Spelling 08-09: SWR (Spell to Write & Read)
By Debra | September 11, 2008
Three of my kiddos are using SWR this year. These three kids are all SWR “pros” and know the program well. This year they are going to work VERY independently - at least at this point. They are no longer in their 3R years and need to have this aspect of their day simplified. I need this area simplified so that I can have more time to focus on the 3Rs with their younger 2 sisters.
They each have a spiral bound spelling notebook. Taylor’s is the yellow one in the picture - used one of the language art covers from our Free Homeschool Resources section at NotebookingPages.com. These are divided into four sections: spelling log, challenge words, spelling rules, & spelling reference pages. I created new spelling paper for these sections (nothing special - just something new for the new year). You can get your own free copy of our spelling paper here. The reference pages are copied from the SWR chart pack. We bound the whole thing together using our ProClick binding machine.
For the first 20-30 days of school, we will complete one reference page a day until they are all “finished” (or at least started). No, this is not the way the program is written, but I’m tweaking out my own spelling program this year LOL! The kids redo these pages every year, so they are all pretty familiar with them. Throughout the year, as they encounter words that follow the rules/patterns of these reference pages, they’ll add them. Each day they are also copying 1-2 rules into their notebooks until they finish all 29 of them.
For each word list, I’m writing the “clues” for each word on one side of an index card and the word with it’s markings on the other side. (I’m trying to learn from my friend Molly over at HomeschoolWithIndexCards how to print these on my own - I think I’ve just about got it figured out!) I have my own little system for dictating the words. For each multi-letter phonogram, I use a line divided with little hash marks to denote the number of letters needed. So a three letter phonogram looks like: “_,_,_”.
So, the word ”mother” would look like: “_ _ _,_ _,_” (note the space between syllables).
That would be on their “clue” side of the card. The other side would say “moth2 er“. The whole set of 20 words are then numbered and put together with an O-ring.
![](http://debrafogelbach.com/wp-content/uploads/109-150x150.jpg "\")
Then, I use my computer’s mic to dictate each word from the list and save the audio. It takes about 15-20 minutes for me to prep this material for one word list.
The kids LOVE it (so far). They can work at their own pace as long as I can keep up with creating the cards for each lesson needed. What’s super-duper fantastic is the time being saved in the LONG run. Each word list I create will be used by at least 3 kids (maybe 5) by the time it’s all said and done. I prep only one time!
I am requiring the kids to log 5-10 words a day for three days completing at least 20 words a week. They sit down at one of the computers (I’ve saved the audio to both computers so 2 kids can work on this at the same time) with their log sheet and cards. The cards are numbered 1-20 just as their log sheets are. They play the audio and pause after the first reading of the dictated sounds. They use their clue card to help them decipher the word. Then they listen to the repeated dictation of the sounds and if happy with their attempt, flip the card over to check. They then make any corrections as needed and add any markings they may have missed. Now, here is where the loss of teacher interaction could make a difference with kids less experienced with this method. The kids need to understand how the rules and markings work. These kids have been using SWR for several years now and know their stuff pretty well. However, we are going over the rules and markings together just to be sure they “get it” in one of our two quiz sessions that week.
Quick rundown of our week:
Day 1:
[Copy 1-2 rules, Work on Building a Reference Page] will last for the first 20-30 days of school
Dictate 5-10 new words, Practice Phonogram Cards
Day 2:
[Copy 1-2 rules, Work on Building a Reference Page] will last for the first 20-30 days of school
Dictate 5-10 new words, Quiz Session with Mom/Quickly go over & discuss new words in log book
Day 3:
[Copy 1-2 rules, Work on Building a Reference Page] will last for the first 20-30 days of school
Dictate 5-10 new words, Practice Phonogram Cards
Day 4:
W/Mom: Add log words to reference pages as they apply (these are specified in the Wise Guide lists).
Quiz Session with Mom/Quickly go over & discuss new words in log book.
One other section of their spelling book that I hope to blog about at a later time is the Challenge Word List. Here is where the kids will log words that they have misspelled in their notebooking, reports, etc.
These will be tested during one of their Quiz Sessions with Mom each week. All words must be spelled correctly twice before this word is taken off their weekly quiz list. Our Quiz Sessions involve nothing more than a quick quiz taken on a personal-sized marker board. Mistakes can be quickly erased and paper is not wasted on something we’ll only toss later. We keep the original list of words (which they have marked), their challenge word list, reference pages, and rules.
