Homeschooler Savvy

Science Experiments with TOPScience

Who are these people?  A non-profit organisation for teaching science?  How can you teach science with only paper clips and duct tape?  After teaching math and science in West Africa for the Peace Corps, with very limited resources, Ronald Marson became pretty good at exactly that.  When he returned to the US, he met his wife Peg (a design artist) and together they developed the TOPS curriculum. 

Pros:  The cost is VERY low, but the quality of learning is incredibly high. The booklets tear apart and the student pages can be photocopied for multiple students. The experiments are VERY straightforward, but the text of the student record pages REALLY get your students thinking (sorry, hypothesising) well.  So far we have used Electricity(#32), Magnetism(#33), Corn and Beans(#39) because they were part of the Sonlight curriculum.  We built (and drew) circuits, built compasses, and grew and measured monocots (corn) and dicots (beans).  They are each stand alone units, so can be done completely independent of any curriculum.  These are absolutely the BEST I have seen in science experiments.  Very simple and the kids build all the equipment the need from scratch.  They have a THOROUGH understanding of the stuff they study once they are done.  Perfect for homeschoolers!  Have a look at their website - it canvasses what they have very well. TOPS Science You may be underwhelmed by their website, but trust us, their product is first class.  If you buy through Sonlight, you can also buy the science supply kit with all of the materials needed. (However, most of the supplies are household related items. Check it out before you buy it.)

Cons: I can't think of any.

Anyone else used any other of their units?

Aussie Kim

Teaching History and Geography using Sonlight Curriculum

Sonlight Curriculum for History and Geography

Love looking at books?  Love Reading to your kids?  Try this curriculum.

PROs: This curriculum has a wonderful way of teaching history and geography by immersing the children in very exciting and factually accurate novels which correspond with the time or place being studied.  Through reflective questions posed after each chapter (questions and answers are provided by Sonlight), they come to understand better what they have read.  Their comprehension and vocabulary soars.  Each curriculum can be used with multiple grade children (they guide you fairly accuratly). 

My children have become voracious readers, which I attribute to the emphasis on reading great books through the Sonlight Curriculum.  They look forward to snuggling up on the couch or before bedtime for the stories and often beg for us to read just one more chapter. 

Cons: You are supposed to read to your kids, your kids are supposed to read the books allocated for them.  This takes more time than simply handing them a history or georgraphy workbook.  At least somewhere in the vicinity of 30-45 minutes a day of you reading and about 30-45 minutes a day of them reading.  Of course this varies depending on grade and age. 

One problem is that sometimes the books I am reading are so exciting I sneak ahead, which makes it harder when I have to read it over to the kids.  This is a weakness I am working on.  Sometimes the kids get through the story books they are meant to read so fast they get ahead of the rest of the curriculum.

I began using the Sonight Curriculum for History and Geography just after I finished using the Montessori Method to teach my first child to read.  It is a transition which worked for us!

Any other experiences with Sonlight History-Geography?

Don't forget to about using Google Earth and Geography together.

Aussie Kim

The homeschool curriculum that works for me - teaching a child to read.

When I first thought about teaching my kids to read I thought I would need some sort of teachers degree, or at least 10-15 books on the topic and many hours of preparation.  Imagine my surprise when I went with a friend of mine to a Montessori school. My friend showed me the materials that were involved in teaching reading, just a simple set of lower case letters cut out of sandpaper and stuck onto a smooth board.  That was it.  What this is ALL?  Well, there was also the alphabet letter miniature toys and the alphabet letter SOUND songs, but YES, basically that was it. 

Therefore the Montessori Method is what I used to teach both of my children to read.  It is the most wonderful method I have seen for teaching reading to date.  At the same time you are teaching letter recognition the child is learning the letter shapes for later writing skills. It is very economical, very straightforward, and it works wonderfully well.  You can start whenever they are ready (2.5 years and up!)

The materials you use are lower case letter shapes cut out of sandpaper and pasted onto thick cardstock (blue for vowels and red for consonants). 

