Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Morning Codes
Morning codes give a child a chance to gain information by reading, even though his skills are still very limited.
The parent sets up a little "scavenger hunt", hiding bits of paper with clues on them. The child decodes the clues and finds or gets a little surprise (a sticker, a coin, a lollipop) at the end.
For instance, for the first game the parent would put a piece of paper with the word "hat" on it on the breakfast table or the child's desk. The child would read it and look about in the family's hats until he found another slip of paper. This one would say "bag", so he would start searching the house for bags and eventually come across a tootsie roll or something. The clues line up with the lessons of the Phonics Reading Program. Depending on your child's age and skill, you might use all four clues for a lesson in one morning, or continue the lesson over several days and make two smaller games.
Lesson 1
hat
bag
Dad’s
hat
cat’s
nap
Lesson 2
mat
pan
fan
ham
can
Lesson 3
Mom’s
hat
pot
mop
hot
spot
Lesson 4
mug
gum
Dad’s
cup
mud
Lesson 5
Mom’s
hand
Mom’s
bag
bat
and cap
dog’s
cot
Lesson 6
red
hat
bed
cat’s
bed
pen
Lesson 7
big
bed
big
pan
big
pot
spot
to sit
Lesson 8
Look
in a big bag.
Look
on the red mat.
Look
in the clock.
Look
in your bed.
Lesson 9
Mom
bakes in here.
Look
by a bike.
Look
by the games.
Take
a look at Dad’s hat.
Lesson 10
We
make ice here.
Look
at page five.
Look
for a lot of lace.
I
can see your face.
Lesson 11
I
say “June” and “May”.
Just
wait.
You
use this to pay.
What
do you use to play?
Lesson 12
You
use this to read.
Look
in Dad’s seat.
What
do you put on your feet?
In
this place is lots of meat.
Lesson 13
You
lay here last night.
Look
to your right.
Look
up high today.
I
lie to the left this time.
Lesson 14
Look
in your coat.
This
time, look below your coat.
Look
for a big bowl.
Look
by the road.
Lesson 15
Find
a few beads and take them to Mom.
Look
for something new in your room.
Look
for something that says “moo”.
Look
in the place you go to see the moon.
Lesson 16
Look
by a big tree.
Where
are you when you have dreams?
Look
for a fake truck.
Drag
the box from the side of the room.
Lesson 17
Look
for something that you catch.
Where
do we keep the cheese?
There
is a bag of chips in an odd place.
Where
would you make a batch of pancakes?
Lesson 18
Look
for something that shines.
Find
all three fish, and the prize will be yours.
Where
do we put those bags of trash?
Stand
by the bush, and I’ll be within your sight.
Lesson 19
Did
someone draw a mean cat last night?
Look
on the lawn.
Where
do we keep raw meat?
Where
were you at dawn?
Lesson 20
Look
in the toy box.
Where
do we put extra coins?
Cross
the room, but avoid red spots.
Go
back to where you began, and hum the “Ode to Joy”.
Lesson 21
How
do you spell your last name?
Look
for something round and blue.
Go
outside and look around the steps.
Now
spell the name of the beast that says “moo”.
Lesson 22
Look
for something that smells good.
Look
for something that’s on a hook.
Look
for a big stack of books.
Find
something soft that you put on your foot.
Lesson 23
Look
at the hood of the car.
Look
for something very sharp.
Find
something that is cold, white, and hard.
Now
go find a deck of cards.
Lesson 24
Look
inside the bag of corn.
What’s
stuck to the bedroom door?
Find
four round things.
Now
find four more.
Lesson 25
Where
does the cat leave her fur?
Look
for something you use to stir.
Get
a sheet of paper and draw a girl.
Turn
around three times with your hands on your mouth.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Mrs. Black's Class - Overview
The Mrs. Black's Class is a set of very short, decodable readings for students who are learning their letter sounds. There are posts for lessons 1-15 of the Phonics Reading Program. Each post is a series of images that can be printed and made into a booklet.
The booklets are not, of course, high quality literature. They let children do some real reading, giving them practice and satisfaction, but kids will need to hear more worthy stories than they are capable of reading on their own. Starting with lesson 10, this program provides simplified pieces of literature and non-fiction in addition to and then in place of the "Spot ran" sort of thing in Mrs. Black's Class. Easy readers should accompany the lessons as soon as children can handle them, and by the time the program's texts peter out, children will (hopefully) be ready to leave such stilted writing behind.
