Announcement: 2022-2023 Academic Year

 I am excited to announce that I will be teaching with Scholé Academy this coming 2022-2023 Academic Year. I will be teaching Fundamentals of Mathematics (grade: adv. 6 or 7), Pre-Algebra (grade: adv. 7 or 8, and high school), and Well-Ordered Language (grammar) 1 (grade: 4 or 5). You can view the courses I am teaching and all the courses offered here. If you already know that you want to enroll for the coming year, enrollment has begun. 

About this school: This is a virtual classical school. There are actually three schools under the Scholé Academy umbrella: A Catholic school, an Anglican school, and an Orthodox school. The schools follow the principles of seeking Good, Beauty, and Truth in a restful and reflective matter. There are live virtual classes for the student to learn. 

Parents can choose a full enrollment, or they can enroll their child(ren) in the classes most beneficial for their individual needs. There are classes available for K-12, but most of the classes are 4th through 12th. Tutoring is also available for students needing more one-on-one attention. 

If this concept interests you, please browse the courses being offered!

Wait...You Homeschool?

It doesn't happen very often. Occasionally, we will hear, "Wait! You homeschool?" 

Maybe it is because we only have three children. Maybe it is because our oldest is only five. Usually, the astonishment is only instantaneous before comprehension washes over them and the question is shrugged off. 

My husband is a certified public school teacher. He has several certifications including Social Studies and English as a Second Language. He works as a teacher in a school district and we would have school of choice if we chose to enroll our children into school. 

Have we thought about it? Yes. We have. We actually enrolled our eldest in Kindergarten, but disenrolled him before the term started. 

My husband loved school as a child. It was his happy place. He loved being around friends. He loved the activities. He loved his teachers. He became a teacher partly because he loved school. 

I loved learning, but I did not love school. When I was in second grade, my parents pulled me from the public school and began homeschooling me. My parents were questioned about their decision to homeschool more than I have been. This is either due to a change in the times or the people we surround ourselves with. 

My husband and I both have bachelor degrees, graduate work, and teaching experience. My husband works at a school and I am a professional tutor. I work from home. We value education. We want to give what is best for our children. Right now, that is homeschooling. If that changes in the future, so will our approach to our children's education. 

We homeschool for a couple different reasons.

1. Our son barely made the cutoff for school. He was born in the middle of August. The district cutoff was September 1st. He was academically ready for school. He was social-emotionally not ready for school. He asked that he be taught to read. How could I say no?

2. The COVID-19 pandemic and the various unpredictable responses. We want our children's memories of their childhood years to be consistent and pleasant. Wearing a mask might be socially responsible in some circumstances, but it is certainly not academically important. We wanted our children to learn without being constantly reminded to wear a mask. I have heard some of the circle time songs and books about wearing a mask. We have masks that we wear in appropriate settings - I am not anti-mask. But, I do not feel comfortable elevating mask wearing to the same importance as learning letter sounds. 

3. We can control the pace and structure. When we have an off day, school can be reduced to snuggling on the sofa and reading our favorite stories. When we have a great day, we can complete a week's worth of lessons in one day. I can customize learning to our children's individual needs. As a result, my 5-year-old is doing first grade work. My 3-year-old is about to start reading. 

4. We can decide what they learn and when. It is February - Black History Month. And, all over Instagram, I have seen people arguing for and against critical race theory, teaching "real" history, and the trouble with whitewashing history. My husband is a social studies teacher. Our children are Hispanic. We understand the importance of teaching "real" history, but we get to decide when this happens based on their maturity and ability to handle it. And, we can learn about all people every month, instead of confining a group to a specific month. 

5. We get to spend time with them while they are still young. Little kids are hard, but they will never be little like this again. There is nothing we can do to slow time. Putting our children in school may be convenient for our careers or to reassure ourselves that the state will recognize their education, but is it what is right for them? 

We are keeping them home for now. We school for 2-3 hours a day. We school for 5-6 days a week (whether I want to or not). We touch on all subjects - from basic reading and writing to Solfa to Piano to art. We have done unit studies. We have had play-based lessons. 

