Happy (Belated) Birthday, Early Bird!

This week was Early Bird's 4th birthday. We celebrated in a much more....low effort way than I prefer to celebrate birthdays. I had looked up a bunch of new, cool things to do with balloons on Pinterest, but they didn't happen. Thankfully Early Bird didn't notice anything lacking, even though his presents weren't even wrapped. We went out to dinner the Saturday before, and I made our traditional birthday cupcakes (applesauce spice cake (from a box mix) with lightly sweetened whipping cream) for the actual day.

I really do cherish my sweet boy. It doesn't seem possible it's been FOUR years since we had our scare and encountered our second son two months before we were expecting him. I'm so glad we have him. I can't imagine our life without him. He has a wonderful attitude anticipating Squishy's arrival. He's even declared that HE will be the one to teach Squishy to read, and started the process by singing the ABC song to my belly.

Not much in the way of schooling has happened (I've spent almost a week and a half since my last posts in virtual bed rest.) So I thought I'd at least write some reviews on learning toys and other things that the boys have been using since Christmas. I think the Scribble and Write review was useful to some people, and I try to post only useful things on here (for the most part. I consider the Saturday Funnies to be useful for cheering.)

Thoughts on First Grade Science

We had such an amazing fun time last summer working through Evan-Moor's Learning to Be a Scientist . The kids learned a lot, the repetition stuck the points with the kids, there wasn't too much set up or odd supplies required, and it worked for 1 kid or a large group of kids. Because of our wonderful experience with Learning to be a Scientist (which is out of print) I went ahead and purchased Evan-Moor's Learning about Animals and Learning about My Body to supplement our following of the science plan of the Well Trained Mind for first grade science. Sadly, these books were very unlike Learning to be a Scientist. These books were not nearly as adaptable for outside of a classroom size of participants or classroom materials that I guess public school teachers regularly have, but homeschoolers do not automatically purchase. Only about half of the activities were going to be doable by us. I did try, at the beginning, starting with Learning about Animals. But we quickly got bored with it, and I felt there was a lot missing, so we "supplemented" with the original plan, which was reading about an animal out of the Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia and then doing a narration/further reading/self-thought of project or craft to accompany. We tied this sometimes to our history; for example when we were learning about ancient Egypt we read and learned about crocodiles and camels. But then we all got sick, the holidays came, and then I got pregnant and horribly sick, and now we're months behind.

Yesterday I took a mental step back and thought about what science learning my first grader should have. Not to compare him with other students, homeschooled or public schooled, but what I thought he should know at his age and intellectual development. And I thought about what he already knows, what he's learned since this summer, mostly by books, rabbit trail discussions, or tv. And he actually has learned quiet a bit about the world. WTM sets a guide for a four year cycle of science as well as history, with the first year being biology (animals, human body, plants.)

Plants:

• Life cycle of plants: check. We did covered that when we tried to grow beans. And while we didn't make it though the entire cycle, it was explained enough that Builder Boy can tell you all about it. Not only that, but he understands the process as it works on farms. He knows where our food comes from (and it's not just from the store!) and understands the effect seasons and weather have on growing.
• There are different parts of a plant: check. We covered that in different types of books, including What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know, Apple Fractions, Why Do Leaves Change Color? (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) , and others. There is also a Sid the Science Kid episode on just leaves and the things they do, from providing food for the plants through photosynthesis to being food for animals and people.
• There are different types of plants: check. Real life experience and discussions have covered this. 
• Plants' role in ecosystems: no check. This is something I'd like to look up, maybe find a book at a local library (once I find it in our new town!) Builder Boy has watched the Sid the Science Kid episode on water systems many times and is fascinated by it, so I think this is something he'd be very interested in.
• Is there anything else I'm missing? Otherwise, I'd say we kind of unschooled Plant Science successfully for this year. When the weather is right we'll try planting some things again. I still want to get and read Green Thumbs: A Kid's Activity Guide to Indoor and Outdoor Gardening , but other than finding a book on ecosystems and that, I think we're good.

