbooks and activities to improve writing and penmanship for OLDER children?
March 27, 2011
2011-2012 School Year: What to use?
I still have several months before I'll wrap up our current school year. I had plan to go all the way to the end of July. We are going to give our hand at all year schooling. However, spring is clearly in the air, because homeschool social sites, such as The Homeschool Lounge, are buzzing with discussions about what to use for next year for science, history, language arts, etc.
Even though I have several more months left I to have been looking at what to use for next year. I have my math and history covered. I have some of my language arts covered like: grammar, spelling and literature.
I HAVE to figure out what I want to use for science. I also need to do something about my children's handwriting and I need to do something to encourage writing. The grammar workbooks are great for the basics of grammar, but I need to do something that will get them to write paragraphs, reports, or something along those lines.
Fine Arts are a requirement in my state and I think I have that covered okay. Although I think we are at the point were we would like our kids to learn and instrument, but I'm not sure what instrument to encourage or that will even be in our budget. If you have any suggestions that will be great!
Even though I have several more months left I to have been looking at what to use for next year. I have my math and history covered. I have some of my language arts covered like: grammar, spelling and literature.
I HAVE to figure out what I want to use for science. I also need to do something about my children's handwriting and I need to do something to encourage writing. The grammar workbooks are great for the basics of grammar, but I need to do something that will get them to write paragraphs, reports, or something along those lines.
Fine Arts are a requirement in my state and I think I have that covered okay. Although I think we are at the point were we would like our kids to learn and instrument, but I'm not sure what instrument to encourage or that will even be in our budget. If you have any suggestions that will be great!
November 15, 2010
Solitude
Lately Web-princess has been seeking some solitude and frankly I don't know what to make of it. I find her often in her room alone with a nose in a book or playing quietly with her toys. Even yesterday with Grandpa here she hung out in her room alone.
She seem happy and last night when we asked her why she didn't want to join the family in the living room. We got I much rather be alone in my room where it's quiet so I can read, draw, etc.
On one hand I'm glad that she has taken an interest in reading. I doubt because of her reading abilities that she is truly reading the books she's has stuck her nose in, but she trying and seems content looking at the page and doing her best to make out the words.
Last night after hours of being alone in her room she emerged with a book and ask if I would read it to her. I said yes, so we went into my room, snuggled on my bed and read. She insisted that she turn the pages and was truly following along, because at one point I repeated the same line 3-4 times and she said mom it said this. She read the line I was on and the line right after it, fluently and just fine. I was a bit surprise she read that well, because we still struggle with words and her lexile score is 200. For her age/grade level she should have at least a lexile score of 500.
So we have a way to go. I know we do, but at the same time April of 2010 her score was below 100. So we have made HUGE progress the last few months. For that I'm thankful. We have been doing a lot of mommy read, books on tape, and following along as the tape or mommy read. We have been playing phonics games and she has been reading to mommy or daddy. The phonics games we play are card games so she has the physicals cards to manipulate. That helps her the most!
We even have been playing scrabble too. Although the traditional scrabble is a bit hard for the kids, because spelling is still weak spot for them. So we have been thinking about getting scrabble slam or scrabble flash. Do any of you have these scrabble games? Are they any fun? Do you think they would help with spelling/reading? Do you think the kids would enjoy either of them better then traditional scrabble?
She seem happy and last night when we asked her why she didn't want to join the family in the living room. We got I much rather be alone in my room where it's quiet so I can read, draw, etc.
On one hand I'm glad that she has taken an interest in reading. I doubt because of her reading abilities that she is truly reading the books she's has stuck her nose in, but she trying and seems content looking at the page and doing her best to make out the words.
Last night after hours of being alone in her room she emerged with a book and ask if I would read it to her. I said yes, so we went into my room, snuggled on my bed and read. She insisted that she turn the pages and was truly following along, because at one point I repeated the same line 3-4 times and she said mom it said this. She read the line I was on and the line right after it, fluently and just fine. I was a bit surprise she read that well, because we still struggle with words and her lexile score is 200. For her age/grade level she should have at least a lexile score of 500.
So we have a way to go. I know we do, but at the same time April of 2010 her score was below 100. So we have made HUGE progress the last few months. For that I'm thankful. We have been doing a lot of mommy read, books on tape, and following along as the tape or mommy read. We have been playing phonics games and she has been reading to mommy or daddy. The phonics games we play are card games so she has the physicals cards to manipulate. That helps her the most!
We even have been playing scrabble too. Although the traditional scrabble is a bit hard for the kids, because spelling is still weak spot for them. So we have been thinking about getting scrabble slam or scrabble flash. Do any of you have these scrabble games? Are they any fun? Do you think they would help with spelling/reading? Do you think the kids would enjoy either of them better then traditional scrabble?
October 9, 2010
SCARCE: New (to me) books
Today several members of I-HOPE (the new homeschool co-op/group that I have started) traveled to Glenn Elyn, IL to visit SCARCE. SCARCE is a "school" book rescue. I learned about them back in February, but I didn't have the privilege to go down their until today.
They are FREE for public school teachers, but do make homeschoolers pay a yearly membership fee, plus $5 per book. They have a LOT there! Digging around I was able to find Social Studies (World History) textbooks for the children. I was able to get 2 textbooks (one for each child), the corresponding student worksheets, chapter tests, and the complete book on audio CDS for $30 (not including the yearly membership fee). Based on my brief assestment of the material while at SCARCE I'm confident that this material will last me for 2 school years.
