Review of Spelling You See

We were first introduced to Spelling You See last year when we began using Level E American Spirit.  Here is the review we did for that level. All of my children have struggled with spelling at some time during their school years.  Spelling You See offers a spelling curriculum like no other than we have ever seen or experienced.  We were given the opportunity to review the next level in the series Level F Ancient Achievements.  I decided for Stephen to work with this Level since he had just completed Level E.
What is Spelling You See
Spelling You see is a very unique spelling curriculum that does not use the typical word list to teach spelling.  It is not set up by grade level but rather takes a student through 5 developmental stages in sequential order.  You can read about each of the stages in more detail here.  Placement guidelines are available so that you can correctly place your child at the appropriate level since one does build upon another. There are currently 7 levels available.   When you purchase Levels B-G for your child it includes a Instructor's Handbook, Student Workbook in 2 parts, and a set of erasable color pencils.  Level A includes items a little different from the other levels since it is designed for your very young students.  
Current Levels available are:

• Level A Listen and Write
• Level B Jack and Jill
• Level C Wild Tales
• Level D Americana
• Level E American Spirit
• Level F Ancient Achievements
• Level G Modern Milestones

Introduction To Level F Ancient Achievements
In the Instructor's Handbook that sales for $14 you will find several sections including an Introduction Section that includes the philosophy, the stages of spelling, and the curriculum sequence.  It includes how to get started using the curriculum, many tips for success, a color coded answer key, lesson by lesson instructions, dictation passages, and weekly activity guide.  It tells you very clearly how to use the program.  We had no problems getting started right away.  It is a simple but very effective program to use only taking about 30 minutes to complete each day.  

There are 36 lessons that are broken down by day using the letters A-E.  
As with several of the previous levels you continue the concepts of chunking, copywork, and dictation.

• chunking - Students find and mark the concepts they are working on for the week.  Concepts include vowel chunks, consonant chunks, bossy r chunks, tricky y guys, silent letters, and endings.  Each concept is also color coded using color pencils or a highlighter if you prefer.   These concepts are gradually introduced to students through out the lessons.
• copywork - Students spend 10 minutes copying the passage for the day.  The repetition helps students see words in context and trains the brain to pay attention to the details.
• dictation - Parent sets timer for 10 minutes and dictates passage to student making sure to correct any spelling errors as they come up.  This is not handwriting practice so to keep the student moving, they are allowed to strike through any errors and correct immediately.

In Level F Ancient Achievements, there is a new section called the Spotlight area that calls to attention one or more of the words in the passage for the week. This helps introduce students to the new skill level stage of Word Extension (stage 4).  The reading passages also gradually increase in reading level.  Passages are about ancient civilization which I love that it reinforces history as well.    
The student books are broken down into 2 workbooks.  They have perforated sheets which make them easy to tear out and use each week or you can keep the sheets right in the workbook.  Each passage contains colorful artwork relating to the story. The workbooks are consumable and you will need a set for each of your students.  They sale for $30 for the set and come with erasable color pencils.  You can download a sample lesson here.

What Spelling You See Looked Like In Our Homeschool

Monday - I had my son read the passage out loud.  He then completed the chunking exercises for worksheet A by my side.  That part usually can be completed in less than 10 minutes especially in the early lessons.  He then completed the copywork for worksheet A and then mark the chunks on that sheet.  This took approximately another 10 minutes to complete.  Each student sheet is labeled clearly with the lesson number and letter.  It was easier for my son to write on a flat surface so we always tore the sheets out for the week. Here is what Day 1 looked like when complete.  You can see the instructions are simple and clearly stated.

Tuesday - Repeated the same process as above using Worksheet B.

Wednesday - Repeated the same process as above using Worksheet C.  We would also discuss the spotlight section together.

Thursday - This is dictation day so we would set a timer for 10 minutes and he would complete the dictation exercise. 

  Friday - This is the 2nd dictation day.  However, if the student does well on the 1st day you can skip this and we often did.  
This curriculum is one that myself and my children would highly recommend. They love using it and we can really see significant progress in their spelling.  
Be sure to click the banner below to see what my fellow crewmates thought of Spelling You See.

Time4Learning Review Coming Soon

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

Weekly Wrap Up - Back To Regular Schedule

This week we headed back to our normal schedule or so we thought! 

Tuesday morning my mom called to tell me she was in the ER.  She had not been feeling well so I was glad she went.  We found out she has congestive heart failure with 6 blockages including one main blockage causing the most problems.  We are still figuring out what steps to take next but overall glad to know what was causing her to be so sick.

This instance really allowed me to see how far my children have come in their independence of schooling.  I gave them their checklists for the week and they went about completing their school week!  Stephen and Sarah worked together and took turns reading their scheduled history, Bible, and read aloud lessons and Jonathan has already been completing his work independently.  We still have a weekly meeting to make sure he is on track and completing assignments properly.

In other news, Stephen received the Cadet of the Year award from his Civil Air Patrol Squadron and had his 3rd orientation flight where he learned how to get out of a stall!

