How to teach the Logic of English to all learners

Spelling w/ movable alpha.

As a mom of three active boys I wanted to find a reading curriculum where they could use their bodies as they trained their minds. As a beginning homeschooler I wanted to find one that was comprehensive (taught reading, writing, spelling, and grammar together and completely), had laid out lesson plans for me to follow, was phonics intensive, and would allow me to see my preschooler try out different learning styles so I could see what types of curriculum would fit him best for other subjects going forward. I like to keep things simple, teaching only English and math through first grade, so it had to be pretty meaty in content but fun in application. If that isn't a tall order I don't know what is!

Logic of English Curriculum

At a home school chat night with my local home school mom group (Which you NEED to find one if you don't have a support group like this already!) The Logic of English swept in and took over all discussion for weeks! We were just thrilled to find such a professional, thoughtful, beautifully designed curriculum that not only taught the "what's" of our complicated language but the "why's" as well. There was just so much I learned from our discussion and introductory videos like this one (which is a little long but even just watching the first 10 minutes will blow you away) that my curiosity was peaked from the start!



One thing I love about this company is how there is a reason behind everything they do. Form teaching the kids how to make the letter sounds by watching your mouth form them to why they recommend cursive first (but have manuscript available too); they are happy to explain it to you through teacher training videos, the teachers manual, their website and they'll even respond to your questions directly on Facebook!

Our Experience

Last year I started Foundations A with my 3.5 year old because he was interested in "Learning his letters" and it starts as a first introduction to the alphabet about 5 lessons in. The first five lessons are teaching them how to make voiced and unvoiced sounds, what a baseline is for writing their letters, basic strokes they'll use and other concepts that will help them when they start to recognize that letters represent a sound. The concepts are so simple that my 3.5 year old felt success right out the gate and liked the games that each lesson suggested.

As we moved into the letters, they were presented in such a memorable way that he still sometimes will march around the house making all of the letter "I" sounds. At this age kids love repetition and reading the Doodling Dragons book has been wonderful for reinforcing the lessons, it's fun too when they want to read the sounds they've learned already to you! He struggled with the handwriting portion so we are going to review Foundations A before moving forward this year but they had adaptations for that too and I saw that when he could write them with chalk on the side walk or with his arm in the air he knew the letter shapes and it was just a matter of motor development before he could write them on paper. We also added Montessori movable alphabets (pictured at the beginning of the article) and tracing boards for spelling/ writing practice as he developed his motor skills for writing.

Long before we started reading small words we worked on blending and constructing/ deconstructing words so when we go to do it with the phonetic symbols (letters) they already understand the objective and have had practice doing it. When we reached lessons that he was getting stuck on (which wasn't until we were close to the end of the book) it was just a matter of slowing down and doing some more of the practice activities and games to reinforce the concept since each lesson is broken into parts we could easily separate them out based on attention span, time constraints, or comprehension.

Learning Styles

The best part of this curriculum though is the way it addresses different needs/ styles of learners. This is great if you know your child's learning style or as a way to see how they react to different types of learning activities and give you a better idea of what types of curriculum will work best in the future.

• You have a portion of the lesson that is taught by you directly for the auditory learners that need to be lectured/ have back and forth discussion. 
• There is always a through explanation of what you are doing next and why for those information hungry students who ask lots of questions, then once it's explained as you repeat different parts of the lesson in ongoing review, the introduction is skipped for the kids who like to get right to work. 
• You have them learn to write the letters as they learn the sounds for the visual/kinesthetic learners. What I love about this portion is how they get to pick the size of writing that is most comfortable to them because contrary to popular belief bigger isn't always better for students learning to write, some are simply more comfortable writing regular sized letters from the start. The lesson is also broken up into segments which allows the independent learner to have more choices in what you do first or how you practice different concepts.
• I thought it was cool that they had them look in a mirror or watch your mouth form the sounds for the visual learners and have them touch their throat or feel their breath as they learn to make the sounds correctly for the kinesthetic learners.
• Kinesthetic learners love that they use a lot of movement activities like bean bag toss games, having them make different movements as they audibly blend words like "spin" or "fall", marching to memorize the many sounds for the letter "I" or practice jumping from one letter to the next as they learn the sounds.
• Visual learners love that the writing portion is broken down by different strokes and that each phonogram is introduced with a tactile card, book, or flash card.
• Every kid LOVES learning through PLAY so each lesson has fun book suggestions, games, or extension activities with legos, chalk, Dr. Suess books, bingo boards, their card games, etc.

I could go on and on but I won't. This seriously is an amazing program that took into consideration: how the English language actually works, what is developmentally appropriate for the age of students it is designed for, how children learn, and that parents need to be able to understand it to teach it (they have the lessons laid out so you can do this quickly and with confidence, and resources to help you if you get stuck) and best of all it's fun! My preschooler looks forward to his lesson everyday.

Simple Co-op Circle Time

I recently posted about how I set up and found members for our STEAM Play Preschool Co-op. Today I'm going to talk about our typical class schedule.


