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Alphabetter is an "alphabetic mastery program," if you will. It brings us a unique visual approach to alphabetizing, beginning with the mastery of the alphabet (?without having to go back to 'A' to get a running start?) and alphabetizing through daily practice, or what the Alphabetter refers to as "daily learning vitamins."
Alphabetter is a 192-page spiral-bound book of 16 drills, 12 pages each. It is a nice quality book with thick, colorful paper, "quick-keys," and an "achievement record," which is great for tracking successful completion of drills. Letter Groups: Levels 1-4 cover eight overlapping groups of five letters each to span the entire alphabet. Level 1 introduces the letter groups a b c d e; d e f g h; g h i j k; and j k l m n. Level 2 introduces the groups m n o p q and p q r s t and reviews the groups from Level 1. Level 3 introduces the groups s t u v w and v w x y z and reviews the groups from Levels 1 and 2. Level 4 goes over reviews and provides additional drills for all letter groups. (The purpose here is for students to master the alphabet and not have to "back up" to find out where they are.)
Next Letter/Preceding Letter: Levels 5-6 give one-letter prompt drills for students to come up with the next letter in the alphabet (Level 5) or the preceding letter (Level 6).
Relative Alphabetical Position: Levels 7-8 These levels help students start to rapidly recognize which of two different letters comes nearer the beginning of the alphabet without having to recite the intervening letters.
Alphabetizing Letter Groups: Levels 9-12 These levels really help students get a grasp on speed; become fluent with two-, three-, and four-letter blocks or groups; and recognize the alphabetical order of letter group 'trios' or 'triples.'
Alphabetizing Word Lists: Levels 13-14 These levels give practice in the alphabetizing of word lists, organizing word lists, and building accuracy.
Reference Book Format: Levels 15-16 These two levels are arranged like dictionary pages. They promote the skill of using key words.
These drills are very simple and short and easy to use, and the goal time is four minutes or so. Each level can be completed in a different time frame. While you may have one child who masters level one in two days (you don't HAVE to go through each worksheet to complete each level; you, the parent/teacher, decide when mastery is achieved) or it may take all 12 worksheets for another level. A Scripture verse at the bottom of each worksheet, by level, gives an example demonstrating that these drills are worth learning, because God has included some of these same subjects in His Word. The same verse is repeated on each page of a particular level, which aids in memorization.
These "daily learning vitamins" are great, short warm-up and daily practice exercises to sharpen skills. They are a great foundation builder. They have really helped in our homeschool with the sharpening of alphabetizing skills, and they are a drill and "sharpener" of the brain. We definitely recommend this product! These skills will be used for a lifetime!
Stop by www.skillsmadesimple.com to see all the offerings of The Providence Project, and tell them The Old Schoolhouse sent you!
-- Product Review by Lisa Barthuly & Family, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, November 2005
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