For those who are using FLL and up....

[Jules in MI]

I am considering FLL for my 2nd grader. We started the school year with Sonlight LA2 but are returning it because it didn't work for my son. I have a friend who let me borrow FLL and I like the presentation of grammar and writing w/ dication and narration. It makes sense!

 

Here is my question: do I start with grade 1 or 2?? Grade 1 looks very easy and my son knows all the grammar presented, although he is new to dictation and narration. Also, I noticed that the lessons in grade 2 refer to poems memorized in grade 1. I would like to begin FLL for 3rd grade in the fall to be "on schedule."

[Renee in NC]

I have a 4th grader doing First Language Lessons Level 3. I don't think that your ds would be "behind" by doing it a year later! FLL 3 covers a large amount of material not covered by other publishers.

 

However, if you were to do a lesson a day and skip some of the more repetitive lessons, FLL 1/2 could be done in a year pretty easily.

[Audrey]

Just echoing what DramaQueen has said. I wouldn't skip gr. 1 entirely. Just go through it more quickly. My ds did the whole book in gr. 2 and he's become a real whiz at grammar.

 

We're not using FLL3 though. I've switched to Growing with Grammar.

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

..I'd look through the 1st grade stuff and only do the things he doesn't know....grammar definitions, dictation/narration, maybe a poem or two to practice memorization. Maybe spend a month on this or so, then move on to the second grade stuff; the lessons are so short and repetitive that you could probably finish even the second grade material by June or so, if you diligiently worked through it 3 times per week (And I wouldn't worry about not knowing a level 1 poem that is reviewed in level 2).

 

...But I wouldn't kill myself to get through it. If you think he has been exposed to the concepts enough already, then I'd go for alternative #2:

 

You could bag FLL 1 and 2 altogether, and start with FLL 3 in 3rd grade. They do a nice job of reviewing all the grammar definitions (for those who haven't learned them or forgot them), and they do teach narration/ dication very nicely in the 3rd grade book.

[crazymom4]

We are doing FLL 1 and 2 this year to get "caught up"....the first grade reviews A LOT....so learn what a noun is and you can skip about 30 lessons....we would combine a few here and there....like picture narration with a lesson on verbs....it is doable for an older child to go quickly...IMO.

[Debra in CO]

I started my oldest in FLL near the end of 2nd grade. We did start at the beginning, and were easily able to double up on a lot of the lessons - especially those first couple dozen on memorizing the definition of a noun. we did 3-4 lessons in a sitting with some of them.

 

By doing FLL 4-5 days a week and doubling up on the really repetitive stuff (in the beginning, mostly), we finished FLL by about October of his 3rd grade year. I believe we started in April, maybe May.

 

For ds#2, we are starting FLL now (in 3rd grade). I don't have FLL3 yet, and I went ahead and started with the 2nd grade stuff in the first book. We are massively combining lessons - he knows this stuff already, pretty much, but I figured we'd review until FLL3 arrives.

 

For an older child, and one who has been exposed to some grammar, there is a LOT of repetition in FLL1 anyway. Feel free to skip around some. But I'd at least think about starting at the beginning, and seeing how it works.

 

Debra

Mom to five, ages 1-10