Bob Books (<–affiliate link 😉 )

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School is in session everywhere now, which means young learners are learning their ABC’s and 1-2-3’s! I love back to school! I especially loved it when I taught my own kids at home! Nowadays, I am enjoying teaching (along with my oldest son Joshua, age thirty-two, history major with emphases in too many subjects to list!) one hundred students writing and language arts in cottage classes at three locations in and around Fort Wayne, Indiana. I call it my “testing program” to test my new books before we publish them, but really, they are just excuses to do what I love most—teach!

Speaking of new books, I have a new line of preschool materials coming out at my three stores (CurrClick, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Teacher’s Notebook), and I am thrilled to introduce you to the first book/download in the series! The series is called “Letters and Sounds,” and the first book in the series is a full-color download of alphabet cards. This product is called ABC Picture Cards, and it has many unique features that other alphabet letter and picture cards do not have (and features that are definitely not found in your grocery store workbooks).

Because of my love for children and my thirty-plus years of teaching experience, when I create curriculum, it has to be user-friendly. It has to do the job with as much help for the student as I can possibly put in a book. The same is true of this product. Each aspect—the font, the size of the letters, the colors, the pictures for each sound, etc.—has been carefully thought out (and tested). You can read more in the description below the video!

The first book in the series is available for download now at these three stores!

• CurrClick,
• Teachers Pay Teachers
• Teacher’s Notebook

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: ABC PICTURE CARDS (from the “Letters and Sounds” series)

Welcome to the first of many products in the “Letters and Sounds” series by Language Lady, Donna Reish! This first product contains three sets of alphabet cards (though all of the sets contain the same letters and pictures). The cards have all thirty-three letters (see “What Makes Letters and Sounds Products Unique” ) and two “clue pictures” per letter. The product also includes instructions in various uses of the cards.

These three ABC/Picture Card sets include

(1) Two-sided cards with ABC’s on one side and clue word pictures on the back—these cards have all thirty-three letters on the fronts of the cards with the coordinating “clue” pictures on the back of each card. (Aa has a picture of an ax and a picture of an apple on the back of it). The front color matches the back color on these cards. These are made to be printed in a two-sided manner and cut out to be used for flash cards and other learning activities.

(2) One-sided cards with ABC’s—these cards are several pages of all thirty-three letters only. The “backs” are intended to be blank. (You will print one sided only for these.) These can be used alone for printed letter recognition or with the one-sided picture clue cards (next) for matching letters and sounds activities and games. (These are the same as the “fronts” of the two-sided cards.)

(3) One-sided cards with clue word pictures—these cards are several pages of clue word pictures for the thirty-three sounds with various colors on them (so that children do not rely on matching colors when using the letter cards and the clue word cards for letter-sound recognition activities). These are created to be cut out separately so that they can be used for letter-sound matching games and activities. (These are the same as the “back” two-sided cards but with different background colors.)

This product also contains three 8.5 x 11 inch alphabet posters with the ABC’s aligned with how the ABC song is sung (along with tips on using these posters).

This product is ideal for any preschool, kindergarten, or homeschool in which letter recognition, beginning sounds, and letter writing are being taught.

Check out the previews at the links below:

• CurrClick,
• Teachers Pay Teachers
• Teacher’s Notebook

The post Product Highlight: Letters and Sounds ABC Cards appeared first on Character Ink.

Consider Behavior First

1. Readiness to learn formally is more than just “academic readiness”

2. Behavior problems of the preschool days will get carried into school work

(Having a school schedule does help behaviors some, but will not solve them entirely.)

3. The trouble you might be having getting teeth brushed or coming to breakfast, etc., will

only be exacerbated by adding “come to school table” or “do seatwork” or “listen.”

So first solve behavior issues—Tips and Links

1. Link: In general, I have dozens of preschool posts that apply to the four to six year old age range. These run the gamut from morning routines to story time to bringing in behavior boundaries. If you have a five year old who does not obey, will not cooperate with general commands and instructions (brushing teeth, unloading dishwasher, or sitting down for stories, etc.), you might want to scroll through this list.

2. Link: Specifically, posts about lack of cooperation and getting the five year old on board for obedience and decent schedules can be found :here:

3. When I am trying to solve a problem in my schedule or routine, I try to work on the first hour of the day (for me personally), the same thing is true of our littles. Before starting formal school, I recommend getting the morning routine down pat. This will help him learn cooperation in other areas of the day—and will make the day run so much smoother. Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter what time this morning routine takes place (seven or nine) or even if the times are the same every day—just so the order, expectations, and consequences are always consistent. Here are some helps for this.

4. Other unacceptable behaviors should be handled quickly and seriously (not “don’t hit” but rather no more friends, play dates, staying up later to watch a family movie, etc., until you are “strike free” for a week, etc.). Be firm and consistent with Four D’s—they are not character issue that you should “train” in and reward. They are serious and should be treated serious. Read “Discerning Between the 4D’s of Behavior and Childishness”.