**My 2 cents: There tends to be much discussion in homeschooling boards about whether or not SWR is Charlotte Mason friendly. I do not pretend to be an expert by any means with SWR or CM. I’m not following either one of their methods as prescribed. However, I will say that THIS family finds SWR to be very “friendly” for the CM-type education WE are seeking. So, for us, it’s CM-friendly. I know the system above isn’t “perfect”, but it will work to meet our goals and it will work well with our schedule/routines. I’m learning to let go of my perfectionism one step at a time. With spelling, I want to create better spellers. I want to give my kids the tools to become better spellers. I do not want to sacrifice all (or even much) of our time to make sure they become perfect spellers when that time could be spent doing such greater things - like devouring great living books, developing the character and skills needed for the calling(s) in their lives by pursuing the interests of their hearts, spending time with each other and building relationships. I have wasted enough time over the years trying to ”perfect” so many things in our schooling. So, this year, our focus is on identifying EVERYTHING that seems to entangle us so that we can once and for all surrender these areas to God and truly be FREE to receive the richest blessings that come from THE one and only Perfect One.
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Topics: How We Do . . ., Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Make Your Own Spiral Bound Notebooks
By Debra | June 29, 2008
(There has been lots of discussion lately about how to create your own spiral bound notebooks, so I’ve pulled up and edited this old post from my other blog.)
This is one of the greatest little tools I’ve found for notebooking. I thank my friend Angi for introducing it to me a few years ago! It’s called ProClick and it’s a binding tool. Basically, it’s one long hole puncher that punches little holes all down the side of your paper to fit into the special ProClick spiral spines.
What is awesome about these spines is that you can easily open and close them. So you can start your new notebook with just your front/back cover (designed by the author of course, your child!) and then as they create their pages, they simply slide the puncher down the side of their paper, “unzip” their spine, put in the page, and zip it back up. The spines come with a little plastic “zipping” tool that opens and closes the spines. You can do it manually, but the zip tool is so much more fun!
You can make just about any size notebook that you want because the spines are very easy to cut. You can even create a landscape style notebook! The kids enjoy making mini-scrapbooks with all of our scraps and leftover supplies. The only downside is that the largest spines do not hold much more than 85-100 sheets of regular paper, so even less if using cardstock. What I do for our bigger notebooking subjects, like history, is to either keep separate notebooks for different time periods or put the pages into sheet protectors at the end of the year into one big 3-ring binder.
We used to use the big 3-ring binders for all of our notebooking, but they became so cumbersome for little hands. I LOVE the ProClick spines because the notebooks are easier to handle, they lay flat so you can keep your pages in the notebook while you work on them if you like, you can easily put pages in and take pages out, and unlike “unprotected” sheets in your 3-ring binders they don’t rip out so easily.
It’s also great for combining the mini-books that you do for lapbooking with notebooking. If you’re used to putting your finished notebooking pages in sheet protectors, it’s a little hard to view the minibooks. Since these spines are better at keeping your pages intact, you really don’t need the extra protection of a sheet protector and so the mini-books are more accessible. Of course, a lot of hands-on contact will begin to show without the protection of sheet-protectors, but that’s just the sign of a well-loved notebook, isn’t it? Oh, I also have used it to punch through transparencies without any problems. I don’t know that it’s recommended, but just thought I’d tell you it works for me!
Here’s a demo picture I put together showing how to use the ProClick binding tool to make your own notebooks (click for closer view):
The best place I’ve found for purchasing this binding tool is at Amazon . I search online for the spines and buy them in bulk for a better deal at the beginning of each school year.
You can view a close-up of one our kids’ notebooks here to see a close-up of the spines or visit our website to read more about this binding tool and other supplies we use for notebooking.
