Back to School Tip III of XII: Create Reading Environment

Twelve Tips for Back to School--Those Attending (or Homeschooling!)--Tip III of XII: Create an Environment Conducive to Learning to Read


“I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves”



During my graduate studies (in Reading Specialist) at Ball State University, I did a master’s thesis about children who learn to read without any reading instruction. That is, the kids just suddenly started reading books without ever having phonics lessons, basal readers, or other “formal instruction.” It was a challenging thesis simply because there is so little data about it because of our “early school attendance age.” Seldom does a child learn to read “naturally” before age six or seven, and with kids going to school at age five (and often beginning reading instruction in kindergarten), the research was sparse concerning these “instructionless” readers.

I did find enough, however, and I was also blessed to find a family who had a natural reader to compare the printed data with. My observations, coupled with the studies in teaching journals, etc., led me to find what I called the “environment” in which natural readers are raised. This led me to other lines of thinking—if a child can learn to read with absolutely no instruction in a literary-saturated environment, wouldn’t this environment be conducive to helping those who DO receive instruction learn to read better, more easily, and more naturally?

The answer, of course, was yes. Study after study shows the type of environment that causes kids to learn better. Duplicating the “natural reader’s” environment can only help our kids learn better. Maybe our creating this “literary atmosphere” will not automatically make our six year old pick up a book and begin reading, but if it makes the learning process (actually any/all learning processes) easier, more enjoyable, and less stressful, why wouldn’t we want to duplicate it in our homes for all of our kids?

So what were the commonalities I found in studying the environment of “natural readers”?

Common Characteristics of Natural Reader

1. Interaction with adults—these kids were with adults a lot—and definitely not around peers more than adults. They had adults on hand to discuss things with, to answer their questions, and to provide examples of proper speech patterns, etc.



2. Much book handling by the child—these children were surrounded with books that they were permitted to interact with. They were often found at very young ages with stacks of books around them, just looking at the pictures, making stories in their minds from the pictures, etc.



3. Print abounds and interest in print is evident by itself—not only did the homes of natural readers contain books themselves, but they also contained all type of print. The parents of these children read magazines, journals, newspapers, etc. I think the “interest in print” part probably began with something like a parent saying, “Honey, look at this whale they found beached on the coast of Florida,” as he or she brought the little one up on to her lap to see the picture that was provided with the article in today’s newspaper, etc. This type of activity causes a child to become interested in print.



4. Tapes and books are used—nowadays, of course, this would say “cd’s and books are used”; however, this is the reason why I began using book and tape sets a few times a week for my preschoolers and elementary children—and why we have used audios (talking books, radio dramas, etc.) every week of our lives since our oldest was one year old. “Tapes” and books show our children the benefits and “fun” that reading provides.



5. Memorization takes place—these natural readers often followed a certain pattern—they memorized a picture book (usually many), then through the memorization, they began making print-sound-word connections. That is, when they turned the page and recited, “If you give a mouse a cookie,” they began to understand that i-f says if and y-o-u says you. Natural readers were experts at memorizing large portions of text.



6. Interest in writing words and “language experience” activities—many years ago, there was a movement in education to replace phonics instruction with “language experience” activities (also called a “whole language approach”). Phonics proponents everywhere were up in arms at the thought of “activities” of writing what the child said (dictation) for him, making little homemade books, etc. taking the place of phonics instruction. While I am a strong phonics proponent, I believe that these “language experiences” and “whole language” activities augment the reading instruction greatly. And, of course, the natural readers in the research were exposed to these types of activities early and often. These kids were the ones who dictated thank-you notes to Mom to go to grandparents and colored a picture to send along with it; they were the ones who had a chalk board in the kitchen in which Mom or Dad wrote the day of the week each morning; they were those who “said” stories aloud and parents copied it in little “journal” books for the child. And on and on. Why wouldn’t these types of experiences and activities increase a child’s relationship with print and love for learning?



7. Experiences related to literacy and books—these obviously include the types of activities listed in number six, but these kids knew from birth that books and reading were important. They were the ones in a double stroller at the library lawn sale as toddlers—child in front seat with back seat full of picture books. They were the ones who had their own “book basket” in the corner of the nursery almost from birth. In other words, they were immersed in literacy and books from an early age.



8. Self-regulated behavior and risk taking—This characteristic related to how they “organize” their little lives. These kids would pull all of the Curious George books off the shelf and stack them up to look at after lunch. They often had little learning systems in place at ages four and five. And they were not afraid to be wrong. This, of course, stems from not being talked down to or made fun of when they did ask questions. These kids were risk takers because taking risks in learning (“Mommy, is this word (dapper) ‘Daddy’?”) yielded information that helped them in their quest to learn. The questions did not yield put downs or “you should already know this.”



