The Tornado displaying a love of books at an early age.

She’s reading! That’s right; my daughter began reading about a month ago and it has opened up a whole new world for us as a family. Seriously, I finally feel like we can actually do this homeschooling thing now!

Truth be told, I have known that she could read longer than she has known. She mastered her phonics sounds by the time she was three and by the time she was four she had a pretty impressive bank of sight words. And then I would catch her reading random words but when she realized that I was watching, she would ask for help. By the time she was four-and-a-half, she was reading two-syllable words with ease but without confidence. Finally she admitted to me that she did not want to ready because she did not want to be a big girl. It was enough to tell me to slow down and I pulled back opting to take reading step by step and not rush.

Yet, the thought of teaching my daughter phonics, and yes, it has to be phonics as that whole language, balanced literacy crap is exactly that: crap – sent me into a full-fledged anxiety attack each time I thought about it. My biggest fear was that I would miss some crucial element and ruin any hope of my daughter developing a love of reading and words. Oh, I tell you, it was a dreadful experience – thinking about it that is. I spent a month initially scouring online forums, websites, blogs, educational books for the best resources that I could find and then spent more months research as we used some of the materials I found. And in the hopes of sparring any other homeschooling parents this torture, I present for you my list of the Best Teach Your Child to Read Help for Early Learners.

A word of advice: if you use books with a tons of pictures when your child is ready to start stringing sounds together, cover them up! I’m not kidding! Teaching kids to look at the pictures to help with unfamiliar words creates children who can’t read when pictures are not there. It hinders them in the early years and is a serious headache for the parent and teacher.

*This post has affiliate links. These affiliate links are used only when I have actually used the product and genuinely feel that it is worth the cost because we had success. I am not paid to post this and I take time to research all products extensively before recommending them.

Downloadable For Free:

1. Progressive Phonics: Beginner Phonics Books: These FREE books teaching common sight words as well as short-vowel sounds. Includes activity pages and handwriting sheets as well. My daughter LOVES these. It’s one of the few things that she wants to do everyday.
2. Dolch Sight Word Lists: Provides  sight words broken down by age group and allows you to print them as flash cards. You must register for SpellingCity.com but YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY. Stick with the free version and you can Print flash cards for your child and your child can take “tests” and play games.
3. Primary readers containing a complete course in phonics by Katharine Emily Sloan – This, I think, is what sent her into reading territory (well, this and cancelling cable). This is a “whole word” primer with a phonics base and done extremely well. Phonics is boring (for many) and this primer allows children to really feel as if they are reading on their own which encourages them to keep going. Be sure to read the introduction before using it. I also recommend New Sloan readers: containing a complete course in phonics. Primer-, Volume 2.
4. The Holton Primer by Martha A. Holton: for those on a 1st grade level. Fun poems and verse. Not so PC, but great stuff!

Books/Programs

1. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: Simple, short, fun lessons. A little tedious at first but it gets better and more interesting. I never did the handwriting part of the lessons because we do handwriting differently.
2. All About Spelling: Begin teaching spelling the same time you begin teaching reading. It helps. My daughter was able to understand the connection between letters-sounds-words because of this program. We love it.

Ipad Apps Free and Low Cost

1. Sight Words by Little Speller
2. Little Reader: teaches 3 and 4-letter words.
3. Pocket Phonics Lite: teaches letter writing and has word games.
4. Montessori Crosswords by LEscapadou: We love this. The Tornado loved spelling words and hearing phonetic sounds. We still use it.

Now of course there are tons of other resources, but these are what we use and have found success with! What tools do you use to teach your child to read?

I was contracted to create a one-page bio page for Mikki Taylor Enterprises, LLC. I recreated (and adjusted) her current logo to fit the new dimensions of the site and built the minimalistic feel of the site on WordPress using the Thesis Framework. Additionally, this project required some domain name administration including, but not limited to, procuring mikkitaylorenterprises.com.

• Intense Debate
• WordPress Print this Section

The Site

Yakini, of StyleMePrissy.com is a frequent client of mine and a pleasure with whom to do business. She has a very distinct style and wanted her site to match her glamorous taste. StyleMePrissy.com launched in May 2011 is a fashion and personal style blog that focuses on urban glamour, celebrity style, and pop culture. When she launched StyleMePrissy.om, Yakini elected to maintain her familiar brand  image [see prissymommy.com] through the use of the Vector Drawing portrait [see old image below]. However, as a forward thinker, she began to envision a site that was more connected to her love of fashion and glamour.

