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

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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!

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

© 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.    

 http://astablebeginning.com

Wordless Wednesday

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© 2008 - 2020 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.  

 http://astablebeginning.com

Reading Kingdom ~ a TOS review

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Having a solid foundation in reading is very important right from the start. My 2nd grade daughter and my 3.5 year old son both enjoy there online reading lessons with Reading Kingdom.





For the last few weeks McKenzie and Micah have been plugging away at an online reading program that was created by Dr. Marion Blank, world renowned reading expert and Director of the Light on Learning Program at Columbia University. Using the program she created can teach your children, aged 4 to 10, to read and write to a third grade level in a fun and exciting way.





With easy-to-use and interactive components, this phonics and reading program offers customized online reading instruction for your child. While your child is busy learning with fun and engaging activities the program targets your child's reading weaknesses. And so they don’t get discouraged or frustrated the program also keeps them confident in their strengths.

Reading Kingdom is easy to start, no need to download anything just log onto the website. At the start of the program, simply have your child take the Reading Skills Survey which customizes the program and places your child in just the right spot for their individualized reading level. Instead of your child having to learn numerous complicated phonics rules, Reading Kingdom utilizes the six skills method for reading which include:

 ~ Sequencing 

~ Writing 

~ Sounds 

~ Meaning 

~ Grammar 

~ Comprehension 

This process targets your child's weaknesses while also keeping them confident in their strengths.

McKenzie and Micah both started with the assessment. It is a thorough task that covers all the bases. While McKenzie was familiar with the keyboard, Micah was not and I found him to get frustrated at times because of it. Micah started from the beginning of the program while McKenzie picked up where she left off in the program before. I especially enjoy that the lessons are short yet effective to hold my children’s attention spans.

If you want to try Reading Kingdom out for your family, you can sign up for 30 Day Free Trial. After the trial period has ended and you would like to continue, a subscription costs $19.99/month (with no monthly minimum), or $199.99 per year. Additional children on your account get 50% off ($9.99/month or $99.99/year) and you can cancel your subscriptions at any time. In addition, because Reading Kingdom is so passionate about everyone getting to enjoy the joy of reading there is a scholarship program available for those who qualify.

Overall, we have enjoyed Reading Kingdom and the phonics and reading platform it supports. I look forward to continuing to use this over the summer so my kids stay actively involved in reading and phonics instruction and don’t lose any skills they have gained thus far. I encourage you to look into giving it a try for your family too! Check out what my CrewMates thought by clicking the banner below!

Company / Product ~ Reading Kingdom 

 Format ~ online website 

 Price ~ see breakdown above 


Ages ~ 4 years - 10 years

Social Media Links: 

 • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram 

© 2008 - 2018 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.     

 http://astablebeginning.com 

Ultimate Phonics Reading Program ~ a TOS review

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Did you know that by 8th grade, statistics show that only 4% of students are what is called an advanced reader, while 22% can’t even read at all! That is mind boggling to me, especially since I have a child who struggles with reading and comprehension. Lately, we have been testing out the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program from Spencer Learning to improve overall reading skills in my beginning and struggling reader.

For over 50 years the Spencer family has been teaching reading to tens of thousands of people. From beginner readers, older students with learning disabilities, and even to adults who struggle, Spencer Learning has been there to teach reading with direct, systematic phonics instruction.

With 262 progressive lessons the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is geared to help students work: ~ towards fluent reading 

~ improve reading, comprehension, and spelling skills 

~ eliminate whole word memorizing, guessing, or skipping of words

 ~ accelerate reading development for beginning readers and struggling readers regardless of age

 ~ achieve excellent results with just a few hours per week usage

Normally this program sells for $69.95, but if you purchase before Friday, September 30th you can take advantage of the $20. off sale. For the price you get:

~ A complete phonics program that teaches all the phonics sounds and rules of English and accelerates reading levels for all ages

 ~ one time payment, no expiration and no subscription fees 

~ Free updates forever 

~ All 262 lessons

 ~ More than 4,400 words sounded out and more than 2,100 sentences sounded out up to a 5th grade level 

~ Progresses from basic to advanced Level 

~ Complete online User's Guide 

~ All lessons are downloadable and printable

Installing the program was super easy and quick! I didn’t have any trouble at all installing the program on the kids computer after I received the product key code. You can use the program on multiple computers which is nice if you need to take your lessons on the road like we do most times. I simply, used the product key code and installed the program on my laptop too. System requirements for the program suggests Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP; or for Macs, OSX 10.5.8 or higher. And like I mentioned earlier, updates are free!


