I had the opportunity to review two great language arts products this week, and I think you’ll enjoy both of them. If you homeschool, these are wonderful tools to add to your curriculum. If you don’t homeschool, these units provide entertaining and educational after-school activities.
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Apples to Zebras is a new preschool and kindergarten language arts unit from Annette Breedlove was easy to follow and extremely well organized. Each unit followed the same progression, gently building on skills and fueling the child’s confidence. The lessons were engaging and fun, and not overwhelming or intimidating at all.
Apples to Zebras is made up of 9 units, with 3 letters taught in each unit except the final unit (which has the two remaining letters of the alphabet). One letter is learned at a time, then three are reviewed at the end of the unit. The student is given rhymes to help remember the formation (upper and lower case) of each letter, handwriting pages, find-the-letter-activities, coloring pages, activities such as dab-a-dot and cut-and-paste to help learn the sounds, and practice associating the sound with words that begin with it.
Each unit review then goes back over the three letters learned with practice writing; identifying the first letter; beginning sounds; read, trace, build, and write mats; and a fun graph-and-roll game.
At the end of this incredible pack (did I mention it’s over 600 pages long!), there are extra activities including a poster, flashcards, alphabet puzzles, 3-part matching cards, and Q-tip cards.
The unit is a great balance of black-and-white pages and color pages so it will keep your kids engaged without draining color ink unnecessarily.
Battle Cry! by Jan May and New Millennium Girl Books is a fun creative writing curriculum designed with active boys in mind! First, it’s all about battles, which are a natural attraction for boys. Second, it’s interspersed with activities that will get boys up and moving (while still working on their writing project) so they can be ACTIVE the way God designed them to be!
Battle Cry! takes students from the point of sketching out their characters and choosing their physical characteristics and personal qualities as well as their nicknames, skills, and more. It moves them through creating a strong setting, creating and building conflict, and helps them understand how to lead the character through an arc of growth and change.
There is also an opportunity to weave some history into this unit, as they boys can choose to set their character in an historic battle or create one entirely of their own imagining. Literary tools to enhance writing are incorporated like: onomatopoeia, show don’t tell, similes, and comic relief. This course can be used in one 60 minute lesson or two 30 minute lessons per week. It’s perfect for ages 8-12.
Both items are on sale now as part of the Build Your Bundle sale, which ends 5/30/17. You can purchase these plus more than 200 other titles for up to 96% off. Apples to Zebras is part of the Early Learning Bundle, and Battle Cry is part of the Brothers and Sisters Bundle. And, I’m excited to share that I have NEW Bible story coloring books in the Early Learning Bundle as well! Stories from the Old Testament Coloring Book includes stories such as Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the judges, David, Elijah, and many others along with print copywork words or phrases to trace that are perfect for young writers. It also includes Scripture from the ESV to go along with each picture that can be read aloud to bring the story to life. Level A is 303 pages and includes 142 individual coloring pages. Level B is 313 pages and includes 147 individual coloring pages.
Stories from the New Testament Coloring Book includes stories such as the birth of Christ, the calling of the disciples, the feeding of the 5,000, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Great Commission, the ministry of Paul, and more along with print copywork words or phrases to trace that are perfect for young writers. It also includes Scripture from the ESV to go along with each picture that can be read aloud to bring the story to life. Level A is 214 pages and includes 100 individual coloring pages. Level B is 190 pages and includes 88 individual coloring pages. You can see a preview of both of these books at WriteBonnieRose.com.
Take a look at these products and let us know what you like the best about them!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of these books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.