Logic of English: Essentials (Schoolhouse Review Crew Review!)

We received this for review purposes!

 Product Links: Essentials 2nd Edition

Vendor Information Link: Logic of English

Age Appeal: ages seven and up

Format: student workbook, hardback teacher’s book, flash cards

Price: Please visit the website for current prices and options.

Are you looking for a comprehensive language curriculum for your family?  Logic of English Essentials Second Edition, Volume 1, could be exactly what you’re looking for.  Essentials covers reading, spelling, phonics, fluency, grammar, and vocabulary.

In this volume there are 15 weekly lessons, which are divided into five lessons per week.  The set includes:

• Essentials Teacher’s Guide, Volume 1
• Consumable Student Workbook, Volume 1
• Consumable Spelling Journal
• Spelling Analysis Card
• Phonogram and Spelling Rule Quick Reference
• Morpheme Cards, Set 1
• Spelling Rule Flash Cards
• Grammar Flash Cards
• Basic and Advanced Phonogram Flash Cards
• Phonogram Game Cards: Bookface and Manuscript or Cursive
• Phonogram Game Tiles

Our Experience: 

B and C have some problems spelling, because we have yet to find the program that works best for them.  I was excited to try using the second edition of Essentials. 

It was a little overwhelming when the box came in the mail.  But after looking at the Teacher’s Guide, I understood everything and it was easy to teach the children.  The lessons were completely written out, so I couldn’t make a mistake teaching.

The weekly lessons were divided into five days of fun.

• Day One has “Essential Concepts” with new phonograms, exploring sounds, and new spelling rules.
• Day Two has “Building Words” with review, spelling analysis, and spelling journal.
• Day Three has “Words in Context” with review, grammar, and dictation.
• Day Four has “Words in Action” with review, vocabulary, dictation, reading, and composition.
• Day Five has “Check Your Understanding” with basic review and great review to make sure all concepts and words have been learned.

Each lesson has three different levels, so I had B and C each work on level two.  It was challenging for C and good review for B.  I wanted both of them to have a solid foundation.  Each day’s activities took a while, but I felt they were getting a solid spelling foundation. 

Mama’s Thoughts:

• This is a great program.  I really appreciated the all of the detail in the teacher’s book.  It told me everything I needed to do to teach the children.  We have a busy life, so it was nice having a program all done for me.
• B and C enjoyed the different games.  One of their favorite things to do was making words with the Phonogram Game Tiles.  They made their names, phrases, and spelling words.
• I thought each daily lesson took too long (around 45 minutes) for B and C.  They were used to lessons that took around 15 minutes.
• I know that the lessons took a long time, but I think that all of the concepts that are learned are really important.  It’s important to learn the spelling rules and the different phonograms.  If children learn these concepts when they are younger, they will be consistantly strong spellers when they are older.
• I like how each of the weekly lessons has three different levels.  This makes this program great for families who have children at different levels.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 12, officially in sixth grade):

Logic of English Essentials was not my favorite way to learn how to spell.  Each daily lesson took approximately 45 minutes, which was way too long for me.  I liked the games, like Phonogram Bingo.  I liked making words with the Phonogram Game Tiles.  I spelled my name and "I love reading."  I liked the "Plurals Practice."  For example, it was fun figuring out if the picture showed bag or bags.  

I wouldn't recommend it to people who learn better with short lessons.

 C’s Thoughts (girl, age 10, officially in fourth grade):

I liked the Phonogram Game Tiles.  The teacher's book has instructions for sections that the student book doesn't have.  l liked the Phonogram Bingo game and the other games.  I liked the compound words, they were fun to do!

I think this product would be good for kids my age and youger.

Dad’s Thoughts:

Dad was not available.

Mama recommends to your homeschooling family!

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Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive from Logic of English (Schoolhouse Review Crew)

We received the complete set of Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive for review purposes!

Product Links: Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive - Complete Set

Vendor Information Link: Logic of English

Age Appeal: ages 4 to adult

Format: The Complete Set includes 1 printed Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive Student Book, 1 Cursive Handwriting Quick Reference, 1 Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive Tactile Cards, 1 Student Whiteboard- Full Size

Price: As of May 9, 2014- $65 for the complete set

Are you struggling with your child’s current handwriting program?

Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive teaches letters with a multi-sensory approach.  The student will learn the strokes and verbally say them as they trace the letters on the tactile cards.  They will then write them in the Student Book, where there are different line sizes.  There are instructions listed for students of different ages and other ideas for handwriting practice.

Our Experience: 

B has wanted to learn a different style of cursive for sometime, so this review was perfect for him.  C wanted to try it out too.

We did not work on the lessons as described it the book, because B is a fluent reader and did not need to learn the phonograms.  He only needed to learn his letter formations.  For the swing letters (i, t, u, etc.), I give B the tactile card, then we would say the steps (long and short versions) to make the letter aloud.  He would then write the letters in his workbook.  There is the option to write different sizes of letters.  He did them all.  He wanted the practice.

The instructions state that if the student is over seven (he is ten) he/she can either write two, four, or all the letters based on one stroke per day.  Since we use a learning style that is based on short lessons, B worked for fifteen minutes per day, five days a week.

After B had finished the swing letters, he worked on the curve and loop letters on his own.  He had a difficult time with the curve stroke.  He practiced that stroke again and again on the whiteboard until he perfected it. 

He now does the steps of each letter by himself and then does them in the workbook.  He is still doing all the line sizes.  I often circle his best letters as I did in the beginning, but his letters are so uniform that it is difficult to choose which is the best.

