Lesson Planner: Lesson Planning with the Lesson Planner

{Originally printed in the Fall 2008 issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine}

For the past eleven years I have been the homeschool coordinator of my county. One of the things I recommend to new homeschoolers – and ANY homeschool family – is a good teacher’s planner/record keeping system. Whether it’s on hard copy in a notebook or a CDRom for your computer, it is one of the most important tools a homeschool mom can own.

In states where one has to keep records of every little thing, a planner fits the bill; in states that permit you to have a choice as to how to assess your children and the assessor needs to see all that your students have done throughout the whole school year – every book read, every field trip taken, every DVD watched, every CDRom and learning resource used – a lesson planner fits the bill. When your family uses tons of different books and takes several field trips through the school year, you can’t exactly re-check 100+ books and plop them in your assessor’s lap and then take her on a whirlwind drive to every field trip destination you’ve gone to!

But…you CAN show them your complete and thorough records from your well-used lesson planner.

Homeschool Tracker

If you prefer an inter-active planner for use on your computer, Homeschool Tracker can be a real life-saver! It is SO easy to set up – just up-load it onto your computer and go. It is SO easy to follow – just click on a tab and add, subtract or read whatever you need to know.

There are 9 tabs/sections to work with: Main Menu, Overview, Assignments, Attendance, Reading Log, Field Trips, Daily journal, Maintenance and Reports.

Main Menu: This is the “Title Page.” This is where your school’s name and public information is shown; plus your school motto (Ours is: “I can do ALL things through CHRIST Who strengthens me!”) and a quick look at your children’s accumulative school days are shown as “sick,” “present,” “hours” and “Average.” Not every state, including mine, must account for hours or attendance, but it is always nice to have. One never knows when things might change in regard to your state law, and it is always nice to have your records on-hand SHOULD a problem arise.

Students:

Overview: This is a handy page. For each student you can look over the accumulation of their work.

The Points show actual grade/possible grade.

Assignments: I have to tell you, maybe it’s just me, but this was the hardest part for me to figure out – and it’s JUST a calendar!!  Once I figured out that I had to set up the calendar to show the dates for our school

year, it was easy. I had begun to think that I had to go get one of my teenagers to show ME how to figure this out! But, the Lord is good and I began to put it all together. Actually this was one of the most fun sections to do after I got the hang of it. On this calendar you can show whether your child was “present,” “sick;” that this was a “holiday” or that the day was designated as “holiday/present.”

Reading Log: Here you can list: Student/Resource/Type/Started/Finished. If you are like our household and use LOTS of books and other resources, this can be one of the most gratifying pages. It is incredible to look back and see all that was read and used throughout your school year. Assessors LOVE those lists!

Teacher:

Field Trips: This section includes: Trip Date/Time Spent/Subject/Description (locati

on). The only thing I think I would change about this would be a place to record things that were accomplished or objectives learned at each location.

Daily Journal: This is in the teacher’s section, but I give my students access to it. On those days when one student’s activities take your time away from the others – OR – if some of your other students are in their Jr. high or Sr. high school years and are more independent workers – you may leave notes to them, or yourself, concerning lessons that need more a

ttention or work they can simply do on their own. Or use it as a reminder that you will need to find a map of China for this Friday. This is a very useful “free” page and we can make it what we want!

Maintenance: Just as the title suggests, this is the place where you can add/enter/delete any type of information. Sections covered are: Activities/Resources/Resource Types/School Info/School Years/Students/Subjects/Terms.

Reports: Here is the handy-dandy page that allows you to print off any of the reports for the previously mentioned sections that you may need to have a hard copy of. If you really wanted, you could make your own hard copy l

esson planner from the printed pages.

Over all, this is a very easy record-keeping system. It would be a great system to use to teach your students, at any age, how to record their own work. This could even be included as an on-going homeschool assignment if you are working with them on computer skills or record keeping; it’s easy enough that they could manage their own records FOR YOU!

Tried and True – The Homeschooler’s Journal

But then there are those of us who do not have access to a computer or who simply prefer to have something tangible in their hands. For that family, you may be interested in The Homeschooler’s Journal and The Homeschooler’s High School Journal, both by Ferg N’ Us.

The Homeschooler’s Journal is the blessedly simple planner that you would want to use for grade school ages up to Jr. High level. This planner is s

pecifically made with the homeschool family in mind and is set up for 200 days of school with a subject log based on 7-day weeks. This way, you can include weekend activities on your planner. This planner has all you need within its spiral-bound pages. There are calendars for the previous year, this year and coming year; great for long-term planning. There are so many places to help you keep your planning and moments of brain-storming recorded; this planner has pages for field trips, a check-off list of requirements, resource pages and semester objectives, tracking for all those books, CDRoms and videos/DVDs that you have used throughout the year.

The Homeschooler’s High School Journal was my best friend for many years. Again, a blessedly simple planner, but this one is geared toward the special record-keeping that we need to do for our high schoolers.

As before, they have given us calendars in the span of several years; then a Linear Schedule of Home Schooling Events. This is great if your children are involved in sports, music, clubs, service projects or other extra-curricular activities; the whole school year is spread out on two pages for your perusal.

One of the most helpful parts of the whole planner, to me, is the page of Yearly Requirements. This page is laid out for all four high school years (Freshman through Senior) across the top, with the subjects listed down the left-hand side (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Arts & Humanities, Computer Science/Business, and two elective areas). On this one page I can keep track of (depending on my child’s high school year) what my child has completed and, if I pre-plan, what they need to complete by graduation! There are also spaces to keep track of total credits earned. Speaking of credits…when my oldest (a homeschool graduate of 2006!) began her high school years, one of the questions I had was “how do I determine how many credits to assign to each subject?” Once again, this planner gave me the answer: they suggest 1= 1 Year, ½ = ½ year. Gee, who knew it was THAT easy?! I extended that for our own school to include a subject done for on

e quarter (a short unit study or project) or one day a week (gym/p.e. or band/music or dance) to receive ¼ credit.

