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February
1, 2005
Dear Oklahoma Homeschool Subscribers,
Hello
again from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I hope you have gotten
back into the swing of things and are ready to finish the
year with success! This issue of the newsletter contain information
about teaching Grammar, Vocabulary, and Spelling, as well
as information about what's new on my website. I hope you
enjoy it.
Have a great February!
Cindy
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Oklahoma
Homeschool Newsletter, February 2005 (Oklahoma Edition)
Index:
What's
New on the Oklahoma Homeschool Website?
1.
Field Trip Cruiser by Bill and Cindy Downes. To get
the most from your homeschool experience, you and your children
need to visit the historical towns, museums, parks, and other
educational resources located throughout the state of Oklahoma.
However, because of time constraints and/or distance, this
is not always possible. It could be too far away, you don't
have time to make the trip; or, it may be that you're just
not sure whether it's worth driving to. That's where FT Cruiser
(Field Trip Cruiser) can help. My husband, Bill, and I got
the idea for this project as we were driving our PT Cruiser
to take pictures of the Spiro Mounds for a children's book
I'm writing. It's a work in progress but go ahead and check
it out at: http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/FTCruiser.html.
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Oklahoma
History Resources:
1.
 COMING
SOON—a brand new Oklahoma History Curriculum
by Cindy Downes. This curriculum includes everything you need
to teach Oklahoma history to children in grades 1-5th+ including
teaching notes, vocabulary list, Bible reading suggestion,
website research projects, recommended reading, recommended
videos, Oklahoma notebook project, timeline and timeline pieces,
composition projects, read/write learner projects (dictation,
worksheets, extra composition, and/or extra reading), visual
learner projects (art projects, maps, and/or charts), auditory
learner projects (music, drama, and/or oral reports), and
kinesthetic learner projects (games, crafts, recipes, and/or
other hands-on activity), field trip suggestion, and review.
Not dependent on specific library books. Coming this spring!
Watch for more information in the next newsletter.
2.
Are you looking for news about homeschool activities &
events in Oklahoma? Sign up for the OCHEC Update
at http://lists.ochec.com/mailman/listinfo/ochecupdate.
If you have activities/events of interest to homeschoolers,
send them to the editor (me!) at enewseditor@ochec.com.
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Teaching
Tips - Grammar
Many
traditional Language Arts curriculums spend too much time
on grammar (probably because it's much easier to correct thirty
fill-in-the blank, multiple-choice worksheets than it is to
correct thirty handwritten compositions) resulting in students
who know everything about diagramming sentences, but develop
very few skills in composition. As a home school parent; however,
you can focus two or three days per week on composition lessons,
using these compositions to also reinforce grammar skills,
and the other days working on specific grammar instruction.
The result will be that your child will not only learn proper
grammar, but he will also develop excellent composition skills.
See my Sample Homeschool Schedule for ideas on scheduling:
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/CPsample.html.
Before
you purchase curriculum for grammar instruction, be sure to
have an idea of your child's learning style. (http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/learnS.html).
There
are many curriculum choices available, but each one works
best with specific learning styles. Here are a few recommendations:
1.
The Grammar
Key. Complete grammar course for the Visual, Read/Write,
and Auditory Learner. The streamlined program makes teaching
grammar easy and complete in the shortest amount of time.
Windows program. 1-800-480-0539.
2.
Reading
Rods®: Sentence Building Classroom Kit. Parts of speech
and sentence building become easy with color-coded Reading
Rods® that link together! Students learn to distinguish
the nine most common parts of speech and put them together
to form sentences. Kit contains 24 double-sided activity cards,
a 48-page Instruction and Activity Book with over 100 full-color
demonstration cards, 4 activity trays, and 156 rods in a storage
tub. Ages 7-13. This is the best resource currently available
for your Kinesthetic Learner.
3.
Grammar
Songs--CD and Book
by Kathy Troxel. The Grammar Songs Kit teaches
all the parts of speech (except conjunctions) and rules of
punctuation and 72 Greek and Latin roots for building vocabulary.
It is appropriate for grades 3 - 8. It includes a 72-page
workbook with song lyrics, illustrations, drills and writing
exercises; a Teachers Guide and a long-playing sound track
with 16 songs. Recommended for the Auditory learner.
For
more information on teaching grammar, check out my webpage:
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/teachgrammar.html
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FREE
Forms:
These
forms are available free to Oklahoma Homeschool subscribers
only, until January 15th. To access these forms, click on
http://oklahomahomeschool.com/subscribers
(or copy and paste it into your browser bar). When the password
protect input form pops up, enter the following (case sensitive):
For
User ID, enter: (For subscribers only-check
your email newsletter)
For
Password, enter: (For subscribers only-check
your email newsletter)
After
you have entered the user ID and password correctly, Index
of/subscribers will pop up. Click on subscribers.html
which will open the web page where these forms can accessed.
You must have the free Acrobat Reader software (available
at www.adobe.com)
installed to print these forms.
- Grammar
Checklist - Excerpt from The Checklist.
Use this form to keep track of your child's progress in
grammar usage.
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Teaching
Grammar: Curriculum Recommendations & Fun Stuff
When
your child reaches junior high, I recommend that you use a
more structured grammar curriculum. Here are some choices:
1.
Continue using Grammar
Key.
2.
A Beka Grammar
is the most advanced grammar curriculum available. If you
have a student who loves to be challenged in grammar, this
is the one I recommend. Normally, I do not recommend A Beka
because it is overwhelming for homeschoolers but in this instance,
it's a good choice.
3.
Easy Grammar Plus is what I recommend for those students
who are not so interested in grammar, but need grammar credits.
It's easy, doesn't take much time, and will teach your child
everything he needs to know for high school. Follow up with
Daily Grams each year for review.
4.
If your child likes the literature approach to language arts,
I recommend
Learning Language Arts Through Literature.
For
more information on teaching grammar, check out my webpage:
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/teachgrammar.html
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Internet Resources for Grammar:
1.
Language arts printable worksheets from EdHelper.com:
http://www.edhelper.com/language/language.html
2.
Guide to Grammar & Writing. This is a great resource!
Includes instruction in grammar and quizzes and it's all FREE!:
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
3.
Parts of Speech Game. Several free online games that
reinforce grammar skills:
http://www.gamequarium.com/partsofspeech.html
4.
Diagnostic Grammar Test. Free and online: http://www.meguffey.com/diagnostic_test.html
5.
Vocabulary Quiz. http://www.vocabulary.co.il/
______________________________________________________________________
Please
feel free to forward this on to anyone who may be interested
in subscribing.
If
you'd like to be added to the Oklahoma Homeschool Newsletter
mailing list, please email back with "Subscribe"
in the subject line, along with your city and state or country
and how long you have homechooled.
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subject line.
Have
a great day!
Cindy
Downes
OKLAHOMA
HOMESCHOOL
Website: http:www.oklahomahomeschool.com
Email: cindy@oklahomahomeschool.com
Have
you seen The Checklist? It's a record keeper, a planning guide,
and a K-12 Scope and Sequence created for Christian Home Educators:
http://www.oklahomahomeschool.com/checklist.html
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