In Transition | Please Pardon the Dead Links

If you are familiar with my sleepy little blog, then you may be wondering where all the posts from the last few years went. Well, this blog is not vanishing, nor is it abandoned, but it is in transition.

I'm going back and cleaning up a ton of my articles, double checking links, creating a better filing system for academic subjects and resources so that its easier to find posts on subtopics of math, reading, etc..

As of January 2016, I have removed the majority of the posts so that I can revamp and republish them.

Over the month of February, I will be republishing the articles that I feel were most helpful to reading. The first post to be redone is YOU Can Teach a Child to Read. which contains a wealth of phonics and reading resources all for FREE!

YOU Can Teach a Child to Read!

Today I want to write about reading instruction and how you, dear reader, can teach a child to read for only the cost of printing and time. Better yet, if you own a tablet computer, simply for the cost of your time.

I've compiled and ordered a list of resources from around the internet that will enable you to take a child from non-reader to fluent, 6th grade reading level. This post will have 3 basics parts to it for each type of resource that I'm talking about today. Phonics Manual, Phonics Practice, Reading Practice

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*********Basic Phonics Manual********

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The Ultimate Phonics Word and Sentence master list includes all of the words and sentences used to teach phonics in their commercial software program. It can be used as a stand-alone phonics manual in the same vein as OPGtTR, Progressive Phonics, AlphaPhonics etc...and is 100% free. The UP WaS List is broken down into 2 page lessons. The first page is just the words featuring the new sound, and the 2nd page is a page of 10 sentences that allow students to focus on and practice the new phonic sounds/skills that they've been learning. The Ultimate Phonics Reading Test is a neat and easy way to diagnose a budding or struggling readers current level and makes it easy to accurately and easily place them in the Ultimate Phonics scope and sequence.

Now, as you are working your way through the UP master list, you need something to practice those budding reading skills on don't you? Then great! Try out these free readers that I've found around the internet. Yours for the cost of printing or use a PDF app on your favorite tablet to save on the cost of printing.

For the early stages of the UP list, while mastering blending and reading CVC, CCVC and CVCC words, then you can try these basic/beginning readers that are perfect for the PreK-1st grade, new reading range.

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*********Beginning Phonics Practice********

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I See Sam -- 52 graduated phonetic readers that help students develop blending and reading fluency.

Hubbards Cupboard -- phonetically controlled CVC, Silent E and word families readers created by a teacher.

Progressive Phonics -- phonetically sequenced "Buddy readers" for shared reading between tutor and student.

Readers by Teachers -- These creative works were designed to use 1-syllable words for students who know all five short vowels and common consonant digraphs. Also used are the 50 most common words in English, mostly function words needed to read any text, such as the, a, of, is, to, etc.

Free Phonetic Readers -- A series of 15 short vowel and 15 Silent E long vowel readers are included for free. These readers are different than most others because they feature the vowel in the starting position of a word prior to putting them in the medial position. (Kids read short A sound in"Ab" prior to reading it in "cab".)

1-page Decodable Passages for first grade set 1 | set 2 | set 3 | set 4

StoryTown K Decodables -- These are the kindergarten level decodable (Phonetically controlled and sequenced) readers published by Harcourt publishers StoryTown brand and used in K classrooms all over the country.

StoryTown 1 Decodables -- These are the 1st grade readers by Harcourt publishers StoryTown and are used in classrooms all over the country.

Phonetic Readers used with the Headway Reading Program from the 60s and 70s. Now this reading series is unique in that it teaches reading in a brilliant but unique phonetically controlled sequence that begins with the long vowel sounds first. Most phonics programs teach short vowel sounds first.

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*********High Frequency Words********

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Often called "sight words" these are the words that are so common that experienced readers often know them by "sight" without decoding or thinking about them. As you teach your youngster to read phonetically, it helps to teach them and expose them to the high-frequency words so that they too can experience these words so often that they recognize them by sight.

A great way to do this is with the Sight Words by Sound list from The Phonics Page.

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*********Reading Practice********

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Now, as your student builds reading skills and abilities, regardless of their age or "grade level" its important that they build their skills by reading books, that are not JUST phonetically aligned. When you feel that your child is ready, you can begin having them work through the StoryTown readers which are sequenced by grade and allow for flexible grouping. If you are in no hurry, or just wanting to lay a strong foundation then you can do all of the books in each level. When you are teaching a child to read, there is no need to rush through the foundation.

Notice that while I've included the StoryTown K and 1st grade decodables in this section again for convenience that they are exactly the same ones that are listed above and there is no need to save each booklet twice. Also note that the while StoryTown decodables only go up to the 1st grade, the UP Words and Sentence list explicitly teaches the phonics skills needed to achieve a 6th grade reading level and the StoryTown readers include the gradual scaffolding and incremental reading practice needed to read up to a 6th grade level, though there is no need to feel constrained to a 6 year reading schedule. You may use these resources to go at whatever pace best suits you and your student. Working with in a small group, 1-on-1 tutor, or homeschooling situation, many kids will progress much, much faster and may complete all the phonics and readers in as little as 2 years.