Wash your hands and your kids hands first EACH time you get them out (keeps the materials clean, sensetizes the fingers, and makes it special), place the cards onto a small mat. You SAY the SHORT SOUND of the letter while AT THE SAME TIME tracing out the letter with the first finger of your dominant hand.  So for b you would trace out the b letter as if you were writing it with your finger while saying "buh".  Show your child how to do this a couple of times then hand it over to them.

Give them one letter until they get it (hide the rest), and then add another.  You only need to teach a handful of letters and as long as there are a couple of vowels, they will be able to begin reading.  The letters are often taught in the following progression: s m t a p f c a c h m p t b l i g n d b l n r s u h j k w o u v d e f g j v, etc. y z x q e .

The moment of truth. Take 2 consonants and a vowel they know (eg: d, o, g).  Lay these letters out on the floor mat or table separated by about a foot each.  Say the first one (DUH), then the next, (OHH) then the next (GUH), repeat this a couple of times, each time moving the cards closer to each other, then when the cards are all together say it quicker, and then get the word DOG.  BE LED BY YOUR CHILD.  If you see the light of recognition in their eyes (they get it) try another word.  If they don't get it, just put it away and go back to learning the letter sounds again - one day they WILL get it!

Extra activities:

* "I SPY" (USE SHORT LETTER SOUNDS - NOT NAMES!)  Good for car travel!

* "I SPY" with a set of alphabet toys - MAKE IT VERY EASY FOR THEM TO WIN.  To start with use 2 or less items in the game.  For example have a fox and a cap, say "I spy with my little eye..something beginning with "CUH". Then point to the two options (they choose the cap over the fox).  Say "YES, It's CAP!" like they just won the lottery.  They will want to play this until you feel like you are turning grey. You can use anything around the house for this, as long as you can put these things infront of the child and let them choose.  As they get better, add more for them to choose from.  It is better to make it too easy for them than too hard.

* "I-SPY with my little eye" was a book we used, put out by INDEX BOOKS. It was SO much fun, they kept wanting it over and over ad nauseum. It had pop up animals hidden behind their letter.  BUT as with any book like this SAY THE SHORT LETTER SOUNDS not the letter names!  I promise they will learn both capital letters and letter names WITHOUT your help!

The Montessori Method uses cursive lettering due to their belief that it is easier to see the print letter in the cursive than the cursive letter in the print - plus it is easier for little kids to write round shaped letters than those with straight lines plus with cursive you rarely have letter reversal problems (eg. b and d) and finally, cursive is the main type of writing used in a person's life.  However, I have seen this work with print lettering as well.  (If you must use print, I recommend Getty-Dubai or similar fonts - stick and ball does not work as well). You can put a dot on the letter where you are supposed to start when you write the letter.  But repititon will teach this to the child.

You can buy it from these sites (and many more!): 

Montessori Outlet     Montessori Needs    Caliber Montessori

or surf ebay for sandpaper letters

Make it yourself: Go buy some sandpaper (fine grit), thick red and blue card stock and some carbon copy paper.  Cut the card into 5 inch by 4 inch rectangles (5 blue and 19 red).  Print out your desired alphabet font to the correct size to fit the cards comfortably. Lay the alphabet fonts over the top of the carbon paper, which is over the sandpaper, and trace out your alphabet.  Cut these out carefully (use curved nail scissors).  Glue them onto the card (a little off center to the right side on the card for a right-handed child and to the left for a left-handed child).  You are done! 

Want more details on the Montessori Method?: Montessori World

Want a very detailed book I recommend on it? Read Basic Montessori by David Gettman.  This will take your children to about age 6 with a Montessori education.  If you want a simple book on Montessori to start with I recommend Elizabeth Hainstocks books: "Teaching Montessori in the Home - the Pre-School years" AND her other book "Teaching Montessori in the Home - the School Years".

Use the flylady method (15 minutes a day) to make other montessori materials at : Montessori Materials

Stay tuned for the next step once they can read 3 letter words....

Aussie Kim