Will we change our approach to education in the future? Maybe. We have discussed it. For now, though, they are home and thriving. 

Primary sounds for M, A, N, S, E, and T

 Happy Thanksgiving. 

My five-year-old asked me if we were going to record a video today. I said, "Sure!" He was a little tired, but he was so excited to record our video. 

We have done these lessons several times. We will continue to review previous phonics lessons as we continue on our journey to learning how to read. Repetition builds confidence. 

At the bottom of the page, Ms. Akin wrote notes to the teacher. These are brief notes. They include the recommendation to go over these foundational parts slowly.  We are building masterful readers. Our goal is not to have our five year olds reading at a 3rd grade reading level. Our goal is to build a strong phonetic foundation so that our children can learn to read well. 

Phonics helps to decode the patterns of language. Once a child can decode words, the child can begin to work on comprehension and understanding. Follow Ms. Akin's advice: lay the foundation well. 

A quick phonics lesson for the primary sounds of M, A, N, S, E, and T. 

Like and Subscribe! 

 Links of Interest: 

Florence Akin's Word Mastery Course:https://play.google.com/books/reader?... 

Flashcards and Letter Tiles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/P... 

My Blog: https://atouchofbeautylife.blogspot.com/ 

My TpT Storefront: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/S...

A Short Reading Lesson

 Learning how to read is important, but the lessons do not have to be complicated. Some reading lessons can consist of the child being read to. Some lessons can consist of the child reading. Some lessons can include phonics. Some lessons can include games. 

Variety in lessons keeps them from getting boring. Consistency in reading to and with the child is more important than following the same lesson structure every time.

Children who are learning to read can be taught phonemic awareness by sounding out words. There are two ways to do this. Children can sound out words by decoding them or reading them. They can also sound out words orally. We frequently play games that involve sounding out words. 

 

In this short video, we demonstrate a short reading lesson. 

First, we practice sounding out words. 

Second, we practice letter familiarity. 

Third, we discuss the pictures. 

Fourth, we look at the words. 

A more in-depth reading lesson would include a phonics lesson, recitation of the sounds and words in the lesson, and copy work in addition to the above steps. 

The child's voice in these videos belongs to my child who turned five in August. 

Like and Subscribe! 

Links of Interest: 

McGuffey's First Reader: https://archive.org/details/mcguffeysfirstec00mcgu2 

Flashcards and Letter Tiles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Learn-to-Read-Level-1-Template-5923913 

My Blog: https://atouchofbeautylife.blogspot.com/ 

My TpT Storefront: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Wisdom-Through-Nature

Alphabet Awareness

 

In order for children to learn how to read, children must be aware of the sounds that the letters represent. To increase alphabet awareness, teachers and parents should increase child awareness of letters. 

*Point out the letter on a page when reading

*Use flashcards or word tiles to help the child recognize the letters

*Practice primary letter sounds, not just the letter names

 

Written words use symbols, the alphabet, to represent sound. In English, each letter can have multiple sounds. Understanding primary sounds of the letters is a first step in reading that even young learners can master. 

 

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Links of Interest: 

 McGuffey's Speller: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/15456/15456-pdf.pdf 

Flashcards and Letter Tiles: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Learn-to-Read-Level-1-Template-5923913

My Blog: https://atouchofbeautylife.blogspot.com/ 

My TpT Storefront: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Wisdom-Through-Nature

New YouTube Phonics and Reading Series

Phonics is a foundational step to reading and speech. With an emphasis on sight words and reading early, phonics is sometimes neglected inadvertently or deliberately. 

I am teaching my five-year-old how to read. And, before I actually started - I was secretly terrified that I would fail him. But, after hours of research, I decided to use older books to teach him to read. 

After much debate and comparison of programs, I decided that the more simple my program for reading, the better. I wanted to make sure that he would be ready. I also wanted to make sure that my method of teaching would not be depended on a single methodology, book, or font. 