9. Read to often—Obviously, a link has to be made from the squiggles on the page to the sounds that those squiggles make in order for a young child to teach himself to read. Thus, a child must be read to (or follow along with books and tapes) in order to learn to read without formal instruction. Now, this is not to say that a child who is read to will automatically learn to read early and on his own. I read aloud to our first three kids three to five hours everyday for years and years—and not one of the three was a natural, or early, reader! But it certainly created a love for print and learning in my children!





Children who learn to read naturally, without reading instruction, are raised in an environment that is conducive to learning to read naturally—an environment that creates a love for learning and a very perceived need to learn.



While I have never had a natural reader myself, I tried all throughout my children’s learning days to create this type of environment. It has created outstanding learners and avid readers in the Reish home.



One of the “rules” that Ray and I had for our children’s early education was that if something could be taught informally (and painlessly), we would teach it that way (as opposed to using workbooks or “curriculum” for something that can just as easily be learned while driving down the road or snuggling on the sofa).



That is one thing that I truly loved about the “natural reader learning environment.” Why get a workbook to teach capital letters when you can teach it while you are running errands (from all of the store signs)? Why get a program for rhyming words when nursery rhymes, silly songs, and I spy games on the road can do the job without the stress? The “natural reader learning environment” fit how we thought young children should be taught—regardless of whether our kids truly became natural readers or not.



The environment described in the last couple of days’ posts is extremely conducive to teaching a myriad of things that kindergarten and first grade curricula often use workbooks, worksheets, and other “formal” approaches. And kids do not even know they are doing “school” with Mom and Dad while running to the hardware store or cuddling during an extensive story time!



Here are just a few of the skills that the research on natural readers indicated are learned/enjoyed by kids in this environment:



1. Contact with print



2. Thinking skills



3. Comprehension (especially when a wide variety of materials is presented and discussion follows)



4. Expanded vocabulary



5. Enunciation and pronunciation



6. Love of and need for reading



7. Sentence patterns



8. Relationship between parent and child---the most important one of all, of course!







Create a “natural reader learning environment” in your home—regardless of your kids’ ages….and watch the interaction with print increase; the love for learning grow; and the positive relationships bloom.

Re-run: Old Post With Links for Charts for Reading, Chores, Morning Routines, etc.

Last year in our experiment to post 365 blog entries, I realized that I wrote a lot! A whole lot! And some things I wrote are good to hear again--or to be reminded of occasionally. With everybody scrambling to find their new normal for the summer, I wanted to re-post an entry from last year that has links for charts that you can create/use for designing your new normal--your summer schedules and goals. Hope they help today be a better day for you! :)


http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-186-links-for-charts-for-reading.html

Summertime Fun and Summertime Goals! Part II of II

Sorry it took me a while to come back to this. I have had some other things that I wanted to get up too. So much to say, so little time to say it! Smile…

Anyway, I first want to give you a link to a freebie offered by Graham Family Ministries to help you in creating summer goals/summer fun lists/charts for your kids. It is simple to go into the document and make it whatever fits your needs—reading goals, fun activities goals, summer school workbook goals, household goals—use it in whatever way helps you!

Editable Summer Time Chart: http://www.school4jesus.com/summertime-fun-chart-freebie

Then I will leave you with a short list of the literally hundreds of goals that we had for our Summer School Goals through the years…so many good memories. So grateful for the wonderful years I have had with my kids!!!
Note: Each goal had a certain number of boxes with it—and each time that goal was done one time, a box was filled in with a sticker. The kids could choose each day what to work on—but to help them see the big picture, I had how many hours total each goal would take to complete it the number of times allotted—and how many total “sessions” each one would take (i.e. if child was supposed to read ten 20 chapter chapter books, that would be 100 goals of 2 chapters at a time, etc.).



1. Read a chapter (or two) out of a chapter book.

2. Read a Bob Book aloud to brother or sister.

3. Cook a new recipe from scratch.

4. Organize one shelf of the living room bookcase.

5. Trip to the library.

6. 15 mins jumping on the tramp.

7. 10 laps of swimming at the pool.

8. 2 pages in summer skills book

9. 30 mins of craft activity

10. Organize a closet with Mom for 30 minutes.

11. Weed garden for 20 mins.

12. 1 Geosafar card at 90% accuracy.