We meet Fridays at 10:00 am (since we are pretty casual it's usually more like 10:15 by the time most of the class shows up)

We always start class or any field trip we go on with the super cute attention getting rhyme "I like learning" pictured to the left. (Along with the hand motions implied) I first heard it at the public library story time in Bountiful,Utah where they said "I like reading" instead of "I like learning" and it was so stinking cute it just stuck with me. The kids learn it quickly and get excited about the "Lets go!" part at the end.

After our welcome rhyme we sing Happy Birthday to anyone who had their birthday that week.

Then we talk about the weather. I made this cute weather chart found over at First Grade FUNdamentals. It didn't take more than some thick poster board, a laminator, scissors and a hot glue gun. (The arrows didn't survive the school year getting transported in the back of my SUV every week so we just ended up pointing to the chart at the end.) Also instead of making it hang from a wall I put a kick stand on it so it could sit on a desk.

Every week we first ask them what season it is, which is fun when the seasons change, but also really brings to mind how LONG Alaskan winters are! For awhile we had a cute "Season Tree" (but it kicked the bucket in the harsh conditions of the back of my car as well.) I'm going to try to build something sturdier for the spring transition but if yours isn't being transported you can get the pattern here and either color it or print it on brown paper and laminate it. After that I just used velcroe to attach color leaves for fall (made with a punch), flowers for spring (from a template at the bottom of that same page) and green leaves for summer (also made with a punch). The kids loved putting the leaves on/taking them off and it adds to a fun atmosphere in the classroom.

Once we review the season I have them look out the window an tell me what the sky looks like and then ask them how cold they think it is.

After this we will usually do another song or two or maybe a rhyme that has to do with the theme of the day. I got most of my songs from The Children's Song Book from my church or from a song and finger play book like this one the kids this age LOVE singing so when I need to buy some time, this is my go to activity. They really like the color song,  "Rain is Falling" and lately "The Bear Went Over the Mountain". Now that we've started Right Start Math, "Yellow is the Sun" is the new song we are obsessed with at my house and I'll definitely be adding it to the mix for early number concepts (be forewarned: It will get stuck in your head.)

That about sums up circle time. I read that concepts of time are a little early for the 3-5 year old range and meeting only once a week wouldn't really give them a good over view of the days of the week anyway. We just wanted to have something to draw them in and give them a sense of routine since the topics/ teachers change weekly and this little schedule (after a few weeks of finding what fit and what didn't)  fit the bill perfectly.

After circle time we turn it over to whomever is teaching for the day to read one or two books and have a demonstration or hands on lesson.

Lessons are about a 20-40 minutes then we let the kids play in the gym. Sometimes directed with a ball, obstacle course, or parachute and sometimes we just let them run while we visit. When the weather is good we take them over to the park instead.

Exceptions are when we have a holiday party and I'll share some examples of classes, parties, and field trips in the next few post in this series.

How I started a Preschool Co-op in 2 weeks

STEAM Play Preschool Co-op was thought up as fall was coming and I knew I wanted a fun engaging activity for my my 4 year old to do each week that would expand his horizons, let him meet new friends, get out us of the house during the long Alaskan winters, and force me to do the cute lessons you can find all over Pinterest. Obviously if you know you want to start a Co-op, it's better to give your self more than the last two weeks of the August so you are not spending 12 hours a week while nursing a newborn pulling it together, but it can be done! And so far has been a fun success. There are several benefits to being part of a preschool co-op and several styles too. If you can't find one that fits your family or schedule and are considering starting your own, here is what I did broken down into steps:

1. Decide what style of co-op you'd like to have. Do you want it to be comprehensive, covering all subjects and meeting several times a week? Would once a week or just for field trips suit your schedule better? Maybe just a social group with play activities? I decided I wanted to meet about once a week focusing on Science experiments, Tactile experiences, Engineering challenges, Art and craft projects, and Movement activities so I hijacked the popular acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math and used it as our Play based preschool name. I also liked the connection to the curiosity, critical thinking, and problem solving the acronym had. 
2. Find a low to no cost location. Knowing that we wanted to do table projects and also have room to move and get messy I looked for a space that would accommodate both. Finding one in the free or low cost arena proved challenging so we settled on the local library for table projects and quieter classes and the local recreation center for the louder gym type activities luckily both were free in my area but a few other low cost options were to meet at a restaurant, bookstore, other area's rec centers, local churches, or private schools if your class meets in the evening. Ultimately one of our co-op members had connections with a local church that had a meeting room, kitchen, and gym so we met there instead for free. If the co-op meeting place is not free just divide the cost into the member dues.
3. Advertise. Start with your circle of friends/neighbors, then go to your church group, and any other social groups you are a part of. Encourage members to invite their network as well. I actually only posted it on Facebook but I posted it on my personal page, my church page, a local mommy play group page, a MOPS page, a book club, and an area homeschooling page. Most of the Facebook groups don't mind advertising of this type if it fits in to their target audience and isn't for profit. If there are dues or you are doing it for profit just look into their rules before posting. I find digital flyers with pictures get more attention than just text and giving as many details as you can helps too. I first asked "Is anyone interested in doing a preschool Co-op one day a week focusing on gym and art activities? If so comment below and I'll add you to the group for more details" then created a Facebook group with the about me section describing what the goal of the co-op was and added each new member to the planning meeting event. If you are not huge on Facebook you can also look into calling/texting, announcing it at events like your libraries story time activity, or church. You can also post flyers at your grocery stores, post office, libraries.
4. Set up a planning meeting to work out details. Once I had 8-10 members of the group I asked them to introduce themselves to see who would be actively participating and who was just expressing interest in the group without intent. I got about 5 introductions on that post so I decided it was worth my time to proceed and held a planning meeting one night at the local McDonalds to get feedback on things like: day/time, duration. daily schedule, academic goals, how much participation they were willing to put in, and if they wanted to do dues or donate/ BYO supplies to each class. I had several people RSVP but only one show up. In the future I'll just decide these things on my own and include it in the invitation to the first class when I am initially advertising, as people who are still shy or looking into it are hesitant to speak up about something they are not yet committed to.
5. Get your paperwork ready.
   
