Scaredy Cat Reading System-Review

For the last few weeks we have been using Level One of Scaredy Cat Reading from Joyce Herzog.  We received a full set including the Teacher's manual, Student workbook, Student Reader, The Story of the LetterMaster, Song CD and a Fun Pack. Scaredy Cat Reading is not only phonics based, it is mastery based as well.

Level One of Scaredy Cat Reading familiarizes students with the alphabet and teaches them the sounds the letters make. The Teacher's Manual is a wonderful resource for the parent of any young child.  I cannot begin to tell you the number of ideas that are included in this book.  It is a 45-page spiral bound which includes an introduction, the rules of the Scaredy Cat Reading System (which are not taught to the students in level one), specifics of the program for pre-readers and other general information you need to know.  

The book then describes the three steps of Scaredy Cat Reading level one.

Step One: learn the alphabet

Step Two: learn the names of each letter and recognize it in many different fonts

Step Three: learning the primary sounds of each of the consistent consonants and learning "who" the vowels are

Next you will find a page on Reading Aloud, Games to Play with Letters, Progress Tracking Sheets, Handwriting Hints and several pages you can copy for handwriting practice.

Finally, the remainder of the book is packed with ideas for teaching the letters and their sounds. She has a cute idea of having different styles of days depending on how much time you have or how much you want to work on this in a day.  There are appetizer days to whet your child's appetite, main course days where you spend more time with the child on specific activities, salad days and dessert days are also on the "menu". 

The Story of LetterMaster; Who Gave the Letters their Jobs is a 31 page comic book style story of how each letter was assigned its sound or sounds.  The story is also found on the audio CD.  Unfortunately, this did not really hold the attention of my children (and I can't say I loved it either.)  I'm not one for a comic book to begin with and we just didn't care for the story.

The LetterMaster comic and one of the reproducible handwriting pages

The ABC Reader is available in a secular and a Christian version.  I was sent the secular version.  It contains the lyrics to an ABC song that is different from the "next time won't you sing with me" version we are all familiar with.  This is to prevent children learning "elliminnowpee".  There are two versions of this song.  The one in the book has secular words, the one on the audio CD is the Christian version.

Sadie with the ABC reader

The ABC reader starts out with many pages of the alphabet written in different type fonts and styles.  Capital and Lower case letters are both learned.  There is also a page of the letters in sign language.  Other pages include a pictorial primer, a list of animal names by letter and given names by letter.  It also includes all of the lyrics to the songs.

a worksheet from the student workbook

The Student Workbook has 143 pages.  Step One of the book has 18 pages where students match letters and learning the alphabet.  The final page of this section has students do a dot-to-dot of the alphabet in alphabetical order.  In Step Two students learn the letter names on pages like the one shown above.  There are 53 pages in this section.  Step Three teaches children the letter sounds.  Letters are taught individually in groups.  The First Letter names are taught first.  These are the letters that say their name first like B and D.    There are a couple of pages for each letter which include a page of pictures where the child circles words that begin with the letters and and/or cross out ones that do not followed by a page of letter activities.  For example, for the letter T some suggestions are to touch your toes ten times, listen to a tuba or a trombone, and taste tea by the teaspoon with your tongue.  Lots and lots of ideas for each letter.  The final pages are by the different groups of letters (first name consonants, last name consonants, hard working consonants and vowels).

The Audio CD begins with a reading of the LetterMaster which takes about 25 minutes, followed by a variety of simple songs sung acapella.  Most are more like jingles or rhymes than songs and I don't find them all that catchy.  The kids don't enjoy listening to it.

The Fun Pack comes on light cardstock so I laminated most of it. There are Bingo cards, and Alphabet Spinner, cards for uppercase and lowercase letters, letter pieces to put together to build letters and cards with pictures to match sounds with.  There are some magnet sheets as well with letters and pictures for learning and reviewing concepts.

 A few of the games and activities from the Fun Pack

I have mainly focused on using this with 5 year old Ellie.  She loves the fun activities and the workbook.  She often asks to do it and for that I am thankful.  We try to do some part of Scaredy Cat reading each day. We don't always manage to fit it in, but I really like that she enjoys it and is learning.  My 3 year old also likes to join in and sometimes even the older kids will as well.  (Especially if we play BINGO and Skittles are involved! Forgot to take pictures of that.)

