Chapter 5 — Language Arts

Carschooling Resources by Chapter

Here are some of the many resources mentioned in the book, “Carschooling” to enhance learning language arts on the road!  The products listed here are linked to our Amazon.com affiliate to make purchasing them a snap!

 Chapter 5 — Language Arts

* Franklin Spelling Ace – Hand-held, battery operated device designed to help check and correct spelling. Provides definitions of words, synonyms and antonyms. Also contains eight word games including Hangman, Anagrams, Word Jumble, Word Flashcards, and a Spelling Bee.

* Leap Frog’s Turbo Twist Spelling and Turbo Extreme Handhelds – Designed for elementary school ages, it can also be used (with dignity) for remedial work by high-school students and adults. Other variations include vocabulary and math.

* Jay O’Callahan – storyteller extraordinaire with titles for all ages including:

* Jim Weiss – offers a huge selection of fairytales, myths, mysteries, and condensed literature on tape, including:

Audiobooks

* Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey – the hilarious antics of a very large family. Appeals to all ages 5 and up.

* Chronicles of Narnia – This classic, and beloved collection of seven fantasy books by C.S. Lewis include: The Magician’s Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; The Horse and His Boy; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; and The Last Battle. Available in several audio versions – one of the best renditions is a recent unabridged release (Oct., 2000) that brings the tales to life. Listeners of all ages will fall under the spell of the mystical land of Narnia, where good and evil battle among mythical creatures.

* E.B. White wrote some classic children’s books that are available on tape and CD from bookstores and libraries. Titles include:

* Hank The Cow Dog by John Erickson – Some of the best family listening you will ever experience is this series of tales about Hank, The Cow Dog’s adventures as the head of security on a Texas ranch. These stories of dogs, owners, ranch life, and animals are pure fun for the kids, and the subtle social commentary will have parents in stitches as well. Here is just one great story from the series:

* Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling – The unabridged audio versions of this massively popular series are available at bookstores and libraries. The titles include: Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, and Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire.

* Indian In The Cupboard series by Lynn Reid Banks – This popular series of books are about a boy who discovers that his plastic toy Indian comes to life when locked in a medicine cabinet. The unabridged tapes, read by the author, are great listening.

* James Herriot stories are autobiographical accounts of the life of a country veterinarian in England beginning in the 1940’s. Titles include: All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, The Lord God Made Them All, It Shouldn’t Happen to a Vet, Only One Woof, and The Christmas Day Kitten.

* Lost On a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler – The true story of a 12-year-old boy’s harrowing ordeal and triumphant survival.

* Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls is the touching story of a boy and his dogs. Be prepared to pull over at the end of the tape to have a good cry.

* Whirligig By Paul Fleischman – The story of a young boy whose deadly error in judgment takes him on a journey of atonement through which he discovers the preciousness of life.

* English from the Roots Up: Help for Reading, Writing, Spelling, and S.A.T. Scores: Greek Latin by J. K. Lundquist — study Greek and Latin roots of English words and improve vocabulary and spelling. Comes with flash cards that can be used in the car.

* Container of Magnetic Letters – that kids can use to practice ABC’s and spelling in the car.

* Magna Doodle comes in two sizes, one of which is a small, travel version. Consists of a magnetic drawing board, and an attached wand-type writing/drawing device. Put the wand on the screen and create words, sentences, poetry, numbers, pictures and more. There is a new and improved toy called Doodle Pro Basic from Fisher-Price that your kids will love to play with in the car.

* Mad Libs® – by Roger Price and Leonard Stern is a simple and fun game that can be played with two or more players. In it you will find stories containing blank spaces where words are left out. One player, the READER, selects one of the stories. The Reader doesn’t tell anyone what the story is about. Instead, the Reader asks the other players, the WRITERS, to provide words. These words are used to fill in the blank spaces in the story. To play, the Reader asks each Writer to call out a word that is an adjective, verb, noun or whatever part of speech the blank space in the story needs. The Reader writes the words in the blank spaces in the story. After all the spaces are filled in, the Reader reads the story out loud — usually with very funny results. Over 50 different versions!

* Funky Phonics by Sara Jordan – This song cassette (or CD) and book teach reading readiness skills with phonics and whole language.

Find more Carschooling Resources

Note: Only about 5% of the resources mentioned in the book “Carschooling” were sent to the author as free review copies. As such, the author was under no obligation to write a recommendation. She simply tried them with her kids, enjoyed them, and decided to share them with the readers. The rest of the 95% of resources mentioned, were purchased by the author for use with her own family, or recommended by other carschooling parents.  The author received no compensation for mentioning the resources in the book.