Spy School: Communication

Spy School: General Outline Schedule

What's a great way to get your reluctant writer to have fun writing? In secret code of course! Invisible ink is another good way. I learned that this summer when we did a few projects for fun. Early Bird kept asking when we were going to do more Spy School, so I scrapped all of our usual work and have planned out a 3 month unit study based around a Spy/Secret Agent/Detective theme.

Catching Up in Language Arts, Part 1: FLL3 and WWE2

The goals:

1. Finish First Language Lessons level 3 and 4 in one year's time and be prepared to move on to 5th grade grammar at the beginning of the next school year. 
2. Finish Writing With Ease level 2 by the middle of the school year and move on to a new curriculum, probably Brave Writer. 

The students: Builder Boy (not quite 9 years old) and Early Bird (6 1/2)

The purpose of this post: to show you how we are doing it if you ever find you want to do something similar, and a reminder that curricula is not the boss of you.

Language Arts: A Very Good Reason to Homeschool

Part 4 of my series wrapping up what we learned this year in different subjects and what each experience taught me about homeschooling in general. (Part 1: History, Part 2: Science, Part 3: Math.)

For the sake of this blog post, "language arts" is reading, writing, grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and handwriting.

Handwriting Without a Pencil

I never did any pre-writing skills with Builder Boy; I just gave him the pencil with a pencil grip to help and we started in the book. In hindsight, I'm not sure that was the best approach for him. Handwriting has been a tough subject for him, and we've been sadly inconsistent with it. I am happy with the handwriting curriculum I chose; I just think I should have prepared him better.

Writing With Ease 1

We are now over a third of the way through Writing With Ease 1 so I thought it was time to blog about it.

Writing With Ease is an elementary writing curriculum by one of my favorite curricula companies, Peace Hill Press (printing company of Susan Wise Bauer: co-author of The Well Trained Mind, and a leader in the homeschooling world.) I purchased both the 4 year guide and the Level 1 workbook, though most people can use just one without the other. The 4 year guide is better for if you want to use your own literary sources, the workbooks are if you want it all laid out for you; which I prefer.

I have noticed several of the same questions being asked  about this curriculum on the Well Trained Mind Forum, so I thought I would answer the ones I am able to. (Please note, my experience is only with the WWE1 and FLL1, and not with any of the higher level volumes.)

Do I have to start Writing With Ease: Workbook 1 in 1st grade?

My answer: no. The books are labeled by level, not grade, for this very reason. We actually did not begin WWE1 until halfway into our 2nd grade year (for Builder Boy.) Here is why:

Handwriting, despite progress, is still a weak area for Builder Boy, and I did not want to overwhelm him. If he's struggling to form the letters, he's going to miss the forest for the trees, know what I mean?

Also, I was uncomfortable having Builder Boy writing words that he could not yet read. I did not want him just memorizing words, and it did not make sense to me to have him writing something he could not read. We we started WWE1 his reading level was around 3rd-4th grade.

 

Do you really need to do both Writing With Ease and First Language Lessons?

My answer: yes. There is some overlap. If you are doing both, unless your child is a strong writer, the copywork in FLL1 can be skipped. WWE1 does cover the same grammar that is in FLL1, but at a more accelerated pace, and with less instruction, practice, and review. I actually think you should not begin WWE1 until your child is at least halfway though FLL1.

 

Do First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease lessons match up? Do they have to be taught at the same time?

My answer: no. I recommend beginning WWE1 after you have finished at least lesson 50 of FLL1. When you get to WWE1 there will be some minimal review, but it's good practice and application. 

 But if you don't start them at the same time, won't that mess up your schedule?

My answer: if you're flexible, no. One way to do this is to start with the first half or so of FLL1 only your first year. It is gentle enough that if you skip copywork and do it completely verbal, and with some extra kinetic activities added, that it can be done with kindergartener or 1st grader. Then the next year you can finish FLL1 and continue with FLL2, while beginning WWE1.

If you're the type that just HAS to finish a book a year, and doesn't want to finish one early in the year and continue on without finishing a second, then my advice would be to stretch FLL1 over the kindergarten and 1st grade years and then start FLL2 with WWE1 for 2nd grade.

 

Does it matter if I do the lessons within the week out of order?

My answer: not at first. WWE1 is broken up into 36 weeks, with 4 days of lessons for each week.

1. Day 1 is copy work
2. Day 2 is a narration exercise
3. Day 3 is another copywork
4. Day 4 (for the first three weeks) is another narration exercise. 

