Welcome Kate!!  Although I'm fairly new to actually using the Scaredy
Cat Reading System, I think I can help answer some of your questions.


Level 1 covers learning the letter names and sounds.  If you start
with level 2 you will not have missed anything.  Level 2 starts with
learning about the vowels and flows into CVC words.  Level 1 would be
repetitive if your daughter thoroughly knows the letter names and
sounds.

Whether or not you should stay with Explode the Code, would be a
decision that I would pray about.  In my case, I tried a couple other
methods and when I heard Joyce's workshops on audio, I "knew" that
SCRS was for our family.  I like SCRS because it has fun ways to
solidify the concepts.  I find myself recalling the rules that I've
read about where I can't say that I knew any phonic rules before now.
Well, actually I have always remembered the i before e rule but no
others.  :o)  SCRS just makes much more sense to me then the other
programs I've looked at or used.

Blessings,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings

I AM hoping to learn more through general conversations. My sister-in-law
heard about Joyce Herzog's Scaredy Cat Reading system at a homeschool
conference and she's been talking about it with such glowing colors that I'm
tempted to move from what we've been doing. My dd (4) has been going through
the Get Ready for the Code series this past year. She's learned her letters,
and their sounds, and she can tell you what letter a word begins with. In
fact on Joyce's sight there is a "test" to help you determine which level to
buy and as dd passed the test we're supposed to be moving on to level 2.
Some of my questions/concerns:
1. If we start with level 2 what will we be missing that we didn't get
covered with the Explode the Code series?
2. So far we haven't covered the vowels in the Explode the Code series. Is
that something she needs to have before beginning Level 2?
3. If we start with Level 1 will she be bored because its repetitive?
4. Is she really ready for level 2? She's not even reading 3-lettered words
yet. Just the sounds and recognizing what letter a word begins with.
5. Am I obsessing too much and should I just stay with what has obviously
been working for her?
Reasons for Switching:
1. I've heard that with the Scaredy Cat Reading System that your child will
learn spelling rules and grammer as she begins to read, not afterwards like
so many other programs.
Thanks for listening and thank you in advance for your responses!
Kate

Susan,
Thanks for the inspiration.  I bought and listened to 2 sets of tapes last
summer.  I'm now thinking that I need to re-listen so that I can better
apply some of Joyce's great ideas.  I had so wanted to meet Joyce in person
and hear speak this spring/summer, but God said "not yet" and I'll have to
wait at least one more year.  Thank you for taking the time to respond and
share your ideas.

June--wife to Andy, mom to Rebecca-10, Emily-9, Paul-7, tommy-7, Lydia-5,
Daniel-3, Joe-1, and Abigail-1 month

Kate,
Did you have specific questions about Scaredy Cat or were you just hoping to
learn more from general conversations?

June--wife to Andy, mom to Rebecca-10, Emily-9, Paul-7, tommy-7, Lydia-5,
Daniel-3, Joe-1, and Abigail-3 weeks

Hello, My name is Kate. My husband and I are homeschooling our three
children, dds (2 & 4), and eventually ds (2 months). It was
recommended to me to use the Scaredy Cat Reading System with my 4 yr
old dd. I don't know much about it and I'm interested in learning
more!



Thanks,

Kate

Oh, I forgot!!  I also wanted to share that after listening to Joyce
talk about giving the children those old, broken appliances to fiddle
with, I did it!!!  We had a vcr in the garage to go to the landfill
and it was a rainy day.  The boys were bored so I sent them to the
garage.  They worked on it for 2 days straight!!  Now they are trying
to figure out how to use parts of it to make a battle bot/robot!!  I
have no idea about all that stuff but I have a couple books on hold
for them from the library!!

