This is a bunch of other stuff we do. In my opinion, a good curriculum is a must, but here is where the fun is. The joy of teaching your own children is to find things that YOU think are good and important. I try to enjoy that freedom and not to be a slave to the next lesson plan. We are always working to find a balance of how to do both.
I love these. They build word family recognition for a new reader, which helps move beyond sounding out every single sound. Plus, they were the very first thing Lucy read and now she grabs them and reads a "book" easily!
These are very easy books that teach one sight word per book. We found them to be good confidence builders as they are short and repetitive. They are a nice compliment to a phonics program which sometimes neglects those pesky words you can't just sound out.
Logic problems - we don't do these often, but they are great to pull out every now and then.
These would not be a good phonics program alone, but they are good supplements. Zoe reads these during her rest time and picks one to read to me with her TAG a few times a week. It helps with moving beyond her comfort zone, and I like it much more than I thought I would. And there is just something to reading instruction that doesn't come from Mom!
Love these! We haven't used them to learn specific map skills yet, but they are engaging and have much more than the names and capitols. Each map has 2 sides, and our favorite is finding the music of each region.
Workboxes
This is less a philosophy for me and more a way to structure our day. Each girl has a set of boxes that I load up each night. I stagger some things, like math, to have one-on-one time, and I put some things like science in the same number box so we do it all together. It is a great way to pull in those random puzzles or activities that tend to get forgotten and it lets them visually see where the day is going. Whenever Lucy is bored, she asks "Can I go in the schoolroom and see what's in my next box?"
This is less a philosophy for me and more a way to structure our day. Each girl has a set of boxes that I load up each night. I stagger some things, like math, to have one-on-one time, and I put some things like science in the same number box so we do it all together. It is a great way to pull in those random puzzles or activities that tend to get forgotten and it lets them visually see where the day is going. Whenever Lucy is bored, she asks "Can I go in the schoolroom and see what's in my next box?"
ABC word builder
I bought this as one of my first homeschool products after watching the students of Speece School use it. We have loved it.
I bought this as one of my first homeschool products after watching the students of Speece School use it. We have loved it.
Abacus
I like this one because it helps you count by 5's
I like this one because it helps you count by 5's
Click Magazine
I'm a huge fan. It's totally worth the price. It has age appropriate science games, stories, facts, experiments, and more with a theme for each issue. I could do my whole science curriculum around this!
I'm a huge fan. It's totally worth the price. It has age appropriate science games, stories, facts, experiments, and more with a theme for each issue. I could do my whole science curriculum around this!
I love these. We used to use cookie sheets, but these are smaller, clean easily, and we use them much more than I thought we would. Beading, painting, play doh, manipulatives, and more are done with these trays.