13. 2 math drill pages

14. 1 game of chess with Dad

15. Reading Bible aloud to Mom—1 chapter each

16. Read a picture book to a little

17. Listen to talking book for 30 mins

18. Color one page in educational coloring book

19. 60 mins of sewing outfits for American Girl Dolls

20. 60 mins of Lego play

P.S. Technically, this blog post could have fallen much later in the year under Responsibility or Diligence or Industriousness or Organization--these types of activities have helped my kids learn so many valuable character qualities and skills!

Summertime Fun or Summertime Goals? How About Both? I of II

When my older kids were “littles,” we did a fun thing in the summer for many years. Well, lots of work for me—and fun for them because they all loved school! I made them “Summer School Goals” booklets. With these, I would sit down each child and tell each one what I wanted him or her to work on in various areas (reading chapter books instead of picture books only, writing out Scripture, math drill, etc.), and then I would ask each child what he or she wanted to do. Their ideas could be anything: swim a lot, play games with Dad, read a certain book series, etc. Then I would pull all of this information together and make each one a “Summer School Goal” booklet.


At first, it wasn’t fancy—eventually, I made them on the computer, and they were a little more official-looking. (On the early ones, I used card stock, and I wrote at the top of each “goal” what it was, how long the duration should be (or how many pages, etc., depending on the goal), and how many of that goal the child should try to meet for the summer. Then beneath that I put large boxes (boxes as in similar to a large graph or tic-tac-toe board). Then I dropped down and put the next goal. I sometimes put the goal in abc order (i.e. reading came before swimming in the alphabet) and sometimes put it in order of ease (the hardest ones at the front of the booklet).


Then we met again to discuss how they were going to meet these goals—we had a certain amount of time three days a week or so devoted to “Summer School Goals” that were at home, academic types of things, so they would work on those types of goals then. I penned in beside each goal approximately how many times they had to do each one each week in order to complete it (i.e. chapter book reading that was half an hour a week might have thirty boxes for ten weeks and need done three times a week to meet the whole goal).


Then they took their Summer School Goals booklets and packages of stickers and started in. Now this might seem like a nightmare to some kids ,but my kids thrived on it. (You have to keep in mind that these are the same kids who thought you did school on Saturdays and in the summer until someone at Sunday school told them differently at about age eight!)


More on Summer School Goals tomorrow—including a ready-made, editable chart (a Freebie from Graham Family Ministries!) that would work well for this type of goal setting or any summer fun or summer goals and a list of ideas to get you started making Summer Goals!

And the final summer reading help!

This will be the final installment of the links from last year about helping your child with reading during the summer. I pray that you and your son or daughter have an amazing summer building those reading skills and making memories!






Introducing readability levels: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-175-summertime-beginning-reading.html



Readability levels—I of IV: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-176-summertime-beginning-reading.html



Reading with your “already-reading” child to build fluency and keep skills fresh: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-188-summertimereading-with-your.html


“What” to read with your child this summer: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-189-summertimewhat-to-read-with.html

 

More Summer Reading Links/Helps

I want to leave you with more summertime reading and phonics help links. You may click on the links yesterday to find the beginning of each thread about helping your child with reading, tutoring without a formal program, and reviews of various phonics programs that I recommend.



For any reading or summer help, however, you may go to Positive Parenting 365 blogspot (as opposed to the FB page) and click on either “summer” or “reading” and hit older spots. Scroll up from there to find them in order, etc.


Today I will leave you with more summer reading help! One of the best ways that you can help your very young/new readers is to read with them in the summer every day. Today I will post links for general reader information, as well as specific readers and the uses we have found for them.




How to use graded readers with your kids-- http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-169-summertimebeginning-reading.html



Choosing graded readers—IMPORTANT points to consider: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-170-summertimebeginning-reading.html



Starting with the first readers—The Bob Books--- http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-171-summertime-beginning-reading.html



After “Bob”—the next readers we recommend: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-172-summertime-beginning-reading.html



Moving along with readers: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-173-summertime-beginning-reading.html



Tomorrow—links for readability levels to help you help your non-beginners choose books at their level this summer!

Summer Reading Help

Over the next few days, I will be linking you to many past posts that have to do with summer--helping your chid with reading; spending time with your kids in the summer; etc. Today I will start with general reading help and reviews of phonics programs. Just click on the links below to find the beginning of each thread listed. Happy reading!

Introduction to helping your child with reading (decoding) this summer—start here: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-158-summertimehelping-struggling.html


Tutoring your child without a formal program in reading—start here: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-162-summertimebeginning-reading.html


Phonics programs to use at home with struggling readers—start here (several posts/reviews): http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/06/day-164-summertimebeginning-reading_17.html

It's Summer!