There are other great sections – besides the 200 days’ worth of course work pages. One is the “Lending and Borrowing Resource List.” How many times has someone borrowed a book from you and just when you need it, it’s nowhere to be found and you can’t think of who you gave it to. Problem solved here.

A handy page to have before you run off to your state’s homeschool convention, or make that on-line order at TOS’s Homeschool Store, is the “Reso

urce List” page. There’s even a column to keep track of your costs. Then there’s the “Objectives and Resources” page for those long-range research projects.

For those of you who live in a state that requires you to keep track of attendance, Ferg N’ Us has covered that for you, too. Also, included on each regular journal page is a section where you can keep track of hours spent on each subject, denoted by quarter-hour marks.

Two of our most used sections were the “Field Trip Log” and the “Educational Supplements” tracker. The Field Trip Log, as you might assume, has space to record where you went, the host’s name, contact/ph

one info, date, and objectives of the trip. By the end of the year you will have a diary of memories and fun! Anyone who still thinks that homeschoolers are stuck at home needs to have a look at my planner! Another most-used section of our planner is the Educational Supplements pages. I am a firm believer in recording everything that can remotely be deemed as having educational value, including books we read, books on tape, videos/DVDs, learning games, activities with educational value which take place while on vacation and some television. The Educational Supplements pages are where we record those things. There is a section for the date, Title/Web Site Address, Author/Composer/Date Due/Classification. The Classification section is great because you can record whether your supplement was a book, audio, video, music, from the internet and if it was non-fiction, fiction, biography or reference. On this I wish they would have added T.V. (which we added ourselves) as our students are required to watch such things as the Pr

esident’s State of the Union Address and certain programs dealing with history or historical figures.

The Crème de la Crème! The Schoolhouse Planner!

The Old Schoolhouse magazine’s publishers have just released one of the most helpful resources I’ve ever used! Parents, if I had had this planner 16 years ago, when I first began homeschooling, I would never have had to use anything else.

Right off the bat, the most unique thing about The Schoolhouse Planner is that it is an e-book. It’s 247 pages of unique and much-needed help! This planner also contains some of the most aesthetically pleasing, page designs I’ve seen. Easy on the eyes to read and encouraging to use.

It’s so exciting to see the things that are included in this planner that are nowhere to be found in any others. Articles by experienced homeschoolers! Calendars! Recipes! Weblinks! Oh my!

Not only does this planner begin with a calendar, but each month has a theme AND recipes to try during those months! To give a little splash to each month of the planner, each month has a theme along with an article by a note-worthy homeschooler AND many weblinks and learning aids to go along with it! August’s them is “Celebrate” along with a great article by Martha Greene on “Lessons Learned Around the Table,” then on to several weblinks for related resources, along with recipes for Cheeseburger Pie and Tropical Chicken Dinner; December’s theme is Science with a presentation of the Periodic Table and an article on “Solving Your Science Struggles,” next are all those weblinks for related resources and then yummy recipes for Mild and Savory Black Bean Chili and Easy Chicken Casserole. Wow! Won’t those dishes be great on a cold winter’s night? April’s theme is “The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World AND of the Modern World.” This month’s article has great advice for “Chore Training Tips,” more weblinks and recipes for Homemade Cornbread and Linnie’s Six-in-One Casserole! All of the recipes in the Schoolhouse Planner are easy enough anyone in the family to make, even for a younger child to do with just a little help from mom or an older sibling and will be enjoyed by your whole family. As many of you who read The Lesson Planner on a regular basis know, I am a big proponent of learning life skills; these recipes will be just the thing to add to your home ec or life skills assignments!

Now, just so you know…we have only touched the surface of what’s in this exciting planner! This planner is jam-packed with Homeschool Forms and complete instructions as to how to use them. Here’s a peek at just SOME of the planner pages included: Yearly Goals, 12-Year Planner Pages, Course of Study, Educational Objectives, End-of-Year Evaluation Form, End of Year Report Card, Yearly Grades, Test Score Recording Sheet, High School Hours Tracking Log, Weekly Planning Pages, Week-at-a-Glance, Progress Report Sheets, Bible Memory Record, Audio/Video Log, Books Read Log, Sheets to record Crafts and Field Trips, Nature Journal sheets, Unit Study Form, Unschooling Record Form, Co-op Information Page, Support Group Information Page, Outside Lessons Page for so many of us who have kiddos taking piano, dance, martial arts, etc. This is a good way to remind ourselves that those things count for school, too!

And that’s not all that in this planner, believe me, there’s MORE!

There are chore charts (for all ages), there are pages for all your house-hold information including: Our Budget, Personal Financial Inventory (mortgage, credit cards, phone, internet, life and disability insurance tracker, car and home info, checking and savings account info, Christmas Club, etc.); Gift Wish List (so those loving grandparents will know the correct sizes of each child!), Gift Budget, Prayer Journal, Bible Reading Schedule, important Dates to Remember, Garden Planning Checklist (don’t forget to count gardening for school credit!), Loaned/Barrowed List, Our Pet’s Health Log, an Address Book…and so much more! Here’s an idea – while teaching your students about finances, budgeting, house-hold maintenance and such, you can just run off these pages for them to use.