C is really into her own cursive handwriting program, but she thought she would give this program a try.  She worked on the letters i, t, u, s, and j.  She enjoyed saying the steps and writing the letters of the Student Whiteboard.  

Mama’s Thoughts:

• The Tactile Cards were really nice.  It could be helpful for many children if they can feel the letters as they are saying the steps.  B did not actively use the cards.
• I was grateful that the program included the different strokes, like curve, role, slash, and others.  B needed it to learn how to make the curve.
• The Student Whiteboard was perfect for C’s use and for the times that B needed extra practice to learn a specific stroke.
• I am glad that a secondary student book only costs $15.  It is more cost effective for large families.
• I was very thankful for the instructions in the book.  They helped know exactly how to teach the program.
• I was so excited when I saw how diligently B worked on the lessons.  I have never seen him work this hard on handwriting lessons.  He will spend more than our allotted fifteen minutes if he is having fun and is not distracted by other things.  I feel that this program is one that he will be able to continue and grow with.

B’s Thoughts (boy, age 10, officially in fourth grade):   

I really, really liked Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive.  I had been wanting to learn this type of handwriting for quite awhile.  I think this is a very good product if you want to learn this style.

There was only one thing I didn’t like and it is this: I think it could use a small teacher workbook, so that the teacher doesn’t have to look at the book when you are writing something.

My favorite letter was B.  This style of B is very different than other ways I have learned.  B was my favorite, because I liked the way it looked (see the photo below).

I think this product would be good for kids of all ages.

C’s Thoughts (girl, age 8, officially in second grade):

It was fun to do the letters for Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive.  I did the letters i, t, u, s, and j.  I used the Student Whiteboard.  It was fun.  I liked the tactile cards.  I liked them, because it helped me to write the letters.

It is good for kids my age and older.   

Dad’s Thoughts:

Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive by Denise Eide is an interesting program using systematic phonics, phonograms, reading, spelling and handwriting to learn how to write in cursive. She breaks it down into the strokes for each letter and says that starting with cursive writing is easier than starting with printed writing. It's a different concept than what I grew up with but I have learned over the years that changing your perspective in the way you do things can have significant improvement with your results.

I see improvement with B's cursive handwriting using Denise's method. She's onto something good with Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive and I recommend you giving it a try even though it's probably not the way you were taught handwriting. Be adventurous and try something new.

Mama recommends Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive!

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The Logic of English Essentials (Schoolhouse Crew Review)

We received The Logic of English Essentials from PEDIALEARNING INCORPORATED for review purposes.

                           

Product link: Essentials

Vendor Contact Information: Logic of English

Age Appeal: six-years-old and older (adults included)

Format: Teacher’s manual, student workbook, Basic Phonogram Flash Cards, 2 decks of Phonogram Game Cards, Spelling Rule Flash Cards, Phonogram & Spelling Game Book

Price: Hardcover Teacher’s manual-$95, a student workbook (cursive)-$25, Basic Phonogram Flash Cards-$18, The Phonogram and Spelling Game Book- $25, and two phonogram game card sets- $10 each.

The National Reading Panel has identified five parts of reading instruction: Phonemic Awareness, Systematic Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary Development, and Reading Comprehension.  The Logic of English Essentials program includes these aspects with spelling, grammar, and writing to gain the full experience.

There are games and activities included for those who need more practice.

Our Experience:

B and C have never had a strong spelling program.  I thought this program would be good for teaching phonograms and spelling rules, so they would have the knowledge to be strong spellers when they are older.  I also thought it would help C to become a stronger reader.

C was the one who primarily worked on the program.  B would play some of the phonogram games with us.  He would also go over the Phonogram Flash Cards and Spelling Rule Flash Cards with us.  I would quiz him to make sure he knew how to spell the spelling words.

C and I started using the program the way it was suggested for six and seven-year-olds.  The total time for each day was 30-60 minutes and we would do it five days a week.  We used that schedule for the first couple of weeks.  I found though that it was too long for her and she wasn’t remembering what she was learning, so we made our own schedule.  We would work for 20-30 minutes a day for five days a week.  We were able to practice the phonograms, play games, learn the spelling lists, and more.  I was very pleased with the progress C made.  I plan on continuing to use the program during the school year.

I Liked:

• I liked all of the phonogram games and spelling games.  I found that the phonogram games worked better than the phonogram flash cards for C.  She had problems with all the different sounds the vowels made and the games helped her memorize the sounds.  Our favorite game was “Dragon.”  It was played like “Old Maid.”
• The workbook and the teacher’s manual worked together very well and I never had any problem knowing what I needed to tell C and she could get to work right away filling it out.
• C was always willing to work on her lessons.  I had a fun time watching her face as she grasped a new concept.
• I liked the inclusion of grammar.  It is so important to learn grammar and this was a good program to teach all the important parts of speech.
• I thought it was great that this program can be used for ESL students, adults, and struggling spellers and readers.  Everybody can learn.
• The section on composition was especially important to me, because it really helped C to combine everything she was learning.

I Disliked:

• It took us a lot longer to do a lesson with the suggested schedule.  We made our own schedule and it worked very well.

What B (boy, age nine, officially in fourth grade) Liked and Disliked:

• The length of the lessons were good.
• The games and activities were fun.

What C (girl, age seven, officially in second grade) Liked and Disliked: 

I liked the phonogram games like “Rotten Egg” and “Dragon.”  I liked the phonogram lessons, where I learned the phonogram sounds.  The sounds they make were interesting.  My favorite spelling rule was, “Q always needs a U; therefore, U is not a vowel here.”

It was good for kids my age and younger and older.

Dad’s Call: 

Dad was unavailable for this review.

Mamma recommends The Logic of English Essentials Program.