5. Determine your family’s behavior absolutes (if you have not already done so). These are the behaviors or character that you absolutely will not allow in your home. What you allow now will become the “acceptable behaviors” to your child. These seemingly innocent actions include “fibbing,” hitting, etc. For our family, these include talking back, saying no to parent, lying or deceit, temper tantrums, and striking.

General Expectations for a Kindergarten Child

1. Obedience. Take it from an old mama—school is so much better with a six year old in kindergarten who obeys than it is with a five year old in kindergarten who doesn’t obey.

2. Morning routine. If our kids couldn’t do a simple morning routine chart of making their beds, grooming, putting away their own toys and books, “reading” a picture Bible (or doing a Bible book and audio set), and getting completely ready for the day without a big fuss, I didn’t do bookwork with them.

3. Chores. Once a five year old is known for first time obedience and following through on his morning routine, I add chores to his schedule. You can read more about developing chores for this age group here.

4. Room time. I believe room time has so many educational benefits, namely those of increasing a child’s concentration, creativity, independence, and risk taking (all found to be important factors in studies about children who were “natural readers”–that is, they learned to read without instruction–this is important because if it helps a child become a natural reader, it can also help a child become a good reader in general). You can find out more about room time here.

5. Bible time. I would have the kindergartener join us for Bible time as well as having a “little kids” Bible time during the morning. I liked to put this after morning routine and chores, so we had an order that put character and faith before academics. It might work better for some to do it during story time.

6. Informal learning time. We had an adage that “we would never teach a young child anything formally that could be taught informally.” Therefore, when it came to pre-reading and pre-math skills, we were extremely diligent to “teach while we are in the way with them.” In other words, rhyming words, initial consonant sounds, ending consonant sounds, letter recognition, beginning math concepts (counting, recognizing numbers, less than/greater than, and much more) can all be taught informally, and we did. We also used picture books, puzzles, games, manipulatives, audios, videos, computer games, felt activities, toys, blocks….anything! I recommend building this time into a kindergarteners day–either through room time or through a learning center or table time where activities are set up for him, etc.

7. Formal learning. We only used workbooks with our five, six, and seven year old (non-readers) when they were set on numbers one through six above–and only if the child wanted them and enjoyed them. There are colorful, wonderful kindergarten workbooks available through Timberdoodle.

Formal Learning Tips for This Age:

a. If your kindergarten student is ready to learn to read, I don’t recommend using a complete kindergarten/first grade curriculum to do this. Learning to read doesn’t need to take three to five years. If you get a good program, a child can learn to read in three to six months if readiness is in place. Get a good phonics program that teaches reading only (i.e. not complete language arts at this level) and use a word family phonics approach combined with readers. Some of my reading program reviews are found at Raising Kids With Character for Phonics Tutor and Saxon Reading.

b. If you do want to get an entire kindergarten program, do not get a textbook-driven approach. Again, Timberdoodle has wonderful preschool and kindergarten programs with many hands on and fun activities included.

c. Make kindergarten fun. If I had kindergarten to do over again, I would do all of the tips above and get Timberdoodle’s kindergarten fun things, a colorful math program that has manipulatives (Math-U-See and/or Saxon kindergarten math are very hands on!), and Five in a Row (and choose the activities that you want to do and leave the rest). But again, I would only do that after the first six things above are met!

Other Podcasts That Might Interest You:

How Do I Prepare My Child to Learn to Read? 

Summer Reading Help

RKWC Terms and Definitions

Chores and Chore Charts 

Story Time With Littles and Very Littles

Listen to the “What Should I Do With a Kindergartener?” podcast here!

Print this post.

The post Podcast Handout for: What Should I Do With a Kindergartener? appeared first on Character Ink.

Donna Reish, author of character quality language arts and meaningful composition, answers a couple of readers questions about kindergarten. In this podcast episode, she specifically talks about what types of behaviors parents should expect from a four to six year-old child before starting formal academics and the six most important things to focus on first, including obedience, morning routines, chore times, and informal learning. She describes the optimum learning environment and gives insight as to what to look for in readiness to learn to read. Join Donna as she describes some of the best years of parenting.

Click here to download the printable handout.

Subscribe to our Wondering Wednesday podcasts in iTunes.

Click here to see our previous podcasts!

The post Podcast: What Should I Do With a Kindergartener? appeared first on Character Ink.

I was recently asked what my “educational expectations” would be with a five year old. Now, this fall marks our thirtieth year of homeschooling. Through the years, we have ebbed and flowed with the trends of homeschooling just like all other long-term homeschoolers. However, there are some things that have always stayed the same for us:

(1) Teach obedience before starting school
(2) Put relationships above academics
(3) Put God first, then marriage, then children, then others

And many more!

My expectations for five year olds still haven’t changed! If I had a sweet, wonderful, amazing five year old, this is what I would do! (Btw, four to six year olds are the greatest kids ever!)

1. Obedience. We can’t expect children to do school work if they will not make their beds, brush their teeth, come when called, etc. Obedience is a pre-requisite to bookwork–always has been in our homeschool. Take it from an old mama—school is so much better with a six year old in kindergarten who obeys than it is with a five year old in kindergarten who doesn’t obey.

