Tag Archives: phonics

Learn To Read With Reading Kingdom Review

Are you looking to improve your child’s ability to read and write? Then you might want to check out Reading Kingdom online interactive curriculum.

Reading Kingdom offers a better strategy than what has traditionally been offered to help kids improve their reading and writing skills, reduce academic failure, and reach reading proficiency.

Reading Kingdom

Online Learning Program

Interactive Curriculum

Highly effective

Adapts To Each Child

Individualized Instruction

Research based

Ages 4-10

Retail $19.99 month ($9.99 additional child).

Reading Kingdom in an online learning program developed for students ages 4 to 10 to help them become proficient at reading and writing to a 3rd grade level. It is fun to use and kids can use the program on their own. Because it is filled with learning games and books, kids are motivated to use it each day. Reading Kingdom works as a standalone curriculum or as a supplement to your curriculum. Reading Kingdom works on any device with an internet connection (including Windows, Mac, iPad, Android, Chromebooks, etc.)

Reading Kingdom uses a patented strategy called the Phonics Plus decoding system created by Dr. Marion Blank, a developmental psychologist who is also one of the world experts on reading. Learning with Reading Kingdom has been made available in a fun online interactive program by her son Jonathan Blank, an expert in computer software development. Now families everywhere can have access to this award winning learning system to help kids learn to read and write.

The Phonics Plus decoding system is based on learning the meanings of words, the pattern sequencing of letters, and sounds that create meaning.

Sequencing: recognizing patterns from left to right.
Writing: understanding letter placement on keyboard and writing through out the program.
Sounds (Phonics): sounding letter blends,
Meaning: understanding the meaning of words and their context.
Grammar: grammatical rules
Comprehension: remembering and understanding what has been read.

The Department of Education reports that two out of three kids today are failing at reading and writing proficiency and Dr. Blank believes it is because they learned to read with phonics only. There are many reasons why learning with phonics only fails to help so many kids.

Screenshot (185)

However, rather than just learning phonics only, Reading Kingdom teaches the Phonic’s Plus decoding system as foundational for mastering reading and writing proficiency. This method brings reading, writing, and comprehension together. As students learn these skills, they will benefit both now and later in life as many of these skills overflow into other areas in a person’s life.

How It Works:

Reading Kingdom uses fun reading games, story books, and the Phonics Plus decoding strategy to boost each student’s skills and confidence in reading, writing, and comprehension. When kids finish the program, they will have mastered above a third grade reading level.

Reading Kingdom contains 5 Levels. Each level is adaptable for the skill level of the person using it, so it customizes itself per the child’s needs. Each level builds upon the skills learned in the previous level. Before moving forward it gets kids ready for the next level so both sets of skill levels flow smoothly together. A Progress Check (review quiz) is given after each level. More practice is given if needed, or if they have mastered everything, they are promoted to the next level.

Reading Kingdom is designed to be used 4 days per week. Each level is filled with several sessions and you complete one session each day. Each session takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete. A child learns 1 new word or reads 1 new book during each session.

Below are a few examples of different skill levels. The first picture shows the level, the number of new words, new words plus word variants, total new words, and new books learned in that level. The second picture in each category below is an example of a learning game in that level.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

The entire Reading Kingdom online program starting at the lowest level and working your way through to completing the highest level, is designed to take about 12 to 15 months to complete all the levels and skills. However, an older child child who already has acquired some reading skills, takes the placement test and scores above the beginning level, etc. maybe able to complete the program quicker, perhaps in as little as 6+/- months. This program could also be used for review for older students and ESL and remedial learning. A child who is a struggling reader may take longer than average to complete. The program is flexible and adapts to the skills of each child. However if your student is on the Autism Spectrum or has other learning challenges, then you might want to check into another program Reading Kingdom has developed called ADS Reading.

Who is Dr. Blank?

Dr. Marion Blank is known around the world as a literacy expert. She developed and directed the Light on Literacy Program. She has served on the faculty of Columbia University. She lectures around the world, and has authored several peer-reviewed articles and books. Dr. Blank has developed award winning teaching programs. She is the author of the Reading Remedy and creator of the Reading Kingdom.

Video
Here is a short video about Reading Kingdom:

How We Used Reading Kingdom In Our Home

I was thrilled for my kids to have the opportunity to use Reading Kingdom. We were given a one year subscription in exchange for writing an honest review about our experience.

My kids have been using the Reading Kingdom program for about 6 weeks, and have practiced almost daily during our language arts study time since getting the program. I am using this program with my three youngest kids, ages 6, 8, and 10. The 8 year old is the most consistent user. He has averaged 4.3 days per week. The 10 year old has averaged 3 days per week. The 6 year old has an average of 2.3 days per week.

Sometimes the 6 year old isn’t as motivated as the 8 year old and 10 year old are to sit at the computer. I think he has stopped a few times before his lesson was completely finished for the day, and I am not sure if that reduces the average number of days counted. I think he will become more motivated to finish each lesson as he gains more skills.

This is our second time to use this program and I can see similarities in the ages in regards to skills and motivation. We had a subscription to Reading Kingdom three years ago and the kids learned a lot at that time and loved it. We were excited to see how much they have improved since then.

Each child has two options when starting the program. The first option is for those starting at the beginning level and are just learning to read. They can start at the very beginning with the very first lesson session. The second option is to take a placement test to find out what skills the child already knows and where they should be placed. The placement test has two parts, a keyboard typing test and a sequencing test.

Typing & Keyboard Test

These placement tests help the parent, and the Reading Kingdom program understand what skills the student already knows, and what skills they have yet to learn. Because Reading Kingdom is an adaptable reading program, it responds to the child’s skill level and their ongoing progress. It also recognizes what they don’t know because of the mistakes they are making, and provides extra support and training in those areas. This helps customize the program to their learning level.

