Tag: spelling

Family Activities

History and Spelling Updates

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Hey loves!

Do you ever wonder why eclectic homeschoolers are called eclectic? Honestly I don’t have the exact answer but I know I am an eclectic homeschooler because it takes a minute to find things that really work for our family and no two children are at the same. 

With that, since the beginning of our year and my last curriculum updates what you can find here, I’ve made some changes to history and spelling for James.

If you recall in this video I already changed our spelling from Spelling You See to a spelling curriculum that I found via Pinterest that was free. With this free curriculum we used manipulatives that we had at home to help him practice spelling words solely from recitation. While the recitation part was improving, I could tell the cognitive function ofused spelling was not increasing across other areas. So, I went back to the drawing board. Thankfully, use curriculum sales are my jam and I was able to find all about spelling, the complete set, for a total of seven dollars. I couldn’t beat that if I tried so I took it as a sign that we could just give it a shot.

Well, this shot changed our entire lives and frankly, I am in love. All about spelling is wet we needed in James’ spelling has improved monumentally in just 10 lessons. Because I am loved by the Most High, I was also able to find a brand new copy of level 2 for a great price locally and grabbed it so we are all set there.

Now, for history, I said at thetime that I was researching I couldn’t find a non-Eurocentric curriculum program that was age-appropriate for James. So, I settled with Story of The World. Well, it wasn’t inaccurate or grossly racist but it wasn’t fun or engaging. Honestly, because of my traditional school upbringing I honestly thought that’s what history was. That is until I found Curiousity Chronicles. This curriculum includes an audiobook that’s so engaging and fun and the activities are crazy easy to implement while letting the child learn and have fun. 

We are studying ancient history now and will soon go into the medieval period. I’ll be using the same curriculum because they are not only accurate and not grossly racist but they are also non- Eurocentric and focus on so many other great ethnic cultures and traditions in their history curriculums.

I rounded both of these out by grabbing two of these notebooks from The School Nest. I’m not sure why she doesn’t have all of the pictures on her website but that’s her business thankfully a friend sent me a full video flipped through and I was sold. For $10 each I am able to have a history timeline that will last us for years any spelling notebook that’s going to do the exact same without having tons of loose papers all around my house that I have to clean up and keep up with. 

That’s all for now. Talk soon!

Homeschool

Homeschool Curriculum Update- Language Arts!

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Happy New Year Loves!

How is 2021 treating you so far? I surely hope you are well. If you can’t tell by the title, this is the first in a series of blog posts where I will be updating you on all of the curriculum we’ve used this year. If you need a refresher on what we are using for language arts (LA), check out this blog post. 

I would also like to preface this with homeschool curriculum is an experiment. It just is… you honestly really never how well something will work until you try it. 

Alright now to LA!

I’ll start with the All About Reading (AAR). This was the biggest investment for us, time wise and financially. After prepping both sets for each of my kids, I planned out the lessons. I’m not going to lie- I was intimidated. I was used to open-and-go, easy peasy instructions. Here’s what I’ve learned thus far. 

This curriculum is exactly what my kids need. I honestly can’t express to you the gains my kids have made since September using this curriculum. Not only is James reading more fluently, he now loves reading. It excites and delights him. It’s opened up a new portal for us in all subjects. Jude started this year not being able to recognize any letters consistently or know any phonemes. Now we are at 20/26 with 95% accuracy. Even better-I’m learning and growing with them. The curriculum comes with letter tiles and syllable tags. However, we opted to purchase the app for $20. I know, that’s a crazy amount for an app. However, it’s a lifetime purchase that I can use for both children through their matriculation of this program. 

I will also add this-once we got into a rhythm of homeschool the lessons became way easier to implement and much less intimidating. 

So, basically AAR is a hit and both my kids are excited for me to purchase the next levels for them. 

Our other LA picks for James were for grammar and spelling. Because I felt like AAR was going to need more times and reading is where I wanted the most focus, it was important to me that spelling and grammar were kinda bare-bones. I mean no frills, no videos, no manipulatives. Just simple lessons taught principle by principle. Growing With Grammar and Spelling You See are just that. I also like that there is plenty of time to practice previous lessons while learning new principles. 