In the past eight weeks, we have spoken at three homeschool conventions, done one parenting seminar, graduated one from college and one from high school, had both of our daughters home for a week plus, got one son off for the summer for a summer ministry opportunity, and had an open house for the high school graduate! So when we woke up this morning, we were tired....and yet excited about the summer!

We homeschool year round, which basically means that some learning always takes place everyday! But we do allow time for fun "extras" in the summer--short trips, long weekends, swimming days, bonfire evenings.....more family time--yay!

I want to link you to some posts from last year--about reading with your kids in the summer, about helping your students academically during the summer, and much more. So in the next few days, I will detour again away from first thing in the morning and get some of these things re-posted (as well as some new things!). Then we'll continue first thing in the  morning with our kids by moving into "character training" (chores!). Invite your friends! Thanks for joining us.

day 200: reading through collections

Yesterday I described how Jakie and I are reading through our bookcases. One of the types of books I have enjoyed with my children through the years are those that are collections. That is, they are larger books with many or several stories in them. We use collection type books for character stories, devotions, story time, and more.


I will list the current “collections” we are reading for “story time,” along with their authors and links. Check them out. I think your kids will love them!




1. Dr. Seuss collections by Dr. Seuss (We are doing “Six by Seuss”) http://www.christianbook.com/a-hatful-of-seuss/seuss/9780679883883/pd/9883886?item_code=WW&netp_id=105954&event=ESRCN&view=details

2. Beatrice Potter collections (a lot of her books with illustrations are available online here) http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books/kids.htm to buy complete collection http://www.amazon.com/Beatrix-Potter-Complete-Tales/dp/072325804X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273675639&sr=8-1

3. Billy and Blaze series http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Blaze-Boy-His-Horse/dp/0689716087

4. Curious George books Margret and H.A Ray (we’re doing a collection) http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Adventures-Curious-George-Anniversary/dp/0618164413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273680685&sr=8-1-spell

5. Disney Americana Stories http://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Americana-Storybook-Collection-Collections/dp/0786834021/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280801857&sr=1-1

6. James Harriot’s Treasury for Children by James Harriot Animal Stories http://www.amazon.com/James-Herriots-Treasury-Children-Creatures/dp/0312085125/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

7. E is for Ethics by Ion James Corlett http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-About-Morals-Values-Matters/dp/1416596542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280801778&sr=1-1

8. From Sea to Shining Sea, a Treasury of American Folklore, Stories, and Songs by Amy Cohn http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Shining-Treasury-American-Folklore/dp/0590428683

9. Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories (see review in earlier post: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-137-devotionals-read-aloud-faith.html
bottom item in that list….)

day 199: Read your way through your bookcase this summer

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." ~James Bryce




Jakie and I have been enjoying some awesome story times this summer! Instead of going to the library, getting armloads of books to read aloud, we have been doing something unique: reading our way through our bookcases.


We have well over a thousand books (used to have two thousand before we got rid of half of everything we owned and moved to our small house eleven years ago). There are many of these books that I have read to my older kids; some I have read to my middle kids; and some that I have never gotten around to reading with Jakie! So we are correcting that this summer.


I pulled several of our collections off the shelf and put them in my room on my “current reading” shelf. We pull these off every reading time, start where we left off the last time and read a story or entry or two. Then we move on to the next one. (I will share our current “collection” list tomorrow.)


Additionally, we each choose a couple of picture books to read during that session. Jakie is choosing from all over the bookcase, but I am being a bit more systematic, in the hopes of getting through all of our picture books again this summer. I started at the top shelf of the picture book bookcase and pull off the next one we haven’t read yet this summer.


It’s not too late to institute a story time this summer! So….read your way through your story books. You will, like me, not regret the time you spend sharing stories with your kids.


Just a couple more days on reading story books and collections. August will be “organization” and “back to school” month with tips for getting organized, raising diligent workers, and back to school tips for all! Thanks for joining us at Positive Parenting 3*6*5!

day 203: follow up to penmanship post--link for handwriting sheets

The other day I wrote about helping your kids with penmanship this summer. A link just came through my Facebook that is super for creating penmanship sheets for your kids--in the font, style, size, etc. that you want! It is amazing, so I thought I would share it!


August is nearly here! Not to make you feel rushed (though I am definitely starting to feel it)...but don't put off much longer any of the wonderful ideas you had for this summer!!


Penmanship Sheet Maker Link: http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/

day 201: penmanship help

Being the author of over thirty language arts and composition books, I get asked quite often about penmanship. Unfortunately, penmanship is not my area of expertise. Language arts and composition are communications/English courses—penmanship, however, is art!! Smile… In other words, I didn’t do the greatest job at penmanship instruction, in spite of my two credit hour penmanship class during college. (I can, however, write fairly nicely when I have “my” pens and write slowly.)