Here’s something else that makes this really special. Since this is an e-book you merely print off only the pages you need, when you need them. Isn’t that great? No worrying about losing the master copy of the page you need, because you will simply go to your computer and print off the page you want. No carrying around a bulky planner with pages not only waiting to be used but waiting to be ripped or spilled on, because you simply go to your computer and print exactly how many you will need.

There will never be any record you can’t find for your assessor or for your own personal reminder. This planner has it all! My only regret is that we had not had this one around sooner.

As a mom who is going into our 16^th year of homeschooling, and as an assessor, a good lesson planner can be a lifesaver; a secure, concise place to manage your records and preserve school memories. Whether your needs are simple or your want to use one product for all of your children, one of these products will fit your every need and the lifestyle of your family.

Where to find:

~ Homeschool Tracker: www.homeschooltracker.com

~ The Homeschooler’s Journal and The Homeschooler’s High School Journal: www.fergnusservices.com

Ferg N’ Us Services

P.O. Box 350

Richville, NY 13681

(315) 287-9131

or www.christianbook.com

Customer Service: 1-800-CHRISTIAN^® (1-800-247-4784)

~ The Schoolhouse Planner is available through The Schoolhouse Store: http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php Always FREE shipping.

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><

Lesson Planner: Weaving a Beautiful Tapestry of Learning (Bible-based Unit Studies)

{Originally printed in the Winter 2008 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine}

As homeschoolers we are constantly looking for that “perfect curriculum.” Well, after 15 years of homeschooling, I hate to burst your bubble, but it just isn’t there. However! There are those that meet family needs more than others.

Would you be interested in a curriculum that teaches all levels of Social Studies/History/Government, Science, Language Arts, Geography, Writing, Art and even Worldview…AND…it’s based on the Bible? Well, read on, because I have two great unit studies that will interest you!

The Weaver and Tapestry of Grace have become the standards in unit studies. Both are tried and true and have the Bible solidly as their foundation for all of their subjects.

The Weaver

As like so many new homeschoolers, when we began our adventure we were scared, confused and on a very tight budget. A friend of mine told me about this great unit study that had everything I would need for the whole year (except Grammar, Spelling and Math), including worksheets, projects, suggested field trips…and…it was all based on the Bible! As a bonus, it was constructed in such a way that several grade levels could be taught at the same time with assignments then being given according to those levels.

The Weaver (available through Alpha Omega) is constructed of six Volumes, including a preschool program. In completing all six volumes you will have thoroughly examined, and learned from, the entire Bible. The Weaver Interlock is the preschool program. This study sets the pace for the rest of The Weaver by taking the entire school year to cover Genesis 1-10. Using Scripture as it’s base, and according to what your Scripture lesson is for the day, your children will then use that as a springboard for what they will cover in social studies, science, language arts, beginning arithmetic, art, physical education, health and music!

Then your students will move into the Volumes. It must be noted here that you will still benefit from all of The Weaver volumes even if you didn’t start out in preschool with the Interlock program. Each of the Volumes are self-sustaining and can completely stand alone. Also, each original Volume that you purchase is designed for grades K-6. For a substantially smaller price you may purchase supplements for grades 7-12. In that way, if your students range in age/grade ANYWHERE from K-12, you can teach your lessons once and then give them assignments at their own age/grade level! Each Volume covers a whole year’s worth of lessons Bible, science, geology, history, geography, language arts, health and art. Aren’t unit studies great?!

Volume 1 brings us right into some of the most important Doctrinal foundations of the Bible; Genesis 11-50 (ALL Volumes include teacher’s notes). In the process of coving all the base lessons above, in Volume 1 your children will cover such topics as: City, Architecture, Language (these are tied into the Tower of Babel…see how that works?), History, Transportation, Water Cycle, Life Cycle, Character, Insects, Slavery (Life of Moses…), and others. You will find reproducibles and other items included in each Volume.

Volume 2 will usher us in the world of Exodus and the Books of the Law. This Volume will cover areas of Royalty, Families, Deserts, God’s Sovereignty, Miracles, Celebrations, Egyptian Civilization, U.S. History (1600-1790), and more.

Volume 3 follows that up with Joshua, Judges, and Ruth by teaching on the topics of Exploration, Espionage, Communication, Forts, Music, Thinking Skills, Time, Ancient Civilizations, U.S. History (1790-1860), to name a few.

Volume 4 then brings us into the time of the Old Testament Period of Kings and People. Your children will love getting involved in learning about Giants, World Missions, the Civil War, Biology, Captivity, Reconstruction and The Period of Silence between the Old and New Testaments; and more.

Volume 5 caps off this five year study or can stand alone. Volume 5 covers the Life of Christ. In this study of Christ’s life and ministry your students will draw closer to our Lord by learning about Covenants, Government, Ancient Rome, Reproduction, Solar System, the Human Body, Miracle, Biographies, Agriculture, Geology, Map Skills and World and U.S. History (1895-present).

As a bonus, to save you countless trips to the library, Alpha Omega has made so much more available to you by offering resources that can be used with The Weaver. A few of those are the Day by Day which was one of my favorite items. This is basically a daily lesson plan book; everything is totally laid out for you. Wisdom Words was another favorite. This is a step-by-step grammar and composition program for grade K-6. If you purchase this with your first Volume, you won’t need any other grammar/comp program until after sixth grade! Please note that this can be used with or without The Weaver program. There are great resources for spelling, penmanship, reading and other teacher’s helps. Very thorough.