Joyce would be so excited to hear how she's helping our home right
now!!  :o)

Thank you for the encouragement and ideas for the file boxes!! Here's
what I've made in our home in the last couple weeks..........

a 4x6 file box for math
- index cards with pictures representing the numbers 1-10 for my 4yo
- math flashcards of addition facts for my 7yo
- I also plan on making more fact cards for 9yo twins

a 3x5 file box for alphabet activities
- index cards with the lowercase letters to match up
- beginning sound cards
- I'm thinking of making some word/dictionary/spelling cards as needed

I've been re-listening to all the tapes in the Break Out of the Mold
series.  I'm listening to the one on your worldview right now!!  Boy
would I love to pass this tape out to some of my friends but sadly not
many people I know are willing to "think outside the box".  I've been
gently sharing that concept for several years with my friends and have
yet to see any changes.

And the tape before that was, Lessons I Learned from Potty Training!!
Wow, one statement she made really struck me.  I will paraphrase it
because I can't remember it well enough to quote it verbatim.  She was
talking about some people suggesting punishment for a child that
wasn't potty training.  She said something to the effect of punishment
should be used for direct disobedience and most school issues not fall
into that category.  I know that I am not saying like she said it but
I frequent a homeschool message board where too many mothers have used
school as a means of punishment or been so quick to think that their
children are just being defiant when showing signs of trouble.  Sadly
I was guilty of this at one time but now I know to look for signs of
not being mentally able to do the work versus not wanting to do it.
My twin boys both tend to meltdown in different ways when not able to
handle the work mentally and I'm so grateful that now I know to stop
"forcing" the work at that time.  Very seldom is the issue an attitude
of not wanting to do the work in our home.

I've also made a note to check out the grid paper Joyce mentions and
several more of her items at the Chattanooga curriculum fair.

Just so excited for the renewal of God's desires in my home that have
been brought about by Joyce's tapes and products!!!  Couldn't help
sharing!!

In Him,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings

Sharing about Joyce's ideas is what this group is all about so it is within the
law, though I appreciate your sensitivity towards this area as many Christians
treat copyrights and such very lightly.

Do you mean index card files?  We have used them in the past many different ways
but I don't think I have taken full advantage of them.  One of my sons developed
a "spelling dictionary" in his box.  But this wasn't very helpful because it
required too much hand maniputation to use it effectively and this is a struggle
for him.  Another child used it with days of the weeks that he would put into
order.  This next year, this is more of the type of work I am going to do with
the box.  We also keep a few of the word cards they are working on in their
boxes, it keeps them handy.

I also recently finished listening to the same tape.  It is refreshing and
challenging.  Consider this a chat about what we heard!

Concerning review, I have often faced what Theresa shared and more so as I have
struggling academic learners.  It came to the point that I hesitated taking
breaks AT ALL.  This past year, we hardly took a week off at Christmas.  I think
this was also a mistake.  We are all tired right now.  I know that schooling
year round works best for us, but we also need the break times, so I am going to
plan our schedule accordingly.  I think the key is to not feel like the children
(or I) can just jump back into the same level or schedule.

Grateful for your sharing and reminders,
Carolyn

Carolyn

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I'm listening to Joyce's tape, Start the Year Out Right, again!  I love the ideas that she shares on it.  One of them is using file boxes.  Has anyone heard her speak on this topic?  I'm not to sure about sharing the ideas here.  Would it be like plagerism? 

 

Anyways, I have a question regarding the file box ideas.  Would you have a file box for each child?  Each idea that she shares?  Can anyone answer this question?  *smile*

 

Susan

wife to Ron

Mama to 6 blessings

 

 

 

 

 

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I posted about my version of the Beginning Sounds Game on Joyce
Herzog's message board.  June asked me to post the picture to the
group.  I saw that the group allows photos so I posted it there.  Go
to the Yahoo group page and click on the link for photos.  It will
bring up a thumbnail size which you can click on to view it bigger.

Hope this helps!  We LOVE the game!!!!

In Him,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings

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I posted about my version of the Beginning Sounds Game on Joyce
Herzog's message board.  June asked me to post the picture to the
group.  I saw that the group allows photos so I posted it there.  Go
to the Yahoo group page and click on the link for photos.  It will
bring up a thumbnail size which you can click on to view it bigger.

