Our Busy Homeschool: Scriptures, Reading, and Writing

In part two of my Looking Back on Reviews series we are going to talk about Scriptures, Reading, and Writing resources. I’ll share what we think now about past review items, with titles linked to my original reviews. I have decided to also share what we regularly use for the subject in our homeschool. So read clear to the end!

Young Hearts Longing for God from Soli Deo Gloria – In my review you will see that Makayla did not like this study, it was a bit too challenging for her. We are not using it currently.

Good Morning, God from Apologia – This is still in use at our house, both as a sweet picture book to read and as a jumping off point for discussion. It is definitely a keeper!

Building Life Castles from Positive Action for Christ – We are not using this daily right now with all the other things we are doing, but have found a fun new way to use it. Makayla, who really enjoyed the workbook format, is using it for an activity on Sundays after church. The crossword puzzles and other fun pages are just right for her.

Little Reader Software from Brill Kids – This is still a favorite at our house. Oliver and Daniel enjoy it, and Oliver asks for it pretty much every day. While neither of them are reading yet, they both love it and we’ll keep on using it. I think it has been neat to see the large gains in vocabulary that Oliver has made, and I am hoping to reinforce our Speekee spanish program by adding some sets of words in that language in the next few weeks. I need to go log on to the Brill Kids forum and see what is already available to download for free.

Salem Ridge Press books – We still like these books and I have already planned to re-read Soldier Fritz next year when we study the Reformation. I love that these books are appropriate for all my children, there was no need for me to edit on the fly.

Vocabulary Cartoons – While the concept of using mnemonics to learn vocabulary is solid, and the book does that effectively, we still do not feel the need for a separate vocabulary study. We are not using this book.

Guess What?

Right now I am also working on some other items that fit this area but whose reviews are not due until later this year. I’ll tell you about those just a teeny bit.

Little Books Program (I See Sam) from Academic Success for All Learners – This reading program uses sets of decodable readers to help the student develop fluency. The goal is to read each little story with less than 3 mistakes before moving on. My review will post at the end of February, for now all I can say is this is not a program we are enjoying. I’ll have to explain that in February.

Student Writing Intensive – A from IEW – We were already familiar with the Institute for Excellence in Writing when this arrived at our house. It is a DVD writing class featuring Andrew Pudewa as the instructor. My review won’t post until May, I know, that seems like forever. Here’s all I can say – we’re enjoying this one a lot.

What Do We Use Regularly?

This is the part where I’m telling you about other products for this subject area that are not reviews I’ve done for the TOS Crew. Keep that in mind.

Scriptures – We do not use a specific scripture study curriculum. Instead, we read from the scriptures, memorize them, and talk about them. We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and read the standard works, which include:

Reading – Currently our learn-to-read curriculum of choice is the All About Spelling program and the readers that go along. Joseph and Emma love the readers, and Daniel is already learning to read short vowel words as he joins in on their lessons. The readers are also beautifully illustrated and interesting stories. Makayla just reads everything in sight. Her favorites lately have been biographies from the Childhood of Famous Americans series. Daniel and Oliver are also using Little Reader (Brill Kids) as I mentioned above.

Writing – Makayla and I had begun using the principles from IEW before the DVD course arrived to review. We’re happily using the DVD lessons now, which have her watching the DVD one day, then completing her assignments over the next 1-2 weeks with me. Joseph and Emma are not expected to write, as in compose and write something from their head. They are beginning copywork and do oral narration right now.

I think that is all I have to say about for today, so now it’s your turn to share the scripture, reading, and writing products you’ve loved, liked, or hated in the comments!