Tapestry of Grace

In the few short years that Tapestry of Grace (TOG), by Lampstand Press, has been available, it is quickly becoming a favorite with many. As you know, it seems that the longer so many of us homeschool, the more eclectic we become. Some of us have favorite methods that we rely on, or return to, over and over again. So, if you are a person who loves the Classic model of learning, but you also love the convenience and ease of using unit studies with your multiple ages of children, then you will feel that Tapestry of Grace was written just for you! And, indeed, it was written by mom, Marsha Somerville, for her own children. After years of success with her own fine family, she decided to publish it for the rest of us.

As in all Classical education, TOG follows the rule of Lower Grammar (K-around 3^rd grade), Upper Grammar (around 4^th – 6^th grade), Dialectic (roughly Jr. high level) and Rhetoric (Sr. high level). Jam-packed with teaching notes, reproducibles and lessons notes, Marsha has left hardly anything out.

As with The Weaver, TOG is designed to cover the entire Bible in a multi-age/grade format; however, TOG covers all of this in four years. Each well noted, well researched unit is laid out in notations of Threads. Contained within each Thread is your basic lesson plan divided up by Historical, Geographical, Literary, Law and Government Studies, Fine Arts/Hands-on, Writing, Church History and Bible Survey, and Worldview Studies. Each of these topics are covered thoroughly. Students, especially older students, need to not only know what the Bible (Truth) says about what we believe, but they also need to know at least a working knowledge of what false faiths and cults believe. For example: TOG, year one, covers the History of Redemption; as part of that Unit 2 is “All Governments are Established by God.” As part of this study it must be understood that between Creation and around 960 BC, God called one nation out of a pagan existence unto himself. As part of the process of learning about those ancient civilizations, your students will also learn about past and present pagan religions so as to not only understand the falsehood of what they believe, but to impress upon them just how much the world needs Jesus as their Savior.

TOG is replete with sidebar notes, tables, worksheets, reading lists and suggested resources. If you have been homeschooling for long, many of these will already be on your shelves. If not, TOG offers outstanding savings on complete or partial resource packages. So, all of us “whole book” learning lovers can get excited about this unit study!

Now, I know what you’re asking, so I’ll tell you more about what each yearly unit consists of. As mentioned above, Year 1 is History of Redemption; covering the units of: The Books of Moses, All Governments are Established by God, Preparing the World for it’s Savior, and In the Fullness of Time.

Year 2 is titled From Ancient to Modern and covers Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation, Colonial America, and Age of Revolutions.

Year 3 brings us to The 1800’s. This busy and interesting year covers Napoleon’s World, The Birth of the Modern, Nations Uniting and Dividing, and The Gilded Age. Very exciting.

Year 4 will end in the study by bringing us right into The Twentieth Century. Your students will be amazed at how full that century was! This year covers The Century Opens – WWI, The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression, The WWII Era, The Post-WW – the 50’s and 60’s, and The 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and a Look Ahead. This is a fun one to do with our kids because we get to cover some of the craziness – and fashion faux-pas – that we lived through!

And, just like The Weaver, if you wish you may start the study over and re-do the entire study from the viewpoint of your children’s higher grade levels. If you wish, once you have bought these studies, they may well be all you will ever need for your children’s entire school careers!

Contact Information

The Weaver is available through Alpha Omega Publications ~ 1-800-622-3070 or www.aophomeschooling.com.

Tapestry of Grace ~ http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/tog_fast/index.htm or contact Lampstand Press at 1-800-705-7487. You can also find support & get your questions answered by finding TOG on Facebook.

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><

Lesson Planner: Everything Old is New Again (Using the Tried & True)

By Kim Wolf<><

{Originally printed in the Fall 2007 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine}

When I was around the age of 10, my sweet grandmother gave me one of my most treasured possessions: her McGuffey’s Second Reader. Having grown up in the public/government school system, I was always amazed that my grandparents had to actually buy their school books. Wouldn’t they laugh if they knew that I now homeschooled and we, too, have to buy all of our children’s books?

But when my grandma gave me her old, worn book; when she could still recite stories and poems that she had memorized from them as a child, I just knew that there had to be something special about them. That simple gift began a life-long love for books. Especially the collection of old books.

Once I began homeschooling I would find old books at antique shops, garage sales or on the web. But I had little idea that some old books were being re-published…even whole sets…and I have since used these books time and time again. The two sets we will discuss here will be McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers and Ray’s Arithmetic.

The first set I happened upon were the McGuffey’s Readers. I couldn’t believe my eyes! There, in the gift shop of an historic park, was a whole set of seven readers! And what they contained didn’t disappoint me; the stories and the art work are exactly as the antique volumes were. Little did I realize, until I owned the whole set, that those seven volumes do not actually follow grade years; the seventh reader could actually be considered college-level reading by many. But let’s start from the beginning…

McGuffey’s Eclectic Primer begins with display pages of the upper and lower case alphabet and continues on as a wonderful reader for beginners. If your child has already begun by using other reading programs (such as last month’s Teach Your Children to Read in 100 Easy Lessons or Hooked on Phonics) this will be a great treat. The lessons start with up to six new words being introduced; each showing the common diacritical markings as in long vowel/short vowel/hard consonant markings. Lesson One begins with simple, one-syllable words such as: A cat and a rat. A rat and a cat. Lesson Five is a review and introduces the student to “slate work.” This is a writing lesson that, of course, you are free to use or ignore. These writing exercises are written in 1800’s-style cursive, so even if your little one has begun to use cursive writing, they still may need a little help deciphering some of the older script, like the open lower-case “p” or “f.” By the end of this little book your children will be reading lovely poems such as:

When the stars, at set of sun,

Watch you from on high;