Ellie playing a matching letter game.

Ellie loves learning her letters. She put them all in order herself.

I plan to use a lot of this program with my 3 year old when she turns 4 in September.  I think it will be fun for her to have her own "school" to do next year.   While we do like this, I don't think we will purchase future levels.

My favorite part of this curriculum is the flexibility and the wonderful ideas (and fun pack) to really help children learn pre-reading skills.  If you are looking for something to teach your child reading in a fun way, I do think this is worth taking a look at.

There are 4 levels of Scaredy Cat Reading.  You can have your child take a free placement test to determine which level you need. There is also a page of free downloads.

The crew is reviewing a wide variety of books and curriculum from Joyce Herzog including: Scaredy Cat Reading System Level 2, Scaredy Cat Reading System Level 3, Scaredy Cat Reading System Express, Learning in Spite of Labels (A great book!  I have this.), Timeless Teaching Tips,  Choosing & Using Curriculum Set, Luke's Life List, Luke's School List, Stepping Stones to Praise and Worship,  Stepping Stones to Bigger Faith For Little People, Budding Authors, 6 Weeks to Understanding Grammar, Bible Quotes and Educational Dice Bag.  Lots of fun stuff to read about!

Here is a video from author Dr. Herzog about the Scaredy Cat Reading System:

Scaredy Cat Reading System level 1 is available for $75.00.  Additional student workbooks are $30.

Author Dr. Joyce Herzog is well known in the homeschooling community.  She taught learning disabled students for 25 years in public and private schools and has written many books and curriculum for homeschoolers.  Read more about her.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Primary Arts of Language (PAL) from IEW

I am so excited to finally be posting this review for Primary Arts of Language (PAL) from the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  Not only is this my hands down favorite review product ever, but it's also my favorite curriculum for teaching reading and writing and I've used a lot of different things in the 15 years we've been homeschooling.

We received the complete PAL reading and writing package which includes all of the following:

Primary Arts of Language: Reading Teacher’s Manual

Primary Arts of Language: Reading DVD-ROM

Primary Arts of Language: Phonetic Games

Primary Arts of Language: Phonetic Farm folder with Stickers

Primary Arts of Language: Writing Teacher’s Manual
Primary Arts of Language: Writing DVD-ROM

All About Spelling Basic Interactive Kit
All About Spelling Level 1 (Teacher’s Manual and One Student Material Packet) By Marie Rippel

We also received the following MP3 Audios:
The Four Language Arts , Nurturing Competent Communicators, and
Dictation, Narration, and Public Speaking  by Andrew Pudewa
Poetry as an Integrator and Intro to the Blended Sound Sight Program by Anna Ingham
Reading Comprehension  by Adam Andrews
Units 1 and 2 in the K–2 Classroom and Unit 3 in the K–2 Classroom MP3 Audio by Shirley George
Preparing the K-2 Writing Environment MP3 Audio by Richelle Palmer


When the package arrived it seemed like it could be a bit overwhelming.  However, I popped in the Instructional Video (included on the DVD-ROM) and author Jill Pike does a great job of explaining how to get started.  I found it very easy to just jump right in and get started.  PAL arrived on Saturday and we started using it first thing Monday morning.  Besides watching the video, I also started listening to the incredible audios that were included. These are inspiring for all homeschoolers and I highly recommend them.

When using the complete PAL program you have everything you need to teach reading, writing and spelling.  While the different parts of the program can be used separately, they are meant to be used in conjunction with each other.

Because there is just so much to cover, I recommend you watch this free webinar for an overview and you can watch this 3 minute video with Jill Pike and Andrew Pudewa that explains where to begin:


Click on this link if the embedded video doesn't appear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmR5K-ozQZ8&feature=autoplay&list=UUHuYYtnncZw7SCOQb-lY0pA&playnext=1

I thought the easiest way to share PAL with you would be to show you what a typical day of PAL looks like for us. We don't always follow the same order, but this is a rough idea of how the day goes.

I begin by opening the reading and writing guides and setting them next to each other.  I have an island so I stand on one side of the island while kids are on the other side.  I have a white board on my refrigerator.

I usually begin by writing in our classroom journal (a composition notebook).  The kids can tell me what they want me to write and I add things that I think are important.