Day 1's copy work is connected to Day 2's narration story, and Day 3's copywork is connected to Day 4's narration, all coming from the same literary source.
It was weird to me that the kids do a copywork not knowing the context, so at first I flipped it and did

1. Day 2 Narration
2. Day 1 Copywork
3. Day 4 Narration
4. Day 3 Copywork

At week 4, Day 4's lesson is both narration and copy work. They same flipped schedule can still work. An alternate schedule that we have used successfully is:

1. Day 2 Narration + Day 1 Copywork
2. Day 3 Copywork
3. Day 4 Narration + first part of copywork (my boys tend to have longer narrations than they are comfortable writing in one sitting.)
4. Finish Day 4's copywork. OR nothing if it got finished in the first attempt.

Now that we've gotten comfortable with the program, I think I will try the original schedule and see how it goes.

What if you have an early learner who isn't up to a lot of writing, but loves making stories and would benefit from this curriculum?

My answer: the same way I include Early Bird in most of Builder Boy's subjects. I outlined my philosophy for adapting curriculum for young, early readers on Dusty's blog here. How I include 5 year old Early Bird with 7 year old Builder Boy is this: they both listen to the story and take turns answering questions. They both give a narration sentence.  All done orally, no problem.

For Day 1 & 3 copywork Early Bird chooses which ever word from the story he wants. I put it on K paper with crayon and allow him to write (or not) as he chooses. Sometimes he does, sometimes he asks me to write part of the word, sometimes he just doesn't. All of that is acceptable. For the Day 4, I have him draw a picture illustrating his narration sentence.



Here's a look at what we did for Week 12 (which actually covered two different poems/songs.)

Narrations dictated to me.

Builder Boy, "Day 1" Copywork

Builder Boy, "Day 3" Copywork

Builder Boy, Day 4 Copywork of his own narration sentence.

Early Bird's copywork, self chosen words

Early Bird's illustration of his narration sentence. (He requested that I label it.)

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The original link is to the author's business page where you can purchase Writing With Ease not only in workbook form, but also in PDF if you prefer to use their illustrated writing pages instead of writing paper, but don't want to scan and print that many pages. The picture is a link to the Amazon.com listing for the workbook, which is often (but not always) less money to purchase. Both are affiliate links.

Writing Isn't Just Writing

Experimenting with Magnets

Handwriting instruction is supposed to take no more than ten minutes. Most days it takes half an hour. Not because Builder Boy's fighting me. He's gotten over that for the most part. But because he's talking.

I've written before about a theological discussion sparked by a handwriting prompt. What I didn't know then was that sort of a thing was going to be a common occurrence. And it's been frustrating me because I keep thinking this is only supposed to take ten minutes!

But this morning I finally realized: this isn't just copying letters like a drone. This is supposed to prepare him for creative writing. And that's what he's doing: being creative. If I'm constantly shutting down his creative thinking when he's writing, aren't I hampering his ability to connect the two? I don't want him to get the idea that when he's writing he needs to shut down his brain.

Like yesterday. Builder Boy likes to fiddle and play with things when he's supposed to be listening to the story. But as long as he can answer the questions about the reading, I let him. Yesterday's fiddlings with the new white board's magnets turned into an impromptu experiment with magnets, seeing which items found on the table blocked the magnetism and which didn't, and talking about how electromagnets turn a motor. I ended up having to re-read the passage. But you know what? I'm not going to stress about it. Isn't this one of the advantages of homeschooling over public school? Setting our own schedule instead of being a slave to the clock. Going off on rabbit trails and not killing the love of learning.

I'm going to accept that handwriting is going to take thirty minutes instead of ten most days. When it is just ten I'll be pleasantly surprised. That's part of teaching a child with an enthusiasm for learning that hasn't be squashed by constantly hearing "we don't have time for that now."

Learning Toy Review: LeapFrog Scribble and Write

Early Bird and his first word read on the Word Builder (Feb '12)

So we are huge LeapFrog fans at this house. I give their Fridge Words Magnetic Word Builder 50% of the credit for teaching Early Bird how to read. We love most of their learning videos, and the toys of theirs that we have. I have a friend who has some of their toys that we don't have and they're okay, though not all worth the money in my opinion. Early Bird received the LeapFrog Scribble and Write toy as a Christmas gift, and I thought I would share my thoughts on this product.

This is a toy that I have had my eye on for a while. The best way for Early Bird to learn is through play/games/toys/songs. (He is only 3.75 after all.) He's been wanting to learn how to write for almost 6 months now, but he wasn't interested in me being next to him and showing him how to form the letters. I found a dry erase handwriting workbook with the letters the right size for him and he just drew over the letters whichever way he thought was best. I'd read reviews of the Scribble and Write (here's Jen Bardsley's review of the same toy at Teaching My Baby to Read) and I watched the ad video clip about the toy. The way they showed writing the capitol letter "A" was weird, and not even close to how Zaner-Bloser teaches it, so that put me off from getting it. But the Warde Grandparents got it for him so when I was able to sneak it away from him a few days after Christmas (it was his second favorite Christmas gift) I sat down and went through all the letters to see how they compared to Zaner-Bloser. Of the capitol letters, only "M" and "W" were different (the middle peaks are more shallow on the S&W than ZB teaches.) The lower case letters are more like ball and stick than continuous stroke, but it's not horribly different, and I think when the time comes for "formal" handwriting lessons Early Bird won't have a big problem adjusting.