Sequencing Test

Since he is a beginning reader, I had my 6 year old start at the beginning level without taking the placement tests. My 8 year old son and 10 year old daughter both took the placement test. They took the letter sequencing test and a keyboard typing test.

The placement test put the 8 year old a little above where I thought it would. He is a strong reader and quick learner and did well on the placement test. It placed him on Level 3. However the 10 year old struggled more while taking the test, as it is timed and she is slower to answer even if she knows the answer, and it started her in the middle of Level 1. Both she and I thought she would place on a higher level. It seem to us that because she struggled with speed on the placement test is the reason why she started at a lower level, and not because she didn’t know the answer. Though she was a bit disappointed at first, it has turned out to be good review for her to go back over many of the words and practice them, and the parent report is showing she is getting an “excellent” score on her lesson sessions.

After the tests, and placement, then each kid can begin their sessions. The program is set up to do 1 session a day, though you can do more. After they log in, each of my kids have a dash board that shows their progress.

On the parent dashboard, I can go in to a tab and choose to review reports, change the level or speed for responses, or even set it to retake the test if needed. For now, I have left everything at the default speed and mainly use my dashboard to review the reports. Reports can also be downloaded and sent by email too. I like the parent dashboard because it gives me a basic summary of how each child is progressing, what words they are learning and what words they are struggling with.

As a parent, I know each of my kids learn differently, some are fast and some are slow at picking up certain skills. It is nice to have a curriculum that can adapt to their learning styles.

When my kids complete a level (or test out of a level) they have the option to print a diploma certificate for that level.

I would encourage other homeschool families to check out Reading Kingdom. You can help your child achieve reading proficiency when you team up with Reading Kingdom for the Phonics Plus solution to help your child succeed.

FREE

Try before you buy with FREE Sample Lessons. Reading Kingdom also offers a FREE Trial Offer, free worksheets, and many other free resources too. They also have special discount offers to choose from when you subscribe.

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Follow Reading Kingdom on their social media links for all the latest news, teaching ideas, product updates, and special offers.

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Starfall Home Membership Review

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Have you ever checked out the the Starfall Education Foundation website? It has a lot of learning fun to offer!

We were recently given a one year subscription to their upgraded paid version called The Starfall Home Membership in exchange for writing an honest review of our experience.

The Starfall Home Membership

Online Learning

Phonics, Reading, Spelling Games,

Music, Learning Games, Math

PreK – 2nd Grades

One Year Subscription

Retail $35

The Starfall Home Membership subscription includes free mobile App to access the membership account from a mobile device.

The Starfall Home Membership

The Starfall Home Membership is an educational program for younger kids. It is designed for kids in PreK through 2nd grade. It is also great for kids (or adults) of any age who are learning English As A Second Language, any age with Special Needs, or even older kids who need Remedial work, or to just for fun to brush up on some of the basic phonics, reading, and math skills.

Starfall Education Foundation offers both a free version and a paid version (The Starfall Home Membership) of their online program that is filled with supplemental educational learning games. They also offer a FREE mobile app, a printed version of full curriculum for sale and other resources for sale, and FREE parent teacher resources including FREE worksheet generators, posters, books, and other free printables. Requirements to use the program are access to Internet service, and a computer or a laptop or mobile internet compatible device to access the program.

Check out this video for a short demonstration of a phonics spelling game from the Starfall Education Foundation.

Here is an example of a fun math game. To see it in action, click the “play button” on this video for a short demonstration.

The Parent – Teacher Center

Looking through the Parent – Teacher Center can help give parents ideas on how to use the program and incorporate the program into their student’s curriculum.

It includes supplemental worksheets, custom worksheets, posters, curriculum downloads, informative guides, and the latest information from Starfall to keep you up to date.

Starfall also offers an organized lesson plan already put together. You can use this resource online, or purchase the printed curriculum. They offer a full printed curriculum that comes boxed with several additional extras (books, games, toys, manipulatives) that go along with the curriculum too. Be sure to check out their curriculum if you are looking for a helpful resource.

Our Experience

I used The Starfall Home Membership with both my six year old and nine year old sons.

Though they had to share the same dashboard (as families are only given one account), each boy enjoyed different aspects of the program.

We worked on this review of Starfall during January and February. It is accessible 24/7 and we used it on weekdays as a supplement to our curriculum and weekends if the kids requested to play on it.

The first thing the kids did each day they worked on the program was view the interactive calendar.

This was a fun exercise to see and learn more about the days and months.

The calendar lists the main holidays each month, and then you can add items, such as students can dress it up with the provided border options and stamps or print and color it. My boys changed the border for the holiday and marked the weekends stamped with stars.

Holidays for January included:

New Years Day
Martin Luther King Jr Day

Holidays for February included:

Groundhog Day
Valentines Day
Chinese New Year
Presidents Day

The calendar feature also asks the kids a few questions about what day of the week and other questions that helps them get familiar with reading and using the calendar.

Another fun personalizing feature of Starfall is the avatar. Because there is only one account per household, there is only one avatar to share.

The six year old got to choose the avatar features and dress it up and then both boys worked together on answering the questions about items in the room or various rooms of the house.

A nice feature of Starfall is the dashboard filled to the brim with learning opportunities. The Learn To Read tab is really nice. It brings you to a list of letters, words, or combinations, and then after those skills are mastered, the student proceeds to the books that feature those letters or word combinations for more practice.

The six year old is learning letter sounds and using them in short words.

He is also counting to 20 and using simple math such as adding numbers.

Math songs help him remember different concepts.

