What's included in your Language Arts course?

[Brit29]

I want to focus on Language Arts next year- spelling, reading, grammar, etc. I'm curious, what is included in your LA curriculum? 

 

In the Fall, I want to start adding in more specific types of books and discussing them. Dd reads all kinds, but we don't discuss the content as much as I should. I also want to make sure she's understanding what makes a poem a poem, fantasy vs mystery, biography vs autobio, etc. 

 

I'm also thinking more focus on vocab. That seems like the next step for a kiddo reading well. 

[Wabi Sabi]

10 year old: literature/reading, writing, spelling, grammar, book club with a group of other homeschool boys that covers one novel each month

7 year old: literature/reading, writing, grammar, and she does crossword puzzles and word ladders in lieu of a spelling program

We do not do a formal vocab program- we've tried, but it always flops, and I've decided that it just isn't necessary for us. I found that studying Latin is a great replacement for a vocabulary program, plus when we listen to read alouds/audiobooks we frequently stop to discuss new words and their meanings. The kids have learned insolent, repugnant, impertinent, melancholy and impudence just in the last day or two from our current read aloud.  :D 

I've intentionally delayed spelling until sometime in the middle of 2nd grade for both kids. Up until then I'm more focused on basic phonics, literacy and handwriting. 

Up until now we've just read a lot and talked about it informally together, but I think that in the fall I might have the kids complete this class together, or if I decide not to enroll, I'll pull together something similar: http://www.currclick.com/product/94352/2015-Fall-Literature-Basics-Story-Element-Analysis?filters=0_0_25000_0_0_0_0_0

 

[SilverMoon]

Assuming you mean that second grader in your sig will be a third grader this fall...

 

I'd do grammar, spelling, gentle composition course, and reading high quality literature. 

 

I would not be doing literature analysis with a 3rd grader. We just read good books and discuss them. Rather than comprehension questions I ask them to tell me what happened and ask questions based on their information. "Why did he do that?" "What did Joe think about the horse?"

 

Between the high quality children's literature and studying Latin later on down the road, we've found separate vocab courses to be redundant.

Edited June 17, 2022 by SilverMoon

[Random]

Shiny,

Of course, you know your child best, but in 2nd & 3rd grade, it's nice to just let them read good stuff.  At that age, it might be sufficient to just mention the genre a work belongs to. But, again, you are the teacher. 

 

We haven't done a separate vocabulary program until this year, in 7th grade.  I highly recommend it for older students.  My 7th grader and I have both learned an awful lot from Caesar's English!  I didn't think we would benefit (like a PP, we study Latin and the 'great' books), but now I'm a convert and we won't be skipping it in the future. 

 

This is what we did this year:

 

1st grade-reading, handwriting, spelling

3rd grade-reading, oral narrations, spelling, BJU grammar

5th grade-reading with Memoria Press literature guides, R&S grammar, spelling

7th-Landry Academy's online English class (vocabulary, composition, literature, grammar analysis), spelling

[ScoutTN]

2nd grader - reading good books, grammar, spelling, narrations, dictation and copywork.

5th grader - literature, grammar, spelling, composition (Composition will be writing across the curriculum this year and maybe some Kilgallon.)

[duckens]

Disclaimer: I'm an overscheduler.  Take this all with a grain of salt.

Finishing this year (2nd grade):

--Saxon Phonics 2

--Explode the Code (finishing the series, still working on books 7.5 & 8.

--Wordly Wise 2 (for vocabulary)

--IEW PAL Writing

--general comprehension practice workbook (barely started)

--Typing (Dancemat is a good place to begin).
--Sequential Spelling (started at Christmas, onlly 80 lessons completed).

 

What is on the schedule for 3rd Grade:
Goals:
1) grammar/punctuation

2) spelling

3) transitioning to easy chapter books (60-100 pages) by using quality literature.  Analyzing these books.

 

Resources
--Logic of English (at least parts of it. ) for grammar

--Wordly Wise 3  for vocabulary

--Sequential Spelling  for spelling

--general grammar workbooks from this series for extra practice for grammar/punctuation.
--Institute for Excellence in Writing: Teaching Writing: Structure and Style for writing

And now the reading part:
I hope to eventually read many Newbery Award winners with my daughters, just as we have read many Caldecott books.    However, 3rd grade is a little young for most Newbery books. 

1) We are using books from the Battle of the Books Website, 3rd and 4th grade lists.  I have let dd pick a few books for next year, and I have made a few selections, too.  If you order through the website, the prices are very reasonable.  I will have dd tell me two things from each chapter to practice her narration.

 

2) Novel-ties: I have not tried these yet.  This will be my version of a Lit teacher for each of the books on our BOTB list from #1.

3) Lap Book Book Reports: We'll try this.

4) And I will do the Teaching the Classics seminar  before September 1st.  Here is an example video.  I'm hoping that it will help me brush up on my 10th grade Honors Lit class.