When the light of morn has come,

Think the Lord is nigh…

The First Reader is more of the same with the addition of two-syllable words and a little more emphasis on cursive (“script”) penmanship. The Second Reader is a more progressive reading plan; it has a more detailed “Table of Vocals,” which is a more detailed phonics table and punctuation mark definitions. This volume not only introduces three- and four-syllable words, but is the first reader to actually present each lesson in the form of actual stories. Each story not only uses the newly introduced words, but also teaches lessons in poetry, family values, sibling relationships, forgiveness, animal stories and over-coming fears in priceless prose such as “Afraid in the Dark,” “The Broken Window” and “Kitty and Mousie.” I can still hear my grandma reciting:

“Two black eyes had little kitty,

Black as a crow;

And they spied the little mousie,

Long time ago…”

Moving into the Third Reader, we broaden our range of phonics sounds by adding Diphthongs and Subvocals, along with Exercises in Articulation which includes double vowel sounds and blends. This reader also introduces emphasis by using italics and CAPITALS. Punctuation is expanded by including marks and pauses such as hyphens (-), commas (,), Semicolons (;) and colons (:), among others. Stories are more detailed and expansive as this reader could carry children into sixth or seventh grade. Once again, these stories not only teach but they are a joy to read.

McGuffey’s Fourth Reader, ideal for Junior High level readers, draws readers deeper into phonics and develops the learner’s articulation. This is re-enforced through practice with inflection: the American way of raising one's voice at the end of a question or lowering one's voice at the end of a sentence.

In this reader you will begin to find familiar stories and poems like Robinson Crusoe’s House by Daniel DeFoe and Hugh Idle and Mr. Toil by Hawthorne. And just as the reading matures, you will find that the drawings do as well. Beautiful old engravings with fine detail.

The Fifth Reader not only brings a reader into upper Jr. high but into Sr. high school level reading. With more complex phonics development, the reader will also learn more about inflections: circumflex, monotone, accent, emphasis, pitch and poetic pauses. The Sixth Reader, high school and college level, jumps right in with articulation and dives further in with more on inflection, accent, emphasis and reading verse. The Fifth and Sixth Readers are books that I simply enjoy “just reading.” Here you will find many treasured old stories and poetry: The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow, The Snowstorm by Thomson; Death of Little Nell by Charles Dickens, Patrick Henry’s Speech Before the Virginia Convention…sections of Shakespeare, the Bible, Washington Irving, Daniel Webster. These are lessons that will be well learned.

Another happy find was the whole set of Ray’s Arithmetic. This eight-volume set not only covers Primary to “Higher” math, but also contains a Parent-Teacher Guide, Test Examples and two Key books.

The Parent-Teacher Guide, a new addition to the re-produced set, has great ideas and teaching schedules, of sorts. Even if the publisher had stopped at the Introduction, it would be worth having. You know, right off the bat, that you have a stellar teaching/learning aid when the intro says: “While learning arithmetic, children develop their God-given, natural, Biblical mode of thinking. Biblical thinking begins with the premises that God created everything and that basic truths of the creation are self-evident to us…With this mode of thinking and study, it is natural to view God’s creation as orderly. Stars keep time more perfectly than clocks can ever manage, crystals teach solid geometry, musical tones…vibrate in the mathematical patterns that man discovers rather than creates. The heavens declare to us the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.” Isn’t that wonderful?

Also in the introduction you will find a chart that shows the suggested grade levels for each book: Primary = first and second grades; Intellectual = third and fourth grades; Practical = fifth and sixth grades; Higher = seventh & eighth grades. Another nice find is a suggested Scope and Sequence and Teaching Tips. My recommendation? “Suggestions” are always fine and appreciated, but remember…these are YOUR children and your school is YOUR school, do what works best for you and yours.

As you may suspect, Ray’s New Practical Arithmetic starts right out with Numbers and Figures…every student must connect one object with the numeral 1 and the name “one.” I was never a “sentence problem” kind of student, but the beginner “Oral Exercises” can be so much fun with the little ones. There is NOTHING like watching those little light-bulbs click on! It has been my experience with other math programs that, in my humble opinion, they start the children on multiplication and division far too early. Even though this Primary book introduces multiplication and division, it’s done in one of the simplest ways I have seen. But, once again, you know your children best, use your own judgment as to when to dig deeper with your children.

Ray’s New Intellectual Arithmetic begins with a review of addition and subtraction including sentence problems, tables and written problems. Since the recommended grades for this book are third and fourth grades, it is a more appropriate time to work into multiplication and division. The tables are laid out perfectly and this would be a good time to memorize them. You will NOT want for exercises; this book is replete with material. From there we move on to Fractions, Tables, Ratios, and Percentages. The detail covered in this volume is something to be admired and you will certainly understand how such a little book can easily be used for two years.

For grades 5 and 6 we move on to Ray’s New Practical Arithmetic. This book takes students into the differences between the Arabic and Roman Systems of Notation and place value. After a review of addition and subtraction, we move into contractions of multiplication and division. From there we move into what my children always considered the “fun” side of math: money, measuring, time, miscellaneous tables, compound numbers, Longitude and time; then on into factors. This point would be a good stopping point for fifth grade so that in sixth grade we can move on to decimals, the Metric System, percentages, interest, exchange of monies from different countries, insurance, taxes, ratio, and beginning geometry. These are very full years!

The last volume is Ray’s New Higher Arithmetic suggested for seventh and eighth grades. Here, you will have the option of reviewing addition and subtraction or moving on to higher multiplication and division. Upon first glance at the Table of Contents it would seem that there will be a lot of review; true on one hand, but not on the other. Once again there will be work on properties, fractions, decimals, ratio and percentage; but we will work at a much deeper level to include what is essentially introductions into accounting principles, taxes, stocks, profit and loss, commission and Algebra.