The Request

When Yakini contacted me she asked me to redesign her Masthead (header) so that is was “simple and sleek” and not as big. She also asked that I tweak her current design [click here to see screenshot of previous design] so that it was wider and included floating social media buttons.

The Work

This site runs the InterPhase Theme from ElegantThemes.com and Yakini was happy with the theme and the general colors. So, for my part, what needed to done was pretty cut and dry.

The Masthead/Header

The headshot that she included had a very sensual feel to it and I felt that only a floral pattern would accentuate its energy. The black background was a necessity but there had to be depth to it as black can sometimes feel too flat. This was done by adding a brownish color to the pattern and adjusting the pressure of the layers (5 in all) to create a textured feel. The lighter pink of the site title needed to stand out more while remaining classy. I also made the header thinner/shorter which helped to soften its look.

Here are the Masthead before and after images:

Old Header vs. New Header

The Layout:

To make the site wider I had to recreate the content area background, the sidebar title backgrounds, and the footer image.  In recreating the content area background, I increased the darker tan right side to accommodate her 300px-wide advertisements so that they no longer hanged off the page. I also darkened the shadow between the two colors to form a more distinctive barrier to aide the eye in breaking up the information. The Sidebar Title background was also edited to remove the original left-border shadow and to replace that with a transparent background to make it fit seamlessly against the right edge of the content area.

Old Content Background vs New Content Background

Extras:

I also removed some design elements that were outdated and/or no long necessary in the updated design. Additionally, I added the floating social media buttons to the left of the site through the use of CSS and hardcoding.

To see this design live, visit Style Me Prissy.

Here’s the Fix

Dorothy Williams Toran was referred to me by Maisha Teacher. I was asked to create a Video Portfolio site for Toran’s new Multi-Media Production company. Despite a few technological setbacks, this Thesis and Word Press powered site effectively highlights Dorothy’s talents as a producer. This was a heavily customized Thesis installation and included several add ons such as business cards, letterhead, invoice template, MailChimp set up and template, and more.

We are learning all about PreHistory and I’ve decided to include as many activities as possible because I love arts and crafts. The Tornado was very interested in how some land was formed from volcanoes, so after watching a short movie about volcanoes on BrainPop, I thought it would be a great idea to build a working volcano. It was a great experience so I thought I would share this How To for when others wanted to build on as well.

What You Need:

For the Volcano Mountain

• Patience
• Empty paper towel tube
• One 1 gallon Ziplock Bag or an Empty Bottle
• Strong tape (We used Painter’s Tape because it’s meant to get wet and sill be sturdy)
• Six strips of cardboard
• Newspaper or Butcher paper or Paper Towels
• One cardboard box or disposable tray
• Plaster of Paris and Water (or paper mache mixture)
• Paint

For the Lava

• Two packets of red Crystal Light, Jello, or Kool-Aid
• Baking soda
• White vinegar
• 2 drops of dish soap
• Patience

Building the Structure

1. Place the ziplock bag in the paper towel tube, folding the top of the bag over the tube so that the bag is open. Tape the top of  bag to the tube. This is for the lava solution. If you are using a soda bottle, you do not need the bag.
2. Stand the tube up in the tray or cardboard box and tape it to the bottom so that it is standing. It’s a little tough, but use as much tape as you need.
3. Use your cardboard strips to add support to the tube by taping them to the tube and the box as if you were making a teepee. Your should have something that looks like a triangle. Again, use as much tape as needed.
4. Stuff crumpled up newspaper around the tube filling the space between the tube and the cardboard strip legs. Use a lot of newspaper as you want the structure to be some what solid and sturdy.
5. Wrap the entire thing with painter’s tape link in the photo above. If you need too, go all the way to the bottom. The goal is to make the base firm.
6. Have your child tear strips of newspaper. You want different widths and lengths and you want a lot. It is better to have more than you need. While he/she is doing that, spread newspaper on the floor  or work surface. The floor worked best for us because we were able to get around the volcano easier.
7. Place volcano on te newspaper you laid out in previous step. Mix the plaster of paris according to directions. Make sure that you make more than you need. I did 2 cups of plaster of paris and that was good. Next time I may do a 3 because we could have used a little more. Remember that this stuff dries fast so work the next step quickly.
8. Working quickly, dip the strips of paper in the plaster mix as you would do in paper mache. Wrap the structure in a circular motion starting from the base and working your way up. Have fun with this. Go in different directions if you want and be generous with the plaster as you want the volcano to be covered well. Don’t worry about smoothing the paper out as no mountain is smooth, right?
9. Use strips to cover the bottom inside of the box. Go over the edged or the box too. You want to create a shell that will catch your lava later on. If you have plaster left and it has not dried, pour it into the box and spread it around.
10. Let it dry. It should only need an hour but you may want to wait over night depending on how much plaster you used.
11. When volcano has dried, it will be completely white. This is when you get to paint and have more fun. We used a combination red, browns, blues, orange, purple, and green to make ours look more realistic. See photo below (she’s tired!).
12. You may want to paint a few coats but I suggest that you let it dry for 48 hours before doing anything.