Starfall offers lots of math games that make learning math concepts fun and motivate him to want to do more fun practice of skills.

There are plenty of activities to choose from. I am just barely skimming the surface in sharing these things so far. There are also puzzles, activities with subject themes, and some basic learning games in Sign Language such as the ALS alphebet and some signing words in the music activities too.

My nine year old son is a strong reader already and really enjoys reading books.

Here are a few pictures from some of his activities, books, songs, and learning games he has been working on.

A nice feature for strong readers and those just learning to read is the option for the book to be read aloud to you. My older son did not need this feature, but my younger son did.

Sometimes after my older son read the page, I would go back through it with him and push on the little ear button to have the sentence or paragraph read to him. He was like “Mom, I already read that!” However, even though he did a good job reading, I wanted him to hear the deflection in the reader’s voice as it read through the different characters and with different emotions. Learning how to express emotions and vary the sounds enhanced the learning for him.

Every option, whether it was phonics, books, math, music etc had even more opportunities for him to read.

He is enjoying the various math games.

There are a lot of musical options too. There are folk songs, nursery rhymes, math songs, abc songs, classical composers, and more.

There are lots of extra learning activities too such as holiday cards, and more. In one of the activities, my son helped a mouse practice writing a letter to his grandma.

Final thoughts about the program:

This program has a lot of activities to offer and can help kids learn and improve their reading and math skills. It is affordable at just $35 a year for the entire family, so if you have multiple younger children, you only have to pay one low price and they can all use it. You can try out the free version and see how it works for your family. The paid version offers a whole lot more. Also it does not keep scores after the activity, and kids can repeat the activity as many times as they want. You can take it on the go with you by using the mobile app so it can give kids something fun to do while traveling in the car or when “waiting” on appointments or waiting for other activities to begin. It is flexible and my younger kids have enjoyed using different parts of the program.

I would have loved to have had this program when I was teaching English as a Second Language to International college students. A program like this would have helped immerse the International students in the English language and engage them with fun activities, songs, and audio visual interaction. The read aloud option of the books, with emphasis on tones and expression would have really helped practice speaking and understanding language and how it is applied in conversation and different situations.

One consideration to keep in mind for religious homeschools, and especially Christian families, is that there are themes in the books and games options (such as aliens, fantasy, dragons, magic, Halloween, etc) that would be part of public school education, but may conflict with bible teaching and a homeschool with a Christian worldview. However, each activity is optional and you can choose which games or books you want to use in the program and avoid selecting certain topics that do not agree with your religious beliefs and cultural practices. The program is flexible and has many different options and you can use what you want from it.

Starfall learning games and books are interactive and engaging and the program has a lot of different things to choose from to build skills and practice reading and math. It is a publicly supported non-profit educational foundation, and it’s standards are aligned with the public school Core Curriculum of both European Union and USA and other countries.

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Super Teacher Worksheets Review

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If you are looking for supplemental curriculum worksheets for your kids, then I would encourage you to check out the HUGE variety of printables available with an Individual Membership from Super Teacher Worksheets.

Individual Membership

Online Subscription

Thousands of Printables

Unlimited Access

$19.95 per year

Super Teacher Worksheets has THOUSANDS of printable worksheets for students of all ages, available in a wide variety of subjects in English (and many also in Spanish). All you need to do is download the worksheet you want and print.

Student Printables:

- English-Language Arts Worksheets (reading and writing)
- Grammar Worksheets (parts of speech (nouns, verbs, etc.) and all other grammar topics)

Spelling Worksheets (spelling lists and worksheets)
Handwriting (print and cursive)
Holiday Worksheets (all holidays, including Christmas, Hanukkah, Easter, Memorial Day, 4th Of July, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, etc)
Languages (Foreign languages including basic Spanish and French)
Fraction Worksheets (basic fractions, mixed numbers, adding and subtracting fractions, etc)
Generator Tools (Create your own worksheets, calendars, and more!)
Geometry (perimeter, area, shapes, lines, line segments, rays, angles, etc)
Math Worksheets (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, algebra, integers, place value, telling time, etc)
Middle School Math (6th, 7th, and 8th grades)
Skip Counting Worksheets (count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 10s, 25s, and 100s)
Music
Art
Kindergarten and Pre-K Worksheets (shapes, counting, phonics, and the alphabet, etc)
Phonics Worksheets (consonant and vowel sound, as well as blends and diphthong, etc)
Puzzles and Brainteasers
Challenging puzzles and brainteasers for your students.
Reading: Chapter Book Worksheets (popular chapter books, including Magic Tree House, Junie B. Jones, Stone Fox, Flat Stanley, etc.)
Reading Comprehension Worksheets
Safety, Bullying and Health (bullying, Internet safety, fire prevention, saying no to drugs, and lots of health and safety topics)
Science Worksheets, flashcards, games (weather, human body, machines, space, electricity, animals, economics, etc)
Social Studies Worksheets (explorers, geography, map skills, and communities)
Worksheet Unit Sets
ESL Worksheets

Parent and Teacher Resources:

Grade books,
Sticker charts,
Awards,
Crafts and Templates,
Sample report cards
Lesson planners,

Word walls,
Templates,
Lined paper,
Calendars,
Student agendas,
And MORE!

Other Resources for Teachers:

File Cabinet Online (You can place the files you want to use in your own personal online filing cabinet)
Smartboard Notebook Files (works with Smartboard interactive whiteboard)
Promethean Flipcharts & Lessons (works with ActivInspire Flipchart software by Promethean)
SplashTop ( works with JPGs on your iPad with SplashTop software)
Excel Gradebook
And More!

Our Experience:

We received the Individual Membership one year subscription for the purpose of this review.