Next, we work on our writing lesson.  In the early lessons, every lower case letter is taught with a letter story.  I can't tell you how wonderful these stories are in helping the kids to remember the letters.  Here is a sample of pictures of some of the stories.  There are cards that can be printed for each letter.

Each letter has its own name and story.  For example, d is the doggy letter.
You start by making his head and then his tail goes straight up and you go back down again.

Printable pdf worksheets are included on the Writing DVD-ROM.  Teachers are encouraged to have students practice on a white board before moving to paper. (My kids love this.) At first, the students write in blocks without any lines.  Later, they move to writing on lines using a house to guide the height of the letters with a main floor, and attic and a basement.  (You can see what I mean in the picture above with the Teacher Guides.)  Once students learn all of the lowercase letters they move on to the capitals, then finally numbers.  

3 of my children are using PAL.  Ellie (almost 5), Jenna (7) and
Connor (11 with Down syndrome)

We then do our Poetry Lesson. (Sometimes we start with poetry.)  I read the poem (or have the kids recite it once they've learned it) and then there are notes in the teacher's book as to what to do with the poem that day.  You might have things to underline or look for, you might draw a picture of it or act it out.  I've never been a big fan of poetry, but PAL has really changed my mind on this.  For the first time ever, I am enjoying poetry and love the way PAL uses the poetry to integrate what we are learning.

A major component of PAL are the file folder games.    The Phonetic Games, among other things, really set PAL apart from any other reading program.  It took me about a week to completely assemble all of the games.  This included taking the book apart, copying it and storing the originals in a 3-ring binder.  I could have saved time by just cutting the games out as we needed them but I preferred to have them all set ahead of time (and to copy them so if anything happened to one I could make another one.)

I have the games stored in a file folder box that I purchased for this purpose.  I also keep our classroom journal and some supplies in the box.

There are 40 games that teach everything from phonograms to vowels/consonants, beginning and ending sounds, matching, compound words etc.  The kids like to play these games and enjoy learning this way.  

In this game, Mugs the dog is fed bones with phonograms on them.  As the child says the sound they feed the bone to Mugs (you can place a box or bowl behind Mugs to catch the bones and prop up the folder.)  

Another game the kids like is feeding words to the "monster".  This is not a file folder game but we often play this during game time.  Connor especially likes this game.

Below is a photo of several of the games.  In the back, is a beginning consonant game where the child places the correct letter on the picture. The game on the left is a vowel and consonant game.  The child drives the cars into the proper parking lot (vowel-consonant- or VIP parking space for "y").  To the right is a game where the child places the proper color word on the color.  In the front is a charades game where the child chooses a card to read then acts it out.

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In the beginning lessons, the teacher's guide tells you which games to play. Eventually, the kids are to learn to play games on their own (or with you or a sibling) for 30 minutes per day.

Another fun component of PAL is the Phonetic Farm shown here:

The inside of the tri-fold folder 

The backside

As you learn new phonograms, students place stickers in the farm to help them remember rules for what sounds the letters make.  It's really cute yet effective.  The back side (which also shows the cover) has a few jingles to help children remember which words use er, ir and ur, as well as rules for the sounds of y and much more.

Besides poetry, we also use story telling.  In the early lessons, stories are provided in the teacher book. After reading the story, you begin to teach the children about setting, plot, characters etc by asking questions provided in the book.  

The remainder of the time is spent on reading worksheets.  For most lessons there are 2 worksheets.  One usually involves coloring then cutting and pasting words or sentence strips from the bottom of the page to the appropriate box under each picture.  The second sheet is a reading sheet for the kids to practice reading the words they have learned.  This is all in preparation for their first reader.  We are just getting to the first reader (we finished lesson 21 this week) and I am just so excited for my 2 older children using this program to get the reader.  It's a pdf reader that is also a coloring book that you print out for the child.