If you want to teach your children using the tried and true methods that worked so well for our fore-fathers and our grandparents, you will thoroughly enjoy using these wonderful reproduction books. There’s truly nothing like them.

Contacts

You will find both sets available through Christian Book Distributors (CBD) at www.Christianbook.com or 1-800-247-4784. Books can be purchased in completed sets or separately.

Lesson Planner: How Firm a Foundation (Bible Curriculums)

{Originally printed in the Summer 2008 issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine}

2 Timothy 3:16 ~ “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

As most TOS readers are Christian homeschoolers, most of us understand that the very foundation of all our subjects is God’s Word – the Bible.

As such, we are constantly on the look-out for a ways to cultivate in our family a love for the Lord and His Word; to instill the habit of Bible reading and study and creative ways to help them hide the Word in their hearts. Unfortunately and admittedly, there are times when our children and teens may find learning the finer points of the Bible a little…shall we say…dry.

How do we keep the momentum going and feed their love of the Word? My concerns were: 1) I wanted to stay away from introducing ‘extra’ cartoon characters used to make the Bible seem more “story-bookish” and possibly cause them to associate the Bible with fairy tales as they grew and not as truth, or 2) that in order to keep their attention I may unintentionally use something disrespectful to God’s Word.

Over our 16 years of homeschooling, I have used a multitude of studies…some successful, some not…some interesting, some not…some worthy, some not. In this issue I’ll let you in on a couple that fit all of our criteria.

The More Traditional Route

As our children grew and the longer we homeschooled, we became very eclectic. But there are always a few traditional curriculums that everyone works well with. One of those has been Alpha Omega Publications’ Lifepacs. One of the things I liked the best about the Lifepacs, particularly since we are so eclectic, is that AOP offers the purchase options of either buying a whole set (10 Lifepacs plus the Teacher’s Guide) or you may purchase only the Lifepacs or you may simply purchase only the Lifepacs that cover topics you specifically wish to study! Great options!

AOP’s Bible Lifepacs cover all grades, first through twelfth, and using the King James Version, include the themes of theology, attributes of God, Biblical literature, Biblical background, Christian growth, Christian evidences and other special themes, all at the student’s grade level. Different grades cover different scope and sequence objectives:

First – God and You
Second through fifth – Seven Major Themes
~ Christian Growth
~ Theology Themes
~ Christian Evidences
~ Special Themes
~ Bible Literature
~ Attributes of God
~ Bible Geography and Archaeology
Sixth – O.T. and N.T. Bible Survey
Seventh and Eighth – Seven Major Themes (continued on a deeper, more comprehensive level)
Ninth – N.T. Survey; Sharing Christ; God’s Will
Tenth – O.T. Survey
Eleventh & Twelfth – Seven Major Themes (again, at a deeper level)

To whet your appetite even more, here’s a sampling of just some of the Lifepac subjects according to grade:

~1st – God Created All Things; Jesus, Our Savior
~2nd – God & the Family; God, His Word & You
~3rd – Living for God; Oh Joseph! What Was God’s Plan for You?
~4th – God’s Knowledge; Old Testament Geography
~5th – Angels; Proving What We Believe
~6th – From Creation to Moses; The Life of Jesus
~7th – Worship; The Life of Christ - Parts One, Two and Three
~8th – Prayer; Sin & Salvation
~ 9th – The Gospels; Job & Suffering
~10th – Exodus & Wanderings; The Divided Kingdom
~11th – The Faithfulness of God; Friendship, Dating and Marriage
~12th – Knowing Yourself; Comparative Religions

Since the Lifepacs are in workbook form – and cover all other school subjects, by the way - many children and teens enjoy actually seeing their work completed; closing a completed workbook to move on to another and watching that stack of workbooks pile up can really be an incentive to a child or teen who likes to have some tangible “evidence” of a job well done.

The Road Less Traveled

Now, if you’re looking for something a little more creative, a little more innovative and artistic, and a little more fun without being disrespectful to God’s Word, here’s a really easy, really creative way to keep your students – from K through 12 – interested in their Bible studies. Grapevine Studies – Stick Figuring Through the Bible by Dianna Wiebe.

“Grapevine Studies teaches the Bible as if it were a puzzle, doing the frame first.” That framework is the timeline and individual pieces; those pieces are: Bible passages, characters and events which make the whole Word of God easier to understand.

There are five different levels of Old Testament and New Testament volumes; these may be done together with multi-aged children just like unit studies:

~BEGINNER: 5-6 year olds
~LEVEL 1: 1st and 2nd grades
~LEVEL 2: 3rd and 4th grades
~LEVEL 3: 5th through 8th grades
~LEVEL 4: 9th through 12th grades

Each level has a timeline review/lesson. The student will read the Bible lesson which allows the child to have an understanding of the context of the character or event and where it fits on the timeline. After the reading the student draws using stick figures (who can’t do that!), symbols, colors, charts and words to illustrate the Bible passage. The lessons end with review questions.

Beginning with Level 3, the lessons include map assignments to help the student with Biblical geography. Application is determined by the teacher and each lesson ends with a Bible memory verse.

By the end of the year-long study the student should be able to complete an entire Bible timeline – SOLO! It’s a GREAT year-end project.

Grapevine Studies correctly understands that most students, of all ages, have a higher retention rate when they are taught using reading, hearing and drawing (hands-on) instead of merely being lectured to.

Contacts

~ Alpha Omega Publications. 1-800-622-3070 or www.aophomeschooling.com.

~ Grapevine Studies/Stick Figuring Through the Bible: www.grapevinestudies.com.

Blessings from Ohio, Kim<><

The Lesson Planner: The Tortoise and the Hare (Reading Programs)

Originally printed in the Summer 2007 issue of The Old Schoolhouse magazine.

