Posted by Cindy on October 6, 2008
I just want to share a few “new to me” curriculum choices that are better than I expected this year….
Spelling Power and SpellingTime.com
We ditched all other spelling programs I was considering. Spelling has been one of those subjects for which I’ve never quite found the perfect fit. Spelling Power is helping me to quickly identify Mahayla’s spelling needs, without wasting time on words she already knows. I’ll probably begin using this with Caleb soon, too, but right now he’s enjoying (and learning from) SpellingTime.com. I have a free year-long subscription for a review I did, but I’ll consider actually paying for it next year if it keeps Caleb as motivated as he’s been so far.
Easy Grammar
Wow! This curriculum does an excellent job of teaching the parts of a sentence. Mahayla’s only completed 15-20 lessons so far, but is already leaps and bounds further in her understanding than any other curriculum has taken her.
Operation: English Grammar Lapbook
Mahayla completes one lapbook activity a week. We’re enjoying learning grammar rules in such an in-depth and fun way!
Right Track Reading
I don’t follow this book as scripted, but it’s been a wonderful resource for introducing Caleb to phonics rules, letter sounds and irregularities in a systematic way. We’ve been taking one lesson a day and working through the day’s new rule on the white board. I can tell a big difference in his ability to decode during reading and think through how words might be spelled based on what he’s learned.
That’s it for now. It’s been nice to find a few great products for some of the subjects that have given me frustration over the years!
Posted by Cindy on December 21, 2006
Wow! That’s the best word I can think of to describe this book. Since baby is on his way any day now, we didn’t read through Jotham’s Journey the way you’re “supposed” to. We began the first of December and read one, two or three chapters a day until we finished. I have to admit that it would have been hard for even *me* to read one chapter a day because they are so exciting and leave you wanting more. We also didn’t do the Advent candles with the book, simply because we weren’t following the daily reading schedule.
I highly recommend this book! One caution, though, it is intense at times and some little ones may find it to be too scary. My 6 1/2 year old listened intently and loved the book, but would ask many questions about the story throughout the day if we ended our daily reading time with an especially serious cliff-hanger.
The author is a master storyteller and weaved such an interesting story line that it often left me with my mouth open in awe of his creativity in tying together the story of our Savior’s birth with the story of the main character. He also did a wonderful job of allowing the main character to grow in wisdom and stature as we watched. I especially loved the “main message” of how our disobedience has consequences, and I was glad to see that Jotham recognized this and tried harder each time to be more obedient.
Sadly, this book, as well as the other two in the series – Tabitha’s Travels and Bartholemew’s Passage (I think I have those titles right) are no longer in print. From what I understand, the author is trying to find a new publisher. Maybe we can all bombard Purple House Press with a request to reprint these?? Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on the other two books in the series!