Human Body: 

• Life cycle of humans: um, I'm pregnant. I think this is PERFECT timing. Not only has he learned that it takes 9 months, but he's haveing to experience those 9 months of waiting (well, 7 months of it. We didn't tell them right away in case something sad happened.)  We haven't gotten into how the baby got there (I don't think that's necessary at this point. We've read the book God Gave Us You several times, so he probably thinks it's immaculate conception at this point, but that's okay for right now. He's only 6, and anything he knows or learns, he shares. To his little brother, to complete strangers in Sunday School, wherever.) We've shown Builder Boy the videos of how babies grow and develop in the womb found on pregnancy sites and each week we give him the update of how big Squishy is now. He knows that babies have to grow and learn things, he knows that he's growing, he knows that the adults he knows were once kids, and he has several older relatives that visit so he's seen all the stages of aging. We've talked about death and what we believe happens when people die.
• Body functions and systems: no check. He knows some basics, like why we eat and what happens to it. I really like Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) and we've read it a bunch of times. So he knows the very basics, but I would like to go more into it. It may come down to reading the Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia and doing a narration for each topic and leaving it at that. 
• Nutrition (which seems to be a big focus for public schools): check. Not just because of Sid the Science Kid (which, for the most part, I cannot recommend enough) and the PBS Kids games, but though life and other things like books that I can't think of right now. BOTH of the kids can sort foods into the food groups, and understand what main thing we get from each group and how it helps our bodies. I have been blessed with mainly healthy eaters (they would eat raw veggies and fruit all day if I let them) and we've been intentional about not having a lot of candy and sugary foods. (Remember Halloween?)
• So, I'd say the Human Body is half done, and some reading and narration from Human Body Encyclopedia is enough for now. Which is something I can do from the easy chair that I spend most of my day in. It won't be as memorable or fun or in-depth as I had planned at the beginning of the year, but it will do.

Animals:

• Life cycles of animals: check. Builder Boy knows that animals are born, grow, change, and die. He knows some are born and some hatch from eggs. he knows about metamorphosis (butterflies and frogs) and about kids/cubs/kittens/etc. and adults. He knows that some animals eat other animals for food.
• Different types of animals: half check? Builder Boy know that there are lots of different kinds of animals. He could probably name different types on his own, but I think a systematic review is called for. I will use Learning about Animals as a reading topic guide, and maybe do some of the coloring sheets (once Principal Daddy gets the scanner found, un-packed, and plugged in and working.)
• Habitats and animals' role in ecosystems: no check. I'm hopping the book I find on ecosystems will cover both plants and animals. Builder Boy knows about different habitats, and that different types of animals live in different habitats, but that is only basically covered. I'd love to go more into it with him.
• He does know about domestic animals and how people use them for resources. He also knows about hunting and fishing (he LOVES Deadliest Catch and Dirty Jobs) and farming. We haven't gone much into conservation. Of these three topics this is perhaps his weakest area, although he does know a lot of things that don't quite fit in these categories (like pig farming and alpaca breeding.) As soon as I can find the boxes with the science materials in them we will start reading and talking every day. 

Maybe this looks like I'm bragging, or trying to justify myself in this area. Clearly, if you're not puking your guts out (or something else disabling) there is more that could be taught, in more creative ways. But I think I need to give myself permission to be okay that I didn't follow The Plan. That stuff happened and I had to adapt and my kid is not going to suffer because I didn't cover absolutely everything. And, we will be covering Biology two more times though the next cycles. And it's LIFE. He's going to learn about it as we live and experience it. And he's only 6. I'm just going to keep repeating that to myself...


ETA: Wah hoo! I posted two days in a row! Stay tuned for TOMORROW'S cool offer from Zaner-Bloser!

History Confessions and a Decision

Confession #1: I threw away our unfinished mummy chicken when we moved. :(

I was sooooooo excited when I first learned about the mummy chicken (probably almost 2 years before we actually did it.) I started with enthusiasm, and, I thought, a realistic understanding that I would be the one doing this, and Builder Boy would be mainly a spectator, until it came time for wrapping. But somewhere around the 4th changing of the salts I ran out of my pre-made bags and I also hit a depression swing and it sat on my counter being ignored for much longer than it was suppose to be. Builder Boy forgot about it too, so I guess he's not truly missing out. And in truth, I think the Horrible Histories Mummy Song taught him the same stuff. It makes me sad, and a feel like a bit of a failure, that we didn't finish it, or get to wrap it, or decorate the sarcophagus I had prepared.


Confession #2: My last history post is from October because that's the last time we did Story of the World.