 

[Aurelia]

3rd/4th grade - reading good books, having good books read to the student, composition, light grammar, spelling. DD also did poetry memorization, but we didn't talk about it much.

 

5th/6th grade - composition, spelling, more formal grammar, and light literature study alternated with simply reading good books, some read-alouds. 

 

7th/8th grade (planned) - composition, spelling, formal literature study, grammar, some read-alouds.

[Christiahn]

Initially, I planned on using Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS) for me in conjunction with Student Writing Intensive-B (SWI-B) with Fix-It Grammar 1&2 and The Word Artist for ds12(in Dec), Research in Increments, Building Spelling Skills Bk6, and English from the Roots Up bc it is part of My Father's World: Creation to the Greeks (MFW CttG).

 

Now that I have done a little more research, I am strongly considering Classical Writing: Homer (CW-H) with Harvey's Elementary Grammar since it is incorporated and Poetry for Beginners. In addition, I plan to get Teaching the Classics for discussing/analyzing lit using the socratic method.

 

Wouldn't mind hearing others' thoughts on anything mentioned here.  :)

[FairProspects]

My rising third grader will be doing the following for his LA:

 

Morphology/phonics (this includes some vocab too with the prefixes & suffixes)

Reading Fluency practice

Spelling

Copywork

Writing composition & grammar integrated

Literature (reading & discussing with Mom)

 

We also do family read alouds and poetry during our Morning Meeting but these are the individual areas of his LA. He has a few outside classes I would qualify under LA too - puppetry & literature and Greek & Roman mythology.

[peacefully]

My dd will be going into 3rd grade. She's a strong reader, so next year we will focus on: 

• Writing (The Paragraph Book 3 and Killgallon; several short writing assignments throughout the year; one longer report)
• Literature (self-selected books, some assigned novels, and Mosdos Press)
• Spelling (currently AAS 4)
• Grammar, punctuation, usage (she has finished JAG, is doing JAG Mechanics, and will start Winston next year)

Over the summer, she will work on cursive and typing too. 

 

 

[...................]

For my 6th grader next year:

BJU / all time favorite -2-6th grammar and comp just so logical and easy to use.

 

Apples and Pears Spelling

 

holt Elements of Lit Intro Course

 

That's it! The less books the better. This one gets distracted easily. :)

[MerryAtHope]

I start with reading and handwriting, and add in spelling as they are able. We do informal writing/grammar in the early grades, and add on formal programs when they are ready. Sometimes we do units of things, such as poetry, grammar, literary terms etc... You don't have to do every subject every day, so if you are trying to pull together resources you like, remember you can make it work for you. Several years we followed the Bravewriter idea of Tuesday Tea, and sometimes Friday Freewrites.

 

Here's an article on planning language arts that you might like.

[Targhee]

For 3rd grader: spelling (LOE), reading (daily, from good books at her level), handwriting (RoH cursive, copywork), grammar (MCT Island), writing (W&R Fable), and part of our morning basket is literature (read aloud and discussion), poetry (poet studies discussing poetic devices and structure), vocabulary (Marie's Words), and memory work/recitation (working on elocution). Roughly 90-120 minutes four days a week

 

For 5th grader: reading (daily, from good books at his level), copywork, grammar (via Henle Latin), writing (W&R Narrative I and II), and morning basket literature, poetry, vocabulary, and memory work Roughly 90-120 minutes four days a week (depending on how many stall tactics he employs over writing :glare: )

 

For 8th grader: literature (Shakespeare class at co-op, book colloquia from online Leadership class, and I am looking for a select few additional literature studies), copywork (she still needs to work on handwriting), grammar (via ??? Latin), writing (this is also a ???), and morning basket literature, poetry, vocabulary, and memory work Roughly 120 minutes five days a week.

[strawberryjam]

3rd Grade:

 

-- All About Reading

-- Explode the Code workbooks 

-- Wordly Wise 3000 Level 3

-- “Just Write†by EPS

-- CLE Language Arts

-- Spelling Workout

-- All About Spelling (supplement, thinking of switching to Spelling Power)

-- Penguin Young Readers - Leveled First Readers

-- First Language Lessons

-- Handwriting Without Tears & A Reason for Handwriting

 

-- Reading good books (use book list from Well Trained Mind, Veritas Press, Memoria Press, Mensa Kids, Sonlight, etc)

 

 

Looking to add in some more copywork, stuff for a poetry unit, and composition. I'm impressed with how far DS has come with CLE Language Arts the last few months so some of this stuff may turn out to be redundant next year and we won't have to continue all of it.

[Laura Corin]

We used Galore Park Junior English 1 for age 7 to 8, then book 2 for age 8-9, etc.  If you want to buy, come back to me for supplier details.

 

We added in lots of books and also handwriting practice.