Therefore, I will give you some insights that I have gained along the way—in case you have kids with illegible writing that needs turned around in the next four weeks before school starts! And after you read my meager attempts to help you with penmanship, please go to the link provided at the end. Those people know what they’re talking about when it comes to penmanship help—and maybe you will get the assistance you are seeking! 






1. Penmanship and composition are two very different things. Composition is “writing,” in the sense of putting sentences and paragraphs together. Penmanship is, in my humble opinion, art.


2. Children do not “catch” penmanship. Trust me on this. It doesn’t just happen. Children need detailed, step-by-step penmanship instruction.


3. It takes forever for a child to learn to write—and even longer for a child to learn to read—cursive writing. Thankfully, there is a lot of research coming out lately arguing whether cursive writing is really needed.


4. Penmanship requires daily practice and thorough follow up. Once you check a penmanship page, the child will need a lot of help learning to form the incorrect letters right.


5. Penmanship should be done at a desk or table with the proper writing tool.


6. Penmanship needs to be done out of a penmanship book with the correct letters modeled and preferably with the stroke order given (i.e. start here, next go there, etc.).






That’s all folks. My limited advice about penmanship. It is one subject I wish I had done differently from the very beginning…so learn from my mistakes! 






And now, the link to really help you with penmanship: http://bogartfamilyresources.com/FREEBIE/whataboutpenmanship.pdf

day 200: it’s library time!

Here is where people,


One frequently finds,


Lower their voices


And raise their minds.


~Richard Armour, "Library"






In the fun days of summer, we can often forget about one of the greatest places to spend hot afternoons (if you can’t go swimming!)—your local library. The boys and I just enjoyed a day of “library hopping”—where you go from one library to another throughout the day (stopping for lunch, of course!), losing yourself in books, audios, and more. We have two branches of our local library and another dozen or so branches of the “big” library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We love library hopping!


Every Monday I have a list of “to do” items to get my week started off right. One of those tasks is “Library online.” This means that I go to my two accounts (one at our local library and one at the “big” one), renew books that are going to become overdue that week, check to see if any holds are ready to be picked up, place holds for books that I want to pick up in the next week or so, and often write up a “teacher’s collection.”


The “teacher’s collection” is, to borrow the colloquialism, the best thing since sliced bread. It is an amazing service that our large library offers that I take advantage of as often as possible. With the “teacher’s collection,” you fill out a form (available online or at each branch) for the types, ages, topics, etc. of materials that you need. It is available to teachers as well as homeschoolers (though I am sure they would oblige any parents who want to use the service to help their kids at home).


Here are some recent “teacher’s collections” I have requested, to give you an idea of the terrific things they do for us:


1. Audio historical fiction for grades four through eight that took place in the US between 1800 and 1900—25 pieces


2. Newberry award winning audio books from 1922 (the year the first Newberry was awarded) to 1950—as many as available (we use a lot of audio books here!)


3. Historical non-fiction books about US history for grades four through eight about the years 1800 to 1850—25 pieces


4. All “Little House” books on cd


5. Book and cd sets that are Caldecott winners—25 pieces






Obviously, the Fort Wayne library main branch can do those types of collections because it is a huge library system. I am so grateful for their help with our kids’ education.


So…take some time out in the remainder of the summer to go to that wonderful place, the library.

day 197: composition help

I have posted several links and ideas to help you get your kids ready to go back to school, but I wanted to share some “writing help” with you as well. Our publishing company/family ministry has many writing books and many language arts books that we write for homeschoolers and Christian schools.


At our website, we offer three week samples of each of our composition books, entitled “Meaningful Composition” (MC). We only have Levels 4th through 8th and a couple of high school books (though our Level 8 first semester and Level 8 second semester are considered high school beginning writing books) done so far, but you are more than welcome to go to our site, print off the samples of a couple of books and work through them with your kids over the next few weeks.


MC books are written to the student in what we call our “directed writing approach.” This means that they give step-by-step directions to the students in each assignment (as opposed to writing ideas or prompts).


For example, if your student does not understand the basics of what a paragraph contains, you can print the samples for MC 4 I (formerly 4+) and do those with him. If your student does not the basics of putting paragraphs together for essay or report writing, you can print the samples for 4 II and do those with him. There are several books in Levels 5 through 8 that have writing lessons for the middle grades. And if your student does not understand the basics of research report writing, try MC 9 I samples.


