Our Marvelous Monday series ends today, but you can view all the posts if you haven't caught up.  Click on "Cheryl" to read Cheryl's posts, and click on "Kendra" to read mine.  Brilliant, isn't it???

Preschool and Kindergarten  Cheryl Kendra

Electives  Cheryl Kendra

Geography  Cheryl Kendra

Art and Music  Cheryl Kendra

Foreign Languages  Cheryl Kendra

Logic  Cheryl Kendra

Science  Cheryl Kendra

Handwriting and Spelling  Cheryl Kendra

English and Grammar  Cheryl Kendra

Literature  Cheryl Kendra

History  Cheryl Kendra

Math  Cheryl Kendra

♥

Phonics has been a fairly natural ebb and flow kind of subject in our home.  I find it easy to point out sounds and letters just as we go about our daily life, saying something like, "Let's put on your red shirt.  R-r-r-e-e-d-d.  Do you hear that 'R'?  It makes the Rrrrrrr sound."  I point to letters in print or play rhyming games fairly naturally as we go about life.

For formal phonics, however, we use TATRAS.  I wrote a wee bit about this program in my post on preschool and kindergarten materials.  TATRAS has been a thorough program for us, so much so that I gave the phonics chart a permanent place on our schoolroom wall.

I refer to the chart often in the elementary years because my budding spellers need reminders of what consonant blends make which sounds, etc.  And it seems as if I'm teaching someone to read around here every other year or so :)  In fact, although I don't love teaching reading, I am looking forward to helping my daughters and daughters-in-law with their little ones as they begin to learn to read.

TATRAS begins with a little booklet called The Penny Primer, in which the first eight letters are learned and 43 words are decoded.  It's exciting to get through that first booklet and be able to tell the child that they are reading!

When the entire TATRAS program has been completed, the child is a strong reader, has learned all the necessary phonograms to decode and read anything in the English language, and has had ample writing practice as well.  I personally don't stress the writing aspect of TATRAS, and if I have a child who is particularly aprehensive about writing I ignore it altogether.

Check out Cheryl's final Marvelous Monday post here, and don't forget to visit her blog after this series.  She is a wise woman and I count myself very blessed to have her in my life.

I really don't know anything about preschool or kindergarten materials.  :D

What I do know is that over the course of the past 16 years, we've used a lot, seen a lot, ditched a lot, and loved a lot.  Because this is a subject that could garner a ridiculously long post for me, I thought I'd offer here only the things that have really worked for us.  If you don't see something mentioned, it's likely because we either haven't used it, or we have used it without success.

In the earliest years, I like to offer learning tools that are hands-on.  Preschool attention spans are notoriously short, so if I can get ten or fifteen minutes out of one of these items, I am happy.

♥ Lauri Alphabet Puzzles are my favorite way to purposefully review the alphabet with a preschooler.  The puzzle's bumpy texture and bright colors allow the child to feel the letter, trace the letter with a finger or two, and associate colors as well.

Lauri also makes lower case alphabet puzzles, number play puzzles, and many others: cars, flowers, people, and play packs such as this one.  The price is right, they're pretty durable (ours have lasted over ten years), and the company will replace missing pieces.  Incidentally, I love to put these away as birthday and Christmas gifts; they don't know I'm sneaking "school" in that way.

♥ Wedgits are building blocks that are suited for little hands because they are larger and easier to hold.  The pieces drop right into each other and stack in interesting geometric ways (aha!  math!).  Bonus: they can be thrown in the dishwasher.  Another bonus: older kids like them, too.

♥ Wikki Stix allow preschoolers to bend the little waxy sticks into any shape, including letters (my older kids have been known to write messages to dad on the front door).  Wikki Stix are quiet, mess-free, and intriguing.  Perfect for the car or church, too!

♥ Big, fat crayons.  I'm sure you're familiar.

Preschool in Grammy and Pop Pop's motorhome

♥ Kumon workbooks are a lovely little thing for preschoolers.  Books range in subject from math to rhyming, cutting to tracing.  Workbooks can get a bad rap in some homeschooling circles, but to my way of thinking, they are a nifty way to keep a preschooler happy, productive, and learning.

