Kindergarten reviews Archives

Can Do Cubes Review

August 26, 2016 by Emilee Evans

A couple days ago I shared my Jolly Grammar and Jolly Phonics Review. We have had also had the opportunity to review another great product from jollyliteracy.com – Can Do Cubes. This great resource from just2ducks LLC is a great companion to Jolly Phonics, and we’ve been using them well together!

The Can Do Cubes are a great hands-on supplement for phonics. They work particularly well with Jolly Phonics because the letter sounds are presented in the same order. They would definitely work as a resource for any synthetic phonics program, though. They were created based on many factors including various research on reading instruction, activities which are commonly used in successful programs, and teaching experience.

What is Synthetic Phonics?

To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard the term “synthetic phonics,” so I, for one, was curious what it means. I know now Jolly Phonics is one, but when it mentioned it can be used with any synthetic phonics program I wanted to know what that meant.
On jollyliteracy.com Synthetic Phonics teaching is defined as “a simple to complex program where learners are taught the alphabetic code.” So they first learn the basic alphabetic code (one spelling for the basic sounds) and progress to the more complex alphabetic code (multiple spelling variations for these sounds).

Can Do Cube Review

The Can Do Cubes Starter Set Includes:

1 Tray of Stage 1 Cubes
1 Tray of Stage 2 Cubes
Handbook for Stage 1
Handbook for Stage 2
DVD
Phonics Chart
Word Chart

Amazing, right? Honestly, I would have been thrilled just to have the hands-on cubes, but I was impressed with all it includes. I love all the additional, helpful resources. As we progress I plan on adding the charts to our wall.
Because Chaz started Jolly Phonics at the beginning we have been using the Stage 1 cubes. The Stage 1 cubes are further broken down into groups called Cubes. So we started with Cube 1 which included the first 6 letter sounds “s, a, t, i, p, n.”

Chaz has been doing well and having fun building words. What I find so fascinating is he was already familiar with many of the letter sounds, and he could sometimes read the short words but struggled putting them together himself. Since using this hands-on approach with the Can Do Cubes, he’s been putting together many different words! Plus he’s having fun doing it!
With the Can Do Cubes they will naturally progress to building longer words and working with more letter sounds at a time. The Stage 2 Cubes even include capital letters and basic punctuation.
Overall, Can Do Cubes has been a great resource for our son! In fact, our oldest son is a delayed reader due to his special needs, and I’m going to start using them for his phonics as well!

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Different members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew shared their Can Do Cubes review. Check them out by clicking on the banner below!

Jolly Phonics and Jolly Grammar Review

August 24, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Our once resistant six year old has been loving Jolly Phonics from jollyliteracy.com. He has been learning his letter sounds in a whole new way and has been making amazing progress! Plus he’s had a great time singing songs in Jolly Songs to help reinforce his learning! just2ducks LLC also sent us Jolly Grammar from their jollyliteracy.com division for our Jolly Grammar and Jolly Phonics review.

Jolly Phonics Review

Chaz has been using Jolly Phonics regularly (3-4 days per week). I started him at the very beginning because he has writing challenges due to his special needs. Although he does know many letter sounds, I thought it would be best to follow the progression as it is presented in Jolly Phonics.
The Jolly Phonics program includes three Jolly Phonics Student Books – Jolly Phonics Student Book 1, 2 and 3. It also includes the Jolly Phonics Teacher’s Book in print letters which covers all three of the Student Books.
The Teacher’s Book offers daily guidance for teaching the Jolly Phonics program. It includes a detailed introduction as well as detailed information for the concepts the child will be learning including:

The Letter Sounds of the English Language
Learning the Letter Sounds
Learning Letter Formation
Reading (Blending)
Identifying the Sounds in Words
Tricky Words

I was impressed with all the details it includes. Once it breaks down into the Daily Guidance for Teaching, it explains the best way to go about teaching the lessons. We have been using Book 1, so each lesson includes a story to read to introduce the letter sounds. Each letter sound is taught using an action to help them remember the letter sound, so the story helps to introduce this action as well.

Jolly Phonics Review – Student Book 1

Chaz has been happily working through his Jolly Phonics Student Book 1. He’s been learning individual letter sounds as well as progressing to blend those letter sounds as the new letter sounds are introduced. He has been working on writing his letters as well as identifying pictures/words that contain the letter sound.
We have been treating each letter sound as a lesson. So each one is one page long. So each lesson only takes around 15-20 minutes. His biggest struggle is writing the letters. He has been enjoying the lessons so much, though, that he is actually attempting to write the letters, which is major progress. Generally he refuses to even try. We also brought out the white board to give him more practice as well.