Kindergarten Reading Practice
StoryTown K Decodables
StoryTown K Readers -- Below Level
StoryTown K Readers -- Target Level
StoryTown K Readers -- Advanced
StoryTown K Readers -- ELL Vocab Books

First Grade Reading Practice
StoryTown 1 Decodables
StoryTown 1 Readers -- Below Level
Story Town 1 Readers -- Target Level
Story Town 1 Readers -- Advanced
Story Town 1 Readers -- ELL series

Second Grade Reading Practice
StoryTown 2 Readers -- Below Level
StoryTown 2 Readers -- Target Level
StoryTown 2 Readers -- Advanced
StoryTown 2 Readers -- ELL series

Third Grade Reading Practice
StoryTown 3 Readers -- Below Level
StoryTown 3 Readers -- Target Level
StoryTown 3 Readers -- Advanced
StoryTown 3 Readers -- ELL Series

Fourth Grade Reading Practice
StoryTown 4 Readers -- Below Level
StoryTown 4 Readers -- Target Level
StoryTown 4 Readers -- Advanced
StoryTown 4 Readers -- ELL Series

Fifth Grade Reading Practice
StoryTown 5 Readers -- Below Level
StoryTown 5 Readers -- Target Level
StoryTown 5 Readers -- Advanced
StoryTown 5 Readers -- ELL Series

Review | The Everything KIDS Learning Spanish Book 2nd Ed.

The Everything KIDS Learning Spanish Book 2nd ed, not to be confused with either the first edition--which has a different author, or the puzzle and activity book which is by a different author and is meant to serve a seperate purpose Is written to the motivated older child, somewhere between the 2nd and 5th grade, and would be best used by children old enough to either read the instructions and directions themselves or be able to follow along as a more experienced adult helped them through the material.

The book has a ton of vocabulary and provides a minimum of writing practice, so if you have a child who loves learning vocabulary and would enjoy a gentle and topical treatment of the basic grammar points. Because of the style of the book, I can't recommend it for young kids ages 1-5, but I can--and do--recommend it as a neat resource for parents! The book is small yet packs a real nice Spanish punch at just under 140 pages, the text includes 10 chapters covering a wide range of topics, some neat puzzles, 3 appendices, and the answers to the puzzles found throughout the text.

The chapters don't spend a lot of time on the usual fluff found in Spanish programs for children either, but don't take my word for it, you can pop over to Amazon and use their nifty "Look Inside" feature if you're curious. The book features approximately 1000 words, so even if you just wanted to use it as a source for everyday vocabulary and phrases then it would prove itself exceedingly helpful.

Ch01 The Basics
Ch02 Being Polite
Ch03 People
Ch04 Places and Things
Ch05 At Home
Ch06 School and Work
Ch07 Time and Dates
Ch08 Food and Drink
Ch09 Who Are You
Ch10 Just for Fun

Using this book in conjunction with a more accessible text could make for a very well rounded Spanish program for a child whose parents are non-speakers or even if Spanish is their 2nd language, but it would require a lot of extra work from mom and/or dad to make it reach its potential.

Cecilla I. Sojo's The Everything KIDS' Learning Spanish Book is a nice addition to an introductory Spanish program for a child who is comfortable working (with a little help) on a 2nd grade level and above, so it wouldn't be one of my "First Draft Picks" for an EL kid exactly, but with some clever adaptation and a healthy dose of creative effort on mom or dads part, this book can serve as a really helpful source and guide to enriching the Spanish you are already doing with your children at home or supplement the exposure that they are getting at school.

Technical Difficulties

Hi Readers, I'm just writing to say I've been experiencing some technical difficulties with Blogger. I'm trying to get pictures and video snap shots of the products that I'm reviewing to upload but I haven't gotten it to work properly yet, however I will be going back and updating my reviews to include pictures and video where applicable. Sorry for the delay.

I'll be out of town for a bit so expect the updated posts at the end of August by the latest.

Review | The Complete Book of Starter Spanish + The Complete Book of Spanish

I have owned both of these books before and used them both extensively. I would like to go ahead and do a review of these very nifty little books.

The Complete Book of Starter Spanish is marketed as suitable for grades PreK - 1 while The Complete Book of Spanish is marketed as suitable for grades 1-3, I'd say that they are roughly fair but really I'd say that the two books range PreK- 2, depending on the exposure of each child. Some of the activities in Start Spanish might be to complex for 3 and 4 year olds so you'd need to adapt it to their level, for instance, letting them paste or place the missing part of a pattern there instead of expecting them the draw it themselves.