2. Morning routine. If our kids couldn’t do a simple morning routine chart of making their beds, grooming, putting away their own toys and books, “reading” a picture Bible (or doing a Bible book and audio set), and getting completely ready for the day without a big fuss, I didn’t do bookwork with them. (See number one!) I talk about morning routine charts here and here and here.

3. Chores. Once a five year old is known for first time obedience and following through on his morning routine, I add chores to his schedule. You can read more about developing chores for this age group here and here and here and here and here.

4. Room time. I used room time from ten to fourteen months (playpen time) up through age six or seven, depending on how much the child could join us for older kids’ school. The reason I list it here as an expectation for a five year old is that I believe room time has so many educational benefits, namely those of increasing a child’s concentration, creativity, independence, and risk taking (all found to be important factors in studies about children who were “natural readers”–that is, they learned to read without instruction–this is important because if it helps a child become a natural reader, it can also help a child become a good reader in general). You can find out more about room time here and here and here and here.

5. Bible time. I would have the kindergarten join us for Bible time as well as having a “little kids” Bible time during the morning. I liked to put this after morning routine and chores, so we had an order that put character and faith before academics. It might work better for some to do it during story time. (I used what I called “interval Bible training,” meaning that we did various Bible teachings from sun up until sun down, so that they were always being trained in Bible stories, character, doctrine, hymns, songs, etc. all the time. For instance, we would use Bible on audio during morning chores, hymns and praise music during breakfast, Bible story read alouds in the morning, more in depth Bible studies with the olders during “unit studies,” Bible audios and/or videos during room time (almost always audios; I wasn’t big on videos as I wanted them to “make the pictures in their minds”); Bible stories and character stories during story time, audios as they were falling asleep; Bible reading and singing at dinner; Bible stories at bedtime, etc. Find out more about what we used during this age here and here and here.

6. Informal learning time. We had an adage that “we would never teach a young child anything formally that could be taught informally.” Therefore, when it came to pre-reading and pre-math skills, we were extremely diligent to “teach while we are in the way with them.” In other words, rhyming words, initial consonant sounds, ending consonant sounds, letter recognition, beginning math concepts (counting, recognizing numbers, less than/greater than, and much more) can all be taught informally, and we did. We also used picture books, puzzles, games, manipulatives, audios, videos, computer games, felt activities, toys, blocks….anything! I recommend building this time into a kindergarteners day–either through room time or through a learning center or table time where activities are set up for him, etc.

7. Formal learning. We only used workbooks with our five, six, and seven year old (non-readers) when they were set on numbers one through six above–and only if the child wanted them and enjoyed them. There are colorful, wonderful kindergarten workbooks available through Timberdoodle. Here are some other formal learning tips for this age:

a. If your kindergarten student is ready to learn to read, I don’t recommend using a complete kindergarten/first grade curriculum to do this. Learning to read doesn’t need to take three to five years. If you get a good program, a child can learn to read in three to six months if readiness is in place. (Call to order my audio on Teaching Reading in the Homeschool for more information on reading readiness, choosing readers, and choosing a phonics program.) I recommend a couple that I have used or had friends use, but there are many good ones out there that teach reading only (i.e. not complete language arts at this level) and use a word family phonics approach combined with readers. Some of my reading program reviews are found at Raising Kids With Character for Phonics Tutor and Saxon Reading.

b. If you do want to get an entire kindergarten program, do not get a textbook-driven approach. Again, Timberdoodle has wonderful preschool and kindergarten programs with many hands on and fun activities included.

c. Make kindergarten fun. If I had kindergarten to do over again, I would do all of the tips above and get Timberdoodle’s kindergarten fun things, a colorful math program that has manipulatives (Math-U-See and/or Saxon kindergarten math are very hands on!), and Five in a Row (and choose the activities that you want to do and leave the rest). But again, I would only do that after the first six things above are met!

As for general expectations, here are some other tips:

(1) Morning routines, morning chores, sitting during reading, room time, etc., first (have I mentioned this yet?)

(2) An hour or so of time with you either in fun learning (see c. above) and/or in learning to read, preferably in the morning.

(3) Story time, room time, quiet time, book and audio sets, etc. for independent learning all built into the schedule.

(4) Interweave free time with all of the above. It is my experience that four to six year olds who are not doing “formal” more all day type of school end up being bored and restless when their days are not predictable.

Hope this helps you with your five year old! Most of all, enjoy them! These should be some of the sweetest days of parenting! I know they were for me, and I want that for every mama out there! 🙂

More Help With Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Kindergarteners?

BLOG POST: Character Q & A: How Can I Start Character Training With My Toddler?

PODCAST EPISODE: What To Do About Toddler Trouble?

PODCAST EPISODE: How Do I Prepare My Child to Learn to Read?

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Click here to download the printable handout.

Subscribe to our Wondering Wednesday podcasts in iTunes.

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