This kids got sick for over a week. Then I got sick. Then the kids got sick again. Then December rolled around. Then I got pregnant and almost immediately started puking non-stop. Not much got done. That's not to say that no history got done. On Wednesdays Builder Boy spent the mornings with Apa (his paternal grandfather) and they worked through I Love America, studying early American history based around the holidays of each month. We also watched a lot of Horrible History episodes on youtube (before they were taken down.) I made a playlist of the songs the kids liked (and that didn't have anything too crazy violent) and the kids memorized them. We can sing the entire list of Kings and Queens of England since William I all on our own.

When I realized that this pregnancy is going to be light on school until walking across the room is no longer a challenge I had to decide what to do about Story of the World. I LOVE SOTW. I love the idea behind it, I love doing history systematically, I love the plan of going through the whole of history three times through, each time at a deeper level. Not being able to do all of the fun activities that we had been doing I had to decide between two courses of action: continue reading SOTW and just having Builder Boy do the maps and coloring sheets with no extras, no dress-up, no hands-on, no activities (which many parents do with no detriment to their children's education.) Or I could wait until I am well enough to do it "all," which means schooling though the summer (which we were planning on doing some anyway) and not freaking out about the schedule (have I mentioned that I like schedules?!)  I thought about it a lot, and in the end decided to go the second route. I want to do all the fun stuff, and that's what the boys are going to remember. So when we start doing it again, I will start blogging about it again. In the meantime, I'm going to be thinking about what it is kids this age should actually know in a learning-about-the-world context, and see what I can do about that from a chair and a laptop (and a tv.) I have some thoughts about science that I'm going to try to type about tomorrow. (Assuming I can stand to sit at the computer without losing my lunch and the internet and computer work with me.)

I also have something really cool from Zaner-Bloser that I'm going to try to share on FRIDAY!

I haven't been posting because...

I'm pregnant! 15 weeks today, due August 24th. This is why I haven't been blogging. I've been too sick to sit at the computer and type, let alone do anything worth blogging about! Also, we just this week moved to a different state. Sooo, I want to try to start blogging again, we'll have to see. Yesterday I spent most of in bed, and half the day before that. I went from 160 lbs at the beginning of December to 142.5 lbs at the beginning of February. For those of you who pray, please pray for me. I've posted about Early Bird's early delivery, but I don't think I've shared that Builder Boy was also an emergency c-section because I developed HELLPs (a rare and dangerous form of pre-eclampsia.) This baby will have to be a scheduled c-section, and I'm considering while they're in there having them tie my tubes. I can't have another pregnancy like this where I'm so sick that it's a struggle to take care of myself and the kids, let alone do school, cook dinner, or take care of the house. Principal Daddy has been AMAZING, and Builder Boy has been too. He makes breakfast for himself and his brother every morning (microwaved oatmeal) while I'm still struggling to get out of bed. <3

Oh, and the baby's nickname is Squishy.  :)

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.
_________________________________________________________________________
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.

Still here!

Okay, I'm not dead, and I still want to blog. I had big wonderful plans for the new year, but then I got horribly sick. Sunday to doctor's appointment on Tuesday noon I couldn't even hold water down. My in-laws are watching Early Bird because I couldn't even take care of him. But the doctor gave me a shot, and I have a prescription that is helping, and I hope to be back soon. Those of you that do, please pray for me? This has been really difficult. Also, we're probably moving to a different state in just 6 weeks, and I am not even close to being ready. I don't know how I'm going to do this if I don't get better.

Kid Made Christmas Cards

Builder Boy made Christmas cards today! I got most of the ideas of Pinterest, and there were even more that we didn't try. Here are links to two blogs with links to a ton of kid-made Christmas cards. It's not to late to make cards for people if you're not mailing them.

Christmas Crafts for Preschoolers and Toddlers-Cards (here's the Pin)

Home-Made Christmas Cards (Pin)

Yes, we made tree or light themed cards. Not because we think that should be the focus of Christmas, but because they are the easiest for the kids to make.

The lights are thumbprints in the basic Crayola washable watercolors that comes in a bar. Builder Boy had trouble making the thumbprints; he kept clenching his thumb against his fist. He really likes making prints, though, so we'll try again sometime.(Here's the Pin for the original idea.) Learning opportunity/review: rainbow order.

This tree is made of pointer finger prints. The star and the tree stump are thumbprints. (Here's the Pin for the original idea.) Learning opportunity/review: plus one. Each row has one more print than the row above it.

 
I saw the idea on Pinterest to make the strips in the different colors, but now I can't find the Pin. Learning opportunity/review: smallest to biggest (or vice versa.)