The Tortoise or the Hare ~ Does Slow and Steady Always Win the Race?

As a child I enjoyed reading Aesop’s Fables. What I always liked best about fables was that they used animals and they always taught a lesson. Jesus used parables when He taught, often using farm life or some other part of daily life that His hearers would recognize and relate to.

Probably my favorite Aesop’s Fable is The Tortoise and the Hare. You know the story…One day a Hare came across a Tortoise and began making fun of him because he was so slow. Tired of being teased once again, the Tortoise challenged the Hare to a race. His victory assured, the Hare took the old Tortoise up on his offer. After the fox had set the course, the race was on! The Hare was ahead in no time and decided that he had plenty of time to take a nap. Upon waking he looked toward the finish line only to see that the Tortoise was crossing the finish line and he had lost the race! Lesson: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Slow and steady…does that always win the race in every circumstance? Well, let’s put that in homeschool terms. What about reading?

When a homeschool family begins their journey from the beginning, reading is one of those scary subjects on the list. Can you remember how you learned how to read? I couldn’t. With such a huge variety of reading programs out there, some guaranteeing fast results and some out for the long-term, scope shaping journey, how does one pick and choose what will work for their children? I’ll show you two tried and true favorites, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (the Hare) and Hooked On Phonics (the tortoise). Both of these methods are fine phonics-based methods and I have used both with great success.

Why phonics? Simply because it works! Several years ago, at a Christian Home Educators of Ohio convention, I listened to Samuel Bloomenfeld discuss the utter failure of the “Look-Say/Whole Word” method that so many public schools have been using. This method attempts of teach reading by causing children to “memorize” what certain often used words “look” like. Basically, once these key words are memorized by sight – not sounding out, but what they look like – the rest of their reading instruction ends up just being a guessing game. This Look-say/Whole Word method was originally created to teach deaf people how to read. The program was such a failure that it is no longer used in them – BUT – it is still used in three out of four government schools. Sounds like one more reason to teach them at home.

Enter: The Hare

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is a product of DISTAR, published by the Science Research Associates, Inc. (SRA). Remember those fun and teachable SRA’s we used to do in third grade? These are the same folks! I always enjoyed doing those little SRA’s and I was thrilled to find out that this was the same company.

In the Introduction, they take what Samuel Bloomenfeld told us at CHEO by quoting Robert Benjamin from his book Making Schools Work, “Many schools continue to employ instructional methods that have been proven ineffective. The staying power of the look-say or whole-word method of teaching beginning reading is perhaps the most flagrant example of this failure to instruct effectively.” As we all know, if a child is a good reader, the whole world opens up to them. DISTAR has proven to be very effective with young readers; especially pre-schoolers.

As the title implies, the book consists of 100 lessons that last roughly one-half hour each day. My advice is to NOT skip any lessons, as they build upon each other. By the time your child finishes the book they will be reading at whopping second grade level! And your child will not be the only one who benefits…as the book says, “After you complete the program, you’ll know more about teaching reading then most public school teachers, because you will have carefully observed and participated in the step-by-step development of your child’s reading skills.” As we all know, parents learn, or re-learn, right along with their children.

Once you have read through the Introduction you will then turn to the Parents’ Guide. This portion will give you the outline for “an effective sequence for teaching reading.” The basics of which are: 1) to begin with simple exercises, 2) teaching reading skills, 3) exercises change slow, in small ways, so that it is easy for the child, and 4) very clear communication with the child. From there, you will cover the development of the DISTAR program and the research involved, Communicating Clearly with the Child and Making Teaching Easier.

Then, we get into something interesting. DISTAR uses a very special “funny” print and how words are spelled, or their “orthography.” As we know, because our language is a peculiar mixed of Greek, Latin and French, many of our letters do not make the same sounds every time they are used. DISTAR helps a child understand these difference early one by using a “funny” print. Something I can’t do here is show it to you, but only inform you that it includes all the phonics-related symbols that we grew up with: long/short; blends such as qu, ch, sh, th, sh, etc.

Walking further into the book we come to Getting Ready. DISTAR has produced a Pronunciation Guide. This is very simple, easy to use and will probably look slightly familiar to most as your memories of learning to read take shape. The guide will give you the letter Symbol (m), how the letter is to be pronounced (mmm), a word example (as in ram), voiced or whispered (the symbol for voiced is v, whispered is w) and the guide will let you know which lesson this concept is introduced in (lesson 1).

Two of the keys to phonics is saying the words slowly and sounding out words. The first few lessons will begin with saying letter sounds slowly. Each sound, and words (as you get further into the book), will be written in the way you should teach your child to say them. Each word will begin by you putting your finger on the BIG dot, you will quickly move your finger to the letter to be sounded out and move on. If a word has more than on letter/sound, you will move quickly to the next letter/sound. After you have shown your child the sounds that the letters make, then they will do it with you two or three times, then they will sound out the letters/sounds themselves. If it is an actual word, each time you will repeat the sounds a little faster until the sounds mmm, eee run smoothly together to form the word “me.”

As mentioned earlier, DISTAR insists NO SKIPPING ALLOWED! They recommend that even though a child may read at a faster rate than the program’s sequence, we must remember that “The goal of decoding instruction is to make decoding an automatic practice, not something that requires and great deal of thinking or a great deal of effort.” A person who reads well spends very little time mentally sounding out words. By learning in sequence, one learns wholly. If your mind has been trained well, the sounding out process is automatic and produces and person who, not only reads well and reads quickly, but absorbs and maintains more of what he has read.