Go to our site and click MC samples—and see if you can find any help for your reluctant writer to get off on the right foot this fall in composition: http://www.tfths.com/samples.php



*Note: This page also contains links for our “Character Quality Language Arts” samples. This is our complete language arts program. Just skip on down below this for the “Meaningful Composition” samples.

day 195: summer academic help for the final month of summer—individual LifePacs

Summer is winding down….and you might want to dig in during the last month and work on getting ready for school. I have written extensively this summer about building your child’s reading skills (foundational to most all other learning). Today I want to introduce a company that is a homeschool provider—but has an added benefit to those desiring work on skill building in any subject area for a month or so.


The company is a huge publisher called Alpha Omega. Many homeschoolers and private schools use their material for their entire curriculum. But for our purposes here, I wanted to tell you about them because they have a workbook approach in which you may purchase one month of a subject at a time for only $4.50 a booklet in any subject area. This is an especially good avenue for working on specific skills in a specific subject or two.


This program is called LifePacs, and as I said earlier, is used in its entirety for entire curriculum. Here is how they can help you with your student’s summer “school” help:


1. The full curriculum for each subject area is available in ten worktexts. This means that each worktext has the teaching text and the student’s workbook in one.


2. Each worktext takes three to four weeks to complete.


3. A little known fact is that you can go to your child’s grade level (from this past year if you are looking to review), click on the subject area you would like to work on, and look at the titles and skills lists of each of the ten “LifePacs” for that subject area. Then choose the one that you think your child needs to work on the most, as follows:


a. If you can tell by the contents of each LifePac which booklet would best help you with the skills that your child needs work on, do it that way.


b. If you are unsure of the exact skills your child needs, but you know he didn’t have trouble until mid way through the year, considering getting one of the middle worktexts. (Or ending ones if he had trouble near the end of the year.)






4. You will probably need to call to order individual ones. (I didn’t see it as an option, but I called, and the saleslady told me that it is definitely possible.) So once you know that you want say 5th grade, LifePac for math #6 and 5th grade, Lifepac for grammar #8, you can call and just order those two for $4.50 each.


5. The worktexts are short and not the least bit overwhelming.


6. You might need to purchase the inexpensive answer keys for the entire year in order to check your child’s work, but those are not pricey either.


7. The first link here will take you to the LifePacs, then you choose the “look at this curriculum,” then the grade level, then the subject area: http://www.aophomeschooling.com/lifepac/overview.php

 If your child seemed to drag near the end of the school year in a specific subject area, this is a great way to focus on just that in an inexpensive, non-stressful way. I highly recommend it!

day 193: building math skills in the summer

If you want to help your child increase in skills in a certain subject area, I do not recommend the “summer” type of workbooks. Those workbooks are just that—workbooks. They are not TEACHING books.


In other words, they are great for practicing already learned skills, but they are not so good for learning new ones. (The exception to this is if you are planning to sit down and “teach” the concepts on each page before your child does the workbook page.) They might have a sentence or two explaining the concept, but they expect, for the most part, that your child is using the book for review or for practice. So what do you do to increase your child’s skills?


Today we will focus on keeping and/or increasing your child’s math skills:


1. If it’s math drill you are after, consider getting our personal favorite daily drill—Calculadders. These drill sheets have the same exact problems for ten days, then move onto another set of ten, etc. (If you are trying to keep skills in math, you might want your student to just do each set two or three days in a row, then go to the next set. You can always use the extra pages for school breaks, extra help during the academic year, a younger sibling, or next summer.) http://www.homeschoolconnection.com/CalcuLadder-2_p_1583.html

2. If you know the specific math skills that your child needs extra help in, consider subscribing to a worksheet provider that has a good search engine and easily-maneuvering site. The subscription to the one that follows is a good price—and you can use the worksheets for multiple children, choosing what each child needs to practice, creating tailor-made worksheets. Here is what Timberdoodle says about this site:


“The Math Worksheet Site is an online math worksheet generator located at TheMathWorksheetSite.com . The Math Worksheet Site‘s subscription area currently has over 190 different types of worksheets with more added regularly. Each worksheet is unique and randomly generated within parameters that you select. Your child could work the same type of problems every day and each time have different problems, or have the same problems in a different order so he wouldn't simply memorize the placement. Topics currently covered include the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. However, you get much more than just that: counting, fractions, sequencing, place value, percents, money, geometry, , exponents, Roman numerals, graphing, telling time, area, volume, and much, much more. Not only that, but each worksheet is very easy to customize. For instance, are you adding decimal numbers? Select how many digits you want to the left of the decimal, how many digits to the right, how many addends and print. Answer keys are readily available and even show the problems worked out.”