The toy has four levels.

1. The first level tells the kid the shape or type of line they are going to draw, then has lights that you follow with the stylus to make that shape. It starts with basic lines and progressively gets more complex, making triangles and hearts and the like. It's a good way to introduce the format to kids, and it's not boring.
2. The second level has the child choose which letter they would like to do, then teaches the uppercase version of that letter. It also says the letter's sound after you're done writing it. You press the paw button when you're done. There is no accurate feedback. You get fireworks or a "great job!" even if it's wrong. Which, for a little kid, doesn't seem like a problem. Early Bird's letter making on the Scribble & Write are improving, so it doesn't seem that the indiscriminate praise is hindering his learning.
3. The third level is the same as the second, only it teaches the lowercase version of each letter. The buttons have both the uppercase and lower case letter on them, which I like. And it lets the kid pick which one they want to make, which is good, too.
4. The fourth level is a "game" level. It has two different games (that I've observed.) One has the light dots appear in a random order and the kids are suppose to guess while it's forming what letter it is. I have trouble guessing it right, and I think it's unnecessary and Early Bird just randomly pushes buttons and is bored with it. The other game has the kid follow a moving light with the stylus and when it's finished tells the kid what they drew (like a butterfly.) He likes that game better, but can't select it over the other one.

Overall I am really happy with this toy and recommend it for young, independently motivated learners. I am really glad it was given to Early Bird and if I had been able to see the actual toy in action beforehand I probably would have bought it for him a while ago.
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I do not get paid for reviews and all opinions are my own. I do receive an Amazon Associate percentage if you purchase something on Amazon.com after clicking on one of my links.

Selecting the "Write" Handwriting Program (Zaner-Bloser Guest Post)

Selecting the “Write” Handwriting Program

There are many things to consider when selecting a handwriting curriculum for your homeschool classroom. Our friends over at The Well-Trained Mind recommend choosing a program that incorporates the continuous-stroke method instead of ball-and-stick. But what is the difference between continuous-stroke and ball-and-stick manuscript handwriting?

Continuous-stroke manuscript handwriting involves fewer pencil lifts than ball-and-stick. For example, with the latter method of printing the manuscript letter b, you touch the headline and pull down straight to the baseline (of lined paper). Then you lift your pencil, touch halfway between the midline and baseline, and circle forward (right) all the way around. With the continuous-stroke method, the b looks just the same, but you form it without pencil lifts through one, continuous stroke. You touch the headline and pull down straight to the baseline. Then you push up to halfway between the midline and baseline and circle forward (right) all the way around.

You may also want to determine whether the program teaches a vertical or slanted manuscript alphabet. Vertical manuscript letterforms place minimal demand on motor memory, allowing students to learn handwriting quickly and to focus on other mechanics such as spelling, grammar, and composing. Considering how complex or simple the program’s strokes and stroke descriptions are, is another factor to consider when picking a handwriting curriculum. Researchers have found that simple, continuous handwriting strokes are easiest for children to learn. Fewer stroke descriptions make handwriting easy to teach, learn, and remember.

Zaner-Bloser is a perfect example of a handwriting program that incorporates all of the above. Their four basic manuscript strokes—vertical, horizontal, circle, and slant lines—are easiest to learn because they simplify motor planning and visual-motor coordination. Zaner-Bloser’s terminology, for example, is developmentally appropriate and easy to understand, consistent from grade level to grade level, and uses only 17 manuscript stroke descriptions to teach all 52 upper- and lowercase letters (compared to as many as 39 in other handwriting programs). Zaner-Bloser’s terminology uses clear, academic language, such as “push up,” “slide right,” and “slant left,” compared to another program’s descriptions for the same three strokes, “up like a helicopter,” “hit the ball,” and “kick.”

Hopefully this assists on your journey selecting the “write” handwriting program. You can find out more information from Zaner-Bloser on how to select a handwriting program.

This is a guest post provided by Zaner-Bloser

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Sceleratus Classical Academy is not paid to host guest posts or to review products. I share freely what I think is helpful and give my honest opinions always. The people at Zaner-Bloser were kind enough to address something that confused me when I was reading The Well Trained Mind and trying to choose a handwriting program. I know other people have had this same hiccup, and I hope this helps. -Mrs. Warde

Here is a post about my initial consfusion
Here is a post about the great results Builder Boy has had with ZB handwriting K level