5 days of Elementary Montessori: Day 1 Spelling Fun

Welcome to 5 days of Elementary Montessori with Unionvale Homeschool, I'm glad you stopped by. 

Today I want to share a couple of fun ideas for spelling. We don't do a formal spelling program although I am looking into a couple for later in the year. Right now, we play a lot of games with the boys for spelling. 

The favorite is Boogle Dice. 

This simple game keeps the boys focused on what is in front of them and incorporates both boys and a parent to play. 
We have combined 2 Boogle jr. games into a small plastic container.. The rules are simple. Everyone sits together in a circle on the floor. Parent starts, gently tossing the dice on the floor between everyone. Parent goes first and builds a word (no more than 4 letters) using the letters that fell in the circle. The next person buiilds 1 word with the remaining letters, and finally the last person goes repeating the activity. After everyone has built one word and said the word, we look for rules or formulas to discuss and then start round 2. The next round 1 of the boys goes first, usually we go clockwise just to keep it simple. The person that rolls goes first and the game goes around. 

Another spelling activity is movable alphabet races. This is a game Daddy made up for the boys. I gave him a stack of 2nd and 3rd grade Dolche word flash cards and he started calling out the words with the boys, the first boy to spell it correctly got to build it and write it. Since it was a race the boys immediately responded to the competition idea and worked to be the first one to spell the word. 

I also recently purchased an e-book of 101 Ways to Make Spelling Fun and can't wait to put these in the mix of choices for the boys. I love the idea that they have options for meeting their goals.

Come back tomorrow for another episode of 5 days of Elementary Montessori where I will talk a bit about sentence building activities.
Be sure to check out the rest of the bloggers on the Crew Blog Hop by clicking on the button below, 90 Schoolhouse Review Crew bloggers are sharing 5 days of... with a huge variety of topics.

Samson makes learning fun online #hsreviews

Have you met Samson?
Samson's Classroom is a fun interactive learning program focusing on Dolch sight words, spelling, and Reading with comprehension.
Sometimes I think I take our schooling too seriously, thankfully  Samson's Classroom is fun and silly engaging the boys without a lot of stress.
I started out with a single sign on  to give it a test drive myself and the boys, it didn't take long for them to ask for their own accounts. The idea that a single program can incorporate three critical areas of learning in one sure makes this Mom excited.
The prices for Samson's Classroom also excited this Mom. With packages starting at only $30 a year and a family package for $50 I can see the value as this trio of subjects really are critical to successes later in life. Since my oldest is inthe 4th grade, it isn't a program that I will continue much farther with him, but my 2nd grader engaged and enjoyed this program enough that I am seeing his attitude toward reading improve.

The games are colorful and fun as well as encouraging. The boys are eager to do the assignments to earn more chances with the games.

Sight word activities that teach listening and visual recognition also encourage more learning.

More games that encourage learning while improving computer skills.  This game in particular is challenge with the keyboard to move Samson around the board and once all the letters are collected  and arranged into the spelling words.

I know we as a family have been blessed by the change in attitude because of this program, a willingness to learn and enjoy the learning is a such passion for my husband and I.
Don't take my excitement for this program as the final word, check out what the rest of the crew thought, here


disclaimer: I received an online subscription to Samson's Classroom in exchange for my opinion here, no monetary compensation was received. 

Spelling Lists, Definitions, and Games oh My #hsreviews

Vocabulary/ Spelling City has all this and more

Are you looking for a flexible resource for spelling and vocabulary needs? I think I have found the answer to my search with SpellingCity.com 

Reviewing 2 different vocabulary programs at the same time was unique but since they are targeted at different groups and use differing formats I was able to get bits and pieces for both and will continue to use them both. 

That said, as a Mom of 2 elementary aged boys I was really needing something that would work with their various activities, units, books, etc.. So when I came across SpellingCity I was overjoyed at the flexibilty of the program. 

We don't do structured spelling but we do a lot of reading and writing activities. My goal for this year is to make lists of words we have spelling wrong and work on those words for "spelling", but also have a list of "new" words we find when reading a book or working on a new unit, with the ultimate goal being a personalized vocabulary book. 

Vocabulary Spelling City allows us to do just that while making the words into games and activities and giving me the option to create flashcards and writing practice sheets.

For only $29.99 a year for a homeschoolers Premium Subscription, a family with up to 5 children can customize word lists or search the existing lists to find the perfect list for their child. 

There is even a collection of Literature word lists sorted by grade level. 

  Each student can have a personalized log on so their lists and acitivities are personalized. As the teacher you can also create your own lists and save them. 

I am already creating word lists we will be using for some of our upcoming books and units and will be saving them. 

I love the sentence practice activities and flash cards options. I can print in manuscript or cursive depending on which of the boys I am working with or I can save the list and activities to his account so they are waiting for him.

Many of the games (actually I think almost all of the games) can be turned into a printable which is incredible handy since our computer is not near the school work area currently and I don't have the boys set up for internet access on the laptop yet.  There is so much flexibility with this program and for less than $30.00 for a full year access this is a HUGE value.

Don't take my word for it, check out what the rest of the Crew thought about this program 

disclaimer: as a member of the Schoolhouse Review crew I received this product free to review and share my opinion 

Have you tried Spelling City? Share your thoughts in a comment.

Mini Office in a Binder

I love the idea of a mini office for the boys and actually we had them the first year we homeschooled.  Since we aren't using desks and I don't like the idea of them hiding behind a wall to do their work, I am working on mini office binders for the boys.
I remember is school (6th grade plus) I had binder inserts that have all kinds of information on them.; things like Math hints,  most often misspelled words, geography, music , etc...
I am making Cameron's first. He is 3rd grade and so I am including the following:
1: 3rd grade Dolche word list
2: Books of the Bible
3: Months of the Year / Days of the Week
4: Math Symbols
5: Math Facts reminder (addition table and multiplication table)
6: World Map/  US Map
7: Basic Grammar rules
8: Character Virtues Reminder

I will add things as we need them, but for now 8 is a good number and a common set of divider tabs.
I am also including Google Docs links to the files I have created and link backs to those that are online.

Cameron will be decorating the notebook these are going into as part of the New Year's lessons. I really want him to feel a sense of ownership in the book so I will use a 1/2 inch clear view binder that he can decorate.