As a mom of 6 kids, I am loving the huge variety of educational printables available.

Super Teacher Worksheets has a lot to offer and we will be able to use these resources all year long.

I would like to share with you a few of the many printables I have used with my kids over the past few weeks. These are just a drop in the bucket of the thousands of worksheets in various subjects that are available.

ABC Printables:

I love all of the ABC resources. There are posters, letters with pictures to color, hand writing practice pages, mini-books, flash cards, and more.

ABC Flash Cards:

I also printed out several fun coloring, tracing, cutting and gluing pages, and a mini-book on shapes for him.

Language Arts: Reading Comprehension Game

Grammar Worksheets:

Most worksheets with “question / answer” also have an Answer Key available too.

Math and Geometry Worksheets:

Geography: States and Capitals Worksheet

Calendars:

I printed off a monthly student calendar and used the Calendar Generator option to create my own personalized calendar.

It allows you to either print it blank or with main holidays listed, and you have the option to type in info on each day.

The Calendar Generator only lets you type in up to 40 characters, including spaces, per date. I found for a few of the days, I needed more characters or the option to change the font size to fit the words properly.

So on the next calendar I made, I left the dates blank, except for a few holidays they already had pre-entered on those dates, and then I saved it to my computer. After that I was able to personalize it by adding colors and stickers on special dates with my computer before printing. Then after I printed it, I wrote the additional information for each date by hand and placed the calendar in my binder. Even though I wasn’t able to use the calendar template like I wanted, I do like having the opportunity to generate a calendar, and it is useful to hand a simplified calendar to my kids.

Lesson Plans and Worksheet Units:

I also printed off a few of the science lesson plans and worksheet units. These resources are wonderful! There is a short lesson, fun diagrams and charts we used for coloring and memorizing, and questions and answers about the lessons. I hope to post a couple of new stories soon with the various activities we did.

Human Body Worksheets:

Your Brain Lesson Plan:

Simple Machines Lesson Plans (5 page article on Simple Machines)

Simple Machines Mini-Book:

Simple Machine Worksheets:

There are many Simple Machine worksheets to choose from. Some of the worksheet options were: fill in the blank, multiple choice, essay questions, word scrambles, cross word puzzles, scavenger hunt type worksheet of simple machines you find around your home, etc. You can also generate a spelling list with Simple Machine related words.

There was also a Simple Machines board game to help kids remember what they have learned about machines. I printed this off, cut out the player cards, and glued the playing board to a file folder. You could also laminate it to make it water proof and help it last longer.

To round out our learning about Simple Machines, we dug through Daddy’s tool box to identify some of the simple machines he uses in his tool box. We also built some simple machines with legos for hands on learning. Soon I will post a future story about the Simple Machines unit study we did.

Awards:

Another feature I liked was the colorful award certificates. My kids enjoy receiving awards for special activities they accomplish. I have noticed on their math and reading programs, when award certificates are offered for achieving various goals, it encourages them to keep doing their best.

I printed out the artist award to encourage my youngest son as he is learning coloring in the lines, using scissors, gluing, and various craft and art skills in his kindergarten curriculum.

Super Teacher Worksheets is a great resource for homeschool families. For one low price of $19.95 you can use it for your whole family for an entire year. There is a printable for just about everything you need to supplement your homeschool curriculum and plenty of templates to generate new worksheets and help with lesson planning if you don’t find one already available that meets your needs.

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Be sure to check out Super Teacher Worksheets on their social media links for all of the latest news and product updates.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/superteacherworksheets
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The Crafty Classroom: Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook Review

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We have a fun and easy to use preschool curriculum to tell you about today from The Crafty Classroom.

The Crafty Classroom has lots of affordable printable curriculum options for kids of all ages. We are currently reviewing their Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook. This product has made teaching preschool super fun and easy in our home.

Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook

658 Pages

26 Letters with 24 Activity Pages Per Letter

Illustrated

PDF Download

For ages Preschool to K4

Retail $15

This downloadable curriculum includes everything you and your student need to hit the ground running. The Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook is 658 printable pages on a PDF downloadable file. It contains lots of illustrated full color (and black and white) downloadable materials that are great for teaching children the alphabet and teaching them verses from the bible while they grow in their faith in God.

The focus of this curriculum is to help kids learn their ABC’s and biblical truths at the same time. By giving kids biblical truths in small pieces each day, it helps kids build a strong foundation and identity in Christ. Each week students learn a new letter, a character quality of Father God, and a corresponding bible verse as they grow in their knowledge of him and build their faith.

This curriculum is designed to keep the prep work to a minimum.

Good news! All you need to complete this course is the printed out worksheets for the day (or the week), a bible, a pencil and crayons. For a couple activities you will also need glue, scissors, and a ruler. That is it! This curriculum is designed to keep the prep work and organization for the teacher to a minimum. You can store everything you need in 1 binder (large sized) and a zippered pencil case. You can also add dividers into your binder for each letter if you want to.

It is suggested to teach this material 4 days a week during a 26 week course. Each day there are 4 to 5 worksheets for your student to complete. The suggested age range is Preschool to K4, but K5 and possibly first graders might benefit from going over this curriculum too. This curriculum would also be a great way to introduce ESL students to the English language too.

Included are lesson plans and a suggested schedule and 24 activities for every letter of the alphabet. You are encouraged to complete 1 letter per week for 26 weeks. The 24 pages of activities include: letter pages, Bible activities, games, worksheets, charts, coloring pages, math explorations, copy work, and more.