[Heidi]

My 4th grader will get grammar, poetry, short stories, narration, dictation, and copywork through ELTL, composition and outlining from Classical Composition, vocabulary from Latin, and we'll work on memory work and recitation as well.

[Rosepetal]

Shiny,

Of course, you know your child best, but in 2nd & 3rd grade, it's nice to just let them read good stuff.  At that age, it might be sufficient to just mention the genre a work belongs to. But, again, you are the teacher. 

 

We haven't done a separate vocabulary program until this year, in 7th grade.  I highly recommend it for older students.  My 7th grader and I have both learned an awful lot from Caesar's English!  I didn't think we would benefit (like a PP, we study Latin and the 'great' books), but now I'm a convert and we won't be skipping it in the future. 

 

This is what we did this year:

 

1st grade-reading, handwriting, spelling

3rd grade-reading, oral narrations, spelling, BJU grammar

5th grade-reading with Memoria Press literature guides, R&S grammar, spelling

7th-Landry Academy's online English class (vocabulary, composition, literature, grammar analysis), spelling

What Spelling did you use for 7th Grade?

[SparrowsNest]

Up next for my 3rd grader...

 

Grammar:  Finishing up CLE 2, moving on to MCT Island (this is my MCT guinea pig -- if we don't like it, we'll go back to CLE and probably never leave!)

Spelling: AAS 3

Reading:  AAR 3 & 4, plus a "daily reading" list which includes some quality lit, history, poetry, etc.

Handwriting: Her writing is very nice, so nothing more than writing in her commonplace journal (i.e., copywork).  We'll take on cursive in a year or so.

Oh, and WWE 2. :)

[Tanikit]

For my 2nd grader: Reading (own choice + selected books), good read alouds (including some poetry and short stories as well as chapter books and non-fiction), spelling, narration and dictation (WWE2), own creative writing/writing letters, grammar and basic language skills. We do not do everything at once however and sometimes weeks will go by with no grammar while we do something else.

[Lori D.]

I want to focus on Language Arts next year- spelling, reading, grammar, etc. I'm curious, what is included in your LA curriculum? 

 

In the Fall, I want to start adding in more specific types of books and discussing them. Dd reads all kinds, but we don't discuss the content as much as I should. I also want to make sure she's understanding what makes a poem a poem, fantasy vs mystery, biography vs autobio, etc. 

 

I'm also thinking more focus on vocab. That seems like the next step for a kiddo reading well. 

 

For 3rd grade, our LA included:

- reading (4-5 days/week) (student solo/silent reading, and reading aloud for fluency and stretching ability)

- read alouds (7 days/week) (me reading aloud from books above grade level)

- writing (4 days/week) (very short bursts of writing -- 3-4 sentences/sitting -- variety of types of writing)

- handwriting / copywork -- introduce cursive (4 days/week)

- spelling (4-5 days/week)

- grammar (3 days/week)

- vocabulary (2 days/week; root-based program but done more as a game; even more: absorbed from context from large amounts of read-alouds)

 

 

In the Fall, I want to start adding in more specific types of books and discussing them. Dd reads all kinds, but we don't discuss the content as much as I should. I also want to make sure she's understanding what makes a poem a poem, fantasy vs mystery, biography vs autobio, etc. 

 

This would fall in the area of literary analysis, which is typically done from about 7th grade and up. The analysis areas of the brain generally start maturing about age 12-14, so it is difficult to try and do much of this too early -- it can really make a student fear and dislike a subject if they haven't developed the ability to do it, yet are forced to keep trying to jump that hurdle.

 

Andrew Kern's free audio download of "Teaching Literature Without Killing It" might be a good place to start as a balanced perspective… (scroll down the list about 3/4 of the way; it is the first title in the section "free selections from 2012 conference"). Susan Wise Bauer also has some great insights on this topic: "What is Literary Analysis (and When to Teach It)" -- brief article overview, and, downloadable audio lecture.

 

If you are concerned about reading comprehension of content, then daily reading aloud together "popcorn style" ("you read a page, I read a page") works very well for you to see what your student is "getting" or not getting.

 

Without killing the love of reading, you can also toss in the occasional comment or question to point towards thinking deeper about the book or towards appreciation of the writing:  "What do you think will happen next?" "Do you think that was a good choice? Why/why not?" "What would you have done differently than the character?" Or point out especially lovely language, or language that creates mood:  "Oh, what a wonderful description, can you just see that place in your imagination! What words made that so vivid?" "I like the sound of that sentence (or verse of poetry); let's read that again!"

