Alicia Van Hecke

Bob Books Wow!

Book cover: 'Bob Books Wow!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen

This set provides practice in words with long vowels ending in a silent "e" and phonograms with long vowel sounds (such as "oe", "ee", "ea", "ai"). While my daughter was working her way through this set of books, we continued drilling the phonogram cards each day (in a somewhat Montessori style) and discussed spelling rules as they came up in the stories. By the time we got to the later books in this set, Jacinta was anxious (and fairly able) to start reading other types of books.

Reading Comprehension: Stories of the Saints, Volume 4

Book cover: 'Reading Comprehension: Stories of the Saints, Volume 4'
Author(s): 
Elaine Woodfield

Mrs. Woodfield has brought to life yet another collection of wonderful, but somewhat lesser-known, saints through beautiful stories, study questions and other projects that help older children grow to love and better understand these beautiful saints. This collection covers the lives of three canonized Saints and one very holy man who has been declared Venerable: Saint Katherine Drexel, Venerable Matt Talbot, St. Josephine Bakhita and Pope St. Pius X.

An Easy Start in Arithmetic

Book cover: 'An Easy Start in Arithmetic'
Author(s): 
Ruth Beechick

I've really enjoyed using Ruth Beechick's suggestions in this little booklet for introducing Mathematics to my young children. I think she does an excellent job of explaining how children learn and understand Math. She also lays out a very natural way of encouraging an interest in Math. This little booklet, which can be read rather quickly, also includes activities for learning Math from Pre-K through 3rd grade! In Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum, Laura Berquist recommends using this book for Kindergarten.

Wooden Pattern Blocks

Book cover: 'Wooden Pattern Blocks'

These beautiful wooden blocks are about 1/8th of an inch thick and come in six different shapes (each shape is a different color).They can be fitted together to make beautiful patterns and designs. We've been using them for many years and they've been a hit with every one of my children. They're fun and beautiful and promote fine-motor skills, eye-hand coordination (intricate patterns can be too frustrating to really young children) and visualization and thinking skills.

Saxon Math

A Saxon Math book
Author(s): 
John Saxon
Stephen Hake

I have friends who have used Saxon for years and are very, very happy with it. Saxon's circular pattern and constant review is exactly what they love about it. However, it was this circular pattern that caused problems for us. The way Saxon works (someone please correct me if I'm off base here) is that it introduces a new concept in increments, the child works a set of problems that teach a new concept, then spends the rest of the lesson reviewing previously learned concepts.

Skip Counting Songs and Addition Facts Songs

Author(s): 
Richard Demme

Audio tape designed to help children with some addition "math facts" and with skip counting as a preparation for multiplication further down the road. Simple songs are sung without accompaniment to familiar tunes. The tunes are rather catchy and we find ourselves regularly singing them around the house. (Such as the "9s" - 9, 18 and 27, 36 and 45, 54 and 63, 72 and 81, nine of them, round the sun, make their orbit one by one, nine of them, round the sun and counting them is fun). One side of the tape includes all of the songs sung by a simple tenor voice.

First Communion Days

Book cover: First Communion Days
Author(s): 
A Sister of Notre Dame

This book consists of twelve true stories of children preparing for and receiving their first Holy Communion.The stories are sweet and inspiring and present many fine examples of real devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and how real children themselves made their hearts ready for Jesus. Some of the stories are of "little saints" who always strove to do what was right, while others involve children who struggled to overcome tempers, selfishness and other temptations. Two particularly touching stories are about children who received their first communion on their death bed.

First Eucharist Story-Coloring Book

Book cover: 'First Eucharist Story-Coloring Book'

This book presents a beautiful way to introduce children to the mystery of the Holy Eucharist. The text is adapted from The Child in the Church by Maria Montessori. The story on each page presents fodder for discussion as the child colors in the beautiful borders which are rich in Catholic symbolism. My daughter loves to have me color with her - so we've colored in the pictures together as we discuss the content. Also included are information on how to use the book, explanations of symbols, and questions to help in discussing each page.

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