Charts

Character of God Chart
Bible Verse Chart
Bible Vocabulary Chart
Letter Chart
How to Write Chart

Coloring

Beginning Letter Bible Coloring Page
Bible Verse Coloring Page
Bible Themed Quilt Letter Square w/Cutting Activity
Blank Letters (x3 for coloring or art projects)

Worksheets

Tracing Worksheet
Handwriting Worksheet
Bible Verse Copywork Page
Find the Letter Worksheet
Beginning Letter Worksheet

Math

Daily Math Worksheet
Count & Graph Worksheet
Spin & Race to the Top Worksheet

Games

Full Color Memory Game (or Flashcards)
Bible Verse Maze and Activity Page
4 in a Row Bingo Game Cards (4 different cards for each letter)

Take Home

Bible Verse Crown

Suggested Calendar & Schedule:

This curriculum is flexible and you can fit it into many scenarios for your student. They suggest that you plan a work schedule of 4 days a week, working on 1 letter per week for 26 weeks.

The curriculum includes a handy reference Suggested Calendar & Sample Schedule.

HOW DID WE USE IT?

I can’t believe how quickly my youngest son is growing. It seems like yesterday he was still a little guy. I am so thankful for this opportunity to review this curriculum because it fit perfectly for our family. Life is busy with 6 kids in the house. With this curriculum, all the prep work is done and we can just pull out what we need each day and do it. He is progressing very well through this preschool curriculum and I think he will be ready for kindergarten curriculum this fall. He is so excited about his Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook. We are currently working on the letter F and he asks to do his school work each and every day since we started! He loves learning!

I thought I would show you what a week with this curriculum looks like. Each week follows basically the same routine. Below is what the first week learning the letter A and following the schedule laid out in the curriculum looked like in our home.

Monday:

Character of God: Discuss the weekly theme, memory verse and vocabulary that are all related to an important character quality of God. Pray together and thank God for being our CREATOR!
How to Write Chart: Use the chart to introduce the Letter A. FINGER PRACTICE the proper formation of uppercase and lowercase version of
the letter A.
Beginning Letter Bible Coloring: Color the upper and lowercase letter A beginning letter picture and word to color. While my son colors, I can read the corresponding Bible story and discuss the weekly theme.
Bible Handwriting Practice Page: This page reminds children
of the proper letter formation and strokes. Beginning letter words
are shown to provide ample practice opportunity.

Tuesday:

Beginning Letter Chart: Shows children 10 different beginning letter words. Hang it on a wall or place on the front of your binder for a frequent reminder during the week. You can also play games like tic-tac-toe, print two for a matching game, etc.
Bible Memory Verse: Read the verse for children to
work on memorizing for the week. Review the verse with your child throughout the week.
Bible Verse Copywork: Coloring page and beginning
handwriting tracing page for the weekly verse.
Race to the Top: This is a fun game played with a paperclip
spinner. Children spin the paperclip and then trace the correct
winner (uppercase or lowercase). The first letter to the crown
wins! Follow up questions guide children through less and more
and inequalities.
Bible Maze: A simple follow up worksheet with mazes and
small motor control art activities.

Wednesday:

Blank Letter Pages: Large letters that can be put into a plastic sleeve or laminated and the design can be filled in with pompoms, buttons, sticks, play dough, stamps, designs, stickers, or things that start with that letter.
I Can Find the Letter: Find the letter A and count the upper and lowercase letters.
Letter Trace: Trace the uppercase and lowercase
letters. They can also make their own letters and color in a beginning letter picture for each row they complete.
ABC Quilt Square: Color and cut out uppercase
and lowercase letter A, then glue the letters onto the quilt square.
Place the quilt square on a wall (or a string, or notebook, or place of your choosing) as they learn each new letter throughout the curriculum.
Alphabet Memory Flashcards: Cut out the flashcards and use them in multiple ways: pocket chart, play a game of concentration, play sorting games, ABC order, letter sounds, etc.

You can make several sets of these flash cards and use them in games such as matching or go fish. My son really enjoys making and using the flash cards.

Thursday:

Daily Math Worksheet: Complete the daily math worksheet. Skills practiced include: Counting, Measuring, Addition,Tally Marks, Patterns, Ordinal Numbers, Positional Words, Number Line, etc.
Count & Graph Worksheets: Count the letters and pictures and then graph them.
Write & Read Worksheets: Tracing page. Fill in the missing beginning letter.
Bible Crowns: Color your crown. Decorate it and cut it out.
4 in a Row Bingo: Play “Letter A” BINGO. The bingo games at the end of each week are a lot of fun and a great way to review his letter.

My Favorite Part!

I am thankful this curriculum is easy to print and go! I am also thankful my son loves learning with it and we enjoy doing it together. But my favorite part of this curriculum is the focus on the character of God and the verses that help my son learn about his Heavenly Father.

In just a few short weeks he has learned several letters in the alphabet while having lots of fun, learned a memory verse (though he doesn’t have them memorized), learned a vocabulary word, and learned a character quality of God:

Letter A: God is our Creator. (Genesis 1:1)

Letter B: God is Truthful. (Psalm 33:4)

Letter C: God is Love. (1 John 4:8)

Letter D: God is our Protector. (Psalm 46:1)

Letter E: God is Eternal. (Psalm 146:6 &10)

Letter F: God is Upright. (Psalm 25:8)

I also love that is it so flexible and easy to use. You can use this curriculum as your main curriculum four days a week, or use it as a supplement to your main curriculum. You can print out all of it, or print out just the portions you are interested in. Being able to print only what you need is especially nice if you are working on remedial work with an older child who doesn’t necessarily need everything but does need practice in some areas.