Making the Lava

I’m probably a little nuts, but I just let my daughter have at it when it came to this part. I put two drops of dish soap and the two packs of Crystal Light in the bag (remember, the ziplock bag from step one?). Then I allowed her to experiment with different ratios of baking powder to vinegar. She had so much fun with this part. I suggest that you put newspaper down to catch any spills.

Truthfully, we did not start out too well. The Tornado was reluctant and defiant at the beginning of the week. I am still in awe of how independent and stubborn she is despite her age. She fights me on everything which is odd because she begs to do schoolwork but then wants to do anything but work when we start. She is really testing the boundaries because in the past I was extremely flexible. Unfortunately, I had to pull back on that flexibility to maximize the hours in the day. I also work from home as a social media manager for several large brands and I have reports and other things due almost daily. With the stressed out days of last year behind us, I am fully determined to get things in order. The Tornado would rather play video games, watch tv, and be under me all day. Of course, that is so not going to happen. I don’t have the strength to allow her to lead her education in full as of yet because I don’t believe she is capable of making those decisions… at least not yet. In other words, unschooling is not an option in our home.

At any rate, things took a turn for the better after I decided to change-up our schedule and do some of the more fun things earlier in the day. Being flexible although stern is something that I am learning but have yet to master. I have mastered, however, the art of revision. Having the sense to know when something is not working is half the battle. With that in mind, we made a few revisions to our first version of the curriculum and I wanted to update our progress so far:

Please note that when possible we use affiliate links because Momma’s gotta make money! If you choose to buy any of the resources here, please do so by clicking through using our links…. Thanks a bunch!

Phonics (Reading)

• Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (TYC) – 5    3x/week; main coursework- We’ve cut back to make room for All About Spelling.
• Explode the Code (ETC) – 3x/week; We do one letter sound a day, roughly about 12 pages. We have completed Book A and are about half-way through book B. She loves this and we have paired it up with TYC and Progressive Phonics.
• NEW: All About Spelling- 5x/week; We love this. It is fun simple and is helping so much!
• Progressive Phonics: For everything! Completely free and full of phonics goodness. The Tornado loves these books so we have added this to the regular rotation. She is completely through Book 1 and almost done with Book 2.

Supplements used on occasion:

• Various Early Reader Books
• Jumpstart.com - Subscription based service that provides a plethora of learning games.
• Your Baby Can Read – really good books, flashcards, and video supplements. We will use the books and flashcards for on the go sight word practice.  We’ve decided to only use these if we have to and only after all work has been completed.
• Starfall.com – free site that we will use when I need to work. The Tornado does not like this at all! She is bored with the games.

Literature

• Calvert: We have the Calvert Curriculum for Pre-K but it has a lot of good material for literature. We will use this as our primary curriculum.
• LibriVox: Free Audiobooks (recordings of books in the Public Domain)
• Various Read-alouds

Handwriting

• HWT K – “Letters and Numbers For Me”: 5x/week Mya has known how to write her letters since she was 2 but she needs a lot of help with writing neater in between lines. We are going to use HWT because it seems like it is the best program. We also already have the chalkboard thanks to my sister-in-law who is a Teacher’s Assistant. This is a necessary evil. The Tornado is not really a fan of the work book stuff, but she loves copy-work on the 2-lined paper. We are plowing through it because it really is helping, but it’s not fun and unfortunately, it’s filled with tears because she is a perfectionist.

Supplements used on occasion (List remains the same)

Math

• NEW: Mathematics Enhancement Programme (Year: Reception)- 5x/week: It was so difficult to choose a math curriculum but when I came across this program, I instantly fell in love. It is free and provides full lessons and worksheets for all grades. The Tornado enjoys it and I think it’s building a good foundation. We started with the Reception year are blasting through it and hope to start Year 1 in January.
• RightStart Math A – 3-4x/week. $45 for the lesson book and $5 for the worksheet book.  No need to by the kit since we have most of the manipulative and/or can buy from teaching store.  Will give an outline for what must be accomplished and will tailor lessons based on strong/weak points.
• Singapore EarlyBird – 1-2x/week. Textbook A & B $22 ea.  Activity book A & B $16.50 ea. Highly rated homeschooling resource that again can offer backbone outline and lesson plan.

