Category: Orton-Gillingham

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, dyslexia, Homeschool, Language Arts, Orton-Gillingham, Reviews, spelling, Writing

Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary product received.

We were sent Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales for us to check out and look at spelling from a different approach. We currently use a curriculum we have used for the last 2 years, but my son isn’t 100% in love with it, So when the opportunity to review Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales was presented I decided this would be a good chance to look over a new program.

When my son first started down our path of homeschooling we used Demme Learning Math U See Primer and Spelling U See A. He did extremely well with both programs and we were happy, but he needed a little more of a challenge when it came to both areas as we entered 1st grade. Spelling You See uses the five development stages of spelling:

  1. Preliterate
  2. Phonetic
  3. Skills Development
  4. Word Extenstions
  5. Derivational Constancy

Wild Tales provides opportunities for students to study words in the context of factual passages about animals.

Spelling You See

Spelling U See is different from other spelling programs, there are no list, grade levels, or extensive prepping of lessons. We were sent Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales it picks up from where Level B ends, so it is really important that you check out the placement assessment on Spelling You See if you haven’t done the previous levels. The Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales comes with an instructor guide, 2 student workbooks, and erasable Crayola color pencils. There are 36 lessons students will work on:

  • Vowel, Consonant, Bossy R Chunks
  • Tricky Y
  • Silent Letters
  • Various Combinations.

You can check out a full scope sequence on the website. The lessons are simple for students the Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales takes the students on an adventure with nonfiction passages about animals. The program does require parent involvement and your student needs to read the passages, day 1-3 students will do copy work (only 10 mins ). You should tell your student to stop writing and then chunk their words with you and that’s it for the day. Day 4 is No Rules day students draw something related to that week’s passage and write at least one sentence about the weekly passage. On day 5 it is dictation day you will dictate to the student the passage of the week and help them when prompted.

Chunking – provides hands-on experience with the many irregular letter patterns in English. Copywork – requires the brain to pay attention to details in print. Dictation – gives the student the opportunity to recall the proper letter patterns from memory.

Spelling You See

Our Review

Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales is a stress-free way to teach spelling, you don’t feel pressured to have your student memorize these ridiculously long lists of words and busywork. Students are able to use their phonetic knowledge and learn to spell. The really nice part is that once the 10 mins are over we are done. In observing our current curriculum I noticed how stressed he was doing word lists, activities and having to move on to the next list. In my heart I felt like is he just moving from the list to list and not really retaining all of the words? There were so many activities he needed to get through during the weekly lessons that we started stretching the lessons to 2 weeks.

Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales just makes things so much easier and it just flows better for us and our new path with homeschooling. We did the sample lessons of Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales first before we dove into the entire book and he said he liked the way it works and that it seem easier and he didn’t feel anxious to get things done in a hurry. I do think we need the Spelling You See Level D Americana, but we will work on the Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales as a review, possibly making the change to Spelling You See Level D Americana in the Spring. We aren’t in a rush so we will take our time and I will move at his pace. I do wish the upper level themes would be different topics for the passages, I did look over levels D – G. My son is able to read all of the passages with no problems and he is familiar with all the different areas of phonics and targeted areas of spelling.

The cost of the Spelling You See Level C Wild Tales at the time of this review is $53 plus taxes and shipping.

Until the Next Time ,

Mom and J

Critical Thinking and Logic, Curriculum, dyslexia, Homeschool, Orton-Gillingham, Reviews

Dyslexia Gold Review !

Little Learner and Mom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

It it that time of year in which parents are looking for supplements to add to their students learning. One the programs we are review for the crew is Dyslexia Gold . Some of you may remember we reviewed this online platform last year. We were happy to review it again over the summer and continue to use it this upcoming school year.

