A Stable Beginning: kindergarten

Showing posts with label kindergarten. Show all posts

Thursday, May 7, 2020

Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting from Everyday Education, LLC ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

We are winding down our homeschool year but I have a great book to share with you today from Everyday Education, LLC. Its called Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting ebook and if you like to teach handwriting and phonics through copy work then this is the book for you. It was out of print for several year but was brought back into print by Janice Campbell.

We received a PDF download of this program through my email. Saving it to my computer was simple so getting started was quick and easy. I don’t typically do a formal grammar or writing curriculum with my children until 3rd grade because I like the principals of Charlotte Mason. Using copy work at the lower grammar stage works for our family and this eBook is a great addition to our everyday learning for my Kindergarten son.

Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting contains 60 step-by-step lessons within the 218 pages. It teaches students to write with in italic lettering in which 20 of the 26 alphabet letters are stroked in one stroke. Inside you will find sections on the:

~ Introduction

~ Teaching methods

~ Alphabet writing sheets

~ Word lists

~ Sentence writing sheets

~ And writing sheets in general

Each of the sixty lessons follow a similar pattern for completion. These include:

~ Reviewing what was previously learned

~ Introducing the new letters and/or sounds

~ Trace

~ Sound out

~ Read

~ Copy

~ Practice

Since this curriculum is a Charlotte Mason approach it is only recommended your child spend between 10-15 minutes of time on the lesson. If you follow these guidelines the lessons will take a few days to complete. Several scheduling options are included to help you plan out your time.

This curriculum also teaches the student to read through phonics. Emphasis is placed on learning word families. I love that each list includes rhyming words to help your child progress quickly at their own pace. My son has really taken off at reading and enjoys going through the list reading the words.

Overall, my son and I have enjoyed working through this book. We both liked that the lessons segments were short and sweet. I also liked that the illustrations on the pages were in black and white. It was not overly busy to distract him from his task at hand. I also appreciate that this is an eBook and I can print out whatever pages I need. So if he needs additional practice on a letter or set of words it’s as easy as printing another sheet of paper off.

Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting is the best book for you if you are looking to teach your 4 or 5 year old to read, have an older child having difficulty learning to read, or your older child can read but has atrocious handwriting, or you just want to improve your own handwriting. But don’t just take my word for it! Click the banner below and check out what 49 of my CrewMates thought of this curriculum. You’ll be glad you did!

Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting ebook {Everyday Education, LLC Reviews}

Company ~ Everyday Education, LLC

Product ~ Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting ebook

Format ~ PDF eBook

Price ~ $29.00

Ages ~ 4 years and up

Social Media Links:

Janice Campbell Facebook ~ Excellence in Literature Facebook ~ Janice Campbell Twitter ~ Excellence in Literature Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

http://astablebeginning.com

Thursday, April 23, 2020

Christian Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum from BJU Press: Focus on Fives ~ a TOS review

We are wrapping up our current school year but if you are looking for a Christian Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum, for your home learning for next year then I suggest you take a look into the program from BJU Press Focus on Fives kit from BJU Press Homeschool.

We received the 4th edition of the BJU Press Focus on Fives to use with my 5 year old son, Micah. This curriculum is geared for the Kindergarten year and includes 180 lessons taught over seven units. Each unit aims to bring the excitement of formal learning through phonics, Handwriting, science, social studies, and reading.

BJU Press is a Christian company so the course material will be presented with a Christian worldview. I like that the Focus on Fives has four essential pointed throughout the entire curriculum.

~ God is great and God is good

~ God created me and all things

~ The Bible is God’s word

~ I learn in order to serve God and others

There was lots of excitement on the Friday afternoon when our boxes arrived. Upon opening the boxes we discovered all the goodies inside including the:

Teacher materials:

~ Six (6) spiral-bound Teacher’s Editions

~ Phonic Charts with Alphabet cards

~ Handwriting charts

~ Spelling Cards

~ High Frequency word cards

~ Phonics characters

~ spiral-bound visual flip chart

Student materials:

~ Worktext

~ Phonics practice book

~ Phonics review cards

~ Write Now! Book

~ 34 Reading books

Everything you need to teach this curriculum is found within the Teacher’s Edition. The layout is detailed and you know right from the start the goals of the lesson and how to use the instructional materials provided. They are essential to the curriculum. The back of the Teacher’s Edition contain a resource section with the instructional aids, songs, assessments, and other materials needed to teach. I really like how the Teacher’s Editions are sturdy. The front cover is a thick laminated page while the back is a hard cardboard back. Inside the pages are thick and colorful.

The Student workbooks are softcover books.. They each contain bindings that are open to allow you to remove the lesson page.or to lay the page flat. I like that feature a lot as well. The pages are colorful and and filled with lively illustrations pertaining to the lesson. My son enjoyed this.

