A Moms #2 Secret Weapon in Homeschooling

                                             Spelling Binder 

In homeschooling several children of all ages I am always looking for ways to add a little spark into every new school year. My children are always excited to see what it is I will come up with next and if you are a seasoned homeschool mom you know all to well each new system is trial and error. Some things work and stay with you in your homeschool journey and then you have to adjust, rearrange, and adapt to a new year with new courses and subjects. So for our 2015 school year we have added some new perks to our Spelling Binder. Each day my children will work in their binders, and each day they have a new assignment using the same words all week.                                                              

 6 wks worth of words

So many exciting things can happen with spelling whether your taking a day and putting your words in ABC order or plugging them into a cross word puzzle you created online or looking up each word in a dictionary, typing them, writing them in cursive, stamping them. The list is endless. So the most important things is to break up each day so your child is always doing something different each day of the week.  
We love to use the lists from Spelling Power. I paid one price for this book that I can use it with each of my children. The book is formulated according to levels starting with level A and ending in level K. Starting at age 7 my children do a list a week and we have been able to use this book up through highschool because the words will increasingly get harder as they move up a level. 
Spelling Power does suggest: Say, Look, Say, Close Your Eyes, Check, Trace & Say, Write & Repeat. BUT...... the beauty of educating your children at home and you can alter your approach and Spelling City won't give you grief about it. AMEN!!!!!!

So in our home our schedule looks like this..........................
Monday - Type 
Tuesday - Print 
Wednesday - Cursive and Word Search 
Thursday - Study and Write in complete Sentence 
Friday - Take test on Spelling City 
Any words that they miss will be added to the next week for review words.

 I always make sure my kids know my expectations and can visually see what to do each of those days. Since I plan out my school by weeks they will already have their mazes in their binders. They know to go to the computer or typewriter in Monday and type their words and correct any errors and so on for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Spellingcity.com is a wonderful site you can type in your words on test day and they say them back to you then you have the option to print off your results which my children always do in a certificate form. Also you can formulate your maze at www.festisitetextlayout.com. 

Your creativity will overflow into your children and learning will become less and less of a struggle. We have had those years where my children dreaded spelling simply because it was so dull and boring each week. But I needed to see if they were capable of writing complete sentences, or using punctuation, and I wanted them to use some critical thinking but also allow them the flexibility to grab a binder and just work independently. Now having juniors and a senior student in my home I know now how important independent work is starting in 6th grade. Since I have encouraged that but also created a system that allows for them to work on their course without me hovering it gives them a sense of accomplishment. As parents our goal should be to inspire them to learn but also equipping them to be accountable to their work and to follow through with multiple tasks on their own. This works extremely well if you also have other children to work with during this time. So Secret Weapon #2 in our homeschool journey is Spelling Binder. Check out last weeks Secret Weapon #1 Helpful Hints.