   After the details of the co-op were worked out I made an "STEAM Play Preschool Co-op Introduction" page to print off for members at the first meeting, I also made a "About me" page for them to fill out info on themselves and their children and a waiver for them to sign to help discourage pettiness. I don't know how well the waiver would hold up in court but at least I attempted to cover my butt and let them know I'm not interested in drama. Finally I created a sign up sheet for classes, field trips, and parties for the year. If  you'd like to see samples of the set up forms they are here. At this point I also created an outline of our daily schedule that included announcements, circle time, story time, class time and free play.Your flow may look different than that but having a plan about the structure (or lack of) is a great idea before you open the doors for your first class. 
6. Have your first class and make changes.
   
   With my plan in place I created a cute flyer and advertised our first class to the public to pick up any other members before starting the year off. I had another 5 or 6 people join our group from this add and it had a lot more inquiries and attention (which is how I learned about the power of an image with your message on social media.) We planned to meet from 10 am until Noon and so I did a 40 minute lesson on the 5 Senses that was very interactive and illustrative but simply too long for a 3-5 year old attention span. I also learned that it isn't quite developmentally appropriate to be doing days and months at circle time for 3-5 year olds (and not very purposeful if we meet only once a week anyway). After getting feed back from the group we changed our time to end at 11:30 and to only have a 20 minute lesson. After we met the 2nd time we decided to have a little more structured gym time instead of free play at the end of each lesson as well. That's the beauty of a co-op though, you bring in different ideas and can adapt it to your needs as you go. 
7. Get everyone on track. Once everyone was signed up and had their paperwork turned in I created a contact sheet and birthday list. I used their kids interests as I created theme ideas, class types, and goals that they could use when brainstorming their classes (since we left it wide open beyond our STEAM premise). I supplied all of this along with our daily/ yearly schedule, songs for circle time, and planning pages in a spiral bound book for each member. (If you'd like a copy of this book emailed to you send me a message)

After this we were off and running.

Well almost. At our first class half of us got infected with hand, foot and mouth including me and the person set to teach the 2nd week. So we cancelled our 2nd class!... C'este la vie. Since we got going after that though things have gone smooth. It's still a work in progress and I'm still learning as we go but it has definitely been worth the few hours of phone calls, brainstorming and computer work to put it together. Even just for the field trips alone! Almost everywhere I've looked into wants a group of 10 or more to do a field trip, having a co-op opens doors to all kinds of learning opportunities. Also I'm seeing my son make new friends and new connections as he is introduced to different topics each week. AND I'm making new friends which has been a delightful bonus. It is truly fun watching Pinterest preschool come to life!

Next year (or semester) I think I'll also come up with a syllabus of classes or at least a sequence of themes to make it easier on the members planning the classes they are going to teach. Otherwise it is great to see so many moms just pull together and make it work! I'd recommend taking the plunge and putting a group together if there isn't one in your area as a great alternative to traditional preschool. 

***End of the year update***

What worked: 
Taking turns teaching the classes, planning free time to run and play at the end of class so the kids could develop friendships, holiday parties and field trips were a hit, having the moms just cover the cost of their classes or asking us to bring needed materials as it came up. Everything HANDS ON!

What didn't work: 
Having the location dependent on one person's set of keys, leaving classes too open with no sequence of learning/ not having learning goals at the outset, having too many songs/activities to choose from, dividing the class into stations (their little attention spans did much better when they could be taught as a group and stay on one task).

Would I do it again?
Yes. This was a great experience where both my boys and I made friends, they got to try new things, get reinforcement on what we were learning at home, and have a free outing once a week (that I didn't have to plan every time!) It may have just been because we were lucky enough to have moms that jump in and do the work and keep things simple but it is definitely worth another try.