Pata Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Hey all I am trying to plan out next year and I keep changing my mind on the LA part, so I thought I'd ask for advice. Right now we are using Sonlight LA1 along with ETC 1-3. I love the creative assignments and ETC, but I would like a more structured approach to LA. So here are the options I have come up with... 1. Stick with Sonlight's LA and ETC, just add in Growing with Grammar (I'm not sure that this will solve the problems I had with LA this year) 2. Switch to Rod & Staff 2 (I'm not sure that dd will be ready for this and should I continue with ETC?) 3. FLL with ??? (I'm not sure what to add to FLL to make it a complete LA program, I'm leaning towards SWO B, ETC 4-6 and I don't know what to do for writing) So what do you all think?? What has worked for you? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks--Paige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenKitty Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I am planning on FLL and ETC. Possibly adding in SWO. I've never even tried SL, so I can't help ya there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanie Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 For mine in 1st we did FLL, ETC, and SWO. They also did ZB handwriting book. My 2nd grader is doing R&S 2 now and it's not difficult. We do most of it orally, having her only write a few sentences per day. If your 1st starts the 2nd now, then next year for R&S3 may be a little tough. You can always slow it down, but I feel R&S 3 gets pretty demanding. I have to modify that as well for my 3rd grader b/c he get overwhelmed and started to hate grammar. I can't speak on GWG or SL, but I loved FLL, ETC, and SWO. We also did short copy-work sentences for variety. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Well, the really important things for a first grader to accomplish are learning to read (and enjoy it!) and strengthening his/her handwriting skills. FLL is good and alot of it can be done orally. I wouldn't consider it essential, but it's fun if you have the time to fit it in. ETC is good, too. I love R&S but I personally would not start a first grader with it. Second grade is just right to begin R&S... maybe even third if the child still needs to work on phonics and handwriting. These are my favorite LA resources for that age: absolute favorite - My Father's World First Grade (it is a complete program including a thorough LA program, but also includes math, Bible, science, art...) Handwriting Without Tears Explode the Code Phonics Pathways Alpha Phonics First Language Lessons copywork from easy readers and Bible verses - unless using the copywork in FLL. I also like GWG very much. We dropped R&S for awhile and tried GWG. My son really liked it. However, about mid-way through the book (he was using book 3), I went back to R&S because he understood the way that R&S explains things better, I found that I like having him keep an English notebook rather than just doing workbook pages, and he didn't seem to be retaining the info. in GWG as well as with R&S. I haven't used GWG 1/2, but think I would prefer FLL. We love the poems in FLL and the CD that goes along with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 SWB posted that her new writing book along with FLL would make a complete LA program for grammar age kidlets. Having not used either, I can't tell you about them. Perhaps someone else can. We tried R&S 2 and 3. My kids hated it. Too wordy in the explanations and too much writing of exercises. We switched to GWG4 with greater success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 If you use FLL, SWO and ETC- SWO has writing prompts in SWO B. For my dd7 in first we used FLL, SWO, OPGTR and now in 2nd we're doing the ETC books. I think it's important to figure out what type of writing program you may use and when with consideration of your child's learning style and your teaching style. What your position is on learning grammar, with considerations of a foreign language if you wish to do that at an early age. What experiences the veterans have had with the programs you think you may use- when they started them and what they would change if they were to do it over again. I'm still trying to figure stuff out for LA! Hope this helps, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 We are in 1st this year. We are using FLL, SWO, and finished OPGTR in the fall. My girls love FLL and after taking a break from SWO while we finished OPGTR, they love that now, too. I look forward to seeing SWB's writing program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 SWR and handwriting will be enough for us in 1st and 2nd grade. I'll add R&S grammar in 3rd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 If you use FLL, SWO and ETC- SWO has writing prompts in SWO B. For my dd7 in first we used FLL, SWO, OPGTR and now in 2nd we're doing the ETC books. I think it's important to figure out what type of writing program you may use and when with consideration of your child's learning style and your teaching style. What your position is on learning grammar, with considerations of a foreign language if you wish to do that at an early age. What experiences the veterans have had with the programs you think you may use- when they started them and what they would change if they were to do it over again. I'm still trying to figure stuff out for LA! Hope this helps, Jessica, Thanks for the post, I had a few questions though. Why do you say I should take a