Jenna with her notebook

As they work through the lessons they build a notebook with 5 parts to it: Poetry, Posters (these are coloring pages that teach certain rules such as punctuation and phonetic rules), Homophone Clothesline (a place to record homophones as they are learned/found), Phonetic Farm Word Book (printable pages that mirror the Phonetic Farm), and Reading Practice worksheets.  We also choose to save all of the work pages and handwriting sheets as well.  We keep everything in sheet protectors.  The kids love their notebooks and even took them on a recent trip to read in the car! (with no prompting from me)

As I've been working on this review, I keep wanting to say that "this is my favorite part" about everything.  I just love all of the different components and how they work together. It is a joy to use PAL and I am thankful to have had this opportunity to review it and use it.  I really feel that I've barely scratched the surface with all that is included with this program.  It is amazing and yet so simple to use.

The final component we received is All About Spelling.  This doesn't really begin until after you reach lesson 20 and so I've only just started this with my first grader.  Connor and Ellie aren't quite ready for it.  I can't give an in depth opinion of it since we are only just beginning but I like what I see.  Other crew members have more advanced students that did use more of the spelling program so if you are interested in more details please read the other reviews.

All About Spelling starts by teaching phonograms to the child.  There are phonogram flash cards, a phonogram CD-ROM so you can hear exactly how each phonogram is to be pronounced, a teacher's manual, and a student pack. The student pack contains a phonogram chart, tokens, phonogram cards, sound cards, key cards, word cards, a progress chart and a completion certificate. Also, magnetized letter tiles that you use on a white board.  This is a step by step multi-sensory program.  I am truly looking forward to digging deeper with All About Spelling.

The Basic Phonogram CD-ROM allows you or your student to click on a phonogram to hear the sound or sounds that it makes.  This is fun for your student and helpful for anyone not familiar with the phonogram sounds.

Before I finish, I want to point out that we have only used part 1 of PAL:Writing and Reading.  The Writing Program has 3 part and the Reading program contains 4 parts as follows:

Reading:
Stage 1: Foundations (as discussed throughout the review)
Stage 2: Activity Time (Students play the games and being with their readers.)
Stage 3: Discovery (Once the student has mastered the phonetic rules by playing the games they move on to discovery cards (included).  There are 30 pages of cardstock, each containing ten Discovery Words
Stage 4: The Library (The student moves to reading real books.  A book list is provided.)

Writing:
Part I: Printing and Story Summaries
Part II: Copy Work and Style with All About Spelling
Part III: Composition with Style


I hope it is clear how much I love PAL.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I do want to mention that I was already familiar with phonograms as I have taught phonics in the past.  I felt like this was a "no-prep" type of course, but if you have no experience with phonograms you might need to spend a little time familiarizing yourself with them, but I still think minimal prep time is needed.

The price of this is a little high, but worth every penny.  Connor (my son with Down syndrome) has really taken off reading with this.  Jenna (my first grader) is making great progress in her reading.  The pace was a little fast for my 4 year old, but her writing is coming along wonderfully and she is learning so much.  I love having the three of them working together.  We will continue using this for the rest of the year.

Purchase Primary Arts of Language as individual components or get the best deal on complete packages.  Primary Arts of Language: Reading for $69 and Primary Arts of Language: Writing is $89 (includes All About Spelling). Samples of each program are available by scrolling down on either of those 2 links.


Visit the Institute for Excellence in Writing for a variety of Language Arts curriculum for all ages.  I am so happy to have found IEW!

See what others are saying about Primary Arts of Language on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.




disclaimer: I received Primary Arts of Language in exchange for an honest review.

Math and Reading Games in a Bag

Have you heard of Activity Bags? I was introduced to them several years ago when I purchased Preschool Activities in a Bag.  For this review, I received Math Games in a Bag and Reading Games in a Bag.  All of the Activity Bag books come as e-books in a pdf format. The bags are a wonderful way to add some educational fun to your homeschool.

The activity bag e-book gives you all of the information you need to create multiple games.  A unique feature of these books is that they are designed so you can do a swap with others and not have to make every game yourself.  Only one person needs to purchase the book and download the free Coordinator Handbook (some of the books come with the handbook).  Each game comes with a chart like the one pictured below that tells you how many of each of the supplies you will need for 1, 10, 15 or 20 of each game.  In this way, it is easy to organize a swap for different sized groups.

You gather the supplies you need, print off your masters and put everything in a ziplock bag so your games are ready to go.  We keep our games in a hanging file folder box that I already had set up with school things.  This keeps everything handy and organized.