The last tree we made, Builder Boy cut out three green triangles and then glued them on the paper and added drips from glitter pens I got from the dollar store. (The star is a sticker.)

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook

Jennifer Bardsley over at Teaching My Baby to Read posted about this. The National PTA and the Connecticut PTSA are trying to collect homemade snowflakes to decorate the Sandy Hook Elementary School for when the kids go back.

(It's suppose to be women and men and children holding hands.)

The address to send them too is:

Connecticut PTSA
60 Connolly Parkway
Building 12, Suite 103
Hamden, CT  06514

The due date is January 12, 2013

For more information and links to the websites for this go to Teaching My Baby to Read.

Here is the link for tips on how we made the coffee filter snowflakes for our tree.

Here are some Pins for snowflake patterns.

"Vintage" Snowflakes          Coffee Filter snowflake help     More Patterns     Even more patterns        

and some more patterns     Star Wars snowflake patterns

So, that's not good...

So on Sunday and again on Monday I had a sudden, horrible episode that my doctor thinks were extreme anxiety/panic attacks brought on by too much stress and things going on. So I dropped some "extra" things outside of the home (both attacks happened when I was trying to get myself and the boys out of the house in time for something.) I'm also enlisting my husband to help me with the Christmas presents I'm making for family members. I'll still take pictures of what I'm doing so I can blog the instructions, but I'm going to be posting less for the next two weeks.

I would appreciate prayers. This was really scary, and I didn't even think I was that stressed until I looked at all the little things adding up. Once Christmas is over, over half the things I'm worrying about will be gone, so I hope to get back to regular blogging after that (because I really love doing this!)

Mrs. Warde

Family Hand Print Portrait

So I got the idea for this on Pinterest (here's the original pin.) They embroidered it, I did it in paint. I made three for the ladies in Daddy's family as Christmas presents. I got a nice silver frame for each one at Walmart. I also got the felt there for $0.29 (the felt was cut to just a little bit too big) and I already had the paint. So an inexpensive, but priceless gift.

I traced my husband's hand with pencil and then covered the pencil with the dark blue paint. I used another awesome Pinterest idea: glue cap on a paint bottle to write with. It works perfectly! After his layer dried I did mine and then Builder Boy's and then Early Bird's.

I did the boy's layers today, and I posted about it today because of all the sadness of today, I wanted a good thing to look at and remember. Our prayers are with the families of Newtown, Connecticut, now and through what will probably be a very difficult Christmas.

Builder Boy and Mama's Snap Circuit Adventure, Part 1

Okay, I couldn't wait any longer. I got Builder Boy Snap Circuits for his Christmas present. For those who've never heard of them they're like electronic Legos. You "snap" the pieces together and they create circuits that you can use to build electronic projects (one of them turns an alarm on if it detects water!)

Never mind that Builder Boy has never heard of circuits and doesn't really think that much about electricity (that I know of.) Never mind that this toy is labeled at 8+. This is what I got and this is what we're going to do together.

But last night as Daddy and I were...um..."testing" it out to make sure it all works I realized that this isn't going to mean much to Builder Boy without some background information.

So I looked up some information online (and I'll go to the library tonight) and we're going to spend this next week learning about electricity at a 1st grade level so that when we do these projects it will actually mean something.  An eHow.com articles gave this recommendation on teaching electricity to young kids:

• "Use analogies that the child will understand. For example, explain that electricity is like a train on a train track, and that it requires the circuit to be continuous for the train to go all the way around. If the track/circuit is broken at any point, the train can't continue, and the circuit won't work. Using analogies will help children understand the basics of electricity."

The train analogy is perfect for a boy who's been playing with train tracks since he was two years old. I found a lot of really cool online resources and I will be sharing those on here as we use them.

_______________________________________________________________________________
I don't get paid for reviewing this product or any of the other electricity resources. All opinions are my own.

Another PVC Pipe Invention

"Brought to you by Builder Boy comes...the Leviticus! This wonderful musical instrument isn't just a stringed (okay, rubber-banded) instrument, but it's also a horn! (Or a plastic-wind.) The sturdy construction means that it can withstand the interest of a three-year-old! Available for a limited time only!"