foreign language into consideration in choosing grammer. We will be moving oversees and my dd will be learning another language. How should this effect my grammar choice? Should I back off on english grammer or hit it harder? And one more, what are the writing prompts like in SWO? Thanks again, can you tell LA is not my strongest subject, give me science or math please! Paige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 My ds did FLL, Explode the Code and Phonics Pathways as his LA base. I didn't have him do the written work for FLL. My 9 yo did the program SWB recommended before FLL came out (the name escapes me at the moment) and for us it had far too much writing, IMO. However, if you have one who likes to write, that could be different. Ds is an auditory learner, so FLL works well for him. We're not even doing the written work in Gr. 2 because I prefer to keep grammar oral until Gr 3 (personal opinion, not shared by all on this board, lol!!!). Ds is still doing ETC, plus spelling, Phonics Pathways (because he won't say he can read until he's finished the whole book) and reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narrow Gate Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Reading: read aloud daily to mom (library books) Spelling: SWO Grammar: we dropped grammar this year in favor of starting in second Writing: lots of copywork (poems, Bible verses, passages from different books) Poetry: we also do some poetry memory work It has worked well for us so far, and it costs very little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 If you're taking a foreign language, knowing English grammar will help when learning about the foreign language's grammar. It gives a point of reference. French nouns are just the same as English nouns but French verbs are different from English verbs...etc. (just an example pulled out of the air, this 'example' is not entirely correct) If your foreign language lessons deal more with vocabulary and oral activities, English grammar is not a big deal. When you start learning to read and write in a foreign language, English grammar knowledge becomes more important. This is why public schools keep foreign languages in high school instead of starting them earlier, most public school students are being introducted to grammar in middle school and the first 2 years of high school. (Based on experience and local schools in our area- sorry about generalization) High school foreign language classes are taught by a fluent teacher who keeps the classes moving forward in an oral way while the students learn how to put sentences together, it is not until college level that many get into the nuances of the foreign languages' grammar and is able to write compositions in the foreign language or translate long excerpts. BUT as homeschoolers, we can move along at the pace of the student and give them more challenging material (i.e. college material) in high school. Whatever program you're going to use for foreign language, ask customer service or the author of the material about what skill level they feel your child should be at in language arts- then go from there. I can't tell you about whether to have more grammar or not b/c it varies for each program that is used. My children are only doing french vocabulary with songs, videos and games right now and I read to them in french (no I don't know what I'm reading ALL the time). SWO prompts: in each lesson there is a writing assignment, most choose to ignore these Lesson 5 of SWO B Use the list words to write a joke or riddle you know. For example: Why did the chicken cross the street? Answer: To get to the other side. Then try out your joke on a friend. Lesson 16 of SWO B What is your favorite sport? Write a few sentences naming the sport you like best and why. Use as many list words as you can. Lesson 29 of SWO B Imagine that you just attended the races at Swamp Buggy Days. Write a brief new report about what you saw. Include lots of colorful details. Use as many list words as you can. Hope this helps, I would ask someone on the high school board with a lot more experience (than just my book knowledge) about foreign language studies and english grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pata Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Jessica--Thanks, that gives me a much better idea of how to approach things. I appreciate you taking the time to answer all that! Everybody else--Thanks for answering it's good to know what everyone else is doing. Paige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melora in NC Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 In first grade my ds did FLL, Spelling Workout, Zaner-Bloser Handwriting, and a combination of Phonics Pathways, Hooked on Phonics, and early readers from the library. I plan to follow a similar plan with my dd next year, unless she has completed the phonics work by then (She is currently working on PP and HOP and I don't know where she will be with reading by next fall. If she is through them, I am thinking about ETC, but I have no experience with that and can't comment on it.)and I now print out my penmanship practice from the Zaner-Bloser site, thus saving the cost of a workbook. I have SWB's new writing book on order from Amazon, so when it comes I will decide what writing instruction to take from that. I assume she will recommend copywork, which I also had ds do a little of in 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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