Notes from November 2000

Books
Writing Strands: A Complete Writing Program for Homeschoolers.
National Writing Institute (available through Rainbow Resources 888-841-3456).
For creative, not analytical, writing. Incremental approach that has appealing assignments and a humorous approach. Goes from early primary grades up through high school. The final book tackles expository writing. A companion book for parents entitled Evaluating Writing gives tips on how to teach writing.

English for the Thoughtful Child, by Mary F. Hyde, Greenleaf Press (615-449-1617).
A reprint of a 1903 book for about third grade level. Covers basic grammar and parts of speech, but also has recitation assignments and writing prompts that come from works of art. One warning: There are lots of typos in the poems for recitation, so it's a good idea to have a copy of Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses handy to correct the typos.

The Writing Road to Reading by Ranalda Bishop Spalding.
For early readers, this approach teaches handwriting as a means to mastering reading. Good basic lessons on handwriting.

Put Your Heart on Paper by Henrietta Ann-Klauser
A writing book for adults that will get parents writing, and thereby modelling for their children the practice of writing.

Games
Scrabble for Juniors. A fun way to improve spelling skills.
Rummy Roots (available through Rainbow Resources).

Learn Greek and Latin roots while playing a variety of challenging card games. The roots will ultimately help with spelling and vocabulary, and in the meantime, the games are great fun.

Once Upon a Time (Wizards of the Coast, or directly from Atlas games, 612-638-0098).
A card game with cards for time, place, characters, adjectives, endings, and so forth. Kids tell stories using the cards from their hands.

Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye.
This book has dozens of clever games that get kids at all levels writing. Makes writing something other than a chore.

Other
Primary Fonts I. A CD-ROM that allows you to print out things on your computer using large, elementary school fonts, including the dotted letters for kids to trace. Includes block letters, cursive, and math. Works with MS.