Each game in the pdf has a chart (above) and labels to print for your bags similar to this:

There are several of these labels to a page so if you are doing a swap you can print less pages.  The label has a description of and directions for the game, the area of learning that is covered, a supply list and a safety warning for young children.  You can print these labels and attach them to your ziploc bag with clear mailing tape.

For ease of shopping and planning for your bags you will find a complete list of games and supplies needed as well. It also tells you where to find it in the e-book, the area of learning that is covered and short description. (Very handy for printing out as you plan your shopping list or if you want a master list of the games.)  Here is a clip of what that looks like:

It is suggested that you place a piece of cardstock in each bag to make it more sturdy.  I suggest using cereal box cardboard (or something similar) which is not only free, but also more sturdy.  Many of the games use sheet protectors over the masters that you print on cardstock.  I laminated some of ours because it is neater and also makes it easy to use wet erase markers.  I can just run the master right under a faucet to clean it off.  (or use dry erase markers as well.)

Math Games in a Bag

The e-book includes instructions for math games with families with elementary school-aged children.  These math games use materials found inside your home and also make learning experiences out of everyday routines, such as ordering from a restaurant menu or putting gas in your car to check the kind of mileage you are getting.  The math games are designed for you to have fun with your child while reinforcing mathematical skills.  Most games are designed for 2 or more players.  -from website

There are 33 math games included in this e-book:

I  printed out several games and we've been playing them during the week in addition to our regular math curriculum.  My 9 year old has been struggling with regrouping.  One of the games is a dice game for 2 players that involves adding and subtracting 2 digit numbers.  She is getting so much practice and because it is a game and not a lesson she is not complaining about it (and actually even asks to play.)  I can't ask for more than that in a game.

This game can be made more or less difficult by using 2 or 3 dice.  

Another favorite is an addition or subtraction bingo that is good for younger children. (but the older ones enjoy that a lot too.)

This learning to tell time game using dice is great fun and gives players practice writing time and doing simple addition.  (You could also use this by putting a time on the clock and having your child tell you what time it says.)

I haven't laminated this and it isn't in a sheet protector for the sake of the picture (glare)

The games cover a wide range of skills including adding, subtracting (simple and more complex), multiplication, shapes, matching, inequalities, fact families, telling time and more.

One of the fact family addition cards.
(Multiplication facts are also included.)

Reading Games in a Bag

This e-book includes 20 reading game instructions for new and beginning readers.  Most use materials that are found in your home.  The Reading games are designed to be fun for both you and your children as you help them gain the skills they need to become better readers.   -from website

This funny game has students choosing parts of sentences to make crazy sentences.  Helps teach beginning, middle and end as well as gives children reading practice.

This is a phonics "board" game.  Roll the dice and move ahead if you know the sound.

Who doesn't love a maze?  Kids of all ages in my house have had fun with these mazes.  There are 6 mazes to choose from.  I put 2 in sheet protectors back to back.  These are difficult enough for older children too.  (These may be a bit too hard for little ones but they still like to draw on these...good fine motor skill practice at any rate.)

These are just a small sample of the fun you can have learning with Activity Bags.

The only drawback to the Activity Bags that we have come across is just the amount of ink it takes to print the games.  I'm going to continue to slowly add games to our collection.  I think one or two new games each week will add variety to our homeschool (and won't overwhelm me as far as printing and assembling goes.)

Many of the games need dry erase markers.  I don't put these in the bags.  I have a bag of dry erase markers that we use for school that I can pull out for the kids when we are using games (so I don't need so many for each bag) and that gives less access to my younger kids who might pull a bag out and draw on the carpet. (Do not ask me how I know this. ;) )

Activity Bags would be a great addition to any homeschool (or for any kid for that matter.)  These would be especially good for Friday Fun School days and especially for those that use workboxes.

Purchase Math Games in a Bag or Reading Games in a Bag for $15.  Fill out this survey to receive a free sampler of Activity Bags. For further information visit the FAQ page.

Other titles by Activity Bags include:

Preschool Activities in a Bag 1 and 2 (Book 3 Coming Soon!)
Science Experiments in a Bag 1, 2 and 3
Travel Activities in a Bag
Daily Activity Journal 1 and 2


See what others are saying about Activity Bags on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog. The other activity bag sets are also being reviewed.  I highly recommend checking out the Activity Bags and the other reviews.




disclaimer: I received Math Games in a bag and Reading Games in a bag in exchange for an honest review

Samson's Classroom

Samson's Classroom is an online resource for teaching sight words, spelling and reading comprehension to children in grades K-5. We've been using this for the last month and the kids are really enjoying it.