Oops, you're too late. It's now something completely different. :)

Diaper Box Play Kitchen

Two years ago it was Builder Boy who was the one very interested in "cooking" and play food. So one day I used paper to turn a diaper box from Sam's into a play kitchen. It took maybe 30 minutes and he was thrilled. I made it look like our kitchen. All the paper was cosmetic, there were no "working" knobs. The paper was cheap construction paper that I glued/taped on. The top was laminated with clear packaging tape (I didn't know about contact paper at the time) to make it last longer.

It was perfect. He loved it. Then his friend who is a girl came to play and asked "where's the sink?" So that night I spent two hours making a sink. That barely got used by Builder Boy. But I wanted it to be a complete kitchen, so I made it.










I cut a hole in the box and attached a recessed box (we have a rectangular metal sink, so that was perfect) that I painted gray. The faucet was a prescription diaper cream box that I cut and then taped at an angle.

I am posting this for those who would like to make a play kitchen for their young children who do not have the time or money to make a wooden one.

Homemade Play Kitchen: The Plan

So here's the plan (because I love plans.) I am using these shelving units that I already had and wasn't using very much. (Considering the price, I would not have bought them specifically for this purpose.

They are laminated particle board which means I want to do as little drilling/screwing/hammering as possible. 

The pantry needs nothing added to it except for storage baskets. I will be adding two hooks on the side to hang the aprons. I found one at a thrift store and I'm going to make a no-sew apron with a place mat I got at the thrift store and some ribbon and Velcro.

I saw on Pinterest the idea to add baskets on the "refrigerator" door to make it look more real. I found a way to do that myself without making any holes so that is on and it looks good. I also found something I am going to see if I can make it work. If I can then I will have a magnetized area on the front of the fridge for play refrigerator.

I will be leaving the counter space clear instead of adding a sink like all the play kitchens I've seen. When I made a play kitchen out of diaper boxes a while back, they didn't even think of needing/wanting a sink until my friend's daughter came over to play and asked for one. If I put in a sink there will be no counter space to "cut" and prepare food. So that will remain as it is. I will however have a curtain under that part on a rod. I'll be using a hand towel and some ribbons and some sticky wall hooks to make it work.

The stove I'm just going to paint on the top. I don't think there is any room for temperature controls, even if I could think of a no-drill way to make them. That's the nice thing about having young boys: I don't think they're going to notice or think of all the details that "real" things have that this won't. This can be pretty simple and that (with their imagination) is all they need.

The oven is going to be the hardest part. I am probably going to need to install hardware, have a wood door (??) that's the right size and not rough on the edges. I know they probably won't notice if there isn't one, but it's something that I think should be there, and I'm going to try to make that happen.

We already have quite a bit of play food and dishes. I ordered some cool "cut" and "peel" Small World Living Fun-With-Fruit from Amazon, and I have a cool idea to make a play cookie baking set.

Keep checking in for the latest additions!

Tissue Paper Ornaments /Sun-catchers

 

I was inspired by a few different projects on Pinterest and I decided to make these with the kids (and Daddy made some, too!) They will be stocking-stuffer gifts for our family this Christmas. We're also sending some in the mail.

First I cut out shapes for the borders of the ornaments. I chose stars, circles (mimicking ball ornaments) and trees.

Then everyone colored the borders (these could also be made with colored paper.)

Next we put the boarder (colored side down) on a piece of contact paper.

We put pieces of cut tissue paper in the sticky center.

After we had filled them out to what wanted them to look like we added another piece of contact paper on top, smoothing it out and getting rid of any air bubbles.

Lastly we cut around them (leaving some clear edge) and hole punched them to have a place to put the hook in.

The Grumpy Song

(Trying to get him to make a grumpy face)

A few months ago I invented the Grumpy Song. Early Bird was throwing a lot of tantrums with a lot of "no, no, no." He would say "no" to everything offered. He even said "no" to cake and cookies one time! I needed something to distract him and break the "no" to everything mindset. So to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It" I sang "If you're grumpy and you know it then say "no." At first he would keep saying "no" to the song. But once he figured out that he was participating in the song he changed it to "unh uhn" and "grrrr" and I changed along with him. After a few times through he started singing along with "If you're grumpy and you know it then your frown will surely show it." After a few more times he initiated "If you're happy and you know it." After that it only took a few more times through the happy version and he was ready to go and be good.

It took doing this with his tantrums a few weeks to a month, but now he somtimes starts it on his own, and it doesn't take more than 3 grumpy versions before he's ready to sing the happy song.