Our preschooler loves games, too.  And pretty much anything with Charlie and Lola (including pink milk)

Kindergarten is simple here.  I haven't changed my approach too much with each child, except with the last two I have waited to teach reading.  While I was busy helping the older kids, our fifth child decided she didn't need me to teach her and she taught herself to read.  She's an amazing reader, so I'm not expecting the same from the others younger than she.  It was quite a bonus though!

♥ We use TATRAS in our home.  TATRAS stands for "Teach America to Read and Spell".  I love this approach, adore the man who authored the book, see huge and wonderful results, but I do wish it was laid out a little better.  Don't let the book scare you off; it's a bit busy (ie, too many things going on each page), but it works and it works well.  TATRAS employs the vertical phonics method, which you can read about here.

The reason I adore the author is that when I first began using TATRAS nine years ago, I was flabergasted to receive a phone call from him after I had purchased the program.  He wanted to make sure I understood it and knew I could call him at any time if I had any questions.  Six weeks later, he called me again to follow up.  Now that's a man who stands behind his product and believes in what he is doing.

♥ We jump right into Rod and Staff preschool, which is equivalent to kindergarten.  Motor skills, letters, numbers, comprehension, and following directions are all covered in the series.  These books are long on preparation and short on fluff. The illustrations are engaging and the work leads to really solid skills needed for first grade. They are also very reasonably priced.

Don't forget to go see Cheryl's Marvelous Monday post.  We've only one left; these have been fun, haven't they?

Electives.  Wasn't that the category you loved in high school?  Finally, you could study something you really loved or at least wanted to know more about. In our home, electives are chosen either because we see an area of giftedness in a child, the child has a growing interest in something, or because we know it's a skill they'll be thankful for later in life. Case in point: I didn't take typing in high school because I thought something really lame like, "I don't plan to be a secretary; why would I need to know how to type?"  Oh brother.  Proof that parents are wiser.

Let's start with typing :D

We have used Typing Instructor Deluxe with good success in  the  past.  It is a straight-forward program that features the ability to tailor-make a typing program for the student's unique needs.  Unfortunately for us, Typing Instructor does not have a platform for Mac. ♥ When my husband was in dental school, I taught myself to knit.  At the time, knitting wasn't enjoying the popularity it has in recent years, and there just weren't as many lovely books on the subject available.  I checked out every knitting book our library had, pouring over them and soaking in everything I could. My favorite book for beginning child knitters is Melanie Falick's Kids Knitting. Explanations are clearly illustrated and the projects are cute and enticing.  Among my favorite websites are KnittingHelp.com, Knitty.com, and Ravelry.com. ♥ I know I've touched a wee bit on cooking before, but just in case you're looking for some good kids' cookbooks, here are our favorites: Pretend Soup, by Mollie Katzen Paula Deen's My First Cookbook, by Paula Deen Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook Our copy of Pretend Soup is soiled, dog-eared, and used weekly here.  Such a simple book, such good results.  Even the teenagers drag it out, but don't tell them I told you ;) ♥ If you have a budding draftsman or someone who needs a constructive way to spend some free time this summer, check out Complete-a-Sketch books.  All three of my older guys loved these when they were in the 8-12-year-old bracket, and I think I'll give them to my almost-10-year-old-daughter this summer as well. ♥ I've linked several times to homeschool graduate Amanda McCoy's really fun nature and art kits.  We're a season behind, but my younger kids have all loved these projects.  Several of them have been county fair entries for us, and blue ribbon winners! (I've learned to save the really good projects they do all year long for the fair.  Otherwise, we'd be scrambling at the last minute and that's never fun). If you've got crafty girls and boys, they'll love the projects.  If you have nature lovers, they will too.  It's an elective that can also be counted as nature study and art! ♥ My boys and oldest daughter have dabbled somewhat in woodworking, but we are blessed to have a grandfather on the property who has all the tools and patience they need.  I have some neat homemade gifts they've given me over the years, and just tonight there was talk about asking Pop Pop to show them how to make boxes with locks so they can keep little peoples' wandering hands out :)  They've browsed the Woodworkers Resource site for free patterns and help. Incidentally, asking grandparents to give tools for gifts is a great way to build a stash for your young men and women.  The look of elation on the face of our then-nine-year-old boy when he received his own cordless drill was priceless! ♥ I'm looking for a good beginning sewing DVD or online instruction for our almost-ten-year-old.  Anyone have any favorites? Cheryl's Marvelous Monday post can be found here.  She has at least one child who has exceptional baking skills!