Both books are primarily vocabulary though The Complete Book of Spanish (Gr. 1-3) does include some basic grammar and phrases. Personally, I really liked The Complete Book of Spanish because it was such a gentle, doable introduction to Spanish for the English speaking child. I used it with a little girl who was 7-9 during the times that we used it. She mastered the vocabulary easily and we had fun playing with the simple cut out pictures and having "Spanish time" during school breaks when she had more time.

I can read and speak Spanish with a fairly respectable accent, so the lack of pronunciation guides didn't bother me in the least. The pictures were big, colorful, clear and vibrant. This book was enjoyed and cherished and used until it practically fell apart in our hands. I called up the little girl I used this book with and she, at 11 years old, still remembers about 75% of the vocabulary that we learned and about the el vs la words and how to tell if words are el or la words. I used this books as the spine of our Spanish studies.

There is nothing in either of these books that couldn't be gleaned or collected from around the internet for free, but you'd have to print (in color, or color after wards) the pictures and invest time into it. Both of these books are very reasonably priced and are fantastic spines to begin Spanish with a young or eager student in the PreK-5th grade range. Its a light load, which means it will get done if you allow yourselves to be responsible for getting it done.

And for roughly $20, its hard to argue with the value. If you only get one, I suggest the Complete Book of Spanish. NOT Starter Spanish. They cover virtually the same things but Starter Spanish lacks grammar and spends a lot of time and pages on the alphabet that isn't really all that useful.
I can speak Spanish on a basic level and can converse spontaneously with Spanish speakers I encounter at school, the store or on travels yet I can't rattle off the alphabet in Spanish and it has never hindered me.


I give The Complete Book of Starter Spanish a 7.5 out of 10.
I give The Complete Book of Spanish a 9 out of 10.

Both books include a bibliography of books you can find at the library to enrich or expand on each topics vocabulary, Starter Spanish includes a pronunciation key in the glossary. Both books are very accessible to learners from ages 3 and up with a little adaptation as needed.

Review | enVision Math Grade 1

So, this is my first math-centric post and it is a review of enVision Math Grade 1.

enVisionMath is a K-6 math curriculum designed to help children learn math. It mimics some of the key features of the philosophy found in a lot of "Asian Maths" programs, such as emphasis on problem solving, bar diagrams, number relationships, quantity, strategy. Or at least it was designed to do this. I recently had the opportunity to acquire 3 grades of enVision Math for under $15 dollars and I let it go because personally, from my experience with the 1st and 3rd grade programs, it wasn't a bargain.

In this review I will be focusing on just the first grade math work text. In first grade students cover 20 topics that span 5 different strands:
1 Number and Operations
2 Algebra
3 Geometry
4 Measurement
5 Data Analysis and Probability

*Problem Solving* is highlighted in each chapter with a special work page that is color coded to let you know that it focuses on problem solving. I used those colors because each chapter is color coded through the text so that you know which strand of math that chapter is supposed to focus on.

enVisionMath is colorful and conceptual but the buck kind of stops there. Well, before I go down this "whats wrong with it" road, I'd like to highlight some of the positives, such as they are.
Vocabulary is taught and highlighted with new topics so kids can 'speak' math early on, there are cute little math games that open up each topic, though we haven't been playing them (my bad!) but admittedly the games are very limited in scope but who cares. If you and your kid like games, then game on. Who cares if you only play each game less than 5 times? They are games and they are there to be enjoyed as each parent/child see's fit. For many kids, that's all they really want to do is play a little and then move on. I think that the included games are great. There is sufficient space for young children to write in this text, which I found a relief. Each page is serrated so its easy to tear out, teach from, do the work sheet and move on.

So those are the positives. Now lets do down "What Wrong With it" road.
 You can't get very far in the text (as in, past the first 2 lessons) without noticing that  this text includes almost NO practice. I mean it, practice is very, very  minimal. There is zero review in the book either. At no point do you go back and review the first half of the book. (We're on topic 10 of 20 and I've previewed extensively, so I know.)

There is a short test of each topic at the end an a "reteaching" page on the back of the test so that if a student misses a certain set of questions on the test, you can reteach that part but there is no chance to practice or review with in the text. There is a workbook that goes with the text, but I haven't been using it with my student.

I understand that each topic is supposed to be learned conceptually and all, but you still have to practice enough to remember something. After all, the more you use a skill that has just been learned, the better you get at it, right? I understand that many kids don't need review, but a textbook should include it, even just as optional review in the back or something.

