I have mentioned in the past that I use workbooks with Charlie for homeschooling. So I thought I would take the time to share one of the books with you. This way you can decide if what we use would be right for you or not. The workbook I have chosen to share with you this morning is the Comprehensive Curriculum of Basic Skills; Grade 4
Before I share my thoughts with you on this workbook, I would like to let you know I learned something the hard way about this workbook. I try and pick up new ones anytime I see one I don’t have. So the other day Charlie and I sat down to work in this workbook and a new one I had picked up.
As we were working on one of the pages, Charlie says I just did that page. At first, I thought he was mistaken, but as we went on, I knew he was correct. So I opened up both workbooks, and the only difference was they had changed the cover of the book. Now why they did this, I don’t have a clue, but it is the exact workbook. So I spent money on a paper I didn’t need as we already had it at home.
I can look at this in 2 ways one it is a loss as we are already doing this work. Or we can think of it as a refresher course as it would allow me to make sure Charlie is learning the things I am teaching him. Or if we hadn’t already written in it, I could have Gifted the workbook to someone.
So what I have decided is it was Gods would like that we have two of the same workbooks and I put one of them away and will get it out later in the year when we finish the book we are using. Redoing the pages will not hurt Charlie to do the work twice as it will help him retain it more than he does.
Let’s get to the review this workbook has all the subject we need to learn on a daily basis. I chose to have Charlie do one page a day in each section of the book. Depending on how fast the child works they can be done in 30 minutes to a couple of hours. For Charlie, it depends on what we are learning that day as to how long it takes him to get through the book. I don’t rush him I let him go at his speed. For Charlie, if something is too hard, we may take two days to do that page. I don’t want to frustrate Charlie as it leads to a meltdown and then we don’t get anything at all done.
Inside this workbook is a section for Reading being a 4th-grade book usually Charlie can do this section on his own. Although sometimes I sit with him so I can make sure he is doing what the book asks. I like this section a lot as it includes Spelling and I can use the words Charlie is working on on the pages for his Spelling test each week.
The second section is Reading Comprehension, and I am so glad it is inside this workbook as it is one of the things Charlie struggled on in school. There is a story to read followed by questions. Sometimes I read the story to Charlie as he struggles with his reading and other times I let him read it to himself and once he is done I ask him to read it to me.
By using this formula, it has helped improve Charlies reading a lot. Most of the stories we read can locate in the found in our local library which allows Charlie to further his reading. Or we can see the books online at times and read the entire story, and I can make up more questions for Charlie to answer which furthers his learning.
For art, we have drawn pictures from the stories Charlie reads. Or we work on a Craft we come up with together that will enhance the story. Then if possible we find food to tie the story into as it allows Charlie to practice his cooking skills. Sometimes we act out the things that happened in the story as this will enable us to do a Drama Class.
The next two sections are English and Writing and they are two different subjects, and I am so glad they are covered in this book as I wouldn’t know what to teach Charlie without them. By using these sections, Charlie has even been able to explain me things I didn’t know or had forgotten. I like that if we get stuck, the answers are in the back of the book as it allows me to figure out how they came up with the solution so I can explain the lessons to Charlie.
The last section of this workbook is math, and it covers a variety of lessons including Place Value, Estimating and Fractions which Charlie was learning in Public School but needed to work on more. As he struggles with them as do I. Also there is Multiplication in here and Charlie is having trouble learning from 6 and up. So we have been spending time with them every day and he is getting better at them and beginning to do them in his head. For Charlie and I this is a massive plus for me as I didn’t think it would ever happen.
At the end of the book is a Glossary so Charlie can look up words he didn’t know that he runs across in his lessons. Or we could use in Vocabulary or on a Spelling test. Now I can give you a tip the answers to the experiences are in the back of the book, and you can leave them in there if you do not think your children would look at them. Or you can do like I did remove them and place them in a binder. Then in the evenings, I check Charlies work, and if he misses quite a bit on a page, I have him redo it the next day.As I used not to let him write in the book so we could use it in the Future, but since we ended up with two of them, we have been writing in the book. But only with a pencil so he can erase things he does wrong. Which has lead to knock down drag outs as there are days he doesn’t want to look for a pencil even though they are all over our home?
I wish you the best if you use this book in your classroom and you can find these workbooks for different grades at your local Book Store, Walmart, Sams, and even Half Price Bookstores. Or you can find them online on Amazon. If you purchase this workbook using my link, I will make a small percentage of the items you are buying as I am an affiliate of Amazon.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
