Special Needs — Home School Support Network

Sherry Osborne October 6, 2012

How to Teach a Child to Read Part 1

Teaching your child to read can seem like a monumental task. The authors of Spell to Write and Read (SWR) akin this task to getting a jumbo jet off the ground. Once the jet is off the ground it will use half the amount of fuel per minute to fly at 500 mph, but getting that plane off the ground is going to require that the pilot commit to burning a lot of fuel to get to that cruising altitude.

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NLT)

You need to print that verse out and repeat it to yourself every morning as you begin the journey of teaching your child to read. The goal is obtainable and the rewards are indescribable. It is possible to have your kindergarten child reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of the K5 year. You can invest 60-90 minutes per day and your child does not need to be a genius to accomplish this.

Things mentioned in this episode:

Samples of our son Riley’s progress with learning to read, spell, and write and cursive in kindergarten.

Interview with Elizabeth (Liz) FitzGerald where we talk about her book Cursive First.

STEPS (Sequential Teaching of Explicit Phonics and Spelling) Curriculum

SWR (Spell to Write and Read) Curriculum

Abeka Homeschool and Christian School Curriculum

The Wise Guide for Spelling {Amazon Affiliate Link}

Podcast Awards: Please consider nominating this podcast for the podcast awards in the Education category.

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Hank Osborne August 2, 2012

Teaching Reading and Writing with Cursive First

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Elizabeth FitzGerald author of Cursive First — Liz FitzGerald

In this podcast episode we interview Elizabeth (Liz) FitzGerald, M.S. the author of Cursive First. Liz lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her wonderful husband David and three children. She is an Endorsed Spell to Write and Read (SWR) Seminar Trainer, a credentialed Special Day Class teacher, and she holds a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. Before becoming a stay-at-home Mom, Liz had ten years of experience working in the public schools. She is currently homeschooling her own children as well as serving as an Educational Consultant to other educators.

Questions answered by Liz FitzGerald in this episode:

– Would you share some of the statistics on our nation’s literacy failures?

– Why is handwriting important?

– What is the history of handwriting in our country?

– How/why the shift in our educational system for reading and handwriting?

– What are the advantages of learning cursive first?

– Why cursive when we are a society filled print from computers and printing presses?

– Is it confusing to switch from print to cursive if you have already begun?

– Can this be used with special needs where they have weak or tired hands?

– Introduction for homeschool parents on how to begin cursive. (i.e., tactile practice of strokes using a salt box, sidewalk chalk, etc.)

You can order a copy of Cursive First at SWRTraining.com

Images used with permission from SWRTraining.com

Sherry Osborne May 21, 2012

Busy Bag Swap Loot

I have had the opportunity to participate in something called Busy Bag Swap this past month. I must admit that this term was foreign to me and I’m still learning! I have written in a previous blog post about Learning Stations and these Busy Bags will work VERY WELL with the stations!

So what’s a Busy Bag Swap? A group of ladies each choose an activity to make that would fit a predetermined age group. The activities either teach an academic skill (like ABC’s or counting/number matching), fine motor development (like tracing or Pincher grasp by using tongs), or are visually entertaining (like I Spy or discovery type things). These activities are designed to keep the little ones “busy” and each one is put into a zip bag making it easy to grab one and go–thus the name Busy Bags! The key is that each mom makes enough of THE SAME ACTIVITY for each lady participating.

Our group had 18 ladies and the age range of 2-3 year olds was chosen. We created a sign up sheet to ensure there weren’t any duplicate activities. I checked out several idea sights on the Internet and chose the “Discovery Bottles” as my activity (after checking to be sure I could find AquaPods water bottles!) Because a picture is worth a thousand words, check out the following websites to get a better understanding of the types of activities.

“Discovery Bottles”
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crafts-by-age/toddler-crafts/discovery-bottles-675306/

http://secondstorywindow.typepad.com/home/2011/10/toddler-time-busy-bag-series-part-2.html

http://therigneys.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/toddler-busy-bag-swap/

Check out this website for instructions & pictures of homemade Geoboards- used with 2-7 year olds:

http://planetoftheapels.blogspot.com/2011/09/busy-bag-swap-day-7-geoboards.html?m=1

http://planetoftheapels.blogspot.com/p/our-busy-bag-swap.html?m=1

Here are some items that we received in our Busy Bags with a few comments and suggestions based on our experiences.

: Gel Bag and Marble Maze

Gel bag and Marble Maze – The gel bag is appropriate for 4-5 year-olds. The gel bags need to be tapped with clear packaging tape. The marble maze is great to attach to a stroller for toddlers. It is a marble sown in between two pieces of cloth with stich lines added to create a maze to move the marble through. I even bought one as a birthday present for a 1 year old. Our son Caden’s occupational therapist (OT) went bannas over the marble maze and plans to use it as a finger warm-up exercise with her patients.

Popsicle Stick Puzzle and Pom-Pom Stuff It In – The popsicle stick puzzle can be covered with clear packaging tape to make it more durable. This one was a challenge for a 4 1/2 year old. The Pom-Pom stuff it in is another finger strengthening exercise tool. I’ve used it with all ages from toddler (2 yrs) and up.

Color Match Pins – The Color Match Pins are paint sample strips from your local home improvement store or Walmart. The older ages (4 yrs +) had fun with this one. The pins were a little too difficult to squeeze for our little 2 year old.

Letter and Number Match – The number match used a clear velcro dot in the center of each number tile. That made it very easy for a toddler to grasp the number tile from any angle.

Eye Spy and Egg Crate Pom-Pom Sort – Both of these items have been enjoyable for all ages. I like the compact nature and transportability of the eye spy. Toddlers will grow into the use of the tongs with the Pom-Pom sort. Right now he enjoys putting the Pom-Poms in the holes with his fingers. (over and over and over again)

Chalk Blocks – I love the creativity of this item for preschoolers. These are simply square blocks of wood painted with chalkboard paint. I would recommend that the blocks be a little larger for the younger ages and ensure that all sides are sanded smooth before painting.

Magnetic Pom-Pom – This is very entertaining for my toddler. The Pom-Poms have magnets hot-glued to them. Our next chore is to find a way to make this one portable without having to carry a cookie sheet in the diaper bag. Please post your ideas in the comments below. Here are a couple of links to download two more Pom-Pom mats. You will need Adobe Reader to view them.

Pasta Sort – My toddler spent the better part of an hour filling and dumping the cups. He tried to string the pasta by himself but required some assistance. I will try using a pipe cleaner next time.

Con-Tact Paper as a laminating tool — Con-Tact Paper

Con-Tact Paper – I used Con-Tact paper to laminate some of the paper items to increase durability.