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Meredith
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| Posted: July 14 2007 at 6:59pm | IP Logged
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Anyone contemplating these that she's offering through her online class to us newbies?? It looks very tempting as I have only compiled a small portion of my Pink Materials thus far. Love to hear your thoughts... 
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Meredith
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 14 2007 at 7:04pm | IP Logged
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I am debating this. I downloaded some free pink series cards when my ds started reading three letter words on his own. He wants nothing to do with them  . He prefers to read off handwritten index cards. I'm not sure if that's a phase or what... so I can't decide if I should buy the set. It does look like a good deal.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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Meredith
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SeaStar wrote:
| He prefers to read off handwritten index cards. |
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Can you color code them pink??
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Meredith
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Mackfam
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I am seriously considering these. I'm not really hip on having to color the illustrations. Don't get me wrong, I'm really fairly artsy  , but I'm feeling more lazy than artsy these days. KWIM? Still...the price is just awesome, and they go with the albums she is presenting. And...my dh thought the deal sounded great...so I'll probably be purchasing the set through her. I'm actually kind of excited about them! Maybe the coloring will give me something to do over the next few weeks. 
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Jen Mackintosh
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AndreaG
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I really like the look of the drawings- but haven't been able to work the kits into my budget, I have a bunch of pink reading stuff from mm_share already. But since she made the sets digital and lowered the price, I am looking at it more seriously. It is low on the priority list for me though, beneath R&D manuals, puzzle maps, grammar solids etc.
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Andrea
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Meredith
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| Posted: July 14 2007 at 7:56pm | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
| Maybe the coloring will give me something to do over the next few weeks. |
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Well, I'm sure you could come up with a few helpers That is MY plan 
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Meredith
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Kristin
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| Posted: July 15 2007 at 2:17pm | IP Logged
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I actually took the plunge and ordered these. Will be sitting down to really get a grasp on what I need to do (for pink series) this afternoon. Looks like it will take a fair amount of work to sort it out, but once you have the hang of it I imagine it gets easier. I'll get back to you on this later!
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Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y  , Rose 8y  , Dominic 2.5 y  , Oliver 16m 
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 15 2007 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
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I will be anxious to hear what you think of them, Kristin. Like Meredith, I have no adult help during the week, so I don't know if I want to tackle another big organizational project- coloring, sorting, laminating, etc. Might have to wait until after we get moved. And dh will be leaving for China next weekend, so I will be two weeks on my own with the kids. On the bright side, I"m giving him a list for my continent box!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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SeaStar
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Does anyone know- will we be doing Language next in class? also, for the small objects, has anyone purchased object sets from M-n-Such or M-Services? I have a lot of shaped buttons and beads I can use, plus stuff around the house, but I still wonder if it would be helpful to buy one of these sets.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Kristin
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I purchased a set of objects on ebay from a lady who homeschooled her son and was finished using them. They were collected by her personally, which I'm sure took A LOT of time and energy, not to mention the money in vested! I feel very fortunate to have found this set and think it is very helpful to have them delivered to your door if you can afford it! I'm sure others have ideas on how to get around buying them ...
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Kristin
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As for Karen's P/B/G series set, there is no question in my mind that it is a comprehensive set of reading materials! I think that they're going to be great! 
However ... I just finished looking through the Pink materials and am feeling more than a little overwhelmed. This is going to be a sizable project, one to be taken in bite-sized pieces! For example, from what I can tell the lovely, hand-drawn pictures will need to be colored not only once but three times (at least for the pink series)! There are about 200 pictures in the pink series, so that means 600 little pictures to color!  I have always liked coloring and I am the kind of person that derives enjoyment from detailed, methodical work but I must admit that this is more than a little daunting! The set is sold with master copies of the pictures; you need to make 3 photocopies of them in order to make your set of materials. I thought about coloring the first set and making color-copies of those but imagine how much that would cost?! It seems to me that, under the circumstances, leaving the pictures uncolored is a viable option!
There are a couple of other things that have left me feeling overwhelmed.  To begin, I cannot find the photos of completed materials she mentions on the website. Having a picture to get my bearings would make a big difference! Also, she mentions materials lists on the website --- I don't see these! There are definitely detailed instructions on how to make the materials and the presentations are here, but materials are not listed separately. I'm finding myself reading through trying to figure out exactly what I'll need. I need boxes and bins, but what size??? Black felt, white felt ... but how much?  A materials list would be really helpful!
I plan on contacting Karen tomorrow to see if I'm missing something ... or if something is missing! 
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Meredith
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Kristin wrote:
... To begin, I cannot find the photos of completed materials she mentions on the website. Having a picture to get my bearings would make a big difference! Also, she mentions materials lists on the website --- I don't see these! There are definitely detailed instructions on how to make the materials and the presentations are here, but materials are not listed separately. I'm finding myself reading through trying to figure out exactly what I'll need. I need boxes and bins, but what size??? Black felt, white felt ... but how much? A materials list would be really helpful!
