Spelling Games

Spelling doesn't have to be a chore.  I don't even focus on it with my Lambies unless they don't develop good spelling naturally by fourth grade or so.  I have seen Charlotte Mason's Dictation method of spelling work well with some of my children.  With others, it didn't.  I have the first Spelling Wisdom book and have used it for spelling and copy work.  I do like it, but it didn't really work for all of my learners as a spelling tool.   

Sequential Spelling was highly recommended and we tried it....really, we did!  It took quite a while to get through a written test every day.  Too much time for me.  Also, my worst speller wasn't improving, despite the repetition of patterns.  I am totally willing to use it again, but it wasn't right for the learning style of the children currently working on spelling.


Currently, for my learners that need basic spelling work, I use Fry Words.  I made a Weekly To-Do List to keep them on track and give them the new word list on Mondays.  I look over their spelling work on Friday and give them a test. Here are their weekly tasks: Monday: write each word 10 times. Tuesday: Use each word in a sentence. Wednesday: Build each word using letter tiles. Thursday: Complete a (mother prepared) puzzle. Friday: show all work to Mom and take the oral spelling test.  Any words that are missed on Friday are rewritten 10 times and retested.


I've seen my struggling speller begin to improve in daily writing.  I love progress!
I make a lot of puzzles for my Lambies.  It's an easy way to make learning fun.  Some of my favorite puzzles can be custom made at Discovery Puzzlemaker.  I recently found a word search generator that I like even better.  I've been making a word search of the week's spelling words using it. I also use these generators for occasional science and history work.


Boggle, Boggle Jr. for Littles, Scrabble and Word Bingo are fun games for spelling.  You won't be able to use a word list, of course, but it develops different skills than looking for known words. 


How do you work spelling into your day? Please share in the comments!

Planning 2011-2012

It's planning time again! I'll share some of the resources I am planning to use this year, along with links to some of the printables I am using.

I write out our term's week-by-week work using this form created by Linda Faye. I've used it for years and am so thankful that she made it available for all to use. Linda Faye is the creator of a great site called Charlotte Mason Help. It's a wonderful resource that should be bookmarked.

This year I printed off these cute little reading logs for the four youngest Lambies. When the book is filled, I plan to either take them out for something or get them a special treat. What that treat is, I have not decided.

My favorite attendance sheet is from Donna Young. I find her site helpful, but sometimes it's hard to find a particular page you saw that you liked. I usually make a master copy to keep on hand in case a favorite form goes missing. :)

EmBlem will continue with Apologia Science. She loves it. She'll be in Chemistry this year! GirlofGod has chosen to study astronomy in depth. She's using Jeanne Fulbright's book as a spine and other books to supplement. The rest of the children will be studying Human Anatomy, using Exploring Creation with Anatomy. Nature study will continue as it always does.

We're using Mystery of History Vol. 1 all together this year. I am not sure how it will work out, but I am looking forward to teaching history all together rather than to each child individually as I had been when using AO more closely. We'll be using our Book of Centuries as the timeline. I will likely use "A Picturesque Tale of Progress" as appropriate. I love this series!

Of course we will identify the area we are studying in MOH on the map, but the bulk of our geography will be US this year. I will use a few different resources. This free site has almost everything I'll need! I also have "Yo, Sacramento". It helps the kids remember states and capitals in a unique way.

For Bible, I am considering studying character traits this year, along with our through the Bible readings. This chart will be useful. I really like this printable record for personal Bible time. I also want to listen to J. Vernon McGee on a regular basis. The Way of the Master is very useful for learning how to share your faith.

We'll continue to do grammar, composition, spelling and such in various books depending on each child's abilities. My oldest will be doing Larry Burkett's Money Matters for Teens. I'd love to get Dave Ramsey's homeschool program to use in the future.

Some of the kids will be doing workbooks from Evan-Moor: "The Daily ______" series. They are quick and easy activities that pack a lot of punch for the time spent. I have a couple of kids who prefer this kind of independent work and I am glad to have found Renee's recommendation.

Planning 2010-2011

I'm beginning the planning our 2010-2011 school year. I will share the forms that I like to use. Perhaps you will find something that will help you in your planning. Check often as I will be adding links as I use them through my planning process and not all at once.

My Preferred Attendance Chart I love the simplicity of a one-page-for-the-year chart.

Grade Record Sheet for One Child for One Year Love the simplicity of this form. I use it for my Grade 7 and up Lambies only. Younger children get 100% or they correct their work and then get a :) .

My Daily Checklist I type the name of each book and the week number across the top. Then the children check off their work as they complete it. You can read how the creator of the form, LindaFaye, uses the daily checklist here.

Book of Centuries Each child has their own Book of Centuries to personalize as they read and learn. They can add anything they choose, whether it's a school related fact or not.

A Bible Reading Chart I have several printable versions. Click the number for 1, 2, 3, 4 more choices.

A Peek Into Our Binders

The children each have a binder that is anchor of our studies. It guides each childs day and shows them (and me) what they need to accomplish. Last time, I shared how I organize the schedules for each child. Here's a picture of my Y6 daughter's checklist schedule:



Note how she X's off things we skip, miss or choose not to do on a certain week. Most things get a check mark. Each subject is completed before the child may check mark it. I have to verbally ok an X.

See also how there are extra lines where I have listed the books for the day? It seems that there's always something I forget to list, so it gets penciled in when we discover an omission.

Each child 2nd grade and up is participating in Geography. We are using Ann Voscamp's Explore the Holy Land. Included in geography is mapwork. I print the maps off from the included CD and they are slipped into a sleeve in the binder.