Amazing, huh? Follow this link for more info: http://www.timberdoodle.com/The_Math_Worksheet_Site_p/tmws.htm



3. If your child knows his facts but has application problems, consider these simple workbooks that do nothing but build word problem solving skills. These books are amazing for helping kids who do not seem to know which operation to use when faced with a word/story problem: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Daily_Word_Problems_Grade_4_Math_p/215-404.htm



4. If a workbook sounds too “schoolish” for you for the summer, consider a cd rom math drill program. Timberdoodle has one that they rave about and others seem to like it too: http://www.timberdoodle.com/The_Quarter_Mile_Math_Program_Grades_4_6_p/335-134.htm



5. If you have multiple ages of children and you want to purchase one cd for all of them grades three through nine, consider this cd drill, also available from Timberdoodle: http://www.timberdoodle.com/Number_Drill_p/383-383.htm



Tomorrow—content area helps for your student this summer….

day 191: other academic help—“summer” workbooks

What if your child is a terrific reader but has trouble with math? What about history and social studies? How can you help your child in the content areas this summer?


I will start today with the idea of keeping the skills your child has already developed during the academic year and then moving in to helping to build his skills in specific subjects.


If your child is at grade level and you do not feel a need to INCREASE his skills this summer but rather just help him keep the skills he has, you will probably do well with any of those “summer” workbooks. I personally like the “Comprehensive Curriculum” books.


With the “summer” type of workbooks, you would get the one for the grade level your child just finished (not the one he is about to go into).


I personally like the general ones that have a little bit of each subject. The one that Jakie is doing this summer has five areas of study (reading, writing, math, social studies, science), and he has to complete one page from each area on our “summer school” days. This makes it simple for him and for me.


These types (especially the Comprehensive Curriculum ones) are super inexpensive (and in color—actually amazingly affordable for such high quality).


I get mine at the wholesale club, but here is a link for some you may order online: http://www.homeschoolingsupply.com/cgi-bin/search/search.cgi?Terms=Comprehensive+Curriculum or http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1561893706/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1561893749&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0K5ZBEAQMA84RND0WKW0



Another option is to just print off various types of worksheets online for your child to do. I prefer having all of the pages in one book in a systematic order—and the color of the workbooks makes it more appealing than isolated workbook pages. However, if you just want to have him practice just writing or just math, you might want to do a search for free worksheets online. The internet is a plethora of materials for you to use with your student.


I can’t end a “keep your child’s academic skills alive” post without reminding you of the two things that can do more to build reading, content area (history, science, etc.), and thinking skills than any workbook could: (1) reading together; and (2) discussion. Don’t overlook these two avenues for keeping your child’s school skills sharp.

day 189: summertime—WHAT to read with your child

“I love the library; the magnificent books; I require books as I require air.” unknown




One of the keys to getting your child to enjoy reading with you is to read what he enjoys. This can be difficult if your child is not a strong reader and does not choose to read for himself for pleasure. Reading will quite possibly be looked at as a negative experience. Why would I choose to read when it is so hard and lacks fulfillment?

One way to counteract this is to choose materials that he enjoys. Consider these tips*:


1. Let him choose the book, if you are reading a chapter book.


2. Choose a book with multiple stories rather than one long story. For example, the popular Encyclopedia Brown series (and a new Christian fiction series called Scripture Sleuth for fourth to fifth grader readers) contains chapters in which each one contains its own separate story. Each chapter stands alone. This is a good strategy for students who do not feel that they can read lengthy chapter books yet. Additionally, school readers can have interesting stories that are self contained. When you are done reading for that session, you will be done with the entire story. This can be very satisfying to kids. Ask your librarian to direct you to other books that contain short stories that might interest your student as opposed to one story throughout the entire “chapter book.”


3. Consider non-book reading. Some kids do well with magazines. Others enjoy comic books. Newspapers or sports magazines appeal to some kids. You do not have to read “a book” in order to read with your child everyday.


4. Daily devotionals are good to read together. They generally contain extremely short excerpts that can be read silently in five to ten minutes (orally a little longer), and can provide much discussion and application material.


5. Adult texts can also be enjoyed by older students. Specifically, I am thinking of Guideposts or Reader’s Digest, but there are many more varied texts that kids would like too. Again, it’s about what your child will WANT to read each day with you. If he hates reading each day, it will be a struggle and will fall by the wayside.


6. Animal books, nature books, and other non-fiction materials are often enjoyed by students. Again, these can be books, like Usborne, Dorling-Kindersley, or Eyewitness or can be magazines, like National Geographic for kids or Nature’s Friend. (Magazines often have puzzles, quizzes, etc. that when done together and discussed can also aid in comprehension building.)