My suggestion is to use this curriculum as your framework. The lesson plans are already done for you and the curriculum covers all the basics your little ones need to build a good foundation in learning the alphabet and letter sounds as well as identifying beginning letters with associated pictures. It also teaches kids basic understanding of who their heavenly father is, and how to go to his word, the bible, to read about him and build their understanding. Then if time permits, and you want to expand on this curriculum, feel free to use additional props like play dough, sensory activities, sensory bins, related snacks, correlate reading books into the theme, songs, videos, or additional crafts that relate to your letter of the week. I love it that this curriculum is so flexible, yet simple, and can be adapted to any family’s needs and schedule.

The Crafty Classroom

The Crafty Classroom has many wonderful and affordable resources for homeschool families. Be sure to check out some of their great products and see if they will meet your family’s needs:

For Preschool:

Alphabet Curriculum Notebook (26-weeks)

Bible ABC Curriculum Notebook (26-weeks & Bible)

For Kindergarten:

Learn to R.E.A.D. Curriculum Notebook (36-week Curriculum)

R.E.A.D. Review Pack (28 Early Readers that Correspond with R.E.A.D. Notebook) Can be used as a stand-alone product, if you are not wanting a full curriculum.

For Older Kids:

USA Activity Bundle

How to Write a Paragraph

Social Media

Check out social media links for all of the latest news and product updates.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Crafty-Classroom-121821161222656/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CraftyClassroom
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/craftyclassroom/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecraftyclassroom/

Homeschool Review Crew

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Phonetic Zoo Review

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Do your kids struggle with spelling? Most kids do because the way sounds are spelled in the English language can be confusing. If you want your kids to become great spellers, you might want to check out The Phonetic Zoo Spelling Level A [Starter Set] by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW).

The Phonetic Zoo

Levels A, B, or C.
Take the placement test and choose the right level for your child before you begin.

Grades 3 – 8

Retails for $99.00

Each Phonetic Zoo Starter Set includes:

5+ audio CDs (includes MP3 downloads)
or also available for purchase as MP3 downloads and no CDs
Lesson Cards with spelling words and jingles
Personal Spelling Cards to keep track of your student’s typical misspellings
Zoo Cards that serve as a way to practice jingles or as rewards
75 page Downloadable Phonetic Zoo Teacher’s Notes PDF file

In addition to the materials, you are encouraged to watch two videos to help you as the parent / teacher: the “Excellence in Spelling” video and the “Spelling and the Brain Video Seminar”.

Each Lesson in The Phonetic Zoo has similar steps:

Phonetic Rule, Cards with Corresponding Zoo Animal, Jingle or Hint,
Discussion,
Word Lists (audio and print), Spelling Test, and Correction.

You move through the lessons at the pace set by your child. Each lesson takes about 10 minutes and they will learn a phonetic rule, have discussion built into the lesson, and learn to master spelling 15 to 20 new words using the rule they have learned.

It is suggested to go as slow as, or as fast as it takes for your student to get a 100% score two times on a lesson to show they have mastered the material. So a lesson may only take you two days, if your child can get 100% each time, or a lesson may take you 7 or 10 days. Just keep repeating the material for 10 minutes a day, until they have mastered the given lesson twice before moving ahead to the next lesson. If you taught the same lesson and did the same spelling words for 4 or 5 days each week, then start a new lesson the following week, program should last you the full school year. But again, the key is to remain flexible and allow your student to progress at their own pace.

How we used Phonetic Zoo:

We were sent the Phonetic Zoo Level A Starter Set for the purpose of this review. Level A contains 47 Lessons on 5 Audio CD’s (or MP3) ; large zoo rule and word cards, small flashcards, and the Teacher’s Notes e Book also includes all of the lessons, teaching notes, the final exam, printable word posters, zoo card pages, word lists and printouts.

I decided to write this story as a series of HOW TO steps. WHY? Because it helped me and it might help you too. You can follow these steps too to help make sense of what you need to do, what your child needs to do to complete this wonderful program. It is different than other spelling programs, and I think it may help you to see some steps we took to make it successful for us. It is divided into two sets of steps: “Prep”, and “Lessons”.

Prep

Step 1: I watched the 9 minute “Excellence in Spelling” video.

Step 2: We took the FREE Placement Test. This is a great resource and helps your child start right where they need too. There are three levels to this program: Level A, Level B, and Level C. You will want to place your child in the right level so they can be successful.

Step 3: Placed my order for the correct level (A, B, or C) of Phonetic Zoo my student needed based on what we learned from the results of the free placement test (see the red link above). We ordered Level A.

Step 4: Watched the 1 hour Spelling and The Brain video seminar. You can wait for the product to arrive before you watch the video, or you can get jump started while you are waiting by watching this video now!

Step 5: Organize my Zoo (my materials for Phonetic Zoo).

Have you ever heard the saying “not my monkeys, not my zoo” ? Well in this case these are my monkeys and this is my zoo.

We are homeschooling 6 kids and it is so easy for the shelves and stacks of books and supplies to get messy and piled up fast (see the example behind him, that shelf holds math manipulatives, crayons, pencils, flash cards, and notebooks and the kids get in a hurry and when they are done using them, they just shove their stuff in fast and go, and it quickly becomes a mess). Since we were about to enter the Phonetic Zoo, and knowing how fast books and supplies can go missing or stacked in the wrong place in “our zoo”, it is best to set my self up for success, be a good “zoo keeper”, and get my self organized!

When you receive your Phonetic Zoo shipment, organize the kit you receive and your supplies (large and small zoo cards, CD’s, headphones, notebook, pens NOT pencils (or use a pencil without the eraser), etc.), in an easy to access storage box (shoe box, milk crate, table organizer, book basket, shelf, or whatever works for your family, etc.).

Put a metal ring (or use a clip) on the large cards, and a rubber band (or a baggy) around the small cards.