I print off the AO weekly schedule for the older children, first having copied it to a word processor and adapted it as I need. I delete books we are subbing out and add in our personal changes. This helps the kids know exactly what to read, since, in the older grades, it's not always 1 chapter a week.



Each child also has a pencil bag, extra lined paper for notes, and 3-hole-punched drawing paper for sketching. One child has a small atlas she found at a garage sale. Younger children have flashcards of sight words. Most of the also have a spelling dictionary. Some of the older children choose to keep their spiral notebooks (for Grammar and Spelling Wisdom) in their binders. Others keep them in their school drawer.

Next time, I'll give you a tour of our school closet.

How I Organize Our AO Schedules

I admit it. I am a checker-off-er. I have too many things to remember to NOT be a checker-off-er. If I don't have a written record, I most likely won't remember it. Therefore, I need to have check-off sheets for the childrens schoolwork. In addition, I am constantly striving to work myself out of a job. I want my children to be able to do school themselves if I have to be away for some reason. Check-off sheets help accomplish both of these ends.

After trying numerous planners that weren't right for me, I found LindaFay's wonderful site. Her articles have been so helpful as I have developed my homeschool philosophies and goals. She has a forms site, too, I discovered. There I found the check off sheet I have used for the past two or three years. It's a perfect fit!

Here's how I organize a Year. First, I downloaded the checkoff form to my computer. I add Bible, Memory Verse, Grammar or Phonics and Math-U-See since these are daily subjects which all the children need on their lists. I save it as "Master Planner", then open it up again and rename it "Year __ Term ___" and save it again. I have folders for each Year and save the completed forms into them, so that each fall I have most of the work done and need only make small adjustments for the new year and the new student.

Next, I refer to the AO site. I go to the booklist for the Year I am planning. I print a copy of the booklist so I don't have to be flipping back and forth on the computer tabs, and I can scratch and scribble my notes and plans on the booklist as I organize my thoughts.

I choose which books I am going to use from the booklist and which I will substitute. I am not a slave to the AO booklists! If I don't care for a book, I will change, even in the middle of it, if I must! I write these on the blank back of the booklist. I add in books that I want to include that aren't on the booklist. I note which books are daily or twice-weekly reads and which are only weekly, so I can add them the correct number of times to the schedule.

Next I begin to arrange the books into the check off sheet on the computer. I sort them by subject and by difficulty. I don't want to put all the hardest books on the same day! Bible, Memory Verse, Grammar, Phonics and Math-U-See are already added in the previous step. I choose to have Monday and Tuesday our heaviest days, since we are fresh from the restful weekend. I arrange the bulk of the harder 'core' subjects on these days. I balance them out with free reading and literature. Science (Apologia) is daily for the older children, twice weekly for 3-6th graders. I add and change around the remaining books until I am happy with the arrangement.

I make sure to note if I want a written or oral narration of a certain book, because if I don't, I will forget to ask for it. I even add in "Read a story aloud" or "Help a Little with a page" in the older children's lists. I want them to be developing teaching skills as well as academic ones.

I choose to schedule all our weeks work into four days, with Fridays being reserved for fine arts, field trips, service opportunities, and catch-up, in case something unexpected happened earlier in the week. I have the freedom to drop school for a day if something fun or challenging comes up, without falling behind. That freedom is important to me.

Once I am pleased with the form, I print it out on cardstock. I slip it, back to back (since it is two pages), into plastic sleeve and it goes into the students binder. It is referred to by the child, to see what he or she must accomplish on a given day, and serves to help me see at a glance what they need to do still before earning free time.

I hope that's a clear presentation of what works for me on scheduling. Please do ask if you have any questions or need clarification on anything I have mentioned. :)

What My Day With AO Looks Like

(Originally posted on my other blog 2-24-2008)

I use Ambleside with six of my eight children. I have my very nearly 12 yod in Year 4, my 10 yod in Y3, my just turned 9 yod and nearly 10 yos in Y2, my 6.6 yod in Y1 and just turned 6 twins in Y0, with his twin sister listening in, but not doing any academics. I also have a 2 yos and I babysit a 2 yog.

My day can be long, as I read everything to the Y2's and under, and some to Y3 and 4, but much is done together. In fact, my older children often sit in on the stories of the youngers, since they enjoy them so much!

Here's my usual routine:
We start the day with breakfast, then clean-up, then we gather together. I read the Scripture, and the commentary (I use J. Vernon McGee) and then we practice out memory verses (currently Ps. 1) After prayer, we do math, all together. Then the older children begin their independent reading, and I call one group of kids to me for aloud reading. When they are done, I send them to do copywork or drawing and read with another group of children.

We do this until lunchtime. The older children who are not reading with me play things with and supervise the babies quietly. I have certain toys and activities set aside for schooltime. They are usually within eyesight of me.

After lunch and clean-up, we gather together for more together studies, like Shakespeare, Pilgrim's Progress, art or something, then we get back to the individual readings/work. The Babe's nap time is 2:00-2:30 until 4:00 or so, and during that time we finish up, then have free time outside if possible. I get dinner ready for 4 PM (but it's often closer to 5..). The Lambies have free time all evening, after kitchen cleanup.

I broke the AO schedules up into four days of work, and made check off sheets, so they always know what to do each day. Anything not finished by Thursday can be finished on Friday. Fridays are service day and Park Day with other homeschoolers. I haven't ever had anyone miss service projects or parkday for not finishing school.

It took awhile for us to get into the swing of this routine, but it works really well for us now! I do take one week "off" every six weeks, and use it to catch up with housework that may not get done otherwise. Things like shampooing the carpets, The Great Toy Sort, The Great Clothes Swap, gardening, painting, dusting (one of my hated chores!)etc.