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Topics: General Info, Notebooking News, Organization & Scheduling | 2 Comments »
NPC Freebies: Free Father’s Day Notebooking Pages
By Debra | June 14, 2008
Free Homeschool Resources Update:
Free Father’s Day Holiday Notebooking Pages now available:
Free Homeschool Resources / Free Holidays & Special Days Notebooking Pages
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Topics: Free Homeschool Resources, Notebooking News | 1 Comment »
NPC Freebies: Free Flag Day Notebooking Pages
By Debra | June 14, 2008
Free Homeschool Resources Update:
Free Flag Day Holiday Notebooking Pages now available:
Free Homeschool Resources / Free Holidays & Special Days Notebooking Pages
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Topics: Free Homeschool Resources, Notebooking News | 1 Comment »
Homeschool Schedule & Organization with HST
By Debra | June 10, 2008
This is the year . . . I hope anyway! We purchased the Homeschool Tracker software several years ago, updated to the Plus version when it became available, and until recently I’ve been unable to really figure out how to make it work for our family’s scheduling. Part of me LOVES to be super-organized, but a growing part of me is learning to be more flexible. It’s difficult for me to balance the two for some reason (actually - there are lots of reasons that I will not go into here!).
In Missouri, we are required to track the number of hours we school and to keep a portfolio (that’s the gist of it anyway), so it’s pretty easy to keep track of everything with paper/pencil. When I kept running into a brick wall with the program, I finally decided we would just do the paper/pencil thing. So I put HST on the shelf last summer. [Curious about our flexible scheduling? Flexible scheduling (part 1) (part 2).]
Well it turns out that RIGHT AFTER I put it on the shelf an update was made to the program that made it MUCH more flexible and user-friendly for crazy moms like myself who want super-organization with super-duper built in flexibility. (Kicking myself for this!) Thanks to a post by my online buddy, Angi, I caught wind of the new features a couple of months ago and have been “testing” the program ever since. I have to say that I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y LOVE it! (By the way, all updates to Homeschool Tracker are FREE!)
So what makes it so great for me now? Within the Lesson Plans, there is this little column/feature called “Group”. That one little feature has made ALL the difference for me. It gives me the ability to group my plans in all sorts of ways giving me the ability to sort my plans in all sorts of ways - it’s great! Plus, there is also the sequencing feature as well as the order feature that allow you to sort/group your plans in other ways. Lots of flexibility! I’m not about to try to explain all of this LOL! You’ll have to go check it out yourself. Go to www.homeschooltracker.com. They give you a free basic version to try out before upgrading to their Plus version. Not sure what’s included/not included in basic version, but it’s worth your time to check it out.
I now have just about everything I do in HST - our lesson plans, the kids’ chores, our cleaning lists, memorization lists, reading lists, etc. I’ve only skimmed the top of what can be done with this program. You can add schedules, appointments, . . . and who knows what else! The problem is I’ve been “winging it” for the past couple of months adding all sorts of things, so it’s basically just one big unorganized mess! So, starting TODAY and for the rest of June until however long it takes me to finish it, I’m going to learn how to use this program to its fullest. I’ve printed out the Table of Contents for their 200-something page User Manual to be my guide and I am going to go page-by-page through this manual saturating myself with all the possibilities.
Sound fun? I’ll try to keep you posted on my progress. :) I have also just printed out what looks to be a fantastic new tool from Simply Charlotte Mason. It’s their newest book, “Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education in 5 Simple Steps“. Even though I finally feel like I have found my niche with our homeschooling and with all we do, I think going through this book will help me to fine-tune what we are doing and help me to make this the most productive and fun-filled year yet. I am excited to see where this year will lead us.
Off to plan!
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Topics: Organization & Scheduling | 2 Comments »
NPC Freebies: 2009 Calendar
By Debra | May 30, 2008
Free Homeschool Resources Update:
2009 Monthly and Yearly Calendar pages are now available:
Free Homeschool Resources / Homeschool Planning Charts & Printables
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Topics: Free Homeschool Resources, Notebooking News | No Comments »
Notebooking Tips - Oops!
By Debra | May 29, 2008
I have made many goofy mistakes during these first couple of years running our homeschool website NotebookingPages.com. This month was not without its bloopers. Unfortunately, there was not an “undo” button for this latest mistake.
To provide notebooking newbies help, I put together a series of eight emails on the topic of “beginning notebooking tips”. These emails were sent out over a two week period. They were supposed to be sent to just our new email subscribers. Being new to “autoresponders” though, I failed to understand how this would work. So instead of sending out this series to just the new subscribers, it went out to our entire list! OOPS! <sorry> Due to the craziness of the last year or so in the Fogelbach home, my emails to our list have been few and far between. So this sudden rush of emails to our list was met with mixed emotions. Live and learn.