And it's really hard to sing "then your frown will surely show it" and make a big frown without smiling afterwards. :)


To the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It"

If you're grumpy and you know it then say "no."
If you're grumpy and you know it then say "no."
 If you're growing and you know it then your frown will surly show it,
If you're grumpy and you know it then say "no."

Homemade Play Kitchen, Part 1

Shelves (left,) sink and stove (middle,) and refrigerator (right.)

Guess who's making a Pinterest inspired play kitchen for Christmas?! My friend gave me the idea, Pinterest is giving me the details, and I already had these in the closet being under-utilized.

Grade Levels in The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Earlier this year (these books did not come with what I got.)

Earlier this year (this book came with level 2.)

We are very happy with our reading curriculum, The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. It can be all you need to teach someone to read from the very beginning with letter sounds to multi-syllable words at the fourth grade level. The grade levels, however, are not indicated in the book. It focuses on ability level, not comparing to public school standards. But it still would be nice to know what level your child is on. (If you know of a website the give an assessment test for free, please post a comment so I can share.)

I got all levels of Hooked on Phonics Deluxe version (the "old" 5 level version) at a yard sale a few years ago for only $25! I didn't use it as my primary teaching tool for Builder Boy, but it was good to have the leveled, phonic based readers for him to read and practice with. Using the HOP workbooks as a guide, I wrote down all the blends and teams from OPGTR (up to lesson 134) and HOP (all 5 of the 'old' levels) and synced them like I did with the K level OPGTR, HOP, and Bob Books.

Here is what I came up with, and what I think is a good guide of what grade levels the first 15 out of 25 sections (134/231 lessons) of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading are.


Kindergarten: HOP K level covers CVC words and a few sight words. That's OPG up to lesson 40 (sections 1-3.)

First grade: HOP Levels 2 & 3 (orange and red) are suppose to be 1st grade. Both deal mostly with consonant blends and some digraphs, OPG  lessons 41-63 (sections 4 & 5.)

Level 2 covers the beginning blends (lessons 50-52, section 4) and some of the Consonant Digraphs found in section 5 of OPGTR.

Level 3 covers the ending blends (lessons 41-48, section 4.)

Second Grade: HOP Levels 4 & 5 (green and blue) are suppose to be 2nd grade. This is where things get more complicated.

Level 4 covers:

• Long Vowel, Silent-E words (OPGTR section 7) 
• some of the Common Spellings for long vowel sounds A, E, I, and O (sections 9-12)
• Y=/e/ (lesson 200, section 20)
• the basic R-Changed Vowels (section 16)
• -all (lesson 118, section 13)

Level 4 covers R-changed vowels, which is started in lesson 154 of OPG (section 16), but they don't cover most of OPG's section 15 (Silent letters.) HOP also introduces compound words in level 4, when OPG doesn't until Section 17.

Level 5 covers:

• some of the Common Spellings for the Other Vowel Sounds (OPGTR section 13)
• igh=/i/ (lesson 134, section 15)
• shr (lesson 55, section 5)
• str, scr, spr, spl (lesson 63 and 64, section 6)
• squ (lesson 53, section 4)
• kn, wr (lessons 146 and 154, section 15)
• soft c, soft g (lessons 77-79, section 7)

Level 5 mostly covers some common spellings for vowel sounds and then skips around in a seemingly random fashion (or at least in a pattern I personally am unable to decipher) adding a few more letter combinations to finish out the program. 

Gaps in HOP that OPGTR cover: HOP Level 4 skips Long Vowel U with the Silent-E (section 7) and teaches short words with long vowels (like be, so, etc.) as sight words through out the levels with no explanation. Only a few of the Common Spellings for Long Vowel sounds A, E, I, and O (sections 9-11) are covered, while U (section 12) is ignored.Common Spellings for Other Vowel Sounds are only about half covered (section 13.) Other Spellings for Short-Vowel Sounds (section 14) is completely ignored, and only 3 out of 20 of the Silent Letters (section 15) are taught.

I would consider anything in OPG Lesson 134 (section 15) and up to be 3rd and 4th grade.



Overall I consider OPGTR to be much more thorough and a better foundation for further reading than HOP. It also explains the rules and the whys of reading, where the HOP workbooks merely present the sound and the words that use it. In my option HOP is much more suited as a supplement to children attending a brick and mortar school rather than a stand alone program. This only applies to the "old" version. I do not know what changes they have made in their "new" books. (If you do have the "new" version and would like to share your experience with it, please comment. I would love to hear about it.)