Hope this helps!  We LOVE the game!!!!

In Him,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings

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I posted about my version of the Beginning Sounds Game on Joyce
Herzog's message board.  June asked me to post the picture to the
group.  I saw that the group allows photos so I posted it there.  Go
to the Yahoo group page and click on the link for photos.  It will
bring up a thumbnail size which you can click on to view it bigger.

Hope this helps!  We LOVE the game!!!!

In Him,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings

Hi,

We recently took a couple of weeks off for vacation and I have heard
Joyce say many time that when you start back you will need to start with
review.  Our first day back I was trying to get our daily structure and
routines back in place so we spent a good deal of time doing his morning
routine and subsequently explaining why each component was important and
needed to be done before learning times could resume.  Then, after
breakfast, our normal "downstairs routine" and then what we call Prayer,
Praise and Worship.   After spending an average amount of time in PP&W,
we moved straight back into our math curriculum and because there was new
concepts introduced just before our vacation I sat with him through 90%
of the lesson.  When he got to the section of the page that was addition
or multiplication review, I felt he could just do those on his own.  I
was wrong.  Even those concepts that I thought he had down were so cold
and distant that he took longer to do the other 10% of the worksheet than
both of us had worked on the 90%.  Just those things took most of our
first day.

The next day we went back to flash cards for math and I discovered
several that consistently gave him trouble.  It was definitely and eye
opening thing to realize how much review needed to be done after a
vacation and how important it is to go through flash cards regularly to
catch those facts that give him trouble.

How do each of you start back to learning after an extended absence?

I know Carolyn is on an extended vacation right now and will welcome your
help and comments when she gets geared back up to start in July.

Theresa

       ¸...¸ __/ /\____ ____
    ,·´º o`·,/__/ _/\_ //____/\
     ```)¨(´´´ | | | | | | | || |l±±±± |
     ¸,.-·²°´ ¸,.-·~·~·-.,¸ `°²·-. :º°As for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord....

________________________________________________________________
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I just started to use this resource a couple of months ago.  My idea
originally was to write out all of the goals best suited for Tommy and post
it on the wall of our dining room(where much of our school work takes
place).  This appeared too time consuming and I simply paper clipped the
pages in which I have some goals marked.  This is not the most efficient
method, and I too would like to hear better methods for implementing Luke's
School List.

When I started contemplating Tommy's list of goals, I thought of the idea of
Joyce offering this product on CD Rom.  If it were offered in this format,
the parent could pick and choose which goals are relevant for her child and
have them printed out on one sheet of paper and post it.  It would also seem
to be easier to keep long-term records of previous goals reached.  I'm far
from a computer programmer and have no idea how to carry this out, but just
thought I'd throw the idea out there.

June--wife to Andy, mom to Rebecca-10, Emily-9, Paul-7, Tommy-7, Lydia-5,
Daniel-3, Joe-1, and Abigail-3 weeks

I just started to use this resource a couple of months ago.  My idea
originally was to write out all of the goals best suited for Tommy and post
it on the wall of our dining room(where much of our school work takes
place).  This appeared too time consuming and I simply paper clipped the
pages in which I have some goals marked.  This is not the most efficient
method, and I too would like to hear better methods for implementing Luke's
School List.

When I started contemplating Tommy's list of goals, I thought of the idea of
Joyce offering this product on CD Rom.  If it were offered in this format,
the parent could pick and choose which goals are relevant for her child and
have them printed out on one sheet of paper and post it.  It would also seem
to be easier to keep long-term records of previous goals reached.  I'm far
from a computer programmer and have no idea how to carry this out, but just
thought I'd throw the idea out there.

June--wife to Andy, mom to Rebecca-10, Emily-9, Paul-7, Tommy-7, Lydia-5,
Daniel-3, Joe-1, and Abigail-3 weeks

Thank you for the welcome to the group.  At Carolyn's suggestion, I'd like
to expand on my bio a bit.

