Joyful Momma's Top Picks

When I started homeschooling, most of what I read really pooh-poohed the use of workbooks--and probably for a good reason. Most of life is not handed to us in workbook format, and workbooks can be pretty boring. It was not until after I had a rather diffult time with my son, who has some learning disabilities in the reading department, that I began to look for a phonics program that would work for him--preferably not costing hundreds of dollars. While at a local bookstore that carries many homeschooling resources, the Adventures in Phonics workbooks caught my eye. They were simple, yet full of "meat" for teaching phonics. Because I've used Alphaphonics by Samuel Blumenfeld for most of our reading instruction, I was especially pleased to see that it looked like I could easily use the workbooks along side of Alphaphonics. I was almost afraid to turn it over to look for the price, but sighed sweet relief that it was under $10. But, would it help?

Within a few months of using Adventures in Phonics with my then-7 year old struggling reader, I soon was back at the store buying a copy of the appropriate workbook for each of my younger children as well. My youngest is now in the last workbook of Adventures in Phonics, and I can't recommend this enough. No matter how you plan to teach phonics, Adventures in Phonics levels A, B, or C are great for reinforcing the basic phonics principals both for reading and for spelling. I have also used Adventures in Phonics as a stand alone phonics curriculum with my youngest, who has really enjoyed doing her schoolwork.

I especially enjoy the fact that the sentences that are used in the assignments reinforce good character traits and Bible truths.

Any downsides? If I had one complaint it would be that some of the clip art is downright cryptic. We have had many laughs around the table as we all pass the workbook around and try to guess what the picture is using a word that fits into todays phonics rule!! Of course, I do cheat by not buying the teacher's guide, as most of the lessons are self explainatory for a mom who has a reasonable handle on her phonics, but those clip arts have been a challenge at times. ;)

Level A is designed for Kindergarten and is super basic, teaching the consonant sounds slowly, one at a time, and then introducing blends and short vowel sounds before teaching long vowel sounds and vowel digraphs. Level B reviews what was taught in Level A, and then introduces new material. Level C is a year long review of basic phonics and spelling.

If you are looking for a great curriculum for teaching your children phonics, check out Adventures in Phonics from Christian Liberty Press.

Labels: homeschooling, phonics