Jolly Phonics Review – Student Books 2 & 3

We haven’t yet progressed to the Jolly Phonics Student Book 2 and Student Book 3. They are quite a bit different. In Student Book 1 we continue to progress through letter sounds and blending them together through the basic 42 letter sounds. Starting in Student Book 2 there are already full words presented right at the beginning. It presents alternative letter-sound spellings, more handwriting, tricky words and words and sentences. Capital letters are also introduced.
Jolly Phonics Student Book 3 presents more letter-sound alternative spellings, tricky words, comprehension and words and sentences. Of course, it also includes handwriting, but in this book there is free writing and dictation.

Jolly Songs Review

Jolly Songs complements what we’ve been learning in Student Book 1. It presents the letter sounds in songs written to familiar tunes. It includes a music CD you can play to sing along. I found knowing the tune alone made it possible to sing the songs without the CD. The songs also include the motions he has been learning to remember the letters.

Jolly Grammar Review

We haven’t yet progressed to Jolly Grammar. It includes the Jolly Grammar 1 Teacher’s Book in print letters and Jolly Grammar 1 Student Book. If following the recommended progression, Jolly Grammar follows the completion of all three Jolly Phonics books. It builds on what they have learned in Jolly Phonics and covers a variety of grammar concepts including: common nouns, pronouns, plurals, verbs (including conjugating verbs), adjectives, adverbs, definite and indefinite articles, sentences, questions, identifying parts of speech, improving vocabulary and using a dictionary.
I am really surprised by all it covers! The Teacher’s Book once again provides detailed information about the concept they’ll be learning as well as lesson information. Each lesson is one page long and has a corresponding page in the Teacher’s Book.

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Other members of the Schoolhouse Review shared their Jolly Grammar and Jolly Phonics review as well. They have children of different ages and abilities, so be sure to check out their reviews by clicking on the banner below!

Talking Shapes is Now Online {Talking Shapes Review}

August 4, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Recently, our youngest son (age 6) has been exploring a familiar phonics program in a different setting. Previously for our Talking Shapes review we reviewed this program as an app on their iPad. Now Talking Shapes: A Supplemental Curriculum for Early Literacy is available online. This phonics supplement from Talking Fingers Inc. is ideal for the Preschool to Kindergarten age range that teaches children that letters are “talking shapes” that stand for speech sounds.

Our previous Talking Shapes review was just over two years ago, and our youngest son wasn’t quite ready for it. Although he has started using it on the iPad, he was really excited for the opportunity to use it on the computer. We have been using it on my touchscreen laptop running Windows 10. The program is accessed online by signing into your account and clicking over to it. The progress is continually saved so you can start off where you left off. We have been using it in Google Chrome. Sometimes it does take a while to load, so I simply let it load before telling Chaz we’re ready to begin.
I personally love the concept of the letter shapes. So many times letters are associated with pictures that don’t represent the letter itself. It doesn’t simply use a picture to represent the letter. It actually creates the letter within the picture. It’s a great way to create a visual while also representing the sounds letters make!

Talking Shapes tells a story of two sisters and how they “invented” the alphabet long ago. It includes seven stories total that introduce all the speech sounds and letters in the English Language. With each story new speech sounds are introduced to build upon what they have learned. The layout is great for reinforcing what they’ve learned while easing into new letter sounds as well.
In addition to learning letter sounds, Chaz has been learning to write the letters as well. Talking Shapes focuses on the capital letters, though, which contradicts most other phonics programs we have been using. Although it is designed as a supplement, I do find it can be confusing if it’s being used at the same time with another phonics program that focuses specifically on lower case letters.

Talking Shapes also offers various activities including putting together 3 letter words using the sounds they’ve learned. There are reading games at the end of each story that offer the opportunity to further reinforce putting together the sounds to make words. Chaz particularly likes the games where he puts together the letter sounds into words because each time it is correct a bird lays a golden egg. If all answers are correct it will complete the puzzle and the babies hatch. If not, he can go back to fix any he missed.
Additionally, there is a game to help reinforce the learning of these words. It will read a story and create blanks one at a time. Balloons with the words fly overhead, and he has to pick the one that has the word. Unfortunately, this proved to be frustrating for him. It was challenging for him to try to read moving words, but it also took a few clicks to get the balloon to pop. I even attempted to have him point it out so I could click on it, but I had the same problem.