Speaking of assessments that one of the great things about Dyslexia Gold student are able to take an assessment when they first log into the Dyslexia Gold student profile. Dyslexia Gold scan for reading, spelling, and fluency. There is also a dyslexia screener for students 6+ this screener is designed to screen for dyslexia indicators. The dyslexic screener is not to replace a professional screening , but it is a starting place if you may suspect your student may be dyslexic.

The parent dashboard gives you a detail report of the assessment as well as recommendations of what programs for your student to use. Dyslexia Gold is for ages 6-16. While older students can us the program the reading age test will only assess up to 11 yrs 6 months, the spelling test assess up to 16 years.

The programs within the Dyslexia Gold platform include:

  • Vision Training (Engaging Eyes and fun visual games)
  • Fluency Builder ( phonological awareness, reading fluency, and sight words)
  • Spelling Tutor ( dictation and grammar practice)
  • Times Table Tutor (flash cards, grouping, and story problems

My son enjoyed playing the visual games. I personally like these games because my son has what is called “slight lazy eye” and this program is great for him and strengthening his eye muscle. We will be using this program on a regular basis. He used the times table tutor a few times but he is pretty fluent with his multiplication so he didn’t use it as much, but I will have him hop on it once a week. Dyslexia Gold recommends students log in 2-5 times a week for 20 minutes.

The fluency builder was a nice review for phonics and reading fluency practice. My son did a few struggle with understanding word builder when needing to change words to different words. The nice thing about the spelling tutor is that it has some great educational passages for the kids to read, students are given and opportunity to read the passage non-timed and then the next screen times them when they are ready to start reading. The fluency teaches students new vocabulary words and definitions. At the end of the lessons student will review the previous lesson which I think is great because it keeps the students practicing what they have already learned.

The spelling tutor is where we spent a lot of our time. The spelling tutor is a great tool for students correct their sentence structure, spelling and grammar. The way the spelling tutor works is students here the sentence and then they write the sentence. The next screen has the students check their papers with the screen. Students are given a grammar areas of focus on while working in the spelling tutor, we worked on homophones during this review period.

We did run into some snags occasionally the program would glitch in the middle of lessons of game play. I also noticed that the reporting log-ins weren’t accurate. We logged in a few times and it didn’t record the day or it would record the following day’s date instead of the present date.

Overall I think Dyslexia Gold is a great online platform for both dyslexia and non-dyslexia students. It is a great program for reviewing and sharpening skills. Be sure to check out the rest of the crew’s reviews by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DyslexiaGold

2nd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, Homeschool, Math, Orton-Gillingham, Reviews

Math-U-See: Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

When I started my sons first formula math lessons for math, Math-U-See was at the forefront of my curriculum choices. One the of reason was for its mathematical approach that was similar to Montessori math incorporating hands on manipulatives for learning. When I saw that Math-U-See now offers Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction, I knew I had to try it.

The Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction is for those students that are struggling with mastery and fluency. Its also is for those students that need a more visual and tactile way of learning math. If you student is still using dots, tally marks or even counting on their fingers to do basic single digit addition and subtraction this program is also for your student. I had my son review his subtraction so I could triple check he had complete mastery and he does.

Math-U-See has taken great steps to makes sure that parents are equipped with what they need when using the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction . Parents are highly recommended to have their students take the Before AIM Assessment located on the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction website. The Before AIM Assessment is a verbal assessment of 109 + addition and subtraction at a recall time of 3 seconds or less. The Before AIM Assessment gives parents step by step easy to follow instructions on how to administer the test as well as positive reinforcement suggestion to help your student stay confident and frustration free. The Before AIM Assessment can be done at your students pace and the best part the Before AIM Assessment is free before you commit to purchasing to make sure that the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction is a good fit for your student.

After you take the Before AIM Assessment and purchase Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction the system comes with 12 month digital access to lesson videos instructions, solutions and printable resources. The kit also comes with a smaller set of the integer blocks, colored pencils and everything you need to use the system. The included resource guide acts your lesson plan and is broken down into four sessions labeled A-D. What I personally liked about the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction their are not outside distractions to the lesson, with the included posters and flash cards the goal is to concentrate on math facts only and learn them visually and then memorize.

