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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 3:06pm | IP Logged
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Ok, I finally got around to actually printing all the things I had saved, including the Pink Reading Kit. I didn't have any trouble printing - other than I may have printed original files that didn't work and have a few error messages - but I have the other ones that she put on the web so I just have to sort out which version is good and which is bad. (I was in a rush to hurry up and download so I wouldn't miss the window when I went out of town and I'm computer challenged so between the two, I really made a mess of any organization).
Now here are a few questions that come to mind to me. I do have trouble figuring out how to put it all together - part of it being my fault. At the time we bought the kit, I initially couldn't read files - and any zipped files were messed up. Karen was kindly trying to send me things one at a time, when we discovered that my e-mail memory was too low for most stuff even if I coordinated with Karen and was downloading immediately. Then she went to the forum option and we didn't seem to have any problem getting those. Now, of course I have a mixed bag of stuff - all thrown in the language part of my Montessori downloads in who knows what order and with those that work and those that don't. I'm currently going back to my stored files to try and find the instructions for putting it together. I have printed out the pics in color and immediately one question comes to mind - the pink card with words looks much bigger than 8 1/2 by 11 and my printer only prints 8 1/2 by 11. I think we're supposed to print on poster board or something but my printer only does paper, not card stock so I guess I'll have to do some extra gluing and hope this doesn't crinkle the paper.
I'm pretty overwhelmed and my youngest is not yet ready for this anyways though my 6 yo and the LD child would probably benefit.
Hopefully I'll figure this out soon enough - perhaps dh will help me later today.
Janet
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 3:22pm | IP Logged
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Well, it's really hard to know WHAT you have and don't have, but they are all in Pictures at the yahoo group in the Photo Albums. I'm not sure if that will help you sort it out 
IMHO and limited experience, I would only make up these materials if you need them immediately. The initial sounds bins are for non-readers and of course they progress through the sounds and then start learning how to recognize words and sounds together by matching pictures to pics, then pics to objects, but they will not be "learning to read" with the pink kit, that comes later after the Blue and Green.
I would definately hook up with Karen if you're having trouble and maybe she just needs to re-send everything. Oh and also nothing prints out larger than 8 1/2 x 11, so maybe your printer needs to be readjusted???
Good luck and try not to stress, it will all come together 
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Meredith
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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 17 2007 at 4:08pm | IP Logged
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So Meredith they are only supposed to be 8 1/2 by 11. If that is the case then I'm ok with that part.
I know files are around somewhere as I did check when we downloaded, I just didn't delete the old ones and poor Karen has spent tons of time with me already trying to send tiny sections at a time before going to the web. I know we can eventually figure this out but if I turn up with truely missing items, I know she'll help me replace them.
My problem with only printing what you need is that I need or will need shortly something for a whole range of ages. The 5 yo will be ready for the pink kit as soon as writing (he uses a pencil in general but I want to see more success with the spooning and do some insets and other writing type things first). If I don't make it now, it won't happen this year. My 6 yo is reading and is ready for the next kit at least and I really think that the LD child would benefit from the next one as well. I may put off actually making the last one this year as the 6 yo and 13 yo LD are at the same level. However, my 10 yo probably wouldn't suffer from a bit of review of advanced phonics so .... It is so hard when everyone is spaced all over the place.
Thanks for clarifying as the pictures of the completed kit (Pink reading pictures 3 looked more like a large sqaure to me and not 8 1/2 by 11 and I thought I needed to have my things print out larger. Glad to know that is not the case).
Janet
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JoJo
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| Posted: Aug 18 2007 at 6:34pm | IP Logged
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I have been tossing up as to whether or not to colour the pictures in or not - and my 13yo thinks I should, and she says she will help.
I started on these the other night, and decided to use watercolour pencils - and this has worked great - it only needs to be very roughly with the pencils, and then just a few strokes with a wet brush just finish off the pictures. I worked through half the Sound Cards (with 8 pics on each card) in well under one hour.
And, like Meredith, I'm only taking doing one step at a time (basically, what we need right now) - it doesn't get too overwhelming then IFMYIM.
Jo
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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 18 2007 at 9:35pm | IP Logged
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Well, I started coloring as well. I finally sorted out my mess (none of it was the PBG material I got from Karen, the mess was all my haphazard storage on my computer - but, yipee, I found everything).
This is what I have found to be advantages of coloring:
- There are a few items that have to be colored - like the colors and you can use the coloring to highlight the one thing. For instance, I don't have to color the whole person in one pic if what they are pointing at is the neck . It sort of draws attention to the neck.
- The coloring does make it more beautiful to look at (even with my terrible coloring skills).
- There were a few pictures that were hard to tell what they were and I could highlight or adjust the coloring. The finch looked like a different bird to us so we fattened it up a bit by coloring a bit outside the lines intentionally.