The Visuals came in a handy flip chart. It is made of two cardboard covers and is spiral bound. I like that you could just flip right to the visual needed for the lesson you were doing. Phonics charts are included as well on heavy, glossy card stock. There are many charts that include the alphabet song to individual letters and reading cards. The Phonics and Review cards are also a thick card stock. They include the alphabet, blend sounds, and word cards.

Our favorite part of the curriculum is, yep, you guessed it. The books! This set includes 34 Reading Books that encourage silent and oral reading. The books are printed on regular paper (thicker than computer paper) in half sheet sizes. They progress from being pictures stories to books with short text to longer paragraphs.

My only complaint with these is that they are printed on just regular paper. I would love to see the front and back cover laminated so that the book will last. This isn’t a big deterring factor for me and doesn’t take away from the entire program as a whole. When we are not using the books I have them stored away in a poly envelope for safe keeping.

I also want to mention that in July there will be optional videos that accompany this course. You can find a sample video HERE.

Overall, this is a great curriculum for Kindergarten. It is well thought out and each unit is complete. This is not an open-and-go curriculum so you will need to spend some time preparing before teaching your child. Not anything super hard, just cutting and organizing pieces for the lessons. This curriculum works well for my son, even though I feel the tone is written for a classroom setting. He enjoyed the colorfulness of the pages and the program as a whole.

The only thing that I truly did not like is the font in which the letters are written. For example the “i” is written with a loopy tail. At first glance my son did not know what the letter was because it was written this way. So, I just corrected it by writing over it as a straight line. This simple modification by me doesn’t change the whole program but adapts it to fit our family. But don’t just take my word for it. Thirty-five of my CrewMates had a chance to review this with their Kindergarteners so be should to check out their thoughts by clicking the banner below.

BJU Press Focus on Fives {BJU Press Homeschool Reviews}

Company ~ BJU Press Homeschool

Product ~ BJU Press Focus on Fives

Format ~ physical books, *video lessons coming in July

Ages ~ Kindergarten

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ YouTube

http://astablebeginning.com

Friday, March 27, 2020

Hands-on learning with the Knights Lap-Pak from Home School in the Woods ~ a TOS review

Happy Friday friends! We’ve made it to the end of another week! I hope your week was as fantastic as ours was, even with the quarantine. So, today I am excited to tell you about another fabulous product from one of my favorite hands-on homeschool curriculum provider, Home School in the Woods.

For this review my Kindergarten son, Micah, and I were blessed to work through the Knights K-2 Lap-Pak. Our family is no stranger to the Home School in the Woods company. I tell you it was love at first sight when I happened upon their booth at my local homeschool convention way back in 2011. I hit the jackpot that day with this company and it has transformed our way of schooling ever since.

The Knights Lap-Pak is one of the fabulous products that Home School in the Woods has to offer. However, don't think for a minute that this Lap-Pak is a cookie cutter, run of the mill Lap Book, because it is not! The detail of this Lap-Pak is second to none as your child dives deep into the Middle Ages to discover just what it took to become a knight.

Everything you need to complete the Lap-Pak (minus supplies) including all texts, master pages, and directions are included. Through coloring, researching, drawing & writing, and gluing your child will take a journey through the The Middle Ages and discover how to become a knight. You will need to supply some basic everyday arts and crafts supplies that you probably already have at home, including:

~Paper {colored and white}

~ Cardstock {colored and white}

~ Colored Pencils

~ Scissors

~ Glue sticks

~ Stapler

~ Double-sided tape

~ Paper fasteners

My son Micah is a Kindergartener and we have been working our way through this Lap-Pak together. Some days I just read from the text while he plays with his knight set, other times we work through the Lap-Pak coloring and putting together pieces. Overall, he enjoys it as do I! While we have not completely finished our study we are making steady progress. Micah’s attention span is not that long for sit down work but short bursts of learning that can be done with this Lap-Pak are great for him.

Be especially sure to check out the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak now that we are in election season! We used this product several years ago durning the last election cycle with Madison, my now college Freshman. Mikayla, my 11th grader is working her way through it now as part of her Government class. I love that the U.S. Elections Lap-Pak can serve as a complete history unit study since it includes 21 exciting, hands-on projects to complete.

If you have hands-on learners like I do, I wholeheartedly recommend you check out this Knights Lap-Pak or anything else that Home School in the Woods offers. They have many great products that we use in our homeschool for hands-on learning along with our regular History curriculum. We personally own everything they have created except the Benjamin Franklin Lap-Pak which we will be adding for next school year. Trust me this curriculum is money well spent! The Hands-on History Knights Lap-Pak is a fantastic way to bring History to life for even the youngest learners!