Each booklet has a "cover" page and four to eleven numbered, stick-figure-illustrated text pages. They are meant to be read with a parent, and unlike the text, the titles are usually not decodable. Some students may like the extra challenge of figuring the words out; others may do better if parents read the title.
The booklets are not, of course, high quality literature. They let children do some real reading, giving them practice and satisfaction, but kids will need to hear more worthy stories than they are capable of reading on their own. Starting with lesson 10, this program provides simplified pieces of literature and non-fiction in addition to and then in place of the "Spot ran" sort of thing in Mrs. Black's Class. Easy readers should accompany the lessons as soon as children can handle them, and by the time the program's texts peter out, children will (hopefully) be ready to leave such stilted writing behind.
Each booklet has a "cover" page and four to eleven numbered, stick-figure-illustrated text pages. They are meant to be read with a parent, and unlike the text, the titles are usually not decodable. Some students may like the extra challenge of figuring the words out; others may do better if parents read the title.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
The Races of Men
A piece to illustrate the different races for young children. Someday I hope to add real illustrations. Here is a map:
The Black Men
The
Black Men were the first men on earth.
Their
children made their homes in Africa.
Some
lived at the rocky southern coast.
Some
dwelt just below the hot Sahara.
In
between some hid in the wet forests…
…and
some took over the long-rolling Savanna.
They
were tall or short…
…with
light brown to nearly black skin and curly hair.
They
warred with the beasts of their continent…
…and
drew yams from the soil.
Brown Men
The
Brown Men moved out of Africa.
They
followed the coast of Asia to the great islands of the Pacific.
Some
filled Australia…
…and
some went further East.
The
ones who stayed in Asia knew the Yellow and White Men…
…but
their brothers were alone for many years.
They
hunted the creatures around them and gathered up food for themselves.
They
spoke languages far removed from other men’s tongues…
…and
made music alien to other men’s ears.
Yellow Men
The
Yellow Men moved to the easternmost parts of Asia.
Their
hair grew straight and black and their cheeks grew light.
They
spoke in words like songs…
…and
painted them onto scrolls.
They
built high walls and grand palaces…
…and
carved dragons out of stone.
They
sold rice and silk and tea…
…and
great empires rose up.
White Men
The
White Men spread through western Asia and around the Mediterranean.
They
covered the outjutting Europe and the burning north of Africa.
Their
skin and eyes paled…
…and
their hair grew red and gold.
They
sailed the great sea between their lands…
…and
built castles and cathedrals.
They
drank the milk of cows…
…and
tamed thundering horses.
Red Men
The
Red Men covered the far-flung American continents.
They
had the black straight hair and smooth skin of their Yellow brothers.
Some
lived in the icy north, spearing the huge whales.
Some
moved south and hunted deer and bison, and fed on corn and potatoes.
Where
the sun burnt the clouds or the mountains tore them…
…they
built cities.
They
wore the skins of animals…
…and watched the
heavens.
Why "Reactionary"?
Progress
means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong
turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the
wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right
road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive
man.
- C.S. Lewis
In the last couple of centuries, the West has:
- overthrown every earthly authority previously respected, from kings to priests to parents.
- discarded the morality and way of life that humans have guided humans since they became humans as "outmoded" and "out of touch".
- worked to dissolve every societal institution that tied people together: marriage, parent-child bonds, church, community, and nation.
- made Man (sorry, Human) their God.
- decided that, unlike every other group of people, they have no reason to protect their culture, their homelands, or their children's future. They go beyond transcending these, as the "noble savages" do; people is simply irrelevant to the enlightened Westerner.
We do not need to make more of such "progress"; nor do we need to "conserve" the mess we've made so far. Progressivism and Conservatism are destructive. Reaction is a maligned, and not wholly adequate term (perhaps "traditionalism" is better), but it gets the point across quite nicely.
- C.S. Lewis
In the last couple of centuries, the West has:
- overthrown every earthly authority previously respected, from kings to priests to parents.
- discarded the morality and way of life that humans have guided humans since they became humans as "outmoded" and "out of touch".
- worked to dissolve every societal institution that tied people together: marriage, parent-child bonds, church, community, and nation.
- made Man (sorry, Human) their God.
- decided that, unlike every other group of people, they have no reason to protect their culture, their homelands, or their children's future. They go beyond transcending these, as the "noble savages" do; people is simply irrelevant to the enlightened Westerner.
We do not need to make more of such "progress"; nor do we need to "conserve" the mess we've made so far. Progressivism and Conservatism are destructive. Reaction is a maligned, and not wholly adequate term (perhaps "traditionalism" is better), but it gets the point across quite nicely.
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