Talking Shapes Review

Overall, it was interesting to try Talking Shapes on a computer, but Chaz and I mutually agree it’s better on the iPad. Despite having a touch screen, the only touch features that worked were clicking over to the next page. He was unable to write the letters with his finger and had to use the touchpad. Since that was too difficult he would simply “color it in” rather than writing it. To encourage writing the letters, I would have him write it with his finger first and then use the touchpad. I attempted to follow instructions for resolving these issues as they have been making updates, but they were unsuccessful at this time.
Despite some of the technical difficulties, the program as a whole loaded and ran fairly well. It was nice seeing the story on a bigger screen. I loved that it saved our place so we could simply hop on and start where we left off. Plus, Talking Shapes really does allow children to go at their own pace. Chaz liked to listen to the whole story and complete all the activities and games for that story all at once. It could definitely be broken down into multiple days, though.
I do appreciate the concept and find it’s a great phonics supplement when used at a different time than other phonics programs. I do agree with other programs that lower case letters should be taught first as they make up a majority of our words. Some children may not have a challenge with learning both at the same time. Due to our son’s special needs and developmental delays, though, it’s not ideal to use this program while he’s learning letter sounds and writing lowercase letters.

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Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using Talking Shapes app with their children of various ages and stages as well. So be sure to see what they thought by clicking on the banner below!

Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Review

August 20, 2015 by Emilee Evans

You know when you have that surreal moment when your “baby” is no longer a preschooler. Although we homeschool by calendar year I decided we could transition into Kindergarten for our 5 year old a little earlier, and I was blessed with the opportunity to review the Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Set from Alpha Omega Publications.

The Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Set includes four student workbooks (consumable), four teacher’s guides, four small booklets for reading, a wipe off tablet with dry erase marker and magnets, and an alphabet floor puzzle. I have been using this homeschool curriculum with our youngest son who is 5 years old 3-4 days per week. Each lesson generally consists of reading an Alphabet Poem and Story (located in the Teacher’s Guide) and two worksheets (front and back).
The worksheets consist of a variety of activities including learning letters by sound, recognizing upper case and lower case letters, following simple directions such as circling and underlining, writing letters, recognizing letter sounds at both the beginning and in the middle of words, writing letters, blending letters and sounds, and even creating drawings to complement the letter sound learned in that lesson.

Something about which I was concerned is that our now Kindergartner has fine motor skills delays/challenges like our older two children, and, like our daughter, he doesn’t like to make mistakes. Although we practiced writing skills, it’s still fairly new to him and we’ve mostly practiced lines, curves, etc. to help develop his fine motor skills, but it’s still challenging to him. Like I do with most of what we’re learning, I let them learn and progress at their pace, and I am encouraging him to write the letters but not forcing it. It’s paying off because even if he doesn’t write the letters that day, he will randomly write the letter.
What I love about having a white board available is he can write the letters very large and really start to practice the letters in a way that it is easier for him. It does have the lines, which makes it great for practicing writing within the lines as well, which is great for new writers. I find it is easier for him to hold the marker versus holding a pencil.

Each lesson takes 10-15 minutes, but I break it into two parts because young kids tend to have a short attention span – possibly even more so with him because of his special needs. We have done a full lesson all the way through without a break, and that went OK as well. I find he is really enjoying the lessons. He likes the illustrations and despite not always being able to write the letters, he enjoys circling and underlying and following along with the story.
Each story from the reading booklets supports the letters/sounds we were learning in that lesson. They are repetitive, which is really helpful in learning. I can see he is already recognizing short words like cat, cot, dog, etc. As I read, I move my finger along the words to help him follow along. We also read the Alphabet Poem and Story while we look at the corresponding pictures as well with each lesson.
The student workbooks have perforated pages, so they are easy to tear out. This is really helpful because we can tear out the pages so he can write with the solid table underneath the pages rather than the other pages which would have less resistance.
The Alphabet Floor Puzzle can be cut apart and used as the Alphabet Flow Chart, but the Alphabet Flow Chart can also be letter flashcards, which is something we already own, so I am using them as the Flow Chart. I am going to glue the Floor Puzzle to card stock, which is something I’m needing to do still. For now, we just open it up on the table or floor.

The Teacher’s Guide is filled with helpful information not only about how to use the program and materials but information about illiteracy, phonemic awareness, and learning to read in general. It includes the Scope and Sequence of the program (each Student Workbook has a corresponding Teacher’s Guide). After the Scope and Sequence are the Lessons. Each lesson includes and Overview, Materials and Supplies needed for the lesson (which is great for preparing for the lesson in advance), Teaching Tips, Introduction to the Workbook Activities. The Workbook Activities are described in detail to make the lesson very easy to teach.
Overall, I think the Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Set is a great Kindergarten Phonics and Reading Curriculum. It includes everything needed to make teaching phonics & reading easy! With the great illustrations and rhyming stories, it is a fun and engaging curriculum for young kids.
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Alpha Omega Publications offers a variety of homeschool curriculum. Members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew reviewed curriculum from Pre-K – 2nd Grade. See what they thought by clicking on the banner below!