Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Weblink Wednesday - Some Language Arts Links



The basics of reading and writing are so important and there are so many programs out there it can be so overwhelming. This week I thought I would share three programs that I have fallen in love with over the years.


Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons - Hands down the best way to teach reading. In 100 lessons my kids go from not reading to having a 2nd grade reading level and able to sound out any word they come across. I have used other reading programs but this program to teach the basics is the best. I have even been told by a speech therapist that it is the best way to teach reading. And from my own experience, it helps with speech problems too. My son who is now 9, had speech problems and his therapist noticed dramatic improvement when I started using this book to teach him reading. But the real proof to me was when he was able to read the entire Narnia series with full comprehension! He started the series right before he turned 8, since then he has read them all the way through a second time. So, if you are wondering what reading program to use with your budding reader, this is the one I recommend. Oh, and it is inexpensive I purchased my book for about $20.

Handwriting Without Tears - This program is inexpensive and easy. If you have a left hander, you need this program. This writing program was designed with a left hander in mind. The words and letters that are to be copied are on both sides of the page encouraging proper position. The strokes are basic and the order the letters are taught make sense. We just started the cursive program this year. Last year I tried a different program that had prettier cursive and was met with great failure. The kids couldn't form the letters very well, proper positioning was gone and the kids cried whenever I said it was time for writing. So... back I went to HWT. The kids love the program and are enjoying cursive this year.

Winston Grammar - Have you seen this grammar program? It is really great. It uses color coded cards to help teach the kids the different parts of speech. I really appreciate the approach this program uses and after trying other programs, I found this one make the most sense. There website has a placement test so you can see which level you should purchase. You can also purchase the kit separately so you can teach more than one child at the same time without having to buy more than one complete kit.

For more homeschool links visit Homeschooling With Encouragement and visit other homeschool moms who love to share there website finds.

Have a very blessed week!

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4 comments:

  1. Winston Grammar is a new one for me. I haven't heard of it. I will check it out and see if it's something we can use in the future. Thanks!
    www.homeschoolblogger.com/forkner

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  2. Winston Grammar? Never heard of that site. I'll have to go check it out since I am BIG on English stuff. lol. Thanks for participating.

    Valerie

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  3. As a handwriting instruction and remediation specialist, dare I point out that HWTears doesn't work for everyone?

    Enough tearful HWTears washouts end up in my office that I'd like to point you to what has worked for a lot of them:

    http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com

    Please take a look at its tips and resources, and see what you think. After all, we can't expect a single handwriting program to fit everybody, any more than we could expect a single pair of shoes to fit everybody.

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  4. We love HWT!! I never tried 100 Easy Lessons, but always thought it looked like a great program. We were lucky to belong to a Charter years ago that bought us SSRW.

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