Over the last 8 years we have used many different phonics programs in our homeschool and I tend to not like online programs, but the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program from Spencer is a real keeper in my book! I love that it is portable and we can bring it with us, especially with our travel season quickly approaching. Mikayla (13) has been working through the program, slowly, but I have seen improvement in her reading and comprehension overall. Because Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is geared towards beginning readers, middle/high schoolers, adult literacy, struggling reader/ remedial reading, ESL / ELL, dyslexia suffers, and those with Autism, the program provides something for everyone to get them reading.

Check out what my Crewmates think by clicking the banner below!

Company ~ Spencer Learning

 Product ~ Ultimate Phonics Reading Program 

System Requirements ~ Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP; or for Macs, OSX 10.5.8 or higher 

Price ~ $69.95 

 Ages ~ beginning readers to adult literacy

Social Media Links:
Facebook
Twitter  @spencerlearning

 #hsreviews #phonics #phonicsapp #dyslexia #strugglingreader

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. 

 http://astablebeginning.com

Can Do Cubes ~ a TOS review

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Spelling and Phonics practice just got 10 x’s better since we have been using our Can Do Cubes from jollyliteracy.com {just2ducks LLC} to learn letter sounds, digraphs, and blending. Earlier this week I shared about the new phonics program, Jolly Phonics, that I am using to teach McKenzie and Micah the 42 sounds that make up the English language. Let me tell you a little more about the Can Do Cubes.

Just what are Can Do Cubes? Well, for starters they are super cool, 6-sided, finely polished wooden blocks that are laser engraved with the letters of the alphabet along with the alphabetic code. The Can Do Cubes are separated into two stages and focus on hands-on, multi-sensory learning of the alphabetic code that goes along with the Jolly Phonics program and help children decode the phonemes, or sounds, of the English language.

You can use these cubes with any phonics or spelling program but they are especially packaged to be used to teach a small group of sounds in specific order, like in the photo above.

 Is that confusing? I hope not! It’s really quite simple. Think for example, when you say the word “they” you are not taught to spell it “t-h-e-y” in this program. Rather, you are asked to think of the sounds that the letters make together as a whole and spell the word as “th-ey”, because “ey” says “a”. The blocks give you the ability to literally build words.

For this review we were blessed to receive: 

~ 1 Tray of 27 Cubes in Stage 1 which present the simple alphabetic code 

~ 1 Tray of 30 Cubes plus 2 cubes connected with a string to represent split digraph sounds in Stage 2 Cubes which present the more complex alphabetic code 

~ Handbooks for Stage 1 and Stage 2

 ~ DVD with Interactive Demonstration of Sounding Out of Letter/Sounds Presented by Debbie Hepplewhite, who is a synthetic phonics consultant

 ~ Phonics Chart 

~ Word Chart

 ~ Online Templates and Worksheets in PDF Format for printing

Can Do Cubes are perfect for preschool prep through elementary students. The complete set of Can Do Cubes that we received retails for $95.00 and shipping is always free for US schools.

Micah (2) and McKenzie (6) love, love, love using these hands-on cubes during school time. We have been using the cubes alongside our reading/phonics and spelling programs with McKenzie and just for teaching Micah his letter sounds. A few times blocks have been everywhere because of busy two-year old hands, but luckily they have a little number on the bottom so I know just where they belong in the set in the nice box set.

I can’t say enough good things about these cubes! For such a tiny product, they pack a big punch in helping to take the stress out of learning phonics. If your children are hands-on learners, then definitely check out these cubes if your budget allows. We wholeheartedly give these 2 thumbs up and they will get many, many years of usage in our homeschool.

 Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of these cubes too by clicking the banner below!

Company ~ jollyliteracy.com {just2ducks LLC} 

Product ~ Can Do Cubes 

Format ~ physical product

 Price ~ $95.00 complete set, includes shipping

 Ages ~ Preschool - elementary

Social Media Links:

 Facebook

 Twitter

Pinterest

 Hashtags: #hsreviews #literacy #reading #phonics #interactivelearning

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author. http://astablebeginning.com

Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar ~ a TOS review

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Did you know that there are 42 sounds in the English language that make up the 26 letters? Isn’t that fascinating? To be a fluent reader one must be fluent in recognizing and saying the sounds that go with each corresponding letter. Over the summer I had the opportunity to use the Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar program from jollyliteracy.com {just2ducks LLC}.
Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar has been used in many schools and homeschooling families throughout America since Sue Lloyd developed the program in 1977 to help the students in her class learn to read. It is a multi-sensory, hands-on program that teaches reading and grammar in a fun and exciting way.

 We received the following components in our Jolly package:

• Jolly Phonics Teacher's Book in print letters: The Teacher’s Book is designed to use with each of the corresponding Jolly Phonics Student Books, 1,2, and 3. Detailed plans for each lesson are included in this guide and the books are separated into color-coded pages for easy reference.

• Jolly Phonics Student Book 1, 2 and 3 In books 1-3 students are introduced to all 43 letter sounds. {There are actually 42 letter sounds if you count that “C” and ‘K” make the same sound}. Ideally, new readers should be taught one letter a day but not in alphabetical order. Instead, this program groups the letter sounds in this order:

• Jolly Grammar 1 Teacher's Book in print letters The grammar program equips you with material in order to introduce grammar, teach spelling systematically, improve covabulary and comprehension, as well as extend phonics knowledge. It is meant to follow on from the Jolly Phonics program. Detailed lesson plans are also included in the guide for each of the sections presented.

• Jolly Grammar 1 Student Book: With the grammar book your student will learn the parts of speech through actions and colors, punctuation, plurals, and tenses. It also teaches the spelling rules and consonant blends.
• Jolly Songs in print letters: This is a gem of a CD! It includes 40 tacks that teach all the phonemes in the program with the songs sung to well known songs like Jingle Bells or The Farmer in the Dell. A colorful picture goes along with each letter song and is perfect for active learning and getting the wiggles out.

I was able to use this program with McKenzie (6) and Micah (2) over the last month during our lite summer schooling session. Both are eager learner so getting them to sit down and work on the colorful, kid friendly pages was easy as pie. The lessons are super short too, so it really did not feel like school work for them or me either. I started McKenzie, my 1st grader, on the latter half of the Jolly Phonics Student Book 1 in the blends section. She knows her letter sounds but needs a little bit of help with blending so it was great review before we moved onto Jolly book 2.

McKenzie prefers this phonics program over a very popular code program that we have used in our homeschooling for years. I really wish I had the Jolly Phonics program when my now 4th grader was learning phonics!

For Micah I did not have him do any of the handwriting work. I just introduced the sounds and used letter flashcards and danced, a lot, to the letter songs. I love that he is getting a head start on learning his sounds just from playing this CD at home or while on the road.

My older children don’t mind listening to the CD either because the songs are that fun. Be sure to check back later this week for an additional Jolly Phonics product, Can Do Cubes, that we have been using in conjunction with our Jolly Phonics. We love this phonics set and give it 2 thumbs up!.

Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this program by clicking the banner below!

Company ~ Jolly Literacy 

Product ~ Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar 

Format ~ physical books and CD 

Price ~ Jolly Phonics Teacher's Book is $12.95, Student Books are $4.50 each. Jolly Grammar 1 Teacher's Book is $8.50, Jolly Student Book 1 in print is $7.50. Songs book with CD is $17.50. 

 Ages ~ preschool and up

Social Media Links 

Facebook

 Twitter

Pinterest

Teachers Pay Teachers

 #hsreviews #literacy #reading #phonics #interactivelearning

©2008 - 2016 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com