I'm excited to dive into the books more and see what's actually there! I'm also over joyed to have been able to get the corresponding audio version of the books. We were told almost an year ago that Web-princess has convergence insufficiency. At first we didn't do anything with that knowledge because we were in the middle of dealing with Superstars surgery for ITW. (Can you believe that it he had the surgery almost a year ago? At the end of the month we see the surgeon to learn if he can be brace (AFO) FREE!)
After things started to settle down post surgery, I started to dive into convergence insufficiency to learn what I can do for Web-Princess. I learned that those with convergence insufficiency responded best to reading with the same methods used for dyslexia. Those with dyslexia respond best with a multi-sensory approach to reading. I learned all of that January 2010, but it took me several months to learn what the means and HOW to do that in our home. I really didn't start applying things until April/May 2010, which really was at the end of our school year. I've started THIS school year trying to do things as multi-sensory as possible.
Thus the more senses I can engage when learning to read or doing reading activities the best! We do a lot of writing with shaving cream, writing in sand, reading with audio books. We have been learning phonics with card games
. The more I can engage the different senses at the same time the better she responds. So to get a Social Studies Book today with the corresponding audio version is AWESOME!!
Speaking of Web-princess, I'm so please to see progress in the reading, writing, spelling area. Her independent reading is more of a 2nd grade level. Her writing is more of a K level. However she's starting to get it and is actually trying to read more on her own. Not only that but she has also made up her own books and stories. All independent and outside of "school" time.
Her latest creation is called "Soopr Sron Boy" (translation Super Strong Boy). It's a chapter book! She even included a table of contents at the beginning of the book. She informed me that this book will have a sequel (although she called it a new chapter, but what she describes to me is sequel).
I know this is "behind" what most of her peers would write. However it took us two school years to learn why reading, spelling, and writing was a such a struggle for her. Now that we know and have been applying multi-sensory approach as much as possible she has made HUGE progress. In just a few months she has gone form a child that refused to even TRY to read something to a child that is TRYING READ and WRITE her own books!
I know that as long as I try to use multi-sensory approach to reading, writing, and spelling as much as possible that she will continue to bridge that cap and will no longer be "behind" when it comes this area.
That's why it's so cool that I found the social studies books today with audio CDS! Yes it's social studies, but it does require that she reads it! So being able to read the book and listen at the same time, engaging both senses, will be awesome!!!
They are FREE for public school teachers, but do make homeschoolers pay a yearly membership fee, plus $5 per book. They have a LOT there! Digging around I was able to find Social Studies (World History) textbooks for the children. I was able to get 2 textbooks (one for each child), the corresponding student worksheets, chapter tests, and the complete book on audio CDS for $30 (not including the yearly membership fee). Based on my brief assestment of the material while at SCARCE I'm confident that this material will last me for 2 school years.
I'm excited to dive into the books more and see what's actually there! I'm also over joyed to have been able to get the corresponding audio version of the books. We were told almost an year ago that Web-princess has convergence insufficiency. At first we didn't do anything with that knowledge because we were in the middle of dealing with Superstars surgery for ITW. (Can you believe that it he had the surgery almost a year ago? At the end of the month we see the surgeon to learn if he can be brace (AFO) FREE!)
After things started to settle down post surgery, I started to dive into convergence insufficiency to learn what I can do for Web-Princess. I learned that those with convergence insufficiency responded best to reading with the same methods used for dyslexia. Those with dyslexia respond best with a multi-sensory approach to reading. I learned all of that January 2010, but it took me several months to learn what the means and HOW to do that in our home. I really didn't start applying things until April/May 2010, which really was at the end of our school year. I've started THIS school year trying to do things as multi-sensory as possible.
Thus the more senses I can engage when learning to read or doing reading activities the best! We do a lot of writing with shaving cream, writing in sand, reading with audio books. We have been learning phonics with card games
. The more I can engage the different senses at the same time the better she responds. So to get a Social Studies Book today with the corresponding audio version is AWESOME!!Speaking of Web-princess, I'm so please to see progress in the reading, writing, spelling area. Her independent reading is more of a 2nd grade level. Her writing is more of a K level. However she's starting to get it and is actually trying to read more on her own. Not only that but she has also made up her own books and stories. All independent and outside of "school" time.
Her latest creation is called "Soopr Sron Boy" (translation Super Strong Boy). It's a chapter book! She even included a table of contents at the beginning of the book. She informed me that this book will have a sequel (although she called it a new chapter, but what she describes to me is sequel).
Chapter 1: Her Ces the Hero
Sopr Sron Boy wes a vare god hero.
Translation: Chapter 1: Here Comes the Hero
Super Strong Boy was a very good hero.
I know this is "behind" what most of her peers would write. However it took us two school years to learn why reading, spelling, and writing was a such a struggle for her. Now that we know and have been applying multi-sensory approach as much as possible she has made HUGE progress. In just a few months she has gone form a child that refused to even TRY to read something to a child that is TRYING READ and WRITE her own books!
I know that as long as I try to use multi-sensory approach to reading, writing, and spelling as much as possible that she will continue to bridge that cap and will no longer be "behind" when it comes this area.
That's why it's so cool that I found the social studies books today with audio CDS! Yes it's social studies, but it does require that she reads it! So being able to read the book and listen at the same time, engaging both senses, will be awesome!!!
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