7. Again, adult literacy materials can provide more “grown up” material for students who do not read at grade level but are too old for “cutsie” books, say for second graders. Ask your librarian for these or look them up at an adult literacy provider, such as “Each One Teach One.” (See earlier link about Saxon Phonics Intervention and Saxon BOLD and bringing older students up to grade level in reading.)


*These same tips can be applied to choosing materials for your child to read to himself.

day 188: summertime—reading WITH your child to build fluency and comprehension

If your child is out of the phonics instruction stage, but you still want to help him increase his reading and comprehension skills this summer, do not overlook the simple act of reading WITH your child.


You may desire to have your student read aloud to you each day and discuss it. This simple fifteen minute act can do wonders to help a child build his reading skills.


Here are some tips for reading with your child to help build his reading fluency:


1. Take turns reading—you read a page, then he reads a page.


2. Take turns reading—you read a paragraph, then he reads a paragraph.


3. Take turns reading certain characters. This works better if you each have a copy of the book and the book contains a lot of dialogue, but it can be a fun way to read together AND keep your child’s interest high as his mind cannot wander while he waits on his turn to read (since you will likely be going back and forth frequently with dialogue).


4. Focus on discussion rather than questions. Generally speaking, when a worksheet or curriculum asks your child questions at the end of a reading, it is TESTING your child, not helping him build comprehension. (The exception to this is if the questions tell the student where in the text to look for the answers, instruct him to notice certain parts of a word to build vocabulary (i.e. circle the prefix re in a word), help him learn after he answers the question by explaining the answer, etc.) Thus, simply asking your child questions without explanations is testing him, not teaching him.

5. Consider some of the following after your reading in order to build comprehension:


a. Discuss what you have just read—what did he like, what did you like, why, etc. Through discussion, you will have a chance to TEACH. For example, if you say that you liked a certain character because he found humor in everyday situations. Then you will have the opportunity to tell when in the book or what was happening when the character found humor. That is building comprehension at the highest levels (motivation of a character’s actions; possibly predicting outcomes, etc.). Much better than rote answers to questions.


b. If you ask him questions, be ready to help him learn from the answers, right or wrong. For example, if you ask him why he thinks the neighbor did not like the kids in the neighborhood and he does not have an answer, don’t just say, “Because the neighbor was angry.” Instead say, “I think it’s because the neighbor had been through so many bad things that he was bitter. Remember how it said that his wife died years ago…” Just answering comprehension questions does not give our kids tools to use in the next reading situation they are in—discussing the answers does.


c. Let him ask you questions—alternate. Again, your answers and how you found them (especially why you answered the way you did) will help build his comprehension better than if he just did a worksheet with questions.




More on building comprehension in days to come—but for now, just start in…read what your child loves, share it together, discuss it, and enjoy it. You will grow in your “teaching skills” as you share books together.

day 182: summertime —kids reading in the summer

If your child is in second through sixth grade and knows all of his or phonics sounds but is not a “fluent reader”—for our purposes here, a child who can read books that are expected at his school at his grade level, you would be surprised the little things that you can do to help your student. In the next few days, I will give tips concerning this scenario.




                                               Kids Reading This Summer--Just Do It!






Do not underestimate the power of simply reading. If your student is a reluctant or struggling reader, but can read, I recommend that you implement a daily silent reading time for your student.* (Actually, I recommend this for everybody—kids and adults, struggling or not!) There are many ways to implement this:


1. Go to the library and pull a series that your child will enjoy. (I will give some suggestions in days to come, but ask your friends what their kids are reading, ask your librarian for suggestions of books in areas that interest your child, etc.)


2. Consider a 15 to 30 minute silent reading time each day during the summer (or each non-vacation, weekday). You could set this up as a certain time that everybody reads or just make a declaration that everybody must read for fifteen minutes before other activities outside the home (i.e. swimming, friends, etc.).


3. Create a reading chart with squares that are worth fifteen minutes each. So many squares equal prizes or so many squares must be colored in per week. (More on creating your own summer reading program for your kids in upcoming posts.)


4. Get your child a series of chapter books that he or she will enjoy reading and have him or her read a book a week at his own pace and on his own timetable—as long as it is read by Friday at five or whatever the deadline might be.


5. Consider alternative reading materials, like comic books, magazines, books with individual stories in each chapter (as opposed to books in which one story is broken up into chapters), etc. if your child is extremely reluctant.


6. Do not make each reading a “lesson.” Discuss his reading, if desired, but the purpose of this is to get him reading—not necessarily to do reading lessons.






*See readability posts from earlier this summer for help in choosing materials at your child’s reading level.