- In going through everything, I could tell right away a few that I either don't want (zodiac in z I'll replace with zuchini) or that the artist, while good at sketching seemed to mix up her plants and animals. The daisy looked like a lilly so I tried my hand at sketching and pasting over. I think the baboon, one of the birds(the finch) and the walrus (we accented the tusks and colored the ice brown to look like rocks) were mistaken for other animals. I was also surprised that she drew the racoon swimming in the water and the otter just on top of the ground (I would have done it differently). My modified versions are nowhere near as beautiful as the artists, but I think I could eventually get a seed packet or photos for these very few oddities and cut and paste and redo the few charts impacted. For now, my sketches/modifications will have to do. The pic of the lock even confused my husband, so we took a digital pic of a lock we had and then printed it and pasted it over her picture on our master. I'm much more pleased with this than with my sketching attempts.
- Also in going through all the pictures with a critical eye, I found a few things that I knew my children would have trouble with - for fruit, instead of just coloring in the watermelon, I sketched an apple next to it.
It is taking tons of time as I am a very tense writer/colorer and it is very hard for me to see to stay in the lines (not always successful at this) but I am overall pleased and am glad I have the kit. I'm also being a fanatic about the animals colorings figuring I don't want my children to get used to seeing something identified and learn it wrong. I've had all my field guides out and some other animal books. I've even googled for pictures to look at while coloring. I'd like to finish as much of the pink kit as I can so that when I forget how to do this, I can always pull out my pink kit and go - Oh yeah, that is how it is done. If I wait too long, I will go totally blank and the relearning time will be high. I guess I'm a nut.
Janet
Janet
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 2:17am | IP Logged
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Hi Everyone,
Help! I started to print off the green and blue instructions tonight to put in binders. I'm having difficulty with the Blue Reading Kit instructions. The first few pages appear normal, but then further down the pages seem shifted around. For example, there is a box overlapping a diagram, and the title box for one page appears on the previous page. It appears that way when I print and when I view it on the yahoo group website. Since I have had problems printing before, it seems likely that it could just be my computer/printer, However, this seems like much more than a margin problem like I was having before. I'm really at a loss as to how to correct this one. Would someone mind checking the file from their computer and let me know if it looks totally normal to you? I also just emailed Karen with the same question.
Please let me know,
Thanks so much!!
Kristee
ps. is it time for a new computer?
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 3:29am | IP Logged
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I'm swamped too, but I'm trying to do as much as I can a little at a time. I like the kits, and I think it will be worth the time spent when done. I'm especially glad to see the overall procedure of using the materials. I have to say that DH wonders if I'll even use the kits by the time dc's are 4, as in will it be outdated. I assured him it would be fine. 
So far, I've been able to watercolor the pink sound cards. I've also experimented with the watercolor pencils, and was pleased with the results.
I did go back and print the pink sound cards onto 150lb cardstock made for printers. I hope it's not too terribly bad for my printer. (It did make strange sounds.) The watercolor takes well to the thicker paper. I think there might be something more like a 60lb paper that might be better for the printer. I'm not sure what the 150lb paper will do to my rollers. If I'm using 150lb thickness do you think I should still back it with something like a cardstock before laminating it? I haven't been able to find poster board. The size of cardstock also seems easier to manage.
ALmom wrote:
- There were a few pictures that were hard to tell what they were |
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I agree here. Thankyou for specifically noting which pictures. Please share if you find more. I really appreciate hearing your ideas about what you have done to substitute. Would you be willing to share the pictures that you found? There are a few pictures that seemed vague like "wax", "gum", or maybe "jam". Visually the perspective is off on a few, however as a whole, they are so lovely that I think I am going to leave them as is inorder to maintain the overall consistency/style of the pictures. Or else try to make minimal modifications.
I noticed one sentence in particular that I would have written differently. The sentence reads, "A bug is an ant", rather than the other way around (An ant is a bug.) Maybe there is a reason for that. Also, most of the pictures for the sentences only depict one of the nouns. For example, "The pet cat had a hat" only shows the cat. "The hat is on the rug." only shows the rug. "The dot is on the rug." only shows the dot. The ham in the pot is really on a plate. The picture of the red hen that is fat isn't really fat. I'm not sure how concerned to be about this, if at all.
ALmom wrote:
I've had all my field guides out and some other animal books. I've even googled for pictures to look at while coloring.....
Janet
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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 7:09am | IP Logged
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Kristee,
I noticed the same thing about that one sentence. I've thought about simply typing that one differently but haven't gotten there yet.
Let's see what I did - my dh googled for daisy and zuchini and found a source of free clipart
http://www.freeclipartpictures.com/
and we took a digital photo of a lock (I could e-mail the digital photo to anyone who wanted that but it was a simple combination lock on our table). I simply printed these on paper and then cut out a small square and glued it to the original and then, of course, made the copies from there. If I had had a bottle of white out, I would have used white out around the edges as I did get a few "lines" where the square was glued. We fattened up the bird and the Walrus by simply coloring outside the line. With the walrus we emphasized the tusks some and colored the "ice" brown to get an idea of rocks but I really would like a real Walrus. I left the racoon swimming int the water though I'm sure I would have drawn the otter swimming and the racoon sitting on the top of the ground. We did color the ground blue with the otter to give a sense of water. The only fruit I can draw is round, so I drew an apple next to the watermelon and that came out fairly well - but I'm no artist so I don't do the shading and highlighting. My attempt to draw a daisy was pathetic, thus the desperate search and since we found the zuchini there too, we were thrilled.