I plan on contacting Karen tomorrow to see if I'm missing something ... or if something is missing! |
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Kristin I found them in the Photos section and they start with the "Sound Bins" photo with an "r" on the front,and there are about a dozen or so photos of the whole set-up!! I printed it out so I would be able to *see* how she is labeling everything and what I will need. It's basically the "jewelry boxes" (like Andrea has done so beautifully ) and the various objecs. I plan to have my older two children do the coloring and I will make color copies at home. Karen was SO helpful with me when I emailed her about them yesterday, she repsonded right away. I'm thrilled not to have to make these up myself at this point, it's a bargain! There is no reason why you couldn't just start with one set (Pink) and then add in the others later when your dc have progressed!
HTH a little. I'm excited to get to the Language Album too
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Meredith
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Meredith
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Kristin wrote:
| I purchased a set of objects on ebay from a lady who homeschooled her son and was finished using them. They were collected by her personally, which I'm sure took A LOT of time and energy, not to mention the money in vested! I feel very fortunate to have found this set and think it is very helpful to have them delivered to your door if you can afford it! I'm sure others have ideas on how to get around buying them ... |
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Wow! That's awesome, I never thought of checking ebay It sounds like a great addition!
Seastar wrote:
| Does anyone know- will we be doing Language next in class? also, for the small objects, has anyone purchased object sets from M-n-Such or M-Services? I have a lot of shaped buttons and beads I can use, plus stuff around the house, but I still wonder if it would be helpful to buy one of these sets. |
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I have been *collecting* various and sundry items just from around the house thus far, but I am pretty sure I will need to supplement either from the dime store (dollar store) or the M-n-S kits as well!
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Meredith
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SeaStar
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Thanks for the information, Karen. It does look like a very complete set, and as Meredith said, it is nice not to have to try to create all this yourself.
I have to think about this some more. I have been collecting objects, too, but at times robbing various toys of their little pieces. Think the kids will notice the farm cow is missing?
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
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Kristin
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Meredith, I can't seem to find the "photos section". Did you order all three (P/B/G)? If so, where in the big stack of papers? Lucky you that you have a color copier at home! We have a black and white, but maybe one of these days!
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Meredith
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Here is the link I have for th Photos sections. And then there was an email she sent with the instructions/directions with the "offer" for this week. Does that help??
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Meredith
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happymama
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Just a personal note, maybe not very helpful - but I certainly won't purchase Karen's sets. My 4-year-old is a very good reader so far (2nd-3rd grade level), and all we used were:
the phonics book by Dolores Hiskes
object boxes (with objects from montessoriservices, but this activity was very easy for him)
home-made flashcards of digraphs
sight-word flashcards from Target
sandpaper letters
a box of "letter books" from discovery toys
It required very little preparation work from me. Now that i'm doing Karen's album class, I've gotten a few ideas on pre-reading activites for my 2-year-old, and I like the "secrets" game for teaching my 4yo how to read to himself. And we'll do the grammar lessons. But I didn't like the choice of pictures because I thought several of them were vague (I'm looking at the picture thinking, what is this?) and small, and wouldn't look too great if I spent time coloring them, either. Obviously if I have a child who really struggles with reading I will do more of the lessons as needed... maybe i just got "lucky" with kid #1?
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Kristin
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Meredith, I went to the link you posted and put in a request to join the Yahoo group. Not sure if this will work, however, as I'm not attending Karen's class. Thanks for your help. I'll be giving her a call tomorrow and I'm sure that we'll get things sorted out!
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montessorisbev
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I don;t know too much about the pink/ green and blue picture sets. I think the pictures would be helpful though. My older son ( now 5 years) reads fluently at 2nd grade level, and while I did some of the Montessori based activities with him, I did not use the picture cards - just made him read the words. From that experience, I would not do them with my younger one who is already reading the CVC words well.
As far as objects for the phonics boxes, I got this idea while clearing up my kitchen yesterday and I found a whole bunch of plastic cookie cutters and play dough cutters in various shapes that I was giving away to Goodwill - These will make the perfect objects for my object box or even some to match my reading cards.
I also wanted to share this link
http://www.lessonsense.com/phonics/flashcards.html
I used pictures from this link ( you get both b/w and colored) to make my beginning sound flash cards.
Hope this helps
Bevelyn
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Kristee
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The P/B/G series is new to me. Was that used by Montessori or is it just a really successful method? I've heard of Explode the Code, but the P/B/G kits seem so attractive to use. So, I'm considering buying Karen's.
I have a question and a thought about the coloring. Is it even necessary to do the coloring? I'm not sure that I would be happy with the results if I used colored pencil. I would try watercolor. Watercolor could be tricky to control, but a dry-er brush (one with less water) on a thicker weight paper would probably do fine. Even reg. printer paper on such a small surface area would probably work fine. For me, it would be a faster way to add slight color without the hassle. Sounds like it is a bargain, I'm curious about what similar kits usually cost and if they are they the same as hers?
Kristee
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4Real Forums : Nurturing the Years of Wonder
Topic: Karen's Pink, Blue & Green Kits