Many people will tell you that an app will teach your child to read. A program. A book. These might help, but I wager that reading is not a one-size fits all endeavor. Some children will learn faster than others. For some children, 100 Easy Lessons will be perfect. For other children, it might be a disaster. This new series will have step-by-step lessons designed to teach children and adults how to read using free materials and resources.

Phonics is an important foundational part of reading. In this video, I introduce Word Mastery by Florence Akin as an independent or supplementary phonics program. In subsequent videos, we will learn how to read using McGuffey's Readers and Akin's Word Mastery. 

 

Like and Subscribe! 

 

Links of Interest: Memoria Press: Reading and Phonics Set: https://www.memoriapress.com/curricul... Florence Akin's Word Mastery Course: https://play.google.com/books/reader?... 

McGuffey's Primer: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14642... 

E. Louise Smythe's Primary Reader: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/... 

My Blog: https://atouchofbeautylife.blogspot.com/ 

My TpT Storefront: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/S...

My husband told me to slow my roll...

 It is just a fact that I am a planner. I love to sequence curricula. I love to gather information and coordinate plans. I am very good at this sort of work. And, I am also very good at implementing. 

My children are very eager little sponges who want to homeschool every single day. 

I am not exaggerating. 

I am not kidding. 

They LOVE to learn (right now). And, they love the attention it gets them. LO is beginning to read by himself. He has even read his siblings a story. Their eagerness combined with my almost neurotic need to plan has created numerous excel sheets filled with possibilities of lessons for them. 

I plan to continue using Schola Rosa as my main curriculum because it is working wonderfully. But my children are devouring books and stories and lessons. They want more. So, I am looking at every resource I can to fill their excess time with good literature. 

As a result of my planning, I asked a priest what age my son should begin memorizing the Mass parts for future serving. And, that's when my husband told me to slow my roll on the five-year-old. He said he was afraid I was already looking at college programs for him. And, honestly, if you look at my master plan - I kinda was. 

Okay, I wasn't really looking at colleges, but I was definitely looking at what classes I could prepare my children to CLEP. So, basically the same thing. 

So, anyways, if anyone is looking for free High School resources that end in CLEPS, I have ideas.

School Schedule

I believe that many parents who are choosing to homeschool wonder how to schedule, how to keep records, and how to time their days.  Though I am just a novice homeschool parent, I have been a teacher for years.  I am going to try to share what works and what doesn't in this blog.  

My student information: 

LO, boy, 5 years old, K-1 (Schola Rosa has their K-6 program broken into K-1, 2-3, and 4-6 levels). 

MT, girl, 3 years old, PreK

CP, boy, 1 years old, Nursery

The tricky part here will be to educate the school age child while managing the other two children.  My plan is to include the 3 year old in as much learning as she is willing to participate in while having the baby set up to play with activities (sensory, crafts, blocks,etc).  My hope is that the 3 year old will float between learning and playing.  

It might be because I have managed classrooms with multiple levels, or it might be because I was homeschooled myself, but I am not afraid of teaching with toddler's underfoot.  Nor am I concerned about teaching multiple levels later.  We will see if my tone changes in a few weeks. 

For the actual subjects, my children have been learning Spanish since birth, so this will continue. We will be following the Schola Rosa subjects: Art, Classically Catholic Memory (Recitation in other school programs), History, Language Arts, Latin, Mathematics, Reading, Religion, Science, and Virtue.  We will be using Under the Home for additional enrichment, as desired.  

The bulk of school will be in the mornings.  Our family does have a reading time in the evening where mommy and daddy will read a few books to the children before family rosary.  I plan to use that evening time to read for pleasure books whenever possible.