Be sure you have a computer that can play an audio CD (or MP3 device), and it is helpful to have headphones (we have ear buds) for your student to use while listening to the CD’s (or MP3).

Step 6: PRINT out the Phonetic Zoo Teacher’s Notes e-Book (Teacher’s Guide) from the link on the IEW website you are provided with after making your purchase, and put your teacher’s guide into a binder. This is a 70+ page teaching resource you will want to keep handy. You can also download the MP3 files of the CD’s and store them on your computer device too.

Teacher’s Notes e-Book, Phonetic Zoo Level A

Step 6: Yahoo! We let out a shout and smacked ourselves on the back! Great Job! We finished our prep work and were ready to get started!

Lessons:

In this section, I will walk you through Lesson 1. It may look like a lot, but each lesson only takes about 10 minutes a day.

Step 1: We got out our zoo supply basket we made. This was so nice to have everything all together and ready. I read through our first lesson in the Teacher’s Notes that I also keep in the basket with everything.

Lesson 1, Phonetic Zoo Level A

Step 2: I read the phonetic rule from the lesson and provided him with the large zoo flash card to review. The rule is listed on the back, and on the front are a picture that corresponds with the rule and words to practice using the rule. It is a nice way to practice going over the rule and remembering it.

Step 3: Next I gave him the small flash card to read. It has the rule we just learned on one side and the zoo animal on the other side. He can use this to remind himself about the rule we learned.

Step 4: He set out his paper to write on, set out his flash cards, put in the CD for Lesson 1, and his ear buds. When he started the lesson, on the screen popped up a small box that controls the lesson. The lesson is all audio (not a visual lesson) and requires him to listen closely to what is being said on the CD.

Step 5: My son numbered the lines on his paper from 1 to 19 (some lessons were to 18 and some were to 19). You can pause the CD lesson as needed. If you don’t want to print out your own numbers, there is a pre-numbered printable you can keep re-printing for your student to use for each lesson. We just used a spiral bound notebook instead.

Step 6: Next he wrote out the words in the spelling test spoken by the instructor on the CD.

Step 7: Next he corrected his words on the list by writing a second column of the same words on the same lines next to the first words he wrote. The correct words are both on the CD and on the zoo flashcards. This process allowed him to see how he did and where he needed more practice. The instructions from the curriculum are that he must receive two 100% scores on the material before he can proceed to the next lesson.

Step 8: Personal Spelling. We repeated the same steps for every 4 lessons BUT on the 5th lesson (lessons 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 47) we were instructed to use his favorite words he picked himself. These words could come from each section of 4 lessons, or be other words he wanted to use.

Step 9: Final Exam. We have not completed this yet.

That is it in a nut shell. 10 minutes a day. Master the spelling test by 100% twice then move forward to the next lesson. BOOM!!!

I am excited about using this spelling curriculum with my kids. For the purpose of this review, I started this program with my 5th grade son. But now that we have used it and know how simple it is and how much confidence he feels from mastering this technique, I will be using it with my other children as well. This will give them all the added confidence in knowing how to spell a variety of words, and it only cost them 10 minutes of their day. WOW! I wish everything could be accomplished in 10 minutes a day. Maybe it can and I just need to see a new perspective on how it can be done, just like mastering spelling. Definitely worth it for both of us.

Institute for Excellence in Writing makes learning fun and easy. IEW has a way of making Language Arts skills easy and interesting to kids, those very skills that kids might otherwise find hard or boring. Kids develop an internal motivation to challenge themselves and reach their achievable goal. They have developed simple systems of teaching parents and teachers how kids really learn effectively and their materials are top notch. I would encourage you to check out how you can fit these wonderful curriculum resources into your homeschool learning.

Social Media

Be sure to connect with IEW on their Social Media links to keep up with all the latest teaching tips, news, and product updates.

IEW BLOG http://iew.com/help-support/blog

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting

Vimeo http://vimeo.com/iewtv

Twitter https://twitter.com/iew

You Tube https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv

Google+ https://plus.google.com/+Iewriting/

Instagram https://instagram.com/iew/

Check out what others on the TOS Review Crew had to say about using The Phonetic Zoo and other products from IEW with their families.

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A Better Strategy With Reading Kingdom Review

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Our school year is going strong, and my kids have been using Reading Kingdom Online curriculum from Reading Kingdom and it is a fantastic learning program.

Are you looking for a Reading curriculum for you kids? You might say “yes, we need to work on reading skills” but you might also say “no, my kids can read fine”. But when you stop and think about it, are your kids strong readers? Could they improve? The Department of Education reports that only 1 out of 3 kids today achieve reading proficiency. What is a parent to do?

Reading Kingdom has a better strategy than what has traditionally been offered to help kids rise above and reach reading proficiency. Reading Kingdom Online uses fun reading games, story books, and an award winning patented reading strategy to boost each child’s skills and confidence in reading, writing, and comprehension. When kids finish the program, they will have mastered above a third grade reading level.

Reading Kingdom Online

Ages 4-10

Cost $19.99 month, and $9.99 for each additional child.

Can also be used for :

ESL and Remedial Learning and Review for older students.

Reading Kingdom Online uses Dr. Marion Blank’s patented 6-SIM strategy called the “Six Skill Integrated Method”. You can read more about this strategy in her book titled the Reading Remedy. This method is foundational for learning and mastering reading proficiency. The skills learned will overflow into every other academic area too. This method brings reading, writing, and comprehension together in an integrated and fun way for kids.

The full program is divided into these key areas:

Keyboard and Mouse Training
Sequencing Survey 1
Sequencing 2
5 Levels with 4 to 6 sessions each.

