This Is How We Do It: Spelling

Spelling is something I've always had a knack for and I'm very thankful that it appears Lillie also has a knack for it and likes it. And though I think that it's important to make those subjects your kids DON"T like fun...it is equally important to stoke the fires of the subjects they LIKE to do. So, in the spirit of making schoolwork fun...here's how we keep spelling interesting.

First off, I felt like I needed a solid base from which to start. I didn't want to buy an expensive curriculum and I knew I wanted something that not only embraced the learning style I love so dear, but that also could be used over and over and over again. So that is why I'm plugging Kathryn Stouts Natural Speller. It's affordable (I got mine on amazon.com used for less than $5).

It has grade appropriate word lists that are grouped by sound patterns and sight patterns (which is how I spell..by visualizing the shape of the word. If I can write it down, I can spell it.) which is a real plus with visual learners.

*Short Lessons

*Plenty of activities to reinforce the words being learned and also tying in dictionary, grammar and handwriting skills.
*Super flexible..take it at your child's pace.

Okay, in short ...I like it and give it two thumbs up and if I had more than two thumbs I'd stick them up as well.

Now...here's how I work spelling. It's a daily thing. On Monday, I choose 10 words from the list that she doesn't already know (when we started out, most of the words on the first list were too easy for her.) Then we pre-test. The words she misses, she writes 5 times each. I was giving the test verbally and may still do that from time to time, but was SO EXCITED to find this website that I can type in the words and it generates an online test with a lovely lady who calls out the words and uses them in a sentence for me. SPELLING CITY is very cool, Lillie likes the format and it's FREE. Ahhh, free...I just love that word!

In addition, Lillie goes through her picture dictionary and picks a word for the day. She copies the definition and draws a picture of the word if she can and we put it in her spelling notebook.
Now, Tuesday through Thursday, she does what I call spelling challenges. The Natural Speller has alot of grade appropriate activities and then I add some I make up myself. I write them on slips of paper and she draws one out. The activities include finding the words in the dictionary, busting the words into syllables, crosswords, word searches, word scrambles, all sorts of things.

BY THE WAY....here are two sites where you can make your own puzzles to print...the uses for these are unlimited and it's FREE.
Discovery Education Puzzle maker
Armored Penguin Word Scrambler

On Friday we test again. All written work is put in a folder in the filing cabinet. I have found if I have a separate routine for each subject I do alot better and it keeps me from flying off into all different directions.
Okay, so there it is...nothing fancy and nothing expensive. Which just goes to show with a little tad of gumption and high speed internet, it is possible to homeschool on less than a shoestring.

So don't sweat it if you find yourself low on funding...the internet has a wealth of information and support and free stuff to help you through the lean times. Your child's education doesn't hinge on if your globe talks to them or how big your school area is or anything like that. Your child's education hinges on you, the parent, investing your time and your excitement into what can be one of the most rewarding times in life...no pressure or anything. LOL

Have a blessed day!

This is How We Do It: Bible

This will be the first installment in the series This Is How We Do It. And I hope it will help someone out there. There are times I've been talking to other homeschoolers and they'll ask how I use notebooking or how we do a certain subject, so this series will answer those questions.

BIBLE

*We basically use our King James Bible and Catherine Voss' Story Bible for Reading.

*Memory Verses

*Lillie is working her way chapter by chapter through the Bible and I print each selection from the BLue Letter Bible site and choose the KJV translation. That way she doesn't have to try and squint at the tiny print in our Bibles and we can highlight trouble words and make notes.

*We also have started a Bible Notebook.

How I Teach Memory Verses

Jack and Chloe pretty much learn by repetition, but since Lillie has started reading , I do a couple fun things aside from daily repetition of the verse and copying the verse.

I write each word of the verse on a Post It Note and scatter them on the wall, then Lillie comes and re-arranges them in the order they go. She really likes doing this and even wrote her verse on Post IT's herself yesterday ...guess mine weren't good enough.

The second thing we've tried and it's really effective and not boring at all is something I call Bible Verse Wipeout. I write the verse on the dry erase board, then Lillie reads it, then I erase one random word from the verse and she has to fill it in the next time she reads it...we continue on until only one word is left standing.

A Note on Notebooking

Since my kids love to draw, I thought I'd incorporate that into our Bible study as well.

For Lillie, I type up the bible stories using my Catherine Voss Story Bible and leave spaces here and there to draw the story. Lillie did Creation the other day and did very well and I really like this activity because not only does it reinforce the story but allows me to see how she sees the story in her mind. I can also see how neat this will be for her when shes older.

I usually print off coloring pages for Chloe and a blank notebooking page like this one from First School for Jack which has a space to draw and an area to write a short sentence. He can write a verse or a sentence from the story and illustrate a part of the story.

What I like about Notebooking is it is simpler than lapbooking and the outcome is the same, not to mention it can be adapted for any age group.

All Fun and Games?

The Bible ought not be boring, especially to kids. I believe you ought to respect the word and handle it properly, but I think our tendency as adults is to be too serious in our pursuit of Bible knowledge. When we adopt such a rigid approach, we ourselves tend to give off the idea that the Bible is this boring , unexciting book that we HAVE to read. THis is the wrong attitude for us and squelches the excitement of the scriptures for our kids. So I say make it fun...do object lessons, Bible Science Experiments, Get a Good Story Bible (I think you know the one I like), but don't neglect reading directly from the Bible. We don't want our kids to think there is any absolute substitute for God's Holy Word. And invest in or buy board games and Bible trivia games. Many games are adaptable to Bible. In my Sunday School Class we play Bible Jeopardy and they really like it. We also play a game called Who Am I? in which one child comes up and turns her back to the others. I show the crowd a card with a name and the chosen person has to guess what person they are by the clues the class gives. It's a great way to judge as a group how much the kids know.

So, this is how we do Bible in our Home, but I would add that Bible shouldn't be something we do for 30 minutes during school, we shouldn't see it as "just another subject to cover"...we should be living the Bible and the truths in it in front of our children every day. This is where I fail the most...trying to shove God into a scheduled out time slot and expecting a blessing in return. Yeah, not happening.

Have a blessed day!