Another odd thing is that they include a copy of the multiplication table from 0 - 14 in the first grade text but no where is their an addition table....Nor is there drill or practice of addition tables....They do introduce addition facts but not all of them and there is no succinct chapter or section that has them all. No addition table, no fun games or tips to help students and parents practice at home. Oh yeah, the first grade text does NOT introduce multiplication. At all...
I found that fact to be very, very, very, very bizarre...

This book introduces a lot of strategies to add or subtract which is great but it only introduces them. There isn't sufficient practice and since this curriculum is designed to mimic an Asian style of doing math, many Western parents may struggle to see where this curriculum is going and what it is getting at so they may struggle to help their kids 'get it'. It feels more like a survey of basic addition and subtraction than anything. Never getting in depth or pausing on a topic long enough to let it sink in and never reviewing it either.

I wouldn't recommend buying enVisionMath if you can get something else, get it. I was gifted this worktext in brand new condition and it is fun and simple. It gets done and my student is having success and reveling in what he can do, so I use it with him. I wouldn't pay to use enVisionMath and there are programs out there that I like better.

I don't think that enVision is horrible. I like to use games and I have enough K-3 math workbooks to make up for the lack of drill, but over all enVisionMath seems poorly put together and I wasn't impressed with it enough to take advantage of the "amazing deal" of grades K-2 of enVisionMath for less than $15 dollars. I have a ton workbooks around the house already and I didn't need more. Plus enVisionMath isn't a good enough resource, in my opinion, to spend any money on it.

Each topic is introduced in a fullpage of vagueness. You have to read the footnoot thats meant for parents to get an idea of what you are supposed to do. Often times, we skip that "introduction" and go straight to the 2-page spread that has a couple of examples across the top. We read the example first, then we do the guided practice together and I encourage my student to try the 'independent practice" side of the page on his own, if he can. If he gets stuck then I help him, usually he can do it on his own.

Then we do the word problems that are supposed to challenge him to problem solve. Sometimes they do, most times they do not. Over all, I find enVisionMath to be "meh" in the math department. I feel quite confident teaching basic K-5 math (arithmetic, time, measurement, estimation, data analysis and such) so I can use pretty much anything to teach it, but it would be nice to get a program that I LOVE.

I give this program a 7/10. It introduces a lot of strategies that it doesn't provide any sort of follow up for. Its instructions are a little ambiguous and sometimes non-existent. There is no review, nor any mastery built into the work text. A large part of the score is that it is a math program that gets done. it only takes about 30 minutes to do a couple of lessons and it is tolerated or enjoyed depending on the day, it has never caused tears or frustration and we have made it to chapter 10 in only a couple of months. We could easily finish this text by the end of September.

Review | Progressive Phonics

Phonic readers are simple stories that are told using words that follow simple, graduated phonic patterns that enable children to practice reading using a controlled vocabulary of sight words and phonetically decodable words.

The are several series  of them, but today I'm going to be reviewing a set that I consider to stand out for two reasons. One, they are interesting! (most are boring!) Two, they are fun! (most are boring) Three, they are free! (many are, but few are are interesting, fun and free! surprisingly, many companys will sell you sets of basal phonic readers for a pretty penny!) Four, they are progressive!

Progressive Phonics are a series of graduated, basal readers to be shared with children by an advanced reader (doesn't have to be an adult) where the newbie reader reads only the highlight words and the advanced reader reads the rest of the rhyme, poem, stories so that you can both enjoy the story rather than reading "Cat sat at mat. Cat sat at hat. Cat sat. Cat sat at mat" you can read

"Look at my cat
 His name is  Hello Yellow
 and look at him eat
 a bowl of yellow jell-o"

"Look at his hat

 His hat is very yellow. Did
 my cat make his hat 
 from a bowl of jell-o"

"And look at that mat
 that funny mat is yellow
 I think my cat sat 
on a bowl of yellow jell-o"

Where the child would read the red bold words and the advanced helper would read the rest. They are silly, enjoyable stories that your child reads with a partner or a parent and as they progress more and more of the reading is the childs responsibility so that by the end of the series you child will be reading passages that feature more advanced phonic rules and patterns and focus on homophones.

This program is a great supplement to almost any basic reading program and is suituable for grades PreK- early 3rd grade depending on the student and how its used. As you progress you can trade off reading with your child or student and by the time you read the last book, even though only a few focus words are designated student words, your students could probably read the whole book themselves, though you may not want to give up the fun of reading silly passages together.

This resource is 100% free and is very neat, however the update schedule is delayed and while some of the earlier books have been revised into a new format, the older books haven't been yet. I have used progressive phonics for about 4 years now so have had ample time to be annoyed by the consitent inconsisitency of their updates. However, if basal readers are something your student benefits from then it wont be long before both of your are possibly fed up with the mundanity of most basal readers so progressive phonics offers a refreshing, interesting and fun option to choose from among the plethora of 

I give this resource a score of 7.5/10.