Why does it work? Because this method is based on learning the meanings of words and and the pattern sequencing of letters and sounds that create meaning. This is superior to other methods of learning to read. Most programs only use a phonics program. But phonics are a deceptive way to learn English because there are 100’s of combinations to remember.

The 6 Skill Integrated Method (6 SIM) covers six areas of learning: Sequencing, Writing, Sounds (Phonics), Meaning, Grammar, and Comprehension. This online program cooresponds to a printed program with teachers manuals, workbooks, and level reader books. You do not have to buy the printed program, but if you want to, it is available. I hope to purchase some of the workbooks and readers in the future. I would like for the kids to have practice writing what they are learning, and not just typing only. I can see the value in having both. But for now, the kids can do the reading online and that is perfectly fine too.

Sequencing: recognizing patterns from left to right.
Writing: understanding letter placement on keyboard and writing through out the program.
Sounds (Phonics): sounding letter blends,
Meaning: understanding the meaning of words and their context.
Grammar: grammatical rules
Comprehension: remembering and understanding what has been read.

What skills will your kids master on the road to becoming proficient readers?

Here is a partial list of skills mastered that correspond with Elementary grades:

Preschool (skills: left and right, sequencing, letters, upper and lower case, keyboarding skills for writing, etc.)

Kindergarten (skills: common words and meanings, punctuation, upper and lower case, auditory processing, sound descrimination: speaking and listening skills, keyboard skills, etc)

First Grade (skills: sequencing, motor skills, phonics, grammar, reading comprehension, blending, decoding, sentences, punctuation, and more)

Second Grade (skills: vocabulary, sight words, reading, spelling, decoding, writing complex sentences, summarizing, and more)

Third Grade (skills: reading, comprehension, writing, spelling, language expansion, increase their abilities to read and understand more complicated texts, academics, and literature, etc. )

Struggling Readers (useful in helping build skills for: struggling readers, learning disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and English As A Second Language (ESL) more).

The entire program starting at the lowest level and working your way through to completing the highest level takes about 12 to 18 months to complete. A child who already has acquired some reading skills maybe able to complete the program in 6 months. A child who is a struggling reader due to learning disabilities may take longer than average to complete. The program is flexible and adapts to the skills of each child.

Skill Levels

Reading Kingdom offers 5 different learning levels. Each level is adaptable for the skill levels of your kids, so it customizes itself per the child’s needs. Each level builds upon the skills learned in the previous level and gets your kids ready for the next level so it all flows smoothly together. A Progress Check (review quiz) is given after each level. More practice is given if needed, or if they have mastered everything, they are promoted to the next level.

Each level is filled with several sessions. It is expected that kids will work on the program for at least 4 sessions per week. In each session takes about 20 minutes. A child learns 1 new word or reads 1 new book during each session.

Each level takes between 10 weeks to 15 weeks (10-15 weeks according the the FAQ Pdf, but the website also lists it can be done in 6-10 weeks) to complete if your child completes 4 or 5 sessions a week and depending on how quickly they progress.

A Quick Glimpse Of The Desktop For Different Levels:

Here are some desktop views from the different levels. The first picture under each level shows the number of words and books learned in that level. The second set of pictures in each level shows screen shots of various learning games with blending, sequencing, and online story books.

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

How We Used Reading Kingdom In Our Home

I am a mom of 6 kids, and they all have different learning styles and different skill levels. Each child learns a little differently from their siblings and I am so grateful for homeschooling because it gives us the freedom to pursue what works best for each child.

We are using Reading Kingdom Online with our 6 year old son and 8 year old daughter. We began by taking a skills test to learn the exact skills they already knew, and what skills they have yet to learn. They took a letter sequencing test and a keyboard typing test. This helped customize the program to their exact level.

Sequencing Test

Typing & Keyboard Test

Reading Kingdom Online is an adaptable reading program. It responds to the child’s skill level and their ongoing progress. It allows kids to skip over practicing words they already know. It also recognizes what they don’t know and provides extra support and training in those areas.

The dash board shows their progress. This is a very nice feature. Also I can go in to an advanced step on the dashboard and set it to redo the test or a level if needed, and change the speed for responses or leave it at the default speed. So far they are doing great and I don’t see a need to make any changes.

Since some of my kids find it easy to learn to read, and some find reading more challenging, it is a blessing to have a curriculum that can adapt to both of their learning styles.

I like the parent dashboard because it gives me a basic summary of how each child is progressing. I also get a weekly summary emailed to me alerting me of progress and any concerns.

Dr. Blank

Dr. Marion Blank is known around the world for her literacy expertise. She developed and directed the Light on Literacy Program and is on the faculty of Columbia University. She lectures around the world, and she has authored dozens of peer-reviewed articles and books. Dr. Blank has developed several award winning teaching programs. She is the author of the Reading Remedy and creator of the Reading Kingdom.

The online modality of delivery of the Learning Kingdom system software was put together by Dr. Marion Blank’s son, Jonathan Blank. He is a top software designer in his field and has many other digital software accomplishments. He has designed programs for top name brands like Google, Adobe, Sony and more.

Dr. Blank and her son and have made this an exceptional educational software program. They made a great team and produced an amazing product for kids, parents, and teachers. This online learning program has come together in a beautiful way. Their collaboration together on this project using her strategy and expertise in teaching, and his expertise in digital software is combined and packaged into a fun online delivery system (computerized learning) for kids. I would encourage every family to give this system a try with their kids and beat those national average statistics and come out a winner who has mastered reading proficiency.

Social Media

Be sure to follow Reading Kingdom of their social media sites for all the latest news and updates.

Blog http://www.readingkingdom.com/blog/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/readingkingdom

Twitter https://twitter.com/readingkingdom

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/readingkingdom/

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