For a more precise comparison please refer to the chart below. 

*The below chart is missing the red level comparison. The chart will be downloadable once I find the red level workbook and input the data.*

 

HOP	OPGTR
Level 2 (orange)			Level 4 (green)			Level 5 (blue)
ch	57		a_e	65, 66		oy=/oi/	122
th, th	59, 60		i_e	69		oi=/oi/	123
sh	55, 56		o_e	71		ou=/ou/	121
wh	61		u_e	74		ow=/ou/	120
sm, sn, sp, sl,	51		e_e	67		au=/ô/	117
sc, sk, sw, st			ee=/ē/	89		aw=/ô/	116
fl, gl, cl, bl, pl	50		ea=/ē/	90		oo=/ōo/	106
gr, fr, br, cr, pr,			ow=/ō/	99		oo=/ŏo/	113
dr, tr	52		oa=/ō/	98		igh	134
qu	18 (Q)		ai=/ā/	84		ind
			ay=/ā/	86		shr	55
Level 3 (red)			y=/ī/	95		str, scr, spr,	63, 64
			y=/ē/	200		spl
			ar	154, 156		squ	53
			er	168		kn	154
			ir	169		wr	146
			ur	170		soft c, g	77-79
			or, ore	157, 158
			eer	175
			ear	166
			are	163, 164
			air	165
			all

________________________________________________________________________________
The links above from Peace Hill Press and Hooked on Phonics are linked to those companies' pages;  the pictures are a link to the Amazon listings.

The Hooked on Phonics picture link is to what I purchased at the garage sale, not what is currently offered by HOP. I have no knowledge of their "new" sets, though I have heard that the concepts and levels are pretty much the same.

I don't get paid for my reviews, and all opinions and conclusions are my own.

OPGTR, HOP, and BOB Books Mashup

When I was first teaching Builder Boy to read I used The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and I used Hooked on Phonics books and Bob Books for him to have "real books" for him to read. To prevent confusion and frustration I did not want him to read a HOP or a Bob book that had words that Builder Boy had not learned yet. So I went through the 5 HOP books that came with the (old) K level and the first set of Bob Books and wrote down the words in each lesson of OPGTR and each new word in the books and I synced them (because I'm weird like that.) I thought there was a chance that someone out there might be interested in this information, so here it is.

These are all the lessons that are considered to be Kindergarten Level.

In color coded list format and a printable spreadsheet version (I don't know how to share files, so the chart is a jpg.)

OPGTR
          Lesson: 27: at, am, an, ad
          Lesson 28: -at words
             BOB Book Mat (with the extra word "on" that is not taught until OPGTR lesson 37.)
          Lesson 29: -an words, sight word "the"
             HOP Cat (with -ap words that are not taught in OPGTR, and the extra word "on.")
          Lesson 30: -ad words
            HOP Rag (with -ag words that are not taught in OPGTR, and the sight word "and" which is not taught in the first 40 lessons of OPGTR.)
          Lesson 31: -am words, sight word "I"
            BOB Book Sam (with the sight words "and" and "OK.")
          Lesson 32: -ed, -et words
          Lesson 33: -en words, sight word "yes"
          Lesson 34: -in, -it words
          Lesson 35: -if, -ib, -im, -ix, -ig, -ib, -id words
          Lesson 36: "s" as /z/: is, his, as, has, sight word "a"
            HOP Pig Wig
                     Pig Wig Can Hit
                     Tag (with sight word "to" which is not taught in the first 40 lessons of OPGTR.)
          Lesson 37: -ox, -on, -ot words
          Lesson 38: -og, -op words
            BOB Book Dot
                               Mac
                               Dot and Mit
                               Dot and the Dog
                               Jig and Mag
          Lesson 39: -up, -us, -ug, -um, -ut, -up, -ud, -um
            BOB Book Muff and Ruff (with -uff words that are not taught in the first 40 lessons of OPGTR, and the sight word "to.")
          Lesson 40: Review
            BOB Book Peg and Ted (with the extra words "pink" and "went.")
                               10 Cut-Ups
                               Lad and the Fat Cat (with an -eg word that is not taught in OPGTR.)
                               The Vet (with extra words "with," "into," and "zoo.")

________________________________________________________________________________
The links above from Peace Hill Press and Hooked on Phonics are linked to those companies' pages;  the pictures are a link to the Amazon listings.