There are 3 sections to Samson's classroom:

The first area is SIGHT WORDS where children are taught 224 of the most commonly used English words.  The sight words are divided up into lists that are taught in 5 steps. 

First, the words are introduced by showing the word being spelled one letter at a time while the voice says the word and each letter as it is shown.  It will repeat the same word and spelling over and over until the child presses the arrow to go to the next word.  

Next, they are given a set of letters to choose from to spell the word.  

In Step 3, they have to click on the correct word when they hear it. 

In Step 4, the child must spell the word using the entire keyboard (rather than just a few letters like in Step 2)

Finally, in Step 5 players go on a treasure hunt for the correctly spelled word.

Students can easily see their progress and navigate through the lists:

SPELLING

In the spelling section students (or parents) have the choice of creating their own lists or using the many lists already included in the program.  We are using both.  Below is a screenshot clip of Emma's spelling lists.  The 4 icons at the top are the choices the player has. They click on a circle (green ones are already completed) to begin a task.

The first one is a learning activity.  The list pops up (and can be printed) and the child can click on the word to hear it read, hear it in a sentence and hear it being spelled.  The other 3 icons are all games. In the one pictured below, students must choose the missing part of the word. If they get it correct Samson karate chops the board.  In the second game, students make Samson run across the screen gathering letters.  There is a spider that chases Samson and ties him up in "silk" if the player is not fast enough.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how to play this game.  It took Emma a few weeks, but now she can play it.  I guess it's the way gamers move characters.  I wouldn't know.  LOL  Third, is the walrus game.  The player must spell the word correctly to get Samson to jump across blocks of ice.  If you wait too long or misspell a word a giant walrus jumps up and starts to bite the ice and eventually Samson falls in. (This one I like. :) )

The games are fun and they're a great way to reinforce spelling.

It is very easy to add spelling lists.  You can choose to activate lists so that your
 student can only see the ones you want them to see.  You can leave other lists deactivated until later.

Finally there is the READING section which gives students practice at reading comprehension.  This would be great for kids getting ready for standardized tests. 

Students read a passage and choose the correct answer.  If they choose incorrectly
the text will turn red so the student can find the proper answer.

In Reading, students earn Hammer points so they can try their hand
at swinging the hammer.  Emma loves this.

Samson's Classroom is not just an online game sight though.  They also have a large Resource section that includes worksheets, games to be printed, flashcards, lesson plans and award certificates.  I'm really impressed with the number of worksheets and activities that can be printed to go along with the spelling lists.

a few sample worksheets- we used these yesterday because I had to be out
for several hours today

a sample of an award certificate that can be printed

One last thing to mention is that parents can see their child's progress easily in their account.  You can view all of the children at once, by level.  Then, by clicking on their name you can see detailed charts of what they have completed, what they need to work on and what hasn't been attempted yet.

Emma (9) has been using this as her main spelling program.  I took the words from our current spelling program and entered them into the program and she is set for the year.  It didn't take long to enter the words at all.  More words can be added at any time.  Occasionally, a word is not in Samson's Classroom's database.  You can request a word be added by the click of a button.  We have found this too be too difficult for my very beginning readers. Connor, who is 11 and has Down syndrome likes to play on this, but hasn't really progressed with it.  He can't enter the letters fast enough so he is stuck at the same level.  (He doesn't seem to mind though.)  However, this has been really great for my first and 4th graders.  We are really enjoying this and plan to continue with it for the rest of the year.

Here is a video you can watch that will show you Samson in action.

Click to try a demo.

Purchase Samson's Classroom for 1 student for $30 a year or pay $50 for up to 4 students.  This is an amazing value for an internet subscription program.

Click here to visit Samson’s Classroom and become a better reader. Play fun games that will help you master sight words, spelling and reading comprehension!

See what others are saying about Samson's Classroom on The Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.




disclaimer: I received  4 one year subscriptions to Samson's Classroom  in exchange for an honest review