I have only colored the sound picture box cards and as my laminator is down, I'm not sure when I'll tackle much more of this. I'll let you know. I will say the walrus really bothers me - as does the baboon that looks just like a different kind of monkey we always see at the zoo. I really would like to find substitutes for the racoon and otter but these all are just staying as is for now. I do notice a witch and know I will be trying to change that one - not sure what to yet (maybe a digital photo of our red wagon). I just know my ds was petrified of the Easter Bunny so I don't think that one would be too good for him, plus we tend to be picky at our house over stuff like that.
Janet
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 21 2007 at 12:44pm | IP Logged
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Hi Janet,
Perhaps there would be images at Flickr.com. Type in racoon, and racoon drawing for example, or whatever you are looking for. Google image search is also good, ie for walrus drawings, walrus photos, Arctic Walrus photos, Pacific Walrus, etc. Image search also brings up alot of informational websites. I learned a few things. It looks like Walrus' can live in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic. I saw several photos of them on ice.
Atlantic Walrus
Arctic Walrus Photo
other info See under habitat where it mentions that, "Walrus are considered “pagophilic” pinnipeds, which means, “ice loving”. Pagophillic pinnipeds prefer to haul out on ice, however, they will also come ashore on rocky islands when ice is not available (Reidman 1990).
Daisy Images
When you get the google search results, you usually see thumbnails that you can click on. It takes you what looks like the web page, but also at the top there is a link for page and I usually click on that too. I hope what I said makes sense.
Thanks for the link on clip art. I'll bookmark that.
Kristee
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ALmom
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| Posted: Aug 22 2007 at 6:31pm | IP Logged
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Ok, that brings me to my next question. I have a lot of trouble distinguishing when something is not copyrighted and when it is. I don't want to steal and download stuff if it shouldn't be. Some places state clearly that material has been donated and we are free to copy for our personal use, or like the free clipart - but other places I'm not sure. On the places where things are donated, I notice that there are sometimes copyrights stamped on the bottom of items - now does that mean someone stole it and then posted it on a forum or was it donated and stamped just to make sure folks don't copy and sell? Copyright on the web is confusing to me.
Janet
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 26 2007 at 8:36pm | IP Logged
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I agree, it is confusing. I've always heard that Copyrighted material can be reproduced for personal use, or personal educational use without permission as long as it is not being mass distributed or sold. I would tend to think that would apply to the web where most things probably are copyrighted.
I wouldn't want to advise someone else on copyright laws since I'm not qualified to do so. Maybe someone else who is qualified will chime in. I would be interested to know about copyright law when making origional drawings from looking at published photos.
Kristee
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 26 2007 at 9:50pm | IP Logged
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Today, with my husband, I took a closer look at the Sound Card Pictures along with their identification words. To be honest there were several more pictures and words that seem problematic. Sometimes it is the picture, but other times it is just the choice of words.
It would be a huge undertaking for me to redo them. I have a feeling that this would be just the beginning as there is the rest of the pink kit, and the entire blue and green kits for me to complete. It doesn't seem right. I'm not sure what to do at this point.
Would the excersises still work the same if several of the pictures are just ommitted? I wish there could be a different alternative than for me to have to choose different words, and pictures in place of the ones we have trouble with.
I hesitate to say this because of the tremendous work Karen has put into this, but perhaps she needs to be alerted to some of these concerns so that she can address them.
Kristee
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 27 2007 at 9:28am | IP Logged
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I haven't come across feeling this way at all Kristee. Have you had a chance to chat with Karen about this, I'm sure she would be more than willing to talk. I hope you can work it out as I haven't noticed all these differences, mine turned out great!
Blessings!
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Meredith
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Kristee
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| Posted: Aug 27 2007 at 7:41pm | IP Logged
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Yes, I'm sure something will work out too. Thanks Meredith!
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JoJo
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| Posted: Aug 28 2007 at 8:14am | IP Logged
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I too found some sound card pictures that we would not generally use in our everyday language, however I think that is mainly because of our location - some of the animals and plants, and a few of the objects, are not well known to us.
So, after a bit of thought, I decided to cut and paste, and only select the best six pictures from each set. It's taking a little bit longer to do this, but I think it will be worthwhile.
I'm about three quarters done, plus I've cut out my felt letters for the sound cards, and have done 'sandpaper' letters - using the same sticky felt, but just a bit larger - it was heaps quicker to do than I originally thought. 
Jo
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Meredith
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| Posted: Aug 28 2007 at 9:18am | IP Logged
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Jo, that's great! I does go pretty fast once you get cutting!! My ds is having a great time with ours!!
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Meredith
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: ? for those with Karen's PBG Kit ...
