No Bus 4 Us: Top 10...

I wish I were getting paid for saying the following, but unfortunately...I'm not. Haha! I want talk about one of my Top 10 Curriculum choices. Modern Curriculum Press (or MCP) Phonics. This is what I use for my 1st grader, Emma, for part of her language arts learning.

I like several things about these books. First, they are in workbook form. So there's no need to have a textbook and a separate notebook. This is nice for 1st graders. It helps keep them (aka YOU) organized. It also has colorful pictures on many of the pages...again, perfect for a 1st grader. The book has a multitude of different activities so they don't get bored doing the same exact exercises day after day. And most of all, I like the simple set-up. When they learn a new grammar rule, it is written in a yellow box at the top of the page, for several days worth of activities until they learn the next rule. It helps remind them what they will be doing in that day's activity. This book has several different levels, and even at a higher level my daughter is able to plug along with a bit of help. I was encouraged to choose a book that would be a bit more challenging (or just not so easy for her) so some days have been difficult. On the really difficult days, I just break it up into two days' work. Then it isn't miserable for her or me. =) And it's fine. She's still learning, but she's taking it at her own pace. One more thing I like about these workbooks is that they force the child to read quite a bit. Some days it makes the process a bit tedious and long, so I'll help read the sentence part for her while she follows along, and then she reads the word choices in the box to fill in the blanks. That way she doesn't get too burnt out, but she's still following along and has to read some of the words.

You can find these books at Learning Things, Amazon or even probably Ebay or Craiglist. I got mine through Amazon. I bought mine "used" and they were in nearly mint condition. Don't be afraid to buy some things used. Often times they are practically perfect!

Here are pics of today's lesson for Emma. The quality of the pics isn't too great (I used my cell phone...I didn't have the patience to go get the real camera.) But you can at least see it and get an idea for the style of the workbook pages. I think they're great! And in case you are wondering, I'm using Level C for Emma right now.