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Headsprout Reading Online (and GIVEAWAY!)

August 7, 2008 By AmyA 14 Comments

I used to be a teacher. When I first started college, I really wanted to teach kindergarten. All those cute smiling faces staring up at you each morning, kids who love to give their teachers hugs, I even looked forward to wiping snotty noses. But the more time I spent in those younger classrooms, the less I wanted to teach in them. By the time I finished college, I had decided that fifth grade was the place I wanted to be.

Why? Of course there were a lot of reasons, but the main one was that I wanted kids who already knew how to read. The idea of teaching reading terrified me. All those little smiling faces, with their blank canvases waiting to be filled. What if I messed them up? What if I was UN-successful at teaching reading? I would be responsible for screwing them up, and that was not a mistake I was willing to make. Much safer to teach older children who already knew how to read – and if they didn’t, I could always send them out to remedial reading classes.

Now I have a preschool age daughter of my own, and prior to when we decided homeschool, I was looking forward to sending her to school. I was still terrified of teaching reading – especially to my own children! Now more than ever, I was afraid of making a mistake. Instead, I was perfectly happy to send them off to school to a teacher I knew little about, instead of trusting that God had given me the talent and the tools I needed to teach them at home.

After making the decision to homeschool, it became evident that I was going to have to take the reins myself. And after trying several programs that were unsuccessful in our house, I stumbled upon Headsprout, an online program for teaching reading.

When it comes to teaching reading, I think it technology scares a lot of people. It’s okay to let your children play around on the computer, you know, spend a little time at Starfall or PBS Kids, but to entrust reading to a computer program? Even I was a little hesitant to try it, and I have a very strong background in technology (a Master’s degree in Educational Technology).

There were three sample lessons available online, so I let my daughter try them out. No harm in that, right? Well, she sat down and did all three lessons in one sitting, then asked if she could do more! Since the programs we had tried earlier frequently resulted in tears, this was a good sign. Plus Headsprout was having a great sale (1/2 off the entire program!), so I figured it was worth a try. We bought the program.

The first half of the program is 40 lessons, and the second half is another 40. It is recommended for children ages four through six, although older children would benefit from it as well, even on a remedial reading level.

In addition to the online portion of the program, you are sent a package in the mail, which contains books to read aloud with your child after certain lessons, a progress map with stickers, and a reward certificate.

In each lesson, one or more sounds are introduced and practiced. After five lessons, a book is available that your child should be able to read. Books are also available to print out after subsequent lessons to practice new skills. Lessons also teach sounding out, punctuation, and comprehension.

Each lesson should take between 15-20 minutes, although it depends on the child. We took a little longer than the average time.

Headsprout also recommends doing 3-5 lessons per week. Since we generally school 4 days a week, we did 4 lessons a week in the beginning. Towards the end, we switched to doing a lesson every other day and practicing reading with the Headsprout readers on the opposite days. When we finish the program, it will have taken us about 8 months to finish the entire program.

We are currently at Lesson 72 and I am thrilled with the progress my daughter has made. She is reading very well and this is the first program we have used that did not induce tears every day.

One thing I really liked about the program were the books available to print. Since I had reservations about using an online program, having actual print material to practice reading with helped me to feel more confident about the program, and reading those books together on the couch provided some fun snuggle time for us.

Another thing I appreciate about the program (although my daughter probably would not agree) is the amount of repetition provided. There are games in each lesson which enforce the new sounds being taught. Flash cards are also available after each lesson to provide even more reinforcement, if it is needed.

Overall, my husband and I are very satisfied with the program and with the results we have seen in our daughter. I’m no longer scared of teaching reading because Headsprout has made it easy for me. I would highly recommend the program to anyone teaching reading to their child, either as a base for their reading program or at least for a portion of it.

To learn more about the program, visit Headsprout, and if you are interested in trying it out, I have great news! The Heart of the Matter and Headsprout are giving away a free subscription! If you are interested in trying out this program with your child, leave us a comment and it could be yours to try for free!

Amy is a military wife and homeschooling mom to their four year old daughter. Amy has a passion for sharing the joys of homeschooling a preschooler, as well as homeschooling in a military family. Please visit her at her blog, Allen Academy

Creating a Mission Statement

June 7, 2008 By AmyA 3 Comments

I have been toying with the idea of creating a mission statement for our homeschool. I know why we homeschool, but I thought I would feel better with a defined statement (and of course the implied vision for our future and all that jazz) rather than just a list of reasons we chose to homeschool, a haphazard philosophy of all of the homeschool styles we encompass, and no clear plan of where to go in the future.

Wow. Just typing it out like that stresses me out. I am a planner. I need a list of predefined objectives and goals. I need to know what the average 4 year old should be able to do so that I make sure my daughter is ahead of that list and that no one can criticize me for homeschooling. It doesn’t matter that part of the “flexibility” of homeschooling means I can teach whatever I want and she can be wherever she is. I need to know. And I know I am not the only mom out there who feels this way.

woman-thinkingWhat I don’t know is how we are almost done homeschooling preschool and I still haven’t made a list of goals and objectives (something highly stressed in my teaching background), let alone a mission statement, a philosophy, and a clearly defined 12 year plan. I am living in the now and I think the main reason for that is simple: I’m not sure how to write a mission statement. In the past, I have always entered school districts where it was provided for me – I never had to think it up myself. So now I find myself seeking directions for how to get started.

There are multiple definitions for “mission statement.” Just ask Google. Here are a couple of my favorites:

  • A brief statement indicating who a group is, what it does, and how it serves. It is oriented to present reality and generally is reviewed every three to five years.
  • The needs the organization was created to fill and answers the basic question of why the organization exists.
  • A statement of purpose an organization is to carry out.

Okay. I’m not sure that helps me, but let’s see how that applies to homeschooling. It seems to me that our mission statement should answer a few simple questions: Why do I homeschool? What can I provide that a traditional school cannot? What do I want my children to learn? How can I accomplish that goal?

Here are my answers:

  • loving-momI homeschool because I want to provide stability for my children that the military is not going to provide, because I want to give my children a strong biblical background, and because I want us to be a tight knit family unit.
  • I want my children to learn that God is the most important thing in our lives, followed by family, and then everything else, but I also want them to be strong academically. We plan to pursue an eclectically classical education because I like the idea of learning in chronological order, but I also want learning to be fun.
  • To accomplish this goal, we will include Bible study in our curriculum and lots of family time. I will continually research different methods of teaching, and I reserve the right to try new curriculum and to change my mind when I don’t think our curriculum is working. I will listen to what my children want to learn and pay attention to how they learn in order to make schoolwork for them, but I reserve the right to make the final decisions about what they will learn.

So, I guess that is my mission statement. That is the big picture of what I plan to do, condensed into three little paragraphs, and it gives me a clear idea of where I am heading in the next thirteen (yikes… 13?!?!?!) years. I would encourage you to sit down and answer these questions to create your own mission statement, and remember, you can always change it later. A mission statement is something that can grow as your school grows, and change as your beliefs and your philosophies about education change. Just sit down and start writing!

amyallenAmy is a military wife and homeschooling mom to their four year old daughter. Amy has a passion for sharing the joys of homeschooling a preschooler, as well as homeschooling in a military family. Please visit her at her blog, Allen Academy.