For those who run an email list and use autoresponders -
Pay attention to the message number of the last follow up message sent out to your subscribers. Any follow up message you compose that is higher than this number will be sent to all of those contacts. Clear as mud? To avoid the above problem, I should have changed the last follow up number for all of our past subscribers. Seem too daunting a task when you have thousands of subscribers? Not with our provider! Aweber Communications provides awesome customer support and can help with these tasks - ask me how I know LOL!
So you want to sign up for our notebooking tips and updates?
If you are new to notebooking and would like some tips, please sign up for our email updates here. Be forewarned - during the first two weeks, you will receive an eight email series designed to teach you all the basics things you need to know to get started with notebooking LOL! After that, you can expect to hear from us a few times a month…maybe <smiles>.
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Topics: Notebooking News | 1 Comment »
Feeding Hummingbirds
By Debra | May 27, 2008
The hummingbirds have been visiting our backyard for a few weeks now, but we still have not put out their feeders yet. So today, we dug out the feeders and washed them up to get them ready. We’ll hang them tomorrow. Normally, we pick about three different locations to hang the feeders so that we don’t have too many territorial issues.
Making your own “nectar” for your hummingbird feeder is easy enough. I found this helpful article today at Audubon’s website: “Hummingbirds/Nectar Feeders“. Basically you combine 4 parts of hot water to 1 part sugar and bring it to a boil for a couple of minutes. That’s it. No honey, no food coloring, just water and white sugar. Be sure to check out their site for other helpful information about how to care for your feeder and how to create a healthy hummingbird habitat.
We absolutely love observing the birds that visit our backyard and adding them to our North American Birds Nature Notebook. Click the image to the left for a free downloadable sample from this set. We have found the WhatBird.com website to be full of wonderful information for most North American birds. Here’s the link for their Ruby-throated hummingbird field guide pages. Help your children record the facts they find interesting onto their hummingbird pages. Sometimes instead of coloring one of the bird pages (like in the picture to the left) our children will draw and color/paint their own picture of the bird and fill in one of the “fact” pages from our set and place them side-by-side in their notebook.
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Topics: Nature Study | 2 Comments »
Hallelujah! Let’s Go!
By Debra | May 23, 2008
What an answer to prayer to finally have this blog up and running! Woohoo! I am SO excited to get started! This has been a roller coaster of a year for our family with SO many life changes. Part of me, a REALLY BIG part, wants to go back to try and capture all the details of the last year, but instead I’m pressing on. Wow, am I actually saying that?! Yes! (I’m sure you’ll get tidbits here and there of what we’ve been up to this past year!)
Earlier this evening, the kids and I were watching reels of our home movies from 8-10 years ago (pre-homeschooling days!). I was reminded of just how important it is to make sweet memories with your family now (right NOW!) and to make a point of recording it all somehow before it all passes away into that part of the brain that, well, you know, that part that . . . what was I saying LOL? Exactly. That’s part of my mission with this blog - to capture the journey - for me, for my husband, for my kids, and for anyone who may be interested in tagging along! You know, it’s interesting to watch a video from ten years ago and to realize that even though we had no idea where we would be now, ten years later, the Lord knew the whole time. I find such comfort in that. It’s truly amazing to see how He was working in even the tiniest of ways in order to bring us where we are today.
This life He gives us is definitely a journey. (Hence the name for this blog - Pursue the Journey!) WE only know the FINAL destination, but HE knows the ins and outs of EVERY single step, path, nook & cranny of every turn that will eventually get us there. Having a record of this journey is like having a road map of the plan and purpose God had for your life and what it took to get you from start to finish. It’s an incredible testimony. That is something I want to be able to pass along.
I have many, many things to share with you and to journal for myself. This blog will be kind of hodge-podge of posts. I had considered splitting things up (home/business/ministry/etc.) to keep everything more organized, but I realized how difficult that will be for me right now. So instead, I’ll do my best to keep everything organized here within categories. That makes things much easier for me. Eventually, I’ll add some pages to the navigation bar above. But for now, I don’t want there to be any hindrances. No more waiting for things to be just so-so before jumping in!
Are you ready? I am! Welcome to our journey! I hope it’s a blessing to us both LOL!
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Topics: General Info | 1 Comment »