This April Andy and I celebrated 12 years of marriage.  It was a very
subdued celebration as our anniversary was 3 days after my due date and 6
days before Abigail's birth.  We've been officially homeschooling for 5
years and are very grateful for all of God's blessings (sometimes hidden
ones) along our endeavor.

Joe is 1.5 and wants to be involved in everything his siblings are doing.
Daniel turned 3 today and is fascinated with picture books.  After Andy or I
read his bedtime story, he'll start at the beginning and intently examine
each page thoroughly before turning off the light.  Lydia is 5 and eager to
learn anything I try to teach her.  Tommy is 7 and has a beautiful spirit of
joy and forgiveness.  He too is eager to learn.  This is a blessing since he
often needs concepts presented in different ways several times.  Paul is
7(almost 8) and enjoys hands-on projects with his dad the most.  It's
becoming easier for him to sit and do "desk work" (actually table work) and
we're now able to introduce some of the traditional type of school work for
him.  Emily is 9 and has a compassionate heart and gentle spirit.
Academically she is quick to pick up on new concepts and loves to take
rabbit trails along the way.  Rebecca has a big heart for her youngest
siblings and is a big help to me when I need someone to entertain or comfort
one of them and am already in the midst of something else.  She has a black
and white view of how things should be and won't tolerate the gray areas.

That's a nutshell version of our family.  I look forward to getting to know
the rest of you.

June

Have any of you used Luke's School List?  The last few days I have been able to
go through sections of it.  I am evaluating what I know that my children know. 
I am seeing the wisdom in this product and that I need to use it more
effectively.  I am realizing that I have a tendency to just go on to the next
page in our curriculum rather than really evaluating the next need of my child.

I would love to hear how you have planned goals for your children and how to
keep those front in your mind as you juggle teaching with the rest of life.

Carolyn

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June,

We are very glad you are joining us.  We pray that it will be an encouragement
and blessing to you as you will be to us.  I would love to hear about the other
children as well!

Here is June's introduction:

Hello,
I'd like to intoroduce myself.  I'm a homescholing mother of 8 children ranging
in age from 2 weeks to 10 years old.  I became familiar with Joyce's teaching
several years ago as I began researching how to best reach my son Tommy who has
Cerebral Palsy and learns differently than some other children.  Once God led me
to read Learning in Spite of Labels, I was hooked and read all of her other
books as well.  I've enjoyed learning from other parents via the message board
on her website for the past year or so.

I do agree with the guidelines presented in the intro letter and look forward to
interacting with other homeschooling moms.

May God bless you all abundantly.

June


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Susan, welcome to our small, but I hope growing group.  We look forward to
sharing with you.

Here is Susan's introduction:

I read the guidelines and am in agreement with them.  I'd like to join
the group for support in using the Scaredy Cat Reading System as well
as be encouraged in following my God given instincts in schooling my
children.  I have read Learning in Spite of Labels and listened to a
whole bunch of Joyce's workshops on tape.  I have levels 1-3 of the
SCRS as well as the character songs on audio and the Bible verses for
copywork.  Oh, I also have Single Serving Recipes!!

My name is Susan and my husband is Ron.  We have 5 boys ages 19, 9, 9,
6 (7 in 2 weeks) and 2.  Our daughter is 4 years old.  We've been
homeschooling for 8 years, graduating our oldest son in 2001.

I borrowed a Joyce Herzog workshop tape from a friend and that began
my interest in her products.  My twins have several challenges in
learning and Joyce's wisdom is deeply appreciated.

I look forward to learning from others on the group.

Blessings,
Susan
wife to Ron
Mama to 6 blessings


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I enjoyed reading your biography.  What a blessing to start off right with your
schooling experience.  Do you ever feel that you or your son is missing
something that you shouldn't be by following the path you are on?

Next year I want to use Luke's List more.  I think it will help me see all that
we are doing and be aware of the next step.

