Home School Navigator ~ REVIEW

 
Several weeks ago I was given a one year subscription for Kaden to use the Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum and Interactive Notebooks from Home School Navigator.
This is a complete curriculum that includes everything you need for a successful homeschool year in Language Arts.  At your fingertips you have lesson plans, videos, printable games and materials and book lists.  

All of this in 36 weeks covering~  
Practicing Reading Aloud 
Reading Skills
Writing/Grammar
Phonics/Vocabulary/Word Study
Handwriting
Independent Reading
Poetry 

There are six different color-coded levels, I liked the idea instead of having grade levels.  You can take a look at the Scope and Sequence Here. 


In the beginning I had access to all levels for the first 4 weeks to figure out the best placement for Kaden.  It was really hard because he is an avid reader, way above his grade level.  Even the Indigo level reading was no challenge, but the work was totally above his level of ability at this point.  So, we decided to start at the Blue level.  But if I would have went by ability to complete the work provided he would have been at level Orange easily.  That's a huge gap, I wish there was a way to have different stages for each of the levels.  Most of the instruction so far have been with picture books besides the interactive notebook.  So far he either has read them or is at least familiar with the story.  Like Goldilocks and the three Dinosaurs and Rapunzel were two of the first books we read at the Blue level.  Below is a quick reference to the Levels....

• RED: Letter recognition and formation. (Approx. K)
• ORANGE Reading simple words and sentences and beginning to write. (Approx. 1st grade)
• YELLOW Reading simple stories and can write complete sentences. (Approx. 2nd grade)
• GREEN Can read short chapter books and is writing longer passages. (Approx. 3rd grade)
• BLUE Reading chapter books and is writing in paragraph form. (Approx. 4th grade)
• INDIGO Can read longer chapter books, critique ideas and write longer pieces of writing. (Approx. 5th grade)

Here is what we will be working on during the first 2 weeks of June.  I like the monthly layout of everything we will be working on ahead of time.

But, I really found it helpful to also start each day of the week with a simple and easy to read to-do list.  You could print these out, but I am still without a printer so I just kept the downloaded worksheets and all right on my desktop for easy reference in the mornings.

Okay, so let me tell you how we used this program.  First off like I said before we are without a printer so we decided to use loose-leaf paper in a binder for Kaden.  I will say in the very beginning I was a bit confused as to where to go and what to click.  But, after a few times I understood more clearly and it was a breeze. 

The beginning you will find a video to the parents and one to the students.  There is also a list of books for every single level for the whole year in the Master Book List.  We have pulled some that we have at home just to read for fun and apply what he has learned so far.  Then each month is a book list, for June we will read independently and start reading Feathers of a Peacock.  Since Kaden has trouble writing and actually comprehending the actual exercises it did take  us a little longer most days.  But, for a typical child I think the work amount is wonderful.  Just enough repetition to concrete the lesson learned but not to much to make the lessons boring.

Most of the books so far have been easily available at our library, at home or read aloud on a video provided by Home School Navigator.  The videos we have seen of book readings have been great.  I love their enthusiasm and all the little extras they share while reading to get the kids thinking and really involved in the story.  Below is a picture of Kaden working on Grammar by rewriting the ending to a story.  This proved to be very hard for him so he drew pictures and then told me his new ending.  Another Grammar exercise was writing with your 5 senses, this was also hard for him to go back to a story and recognize different senses that were being used.  Would a typical kiddo be able to do that around the 4th/5th grade?  More then likely, so we improvised I found one and then he found one and then he came up with a few of his own. 

The vocabulary/word study portion is amazing, working in matching word cards and printable games makes learning fun.  We are keeping all of them in his binder.  Many words surprisingly he knew and could spell correctly.  A lot of the work right now I am having him dictate to me or draw out what he is thinking. 

I am thrilled to see him coming up with things to write and draw.  We have been using the writing prompts given to us each week to write in his writer's notebook.  This is usually so difficult.  Five weeks ago he picked an idea and wrote 6 words and that was it.  This is what I got out of him yesterday.  Still drawings, but there is a complete story behind each of them.  And that is amazing progress to this Mom.

In the 2nd month of the program we began a book study using their Interactive Notebooks. This was really fun, especially since Kaden loves doing lapbooks.  The book the study was on is called The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  It is a book we had and he has already read twice.  That being said he rushed through and completed the whole assignment in just a few days.  It was great review for him and he was excited to fill out all the little flaps.  I liked that it was very sensory friendly.  A lot of lapbooks can be a little overboard with jazz.  This one was not and it allowed Kaden to focus a lot easier.

So, are we using this program the way it was designed, no not 100%.  But, I'm pretty sure we are going to be way better off at the end of these 60 lessons then if we hadn't done them.  I really didn't know where or how to begin to bridge this Language Arts gap.  Will this do it completely?  I'm not sure.  I do think this is a pretty solid Language Arts program, but with a child on the Spectrum with such a huge gap between the reading comprehension and actual Grammar, I'm not sure.  I will be using it until we finish and I'm very interested in some of the other reviews from the Crew to see what they think.

 
A few other really neat things about Home School Navigator is the accomplishment page you can print off each month.  I love the Goal Reviews so that Kaden can actually evaluate himself and make plans for the upcoming month.  I decided to celebrate each finished month with a treat just the two of us.  Here is a picture of us in April.  When we finish this month we have an ice cream date!  You can also choose to upload your kiddo's work onto the site, which can be later compiled and printed out into a portfolio when you have finished the curriculum.  I do not have to track or keep anything to turn in to the state.  But, I know many families have to, so that would be a huge benefit to have that all done for you at the end of the year.  I just keep his work in a binder for now until the end of the year.

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