This just isn’t going to work for us.
It took less than a week for me to realize that the history program we have all laid out for us is not going to work. I do believe the kids would have fun with the activity guide (like these cave paintings) and the hideaways but the content is too abstract. Sure we could work our way through it but instead I’m going to shelf it for awhile and come back to it in a few years when I feel everyone will get more out of it.
So now I’m back to pulling together my own curriculum. After talking with Bug I’ve come up with a new plan… History of Heroes. We are going to focus on biographies… people the kids should know. We will be starting with inventors. Those of you who enjoyed my lessons plans from last year, stay tuned. I will have my first semester list up shortly.
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Studying inventors sounds like tons of fun! Good opportunity for some companion field trips to museums and such too. I’m not sure if Bug reads the Magic Tree House books, but there are a couple that feature inventors that might be fun add-ons that you could pick up at the library. In #35, Night of the New Magicians, they go back to the 1889 Paris World’s Fair and meet Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur and Gustave Eiffel. In #38, Monday with a Mad Genius, they meet Leonardo da Vinci. We don’t have #38, but the boys liked the World’s Fair one. I never realized that all those important inventors were all together at the 1889 World’s Fair. A lot of brain power all in one place! There is also a research guide companion book to the Leonardo da Vinci one.
LOL – yes my mother has the entire Magic Tree House series and companion books. Her basement is such a treasure trove.
Ah, sometimes it just isn’t the right fit. If you’re an obsessive planner like me it can be the cause of some scrambling, though, to plan something new.
I’ve been meaning to ask you–how is Spell to Write and Read working out? I have read so many mixed reviews that I’m not sure whether to order it or not. Holden, my 5 year old, is on lesson 7 or so using readinga-z.com and is doing really well on the part where you have them spell out words using the letter cards.
My 10 year old, however, is a terrible speller. I think it’s because I taught her to read the “Waldorf” way, honestly, because my 8 year old was taught using phonics and is a great speller. I think that good spelling is important and want to not only use STW&R remedially with her but also with Holden to just make sure that he has a good, solid foundation for spelling.
Anyway, didn’t mean to blog on your blog but just wanted to know how that program was going.
Hmmm… Spell to Write and Read is definitely not for the faint of heart. I am very glad I have read through it all (several times) for my own benefit. It is had made me much more confident in teaching phonics but I would by no means recommend it as a beginning reading program. I would compare it to teaching someone the mechanics of an engine before letting them learn to drive. Needlessly detailed and for a child… memorizing spelling rules for the long term goal of reading I think would just bog down most kids and is painfully BORING. My son wanted to read his Star Wars books NOW… not learn to write them. BUT for an older child who is already reading and needs a stronger foundation in phonics for spelling I think it might be a great way to go.
We are somewhat using it. I do the phonogram cards with my kiddos. Bug knows almost all of them and all the sounds associated with each phonogram. Fairy only knows the main sound of the A-Z letters. I won’t let her listen in when Bug does them because her hearing that A says ah, A and uh was confusing her when she went to sound out her CVC words. We also diagram words sometimes when Bug is having a hard time with a new word. I tend to jot down 2-3 words per reading that he needed help reading and build them with the phonograms. It is helpful… but like I said trying to use the spelling program with him as they have it laid out was just too complicated. So I guess what I am saying is that I think it might be a good option for your ten year old but I have doubts that it would work well with a five year old just starting out.
I love ReadingA-Z for early phonics. I found I needed more after the first 36 lessons or so basically once we got past the basic CVC. We started supplimenting with Explode the Code and Beyond the Code.