We also added a new member to the family!  Marley is so sweet and smart!  She has already won everyone's heart!

Linking up with Weekly Wrap Up, The Homeschool Mother's Journal, Collage Friday, and My Week In Review.

Homeschool ABC's Collab - Letters M through O

Letter M included topics on Music and Me - take a look back through my school year.  It was fun to reminisce!




Letter N topics included Nature, Notebooking, and Notgrass History.



Letter O topics included Osborne, Organization, and Outside Activities.

Weekly Wrap Up - Spring Break Split

The beauty of homeschooling is setting your own schedule. We knew this week was going to be busy at the end with church and family activities. So to completely enjoy them and not drag, we decided to take a partial spring break this week and take the remainder next week.  It was a fantastic week and we loved spending time with the ones we love.

Spring temps and blooms are here!  These children are growing up so fast!!

Perfect weather for park days and since we have a new park that just opened not far from us, we took advantage of it! This huge see-saw was hysterically fun!

This is actually from the week before but Sarah and I enjoyed watching Cinderella together!

We enjoyed seeing Flame in concert with my sister and her family!  He was awesome!!

This week's selfie find, lol.  When I started this I didn't really think there would be a weekly picture but so far there has been!

We also continued our state and President studies, tried out a new math review program, and moved closer to the end in several of our subjects for the year.  End of year testing will be scheduled soon!

Linking up with The Homeschool Mother's Journal, and My Week In Review.

Homeschool ABC's - Letters J-L

Topics covered for letter J include JELL-O, Journaling, Journals, and Juggling Roles.





Topics covered for Letter K include Kind Words, Karate, Kinetic & Potential Energy, Kindness, and Kid Interviews.



Letter L topics include Lego Learning, Learning Together, Letter of the Week, Learning Opportunity, and Lunches.

Review of Thick as Thieves

Our family loves reading!!  We are always on the lookout for wholesome, character building books to devour so today's review meets that criteria and more.  I would place it into the category of historical fiction so even more bang for your buck. Circle C Milestones is a series of books published by Kregel Publications following the adventures of Andrea Carter also known as, Andi, as she heads straight into the ups and downs of becoming a teenager.  We received the first book in the series, Thick as Thieves and we're already looking forward to the second one set to be released in July 2015, Heartbreak Trail.  
Thick as Thieves is a paperback book with 176 pages and 26 chapters. It is recommended for ages 12 and up.  My daughter and I read the book together out loud.  I would say that the book would appeal mostly to girls but I have to tell you that as my sons would walk by as we were reading, you would here them chuckle and stand around the door to see what was going to happen next.  They really enjoyed the vibrant character of Macy and I really enjoyed allowing myself to find her character as I would read.  
Synopsis
The setting takes place in the late 1800's in California and centers around Andi.  She lives on the Circle C ranch and helps out with the daily tasks of ranch life as much as her mother will allow.  The beginning opens as her favorite horse, Taffy, is about to give birth.  She would prefer to stay at the ranch all day but has to head off to school instead.  Not only did that have her spirits down but when she arrives at school, the new girl, Macy Walker, is assigned to sit beside her.  As I said earlier, Macy is a wild mess and as the story unfolds we were all on the edge of our seats to see how the relationship of these two would end up.  Family trials are also a part of Andi's days as their ranch is being hit by cattle rustlers.  I won't spoil it for you, but there was plot twist that neither of us was expecting!  Sarah, my daughter, and I have decided we really want to go back and read some of the other books and series now.  Each series follows along with Andi as she grows but they aren't needed to fully understand the story line of the book. 

Author Susan K. Marlow has such a fun and wonderful way of writing that shines through in this book.  She also has a fun blog where she shares stories written from readers, fun trivia, photos, and more.  Thick as Thieves is written from Andi's point of view making it extremely relatable.  My daughter who is 11 and a little younger than the recommended age had no trouble reading this at all. We both think any girl would love it.  The central theme of the book all comes back to friendship and Scripture verse 1 Peter 3:8 is recommended for memorization.  Andi often quotes Scripture verses through out the book as well.  You can read a sample excerpt here.
Also available for free on the website is a 40 page downloadable Study Guide that includes many enrichment ideas from comprehension questions, vocabulary activities, writing assignments, crossword puzzles, Scripture memory posters, and more.  It's divided up into 6 sections with the 2 recommendations for using it.  You can read the whole book at once and then go back to do the study guide. You could also read the chapters assigned to each section and incorporate the study guide all along.  We chose the 2nd option and decided to pick and choose which activities we were interested in most for each section.  I loved that it included an answer key.  
Here is a sample of a timeline we prepared on how to train a foal.  

There is plenty of reading fun available for a variety of ages. Here are the series of books available at this time:
Circle C Beginnings - recommended for ages 6-9 Circle C Adventures - recommended for ages 9-14 Circle C Milestones -  recommended for ages 12 +
There is also a series of books for boys ages 8-12 - Goldtown Adventures
Find out more on on Circle C Milestones by visiting their Website, Facebook, or Twitter pages.