Supplements used on occasion  (List remains the same)

Math Reading Books (List remains the same)

Science

• NEW: GeoCaching: geeky treasure hunts
• Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: A Science Curriculum for K-2 by Bernard J Nebel – 1-2x a week. Offers an organized sampling of the many different areas of Science.
• Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum
• More Mudpies to Magnets: Science for Young Children
• Everybody Has a Body: Science from Head to Toe
• Science Discovery- 1-2x a week. Free Web Based Pre-K and Kindergarten Science Lessons.
• Nature Walks

Supplements used on occasion

• Science Arts: Discovering Science Through Art Experiences (Bright Ideas for Learning), by MaryAnn F. Kohl.  $12.89 great lesson ideas that teach art and science at the same time.
• Activities for Kids free web site that provides Kindergarten Science Activities
• Educational Toy Factory another free web site that offers Kindergarten Science Projects.

Logic

• Lollipop Logic: Critical Thinking Activities, 1x a week. $10.36. Worksheets and activities that focus on 7 different thinking skills
• Early Learning Skills (Master Skills)- 1x a week. $6.95 Workbook that used to strengthen thinking skills
• Virtual Perceptual Skill Building Book 1, 1x a week. $25.

History

• Kindergarten Prehistory by Raising Science – this is a $6 curriculum that guides us through what The Tornado will need to know before we delve into history.
• Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of World History

Physical Education

• Nature Walks and Scavenger Hunts
• Swimming (Seasonal)
• Sports Skills and Gymnastics @  The Little Gym
• Bike Riding
• Zumba and other dance classes
• Wii Active Life Outdoor Challenge
• Wii Dance Dance Revolution
• Wii EA Active and More EA Active
• Wii Michael Jackson: the Experience

My daughter is no stranger to death. In 2009 we lost my oldest sister (36) and my FIL in a span of two months. My daughter, at 3, had a funeral dress!

She understand the finality of death and she knows that some people die because they are very sick, some die in accidents, some because others are mean/angry… etc. So her understanding of death is probably so much clearer than that of others her age.

We have spoken to her about race – as an interracial couple it comes up a lot. And because my remaining sibling is in Florida and I am not on speaking terms with my mother, she is usually around my husband’s white/Italian family. She has had some interesting notions about race and we had to address them. But the complex issue of how Racism played into this case is just too much for her to understand.

Nonetheless, I wanted to explain what was going on.

Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Troy Davis was found guilty of killing a police officer although in the years since his conviction there have been many questions about his guilt. Many people feel that he was convicted despite there being doubt. He was given the death penalty which Mommy feels is wrong because no human being has the right to take another’s life. In much the same way that I don’t believe that it is right for me to hit you to teach you that hitting is wrong, I think killing someone to teach that killing is wrong doesn’t make sense. Many people feel like this and have been fighting for Troy Davis’ life. Unfortunately, our government did not fight for him and his sentence was carried out tonight. I am really sad about this. Do you have any questions?

Her: ”I would hate to get dead if I did nothing wrong. Why didn’t they help him?”

Me: “Because sometimes people lose sight of what is right and they allow themselves to be led by fear/anger rather than love and respect.”

Her: “I think love is funer.”

That was it. I am sure she will have some questions as she processes this but I think that this was a good start.

Have you spoken to your young child about topics that are very difficult to explain?

The Troy Davis case has awakened this site. Deneene Milner over at My Brown Baby wrote eloquently about her views on the Death Penalty saying:

But then my brain takes over when I consider America’s dark history of lynching, mutilating and murdering African American fathers, sons, mothers and daughters—all-too-many times for no other reason than because the accused was black and the accusers reveled in the killing. Evidence of wrongdoing was inconsequential. Emmit Till. The Scottsboro Boys. The Brothers Griffin. Those are the names we know. Scores more, we don’t. But their deaths sear my soul.

Her words mirror my sentiment - the Death Penalty makes sense in an “eye for an eye” sort of way. Unfortunately, it is far too easy for a person (especially a person of color) to be wrongfully accused and found guilty. Human beings are fallible. We make mistakes, we are prejudiced, we are irrational, and we are filled with fear. Those traits makes it far too difficult for our Justice System to be flawless. Combined with our country’s history of hatred and our continued systematic racism and classism, there is just no way that the Death Penalty can be a solution. [Read the rest of this over at We of Hue]