Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Logic of English Foundations Level A Review






We didn't start homeschooling our oldest two boys until they were well into their elementary years. So with my third this all very new to me. This is my first go at teaching reading/phonics and handwriting. I had been worried that I wouldn't be able to have any success and truth be told handwriting had been a bit of a challenge for us. That was until we started working with Logic of English. They sent us Foundations Level A to review.





Included in Foundations Level A:


Foundations Level A Teacher's Manual - a hard bound book with 40 lessons and 8 review/assessment lessons.  This book has each lesson laid out completely. You are told what you need and how to present each concept. There are helpful hints and even additional activities.

Foundations Level A Manuscript Workbook - this is all of the worksheets needed to go along with the course.  It is soft bound with pages you can remove easily. There are also 6 'readers' in the back of the book that are used in the course. - Consumable-

Doodling Dragons: An ABC Book of Sounds - this is a hardbound book used to go over phonics during the course.

These additional products are used in this level along with other levels of Foundations: 


Phonogram and Spelling Rule Quick Reference 
Rhythm of Handwriting Quick Reference Chart 
Rhythm of Handwriting Tactile Cards 
Phonogram Game Cards
Student Whiteboard
Basic Phonogram Flash Cards
Phonogram Game Tiles
Spelling Analysis Card




You will need to supply additional items if doing any of the suggested activities - such as shaving foam, legos, food items, books and other items - most you probably already own.  Of course most of these are optional but make for optimal use of the program. The teacher's manual gives you a heads up so you can plan ahead easily. 

For this review we used it with my third child. He turned five in November and we had been slowly starting to learn some beginning writing and reading skills. I would still classify him as a beginner in writing and reading.

We took our time on the lessons often splitting them up over a week. The teacher text would have us ask lots of questions about mouth formation and how to make sounds. Then we would practice a handwriting stroke ( which is a building block to when we got to actual letters.) I would pull out the tactile handwriting cards and the white board each day for additional practice. This is where he needed the extra work and the mastery approach in this curriculum gave us the liberty to take things slow when needed and faster when things were clicking easily.  We worked at my son's pace because my goal is making learning fun. Adding in the additional activities really helped keep things light. Pulling out the shaving cream and letting him practice handwriting strokes was a huge hit and he has asked to do it many times since.



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Learning the names of the lines - top line, midline and base line


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 Practicing the SWING stroke



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Writing letters in shaving cream 


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 Mom's view as we learn the sounds and strokes for the letter "A" 





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The strokes we learned resulted in successfully writing the letter "A"  


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 Doodling Dragons book time 


I loved the gentleness of this curriculum. The teacher's manual was clear and made it easy to pretty much grab and go. The additional activities have been a hit. My little guy has LOVED the white board and asks to work on that all the time. Since starting this program his handwriting has improved dramatically. I'm so thankful for that. The student workbook is different than I thought it would be as it is worksheets but not a sit down and answer these questions type of thing. The worksheets are used along with teacher interaction. Different but effective. I feel like this is a great beginner place to start and I can see progress because of the repetition. Jace has truly transformed in handwriting and I have a feeling that after we get through the letter portion he will blossom with the phonic foundation we are building. He will be reading like a pro in no time! This curriculum is perfect for preschoolers who have a strong desire to learn and slower kindergarten students. It is also great for hands on learners and parents who want a laid out lesson plan/guide that walks them through. (We FIT in all of these categories !)

The CREW reviewed several products from Logic of English so be sure to click on the banner below to learn more!


Logic of English Review




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