Same goes for spelling you see. It was also important to me to have some things that James could easily complete independently so I could work with his brother, Jude. The copy work, rhyming and rhythm practice is just what the teacher ordered. 

Handwriting for both boys is Learning Without Tears (LWT). I honestly can’t say enough good things about this company. Even their price point is really good. For someone who never understood the schematics of teaching writing, let alone to children with a fine motor delay, LWT takes the cake, frosting, sprinkles and candles. Hands down. 

Lastly, we introduced journals this year. While we are still trying to find our footing with using them daily, we use them as frequently as I can and I love seeing their creativity, fine motor skills and critical thinking skills improve. 

All in all, language arts is a hit! I am still looking for good books to add to our library that challenge James and won’t be over Jude’s head… a tough one for this wanna be minimalist. Maybe I just need to cave and let us have a more expansive library? What do you think?

I’ll be back with all our other subjects in the coming weeks.

Love you. Mean it. 

Homeschool

Homeschool Curriculum Picks, Language Arts

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Alrighty, mighties! Let’s get this curriculum picks series show on the road! Today we are talking all things Language Arts! (See what I did there?) Just a moment of truth here, reading, writing, and grammar are my JAM! They are where I thrive and live! My kids, however,  would prefer numbers and circuits and games and whatnot. Thus, all the business below. Alas, my disclaimer, I haven’t been paid for nor am I an affiliate marketer or brand ambassador for the following companies or products, although I should because free publicity yields sales. I digress. Last thing- If you would rather listen and/or see these, check out my YouTube videos here.

No Name A (see this post if you’re confused by the name), PreK, K-Primer and Level 1 

All About Reading, Pre-reading and Level 2

Measured Mom

Growing With Grammar

No Name B (again, see this post if you’re confused by the name,)

Dash Into Learning and other books and readers

Friends, I know. This seems like a crap-ton of stuff. I get it. Let me explain in brevity. So, before I knew that No Name A’s commitment to diversity was nothing but a mere marketing ploy, I purchased it. So… I am using it ONLY as a spine to make sure I’ve got everything covered. However, I am REALLY glad I looked for other things because these next two things I am VERY EXCITED about!

All About Reading (AAR) is a multi-sensory reading program that has no gaps. Y’all, I was going  through the lessons and there were things I was never taught. At all. In all my years of education. It is not teaching sounds and sight words, it teaches so much more with a multi-sensory approach and y’all know that is our jam. I scooped level 2 and Pre-Reading for James and Jude respectively and they are both very excited to start with it.

So, No Name A barely goes over grammar in their curriculum so I bought a supplement thinking that was the norm. I was wrong. The “supplement” I bought, Growing With Grammar, is comprehensive, yet to to the point. It is way more than a supplement, it is everything. It has short lessons that reinforce and teach new concepts.

Another thing No Name A was lacking was spelling. It had charts and reviews but never really taught how to spell a word or what spelling even was. Again, I am so glad I found other things because No Name A really had us on the struggle bus! I digress. Back to spelling. So, I stumbled across a YouTube video of Spelling You See and my game leveled up! Off to a used homeschool store sale I went a purchased level B. James started book 1 this summer and I am quite pleased! It really is spelling you see, not just sounding out a word.

Handwriting will always be Learning Without Tears! The way they teach letter formation is unparalleled! Legit, I am not aware of any comparison and I am not trying to find out any. Jude will start Kick Start To Kindergarten and James will start Letters and Numbers for me.

Again, I get that all of this seems over-the-top. I explain it all in greater detail with some peeks into what we are using here.

Ok, I know you’re thing, “How exactly is she going to use all this?” The short answer, loop schedule! The long answer? Do yourself a favor and YouTube loop scheduling because they can explain it better than I can. We are looping all the things. More on that later. 

Ok, I’ve got more coming just as soon as my fingers can type, edit and schedule. 

Love you. Mean it.