Now before this all sounds too overwhelming, and as we get into what a lesson actually consists of, one thing you must know is all lessons are scripted! Your script is written in red – but don’t let it go to your head! J You don’t have to worry about not explaining a concept or new sound correctly, it’s all laid out for you on every page. Even what to expect from your child is there! Making the program easy on the parent is one of the reasons TYC has been such a success.

The daily lessons, divided up by “tasks,” may conclude in as quickly as 10 minutes, but I would recommend that you schedule 20 minutes, especially in the beginning, until you are your child are more familiar with what is expected. These lessons should take place everyday for 5 or even 7 days per week. DO NOT COMPROMISE! As mentioned earlier, these lessons build upon each other and continuity, just like consistency in discipline, is the key to your success. You may even have days when you do two lessons in one day, as some lessons go quickly. However, use your own judgment so as not to load your child with too information. If only working on reading is enough for your child at this time, do not overwhelm him with Sound Writing.

On occasion, once you actually get started, there may be times when you wonder what the exercise has to do with anything your child is learning; as some things seem to go off on a completely different tangent. Hang with it…Have you ever noticed that if you have something weighing on your mind, or if you child has a big test coming up, that if you get your mind off of that particular thing for a few moments and go to something else, that you are better able to deal with it a little later? This, to me, must be the idea that the writers had by the time you get to task 4 of the lessons. By the time you get to task 4, you will review what was already taught in task 1; task 5 will review what was taught in task 2. You will be amazed at how successful that first lesson will have been and what your child retained!

I use a similar technique when I am teaching form a book (what Charlotte Mason referred to as Whole Book Learning). While am reading, my children will be doing something with their hands – drawing, coloring, painting, latch-hooking a rug, etc. The act of keeping their hands occupied helps to keep their minds free to accept what they are learning on an auditory level. Their retention level is far greater than if they were only half-listening because they were so bored their hands were looking for something to do. So, when TYC begins with one task and seems to an entirely different way only to come back to the original task, I believe that this same concept is what they are aiming at…teach something meaningful, get away for just a short bit so that the information can sink in and…bingo! Lesson learned!

Enter: the Tortoise

This was the first reading program that I had used. Hooked on Phonics (HOP) now has several programs to offer, but, why mess with perfection? Their original program, which we will discuss here, is now called Hooked on Phonics Classic. It is SO much fun when that big HOP box arrives! Inside your will find 7 workbooks with lessons, stories and activities; 9 audio cassettes; 3 sets of fun stickers; 9 sets of flash cards; 1 parent guide. Yes, what TYC is in simplicity, HOP has ALL the bells and whistles! Another find…remember those SRA’s that we talked about earlier? THEY ARE HERE! But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

The first thing to do is to listen to Tape 1, the instruction tape. This will give you a great run-down of what you can expect as your use HOP. You next step will be to open up the yellow Book One, grab the yellow flash cards and the white tape 1. Each tape will lead your child, completely through what they are to say and do. (Of course, brand new readers will need your help until they become familiar with what is expected.) The tapes take the child through the sounds and letters that are on the flash cards. After they are familiar, then you will move to the book and Read Out Loud! The first section is “Say the Sound.” Each letter is represented by an object beginning with that letter: a-apple, b-bell, c-cat… In no time at all, your child will be moving on to the letter “a” and actually putting together words! From one of the first lessons they will be putting “a” and “t” together and READING the words: at, bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat. Each lesson ends in review and by the time you get to the third review, your child will know 25 words! By the time they finish the very first book, they will have gone through the whole alphabet and will be reading whole sentences! My children were SO excited when they could read sentences. Book 1 focuses on sight words that everyone reads time and time again, day after day.

Each book works in progression as their reading abilities grow. HOP teaches children to read in a deeper, more complex way. Book/tape/flash cards 2 teaches ending sounds, more complex sight words and beginning sounds. Book/tape/flash cards 3 teaches more complex beginning and ending sounds and long vowel and other sounds. Book/tape/flash cards 4 gets a little more in-depth with diphthong, “schwa” and other sounds, plus more vowel and combination sounds. Set 5 covers combination sounds, silent letters and prefixes. Set 6 gets deeper into suffixes, silent letters, and gets into larger, 4 and 5 syllable words. Book 7 is a complete reading review book; this book is actually referred to at specific points during the whole lesson plan.

Now, we can’t forget those SRA’s. I’m glad to say that my daughters enjoyed these just as much as I had as a child. There are 100 SRA’s, called Power Builders, that range from beginner’s reading level to advanced and are divided up into 3 levels. The beginner’s level has a short little story of one- and two-syllable words, then has various activities such as comprehension questions, sounding out words and “yes” or “no” (true or false) questions. The intermediate section is for those who have completed approximately to Book 3 and has a much longer story (one and a half pages, smaller print, more complex words), comprehension questions, Lean About Words (definitions, etc.), and thinking questions. Upper level has far more complex stories, comprehension questions, vocabulary, and word studies. In all three sections the stories are everything from fiction, non-fiction, science, mini-biographies. They are all very interesting. A small word of warning: these are not necessarily from a Christian perspective and may mention evolution as fact, millions of years, etc.

You Decide…

So, now it’s up to you. Which is better, the tortoise or the hare? You decide. But I warn you – your child’s excitement in learning how to read may even rekindle a long lost love for reading in you that was misplaced long, long ago.

Contacts:

Teach Your Children to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is available in multiple resources. Some are: Christian Book Distributors (CBD) www.Christianbook.com, 1-800-247-4784; Farm Country General Store www.homeschoolfcgs.com, 1-800-551-FARM.

Hooked on Phonics www.hop.com, 1-800-ABCDEFG.

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><