If you are already a Math-U-See family the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction can easily be added used along side the Primer and Alpha Math-U-See curriculum to help to help support fluency and mastery. Mr. D as my son calls him makes a reappearance in the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction lesson videos online and you will also find helpful games and resources for each lesson. Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction is a fun and gentle way for kids to learn their facts. I think the biggest plus is the parent support in the resource guide that helps you support your struggling students. Kids often tend to feel bad when they are struggling with concepts and the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction really works hard at making sure parents keep their students encourage and self esteem in tact.

Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction at the time of this review is listed at $39 plus tax and applicable shipping. The Before AIM Assessment is free to take on the Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction web page and it is highly recommend that you do this before ordering. The program can be done at your student pace, generally takes 6 to 8 weeks to complete. This is a low cost system that can help your student work on their mastery skills over the summer or now if they are home because of the unfortunate Covid-19 pandemic.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews of the Math-U-See Accelerated Individualized Mastery (AIM) for Addition and Subtraction by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathusee
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mathusee/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/mathusee

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, dyslexia, Education, Homeschool, Language Arts, Orton-Gillingham, Reviews

PRIDE Reading Program Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

This year we have really been working on my son spelling skills. He is a decent speller but I felt as if he needed more practice. We are using the PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program to provide structured literacy and spelling in our homeschool. PRIDE Reading Program is a Orton-Gillingham curriculum that appeals to all children’s learning style. The homeschool curriculum uses a multi-sensory approach to teach reading, fluency, writing and spelling which is how we approach learning in our homeschool.

The PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 comes with a student handbook, online teachers teacher guide, white board, PRIDE Sound cards, and PRIDE Letter tiles. The company also provides online parent training and support. There is online placement test that is highly recommended you take before selecting the program kit that best fits your needs. I had my son take the placement test twice on 2 separate days to make sure I was selecting the correct program kit then I made decisions. On the first attempt he scored a 15 which is level 4 on the second attempt he scored 14. I decided to go with the Red level after carefully looking over PRIDE Reading Program scope and sequence at the end of assessment.

The PRIDE Reading Program online training teaches parents how to effectively use the program and is divided into 11 step by step unit video guide how to use the program. If you invest in this program this key to the success of the program. The teachers manual is online and you will need to sign into the website to use while doing your lessons. Each lesson is 9 steps and ends with fun game for students to play at the end.

Teacher Dashboard: Program Training

PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program has 21 modules that are 3 units and each unit has 9 steps in a lesson. PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program works on the “long “i” and “e” patterns, vowel digraphs, closed syllable rules(-ind, -ild, -old, -ost) and suffix ed.” I decided on this level because this is area I want to makes sure my son shows mastery for spelling. At the time of this review we have completed 2 modules and have begun module 3 unit 1. Each module unit is broken down into a introductory, practice, reinforcement lesson, We do the program 3-4 days a week as recommended and it takes on average 20- 30 mins.

Teachers Dashboard lesson list
Teachers Guidebook for Lessons

What I like about this program is that it is self paced and uses the multi sensory approach and it works on using phonetics. We are using the program to improve my sons spelling and I look forward to moving him into Level 4 when he finishes the current level. PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program is $159 for one student. If you are looking for a curriculum for a child that has dyslexia, reading comprehension, and struggling with reading PRIDE Reading Program is a great program. In our case we are using it to reinforce my sons spelling skills. This program appeals to all children so it will work for any child beginning to start their literacy journey. PRIDE Reading Program is one to check out if you are starting your homeschool curriculum planning for 2020 school or you are looking to make a change.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews on PRIDE Reading Program by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrideReadingProgram/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrideReadingCo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pridereadingprogram/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pridereading/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfQB_M2vL2Ebo8deuwwCrw