Postcards for the swap have been mailed out and now comes the waiting game :) We hope to receive 5 cards internationally – kids are really excited about this!
Mars is doing alright in English alhamdulillah – I am quite satisfied with her reading, grammar and vocabulary but she needs to do a little more written work, so I’ve collected a few more English resources. We are continuing with Worldly Wise 3000 – rather traditional but this will probably be helpful for her PSLE in 2013 (the dad man is not budging on this even though I’ve launched an aggressive campaign against it :P).
We are also using Charlotte Mason’s Simply Grammar: An Illustrated Primer by Karen Andreola this year as well – perfect for my daughter who adores the vintage illustrations.
We are also stepping up on copywork – Mars is getting increasingly frustrated with her less than neat handwriting. She wants to do cursive, but I really think she isn’t ready. I know some families begin writing with cursive so I am tempted but also very torn. Any advice? We’ve also been doing note-taking during our rainforest unit study. She has been summarising our discussions and will transfer her notes to a rainforest journal in shaa Allah. Hopefully this gives her more writing and spelling practice.
I was also very fortunate to meet Sushma when I was in Singapore – she doesn’t homeschool but is a curriculum and book junkie much like yours truly :) She passed on many of her used materials to me at a discount. One was Natural Speller by Kathryn L. Stout. I was initially put off by the layout – it looked like it contained nothing but endless wordlists, but it is so much more than that. It also teaches dictionary and grammar skills and even Latin and Greek word parts. Quite a gem for S$5 ma shaa Allah :)
I’ve found a few other spelling resources online as well which may suit some of you :)
Hi
Would like to know where you get the natural speller for S$5? It’s a steal! My initial thoughts were similar to yours, list of list of words, but maybe there is more to it, esp if its for $5. Also can you let me know where and how much u bought the wordly wise and the CM Primer. They looked fanastic! Appreciate your advice.
Alice from Singapore
Sorry, would like your opinion whether the Teacher’s Resource book for WW necessary? That is surely the costly one? Now I remember what was putting me off!
Alice
Hi Alice!
Thanks for visiting :) When I was in Singapore, I bought most of my homeschooling and story books from The Home Library. Angie of The Home Library introduced me to Wordly Wise and helped me order lots of other books that available in Singapore/at her store for me wherever possible. I believe The Home Library is closed for now so do check out Life Between The Covers (also Singapore-based). They have Worldly Wise the last time I checked and they may be able to help you get Charlotte Mason’s Simply Grammar :)
I did not buy the Teacher’s Resource Book for Wordly Wise:) I think I will when my daughter is older LOL! As to The Natural Speller, I got mine used from a mum who was selling off the books her son had outgrown.
Are you homeschooling? How old are your kids?
Hi Imaan
Thanks for replying. I appreciate your sharing. Yes I have visited The Home Library and Between the Covers. Will surely check them out. Which level of the WW are you using? Is the answer key necessary?
I do not homeschool my kids, they are in national sch. I’m too scared to do so. But am seriously interested in homeschooling. My kids are 9 and 7. What other resources do you use for English eg writing, grammar etc. Do you use any Roots Up or vocab from classical roots prog? I missed your posts when you went on a blogging holiday!
Hey Alice :)
I don’t blame you for being afraid to homeschool – I get terribly anxious when I am in Singapore myself. The symptoms of stress get worse when I stroll through Popular Bookstore LOL!
I started out with WW2 a year and a half ago and am going to order #4 once when I get to SG next :) I don’t think the answer key is necessary – but it does save time :) You’ve just reminded me – I DO have English From The Roots Up by Joegil Lundquist! I had big plans for this but have not started on it *blush* We’ve just been reading the cards! (Terrible, right?? :P) My elder daughter is keen on it but I will have to wait till after the summer because we’ve got some catching up to do on the Math front.
Other resources I use for English (I should do another blog post LOL!) are:
Grammar
* Grammarland – a really funny take on grammar!
* I’ve just realised that I’d forgotten to include First Language Lessons (Well Trained Mind). This was really easy to implement and even my younger one who wasn’t reading yet found the lessons fun.
Spelling etc.
* Copywork – I’ve made my own book of quotes from books we really love.
* Dictation – I choose a paragraph each time from a chapter book that she likes and we discuss things like the punctuation, grammar etc. She prepares and is dictated to the next day.
Writing
* The Creative Journal for Children by Lucia Capacchione
At the end of the day, much of our English studies is just from reading living books :)
Hope this helps!
Yes u can say that again. I still shudder when I walked into popular each time and seeing the stacks of assessment books parents are lugging home. I hardly buy because my kids cannot even finish one book per subject. You got ww2 and going to ww 4? How is the level corresponding to local STD? Mine is rather weak in eng. U can check out http://www.bookdepository.co.uk. They deliver for free world wide and it’s quite competitive in price. Will check out roots. Thanks for ur advice.
Hi again Alice!
Sorry! I meant to say we are getting WW3 AND WW4 now as she is now better able to handle written work. I did not push her much when she was 7 to be honest, so we went slow. I prefer the WW books to the Singapore assessment books (I did buy some from Popular :P).
Great! I would likely get the WW2 and WW3. Sorry for the English from roots up, did you get the cards with the book? Is the book necessary? I read some comments that the book is not really necessary. Sorry for asking so many questions, I want to cut down on unnecessary purchase as I am not sure whether I would be able to really use them on top of their sch work.
Hope to see you blog more !
No, I didn’t get the book for English From The Roots Up :) I too was advised that it isn’t necessary. (Or you can buy just the books and make your own cards?) I think it’s good you are doing your research – I made lots of unnecessary purchases in my daughter’s first year!
Thanks for your wonderful advice. Will likely try the cards 1st. bookdepository carries them at quite affordable price. Check it out.
Hope to read your next post soon!