Have a great Resurrection Sunday!
Carolyn

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In "Secrets Teachers Never Tell" Joyce makes reference attention span of
children changing as they approach vacations and holidays.

In the past, I have rarely mentioned when we are going to take a break from
school.  We even had a weird Christmas one time when it worked well to go until
the 23rd and then just take two days off before resuming--it happened to reflect
my husband's work schedule that year.

We school year round with a month off sometime around when we take a family
vacation.  This year I feel like a longer break would be beneficial as we have
our family trip and some new floors put in our house, and maybe get a few other
house projects done.  Then, time to plan school, and some time not to do
anything (well, you know what I mean :).

My questions:  Is the anticipation of the children worth announcing the expected
time off.  Is the break from school beneficial for the review time you have to
do (with my children, that is a lot of review).  I have tried just doing a
little skill practice over break, but it never ends up being little. What have
you done?

Thanks for your thoughts,
Carolyn



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We are getting ready for a science fair.  I am starting four weeks in advance
this year while we try to maintain some other skills.  The hardest thing is to
have the children select projects they can actually do on their own.  They have
very interesting ideas but are bigger thinkers than doers.

Sher,  I wanted to let you know a little about myself.

Trevor and I have been married for 25 years this December.  We have lived in the
West Coast states plus Montana as my husband went from a computer field, to the
pastorate, and back into the computer field.  We have five children ages 7 to
20.

Our 20 yo daughter is now taking college classes after 12 years of
homeschooling.  She is achieving very well.  The teachers love having her in
class because she wants to learn.  Our 17 yo son will graduate this Spring from
our school and attend college next year.  He was my most reluctant but very
capable student but finally the pieces fell into place his junior year and he
reads and writes more than I ever asked him to.  This mom is still surprised
that he wants to major in English at college!  I highly recommend homeschooling
through high school--you definitely get to see the fruits of your labor.

Our next two sons, 13 yo and 12 yo, are the ones that brought me to Joyce
Herzog.  Our 13 yo is dyslexic and the 12 yo is brain injured and this affects
all of his academic skills.  Both of these boys are bright but their minds just
don't work in the same way as most textbooks would require.  I never used a lot
of textbooks but I have to guard against accepting the world's criteria for
smart.  One blessing of homeschooling is that we can stop to master a point and
my sons have never felt dumb.

By divine appointment, I first met Joyce at a homeschool convention in Montana. 
I appreciate her approach that makes sense to the child, gives direction to the
parent, and is God honoring.  We love Scaredy Cat Reading System.  I have reread
Learning In Spite of Labels multiple times.  We use other products of hers but
these are my favorites.

Our youngest child has caught onto everything academic extremely quickly once he
hit six years of age.  It was great to have the freedom to wait for the maturity
to  come.  It has been a refreshing time for me after working with two children
who have struggled so much.  This 7 yo considers school a game.

As we homeschool year round,I am in the process of deciding what we are going to
do next year.  We will finish this year in May with a trip to Yosemite.  I am
considering focusing more on our relationship with one another.  We have worked
hard at learning some skills and I think it sometimes crowds out the
relationship aspect.

Take care and let me know what you are doing in your learning time.

Carolyn



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Sher, welcome to our group!

Here is her introduction.

My name is Sher I am the happy wife to Bill.  We have 7 children
together
and are waiting our second grandson...due yesterday.  I like the
"unschooling idea"  yet don't want my children to feel that they are
the
rulers.  I found this group looking for groups on "Spirit lead
learning"...Lifestyles of Learning and Wisdom Ways of Learning...I
haven't learned enough about them to see if that is what I am
looking
for
but I am very interested.  I have heard of Joyce Herzog and read
parts
of
her book "Learning In Spite of Labels"...I agree with what I have
read.
I also been to her websight and love the titles of her books "School
in
a
Box", ect...Although haven't yet purchased them.  I really feel I
need
more information.  We have only been homeschooling for 3
years...before
that we were Christian Schoolers...good but not Best... :-)

I have read and agree with your guidelines.
Sher