I will admit that I have used, bought or seriously looked at almost every Language Arts curriculum.\u00a0 MCT Language Arts, Shurley Grammar, Abeka, Well Trained Mind, Life of Fred, Rod and Staff, Primary Language Lessons, Critical Thinking Co.\u00a0 etc.\u00a0 There just seemed like there should be an easy fix to Language Arts, but I never found one.<\/p>\n
In the end, though, here’s what I would recommend.<\/p>\n
K and 1st<\/p>\n
I think K and 1st should work on phonics and basic writing skills.\u00a0 I, personally, don’t think it works well to add a grammar or writing program to K or 1st.\u00a0 It just ends up to be busy work that you have to repeat in later years.\u00a0 These littles need to learn to read, write their letters and words and very basic summaries.\u00a0 Those skills along with\u00a0 understanding numbers and addition and subtraction, should be the real focus of K and 1st.\u00a0 Even with really advanced kids, like mine, this should be the focus.\u00a0 Let them explore the world around them, let them follow their learning interests, teach them about God’s amazing creation and let them explore. Kids that aren’t allowed to do this, burn out and start to resent school.\u00a0 I did this to my oldest and had to spend some serious time teaching him how to love to learn.\u00a0 Let them be little.<\/p>\n
2nd and 3rd<\/p>\n
Spelling by Sound and Structure<\/a>\u00a0– I really like this spelling program.\u00a0 It still teaches basic phonics and can be independently done, a bonus in my opinion.\u00a0 I continued this program through 4th grade, despite other recommendations.\u00a0 I found that it worked, allowed some independent work and was fairly inexpensive. Only the 2nd grade program can be bought through My Father’s World (link above) so I bought the rest either at Rod and Staff booths at convention or through Rainbow Resource.<\/p>\n Writing With Ease<\/a>\u00a0– I needed some help to teach my kids to learn how to write summaries.\u00a0 I found WWE to be the perfect supplement.\u00a0 I would start with book 2 depending on the child (get the teacher’s guide, too) and do a half a book a year.\u00a0 Otherwise, it would be overkill.<\/p>\n Language Lessons for Today 2nd and 3rd<\/a>\u00a0– We used the book Primary Language Lessons for this stage before MFW had rewritten and repackaged the book.\u00a0 I liked how gentle the grammar was and how it taught my kids to think about grammar and language.\u00a0 I think it gave them a deeper understanding of using language, versus just being able to name the parts of speech.<\/p>\n 4th and 5th<\/p>\n By 4th and 5th, the Classical Educator in me, came to the forefront.\u00a0 I liked the gentler Charlotte Mason for the younger years but felt the need to start slowly amping up my kids education before middle school. Language Arts was one of the places I did that.<\/p>\n Spelling Power<\/a>\u00a0– By 4th and 5th, I just wanted to get spelling done as quickly as possible and move to Vocabulary.\u00a0 Spelling Power helped me to do that.\u00a0 Each year, I would test them in to the appropriate list.\u00a0 Every Monday, I would pre-test them until they had a list of 15 – 20 misspelled words.\u00a0 Sometimes, we went through 5 lists to find 20 words they didn’t know, sometimes, we went through 1. On Tuesday and Wednesday, they did (2) Activity Cards each day and wrote the entire list once. On Thursday, I tested them on their list.\u00a0 Any word they still missed, they had to write 5x, add it to their personal Dictionary ( a notebook they each had with a letter on each page on which they recorded words they had a hard time remembering) and we added it to the next week’s spelling list.<\/p>\n First Language Lessons 3 and 4<\/a>\u00a0– I love FLL for 4th and 5th graders.\u00a0 It added more rigor to their schedule and gave them a really thorough grounding in grammar.\u00a0 I would do a book a year starting with 3.<\/p>\n Now, for writing. I have two ways that I think could work depending on the student.<\/p>\n Writing With Skill 3 and 4<\/a>\u00a0– If you have found that WWE works well for your child, then I would just continue with that.\u00a0 It eases well into Writing With Skill ( which is my favorite upper level writing curriculum) and does a great job also teaching Reading Comprehension.<\/p>\n