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Help me figure out LA for next year (8yo/3rd grade)


EmseB
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We've been going along okay in McRuffy, but this boy does not need the phonics/readers any more and I don't use their writing prompts so next year I'd like to maybe move on.

 

Literature -- Reading good books.  Probably with some lit guides from VP to check for comprehension and such, but he's a voracious reader.  Mainly my struggle here will be keeping him in books.

 

Writing --  WWE2, and moving on to 3 when we finish 2.  He does well with this, it's been doing wonders for both his reading comp and his thought formation and being able to articulate himself, so I'm happy with it.

 

Spelling -- Phonetic Zoo  As I understand it this is something he can do with the audio on his own, and we'll have a new baby and a toddler, so I'll need something that's not totally parent intensive.  I'm not set on this one, but leaning heavily in its direction.

 

Grammar -- This is where I'm stuck or at least very open to suggestion.  He likes learning the mechanics of language.  So I'm thinking Easy Grammar?  I'm a little unclear on how it works (Graded program + Daily Grams?), and how much of it is open-and-go and how parent intensive it is.  How long does each lesson take?  I would think 15-20 minutes/day would be plenty.  The other option I've looked at is Shurley English, but that seems to have more stuff than I need if I'm looking for just grammar.

 

He works very well independently, and while I'm not trying to get out of actually teaching him stuff, he is my best independent worker and again, new baby, toddler, and a 6yo embarking on some 1st grade stuff.

 

Any thoughts?

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Sounds solid. EG is open and go, but you need to stay involved. I used it once with my oldest. He quickly learned how to see the pattern and could whip out perfect pages without really knowing what he was doing. No clue about Shurley. My little one will use Rod and Staff English 3 when she finishes FLL 1/2. It has a mix of oral, with Mom time and independent work. Or you could do it all orally with diagrams on a whiteboard if you prop the TM up while nursing the new one. (My older kids all used R&S too.)

 

Rod and Staff spelling is also open and go. Once my DC are used to the format they use it independently.

 

We love VP lit!

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Very easy to cut out from CLE what you don't want to use without guilt because it isn't pricey. You might find the spelling is great as it is all independent anyway. CLE is religious but not as heavily as R&S. It is also easy to just buy a few LightUnits and see how it goes. You will need to correct his work each day, but I trained my older boys around that age to show me their completed work then correct it themselves.

 

R&S is excellent for English and even WTM says it is enough for grammar {with diagramming} AND writing. The spelling is also very good. It is HEAVILY religious.

 

I would echo that EG is too easy for a kid to plug and chug. It was also very confusing to my older guys when we tried it. But if you do, Daily grams is meant to be used a year behind as a sort of review. EG also does not use sentence diagramming {that I recall}.

 

Phonic Zoo was a huge failure here becuase just hearing the rules over and over and writing words with those rules did not carry over. It was too abstract and not enough. It is also VERY expensive for what you get.

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Very easy to cut out from CLE what you don't want to use without guilt because it isn't pricey. You might find the spelling is great as it is all independent anyway. CLE is religious but not as heavily as R&S. It is also easy to just buy a few LightUnits and see how it goes. You will need to correct his work each day, but I trained my older boys around that age to show me their completed work then correct it themselves.

 

R&S is excellent for English and even WTM says it is enough for grammar {with diagramming} AND writing. The spelling is also very good. It is HEAVILY religious.

 

I would echo that EG is too easy for a kid to plug and chug. It was also very confusing to my older guys when we tried it. But if you do, Daily grams is meant to be used a year behind as a sort of review. EG also does not use sentence diagramming {that I recall}.

 

Phonic Zoo was a huge failure here becuase just hearing the rules over and over and writing words with those rules did not carry over. It was too abstract and not enough. It is also VERY expensive for what you get.

 

thanks for these insights!  Very helpful.

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So, after researching now I'm thinking WWE2, VP Lit, and CLE for Grammar/Spelling.

 

I do want him to be challenged, so maybe EG would be too much of a temptation for me to let him slack off.

 

All I can say is that there are too many options!

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I used FFL3 with my third grader last year and moved onto jr analytical grammar this year. 

 

In retrospect (and with my current third grader) we are skipping grammar and going to do JAG in fourth grade. 

 

I'm super super happy with JAG; deep, good review, challenging, fairly independent. I just wish they would use page numbers!

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