Our daily schedule looks like this:

*Morning Gathering - Prayers, Calendar, Weather, Memory Work

*Phonics Block 1: Pre-K Phonics - Alphabet awareness, Letter sounds, Handwriting practice

*Latin, Religion, and Virtue - Latin, Bible, Religion, Virtue 

*Snack Break - Outside picnic when weather permits

*Nature Study - Directed nature study, Geography lessons, Free play, Gardening

*Mathematics - Counting, Facts drill, Lesson from Ray's Arithmetic series, Abacus practice, Chapter from Life of Fred, Notebooking

*History - History lessons and activities, Mapwork, Interactive notebooking

*Phonics Block 2: Phonics lessons from Word Mastery, Reading lessons from McGuffey

*Science - Science lessons, activities, and videos

*Wiggle Break! Exercise or play outside

*Language Arts - Picture Study, Narrations and Illustrations, Poetry, Prose, and Read aloud

*Languages - Spanish lessons and videos

*Enrichment - Art, music, crafts, projects, library, adventures

We keep lessons short. No more than 20 minutes on any subject. We take breaks when and if we need. If something does not work in a lesson, we reschedule it or omit it. When the younger children are fussy, we pause. 

Our school days can vary in time from an hour to four hours. It depends on attention spans, including mine, our week as a whole, and what needs to be done. We are usually done by lunch at the latest. Once the little ones take a nap, my oldest decides if he wants to stay and read or if he wants to nap. 

 So far it is working nicely. 

Teaching Reading Philosophy

 The Learn to Read course is designed for young children.  Very young children love to be read to, and they love to read. 

I have done a fair amount of research to decide how I wanted to teach my children to read.  My method of teaching children how to read is varied.  I believe strongly in teaching children how to read as soon as they express interest in it.  A child does not have a high level of patience.  Teaching the child how to read one or two words at a time will satisfy the child's desire without overwhelming their ability.  

Reading at this age involves a lot of repetition.  When teaching colors, parents quiz on the color many times.  Eventually, the child knows the name of the color on sight.  This is the idea behind teaching sight words.  Knowing sight words isn't enough.  

Phonics generally includes: 

Ear training

Tongue training

Eye training

Word building

Spelling

Children need to learn phonics, preferably early in their education, for them to be successful readers. Once phonics is mastered, children can read pretty much anything. 

Some educators advocate teaching phonemes and letter sounds without true familiarity with the alphabet.  The use of sounds are introduced by use (such as mmmmmm first).  Many parents sabotage this method by teaching their children the ABCs.  Some educators prefer teaching children whole words, such as sight words. 

I see value to all of these, so I prefer a mixed method.  Children are taught words, phonics, and alphabet in bit size lessons to build mastery and satisfy the child's desire to learn. 

Phonics Action Word Game

 In week 1 of my new learn to read lessons, I have a phonics game.  

The instructions state: 

Teacher introduces a game where teacher pronounces action words by letter sound (ex: s-i-t), student does the action.

The purpose of this game is to get the students to hear the different parts of the word and identify them as words.  It is important that action words are used when the game is first introduced, so children can associate the sounds of the letters with the words, and the words with the actions.  Building this phonetic foundation will be helpful later.  

Be sure to pronounce each letter properly so the word can be understood. 

Here are some more examples of action words

 s-i-t  ->  the student sits

r-u-n  ->  the student runs in place

w-a-l-k  ->  the student walks in place

c-l-a-p  ->  the student claps

s-l-ee-p  ->  the student pretends to sleep

w-a-k-e  ->  the student pretends to wake

d-r-i-nk -> the student pretends to drink

f-l-y -> the student pretends to fly

 b-ow -> the student bows

m-a-r-ch -> the student marches in place

Only start with a few words like this at first.  As the student gets used to the game, add more words.  Eventually, you can have the student pick a word.  

What if my child doesn't get it? No problem! 

First, keep trying.  You only need to do a few words at a time.  You are building skills. 

Second, try modeling.  Whenever a child doesn't understand the instructions, model.  In fact, it is better to model while giving instructions!

Third, try using a book.  I love using From Head to Toe by Eric Carle as a visual for this game.  I will pronounce the action word (ex: bend) or the body part (neck) and model.  Then when I ask, can you do it? (as the book states) and my kids do the action.  

Eventually, this game will become a dictation game.  Any word can be used later.  For now, though, keep it simple.