 

At this age, enjoy discovery of the repeated patterns found in literature: character types, choices/consequences, etc. Enjoy INFORMAL discussions now about what each of you like/dislike, got you excited/scared, and what you thought might happen, and any thoughts about appreciation of language, images, ideas, and good writing. Just keep in natural and don't overdo. :) JMO, but there can be a potential danger (beyond killing an enjoyment of reading), to pushing literary analysis too early; I have read (sorry! can't remember the source right now) it can actually be detrimental to a young student's thinking processes to "do" literary analysis too early, as young students can lock on to the idea that it's all about "looking for the right answer", and they either lose the love of books and imagination that they naturally have, or, worse, books now become a checklist of looking for right answers -- AND that can lead to students having a hard time getting beyond that in the middle school/high school years, and they may stop at: "that's the protagonist; that's the antagonist; that's the symbolism; check, check, check! my work here is done!" Just something to ponder.

 

If you want to include some very beginning level literary analysis, I would suggest using something gentle to guide the process and only do it with the occasional book (maybe 2-3 books during the school year), so as to not kill the student's  just-developing enjoyment of reading. A few ideas:

 

Story Elements (gr. 3-4) -- practice steps to build toward analysis

Suppose the Wolf Were An Octopus (gr. 3-4) -- list of questions for 43 titles

Deconstructing Penguins -- resource for YOU; book with detailed examples of how parents discussed books more deeply with their elementary-aged students as part of a book club

 

BEST of luck as you plan out your LA for the elementary grades! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Lori D.]

Love Targhee's overview in her post above! :)

 

 

In case it is of help to anyone, here's my (much more wordy!  :tongue_smilie: ) list, pulled together recently for a friend who is just starting off homeschooling, to give her a very rough idea of the "LA" topics and when (very roughly) they are covered for the AVERAGE student. NOT meant as a hard-and-fast checklist! Adapt as needed for individual student abilities and family goals!! :)

 

 

Overview of LA / English Skills by grade levels

 

grades K-1

- Reading (phonics, learn to read program; progresses to simple readers - student reads aloud to parent)

- Read Alouds (parent reads aloud/audio books, from quality books above student's reading level)

- Handwriting (penmanship/copywork; learning to print letters of the alphabet, and numbers)

- Phonics (in support of Reading)

 

grades 1-2

- Reading (student reads quality books at grade level, some as "popcorn style" -- you read a page, I read a page")

- Read Alouds (parent reads aloud/audio books, from quality books above student's reading level)

- Handwriting (Penmanship)/ Copywork -- manuscript / printing instruction and practice)

- Spelling (basic word families and sight words, phonics patterns)

- Phonics (in support of Reading and Spelling)

. . . optional: Solo Read (if ready for solo reading; 15-20 min., "book basket" choices to aid fluency and/or support other subjects)

. . . optional: Free Read (choice to read or not is up to the student; books, magazines, etc. of personal interest to student)

. . . optional: Writing (what is a sentence; narration, optional creative writing)

. . . optional: Grammar (capitalization, punctuation, beginning parts of speech, what is a sentence)

grades 3-4

- Reading (build reading confidence, practice for fluency and stamina, begin to read for content subjects)

- Read Alouds

- Handwriting (cursive instruction and practice)

- Writing (sentences; narration, beginning free writing/journal writing, short book reports, etc.)

- Grammar (parts of speech, grammar mechanics, beginning grammar usage)

- Spelling

. .  optional: Solo Read (if ready for solo reading; 2-3x/week; up to 30 min., "book basket" choices to aid fluency / support other subjects)

. .  optional:  Free Read

grades 5-6

- Reading

- Read Alouds

** Typing (if Handwriting practice no longer needed, learn "touch typing" for future papers -- otherwise, Typing in 7th/8th)

- Writing (sentences; narration, beginning free writing/journal writing, short book reports, optional creative writing)

- Grammar (beginning diagramming, types of sentences, more complex sentence structures)

- Spelling

. . .optional:  Solo Read (2-3x/week; 30-60 min., depending on student)

. . .optional:  Free Read

. . .optional:  Vocabulary

grades 7-8

- Literature (beginning to read some classics with beginning, gentle literary terms and analysis)

** Typing (to replace Handwriting practice if that was needed into 5th/6th grades -- learn "touch typing" for future papers)

- Writing (introduce short persuasive & expository essays, compare/contrast, optional creative writing)

- Grammar

. . .optional:  Read Alouds

. . .optional:  Solo Read (60 min.; 2-3x/week)

. . .optional:  Free Read

. . .optional:  Spelling (if still needed; can combine Spelling & Vocabulary or switch to just Vocabulary at this stage)

. . .optional:  Vocabulary

grades 9-12 = English credit

- Literature (read, discuss, analyze, write about classics — novels,  novellas short stories, poetry, essays, plays)

- Writing (multi-page essays, research papers with citations, business writing, Power Point presentations, etc.)

. . .optional:  Vocabulary (usually from the Literature; possible Greek/Latin roots-based program, or program for ACT/SAT test prep)

. . .optional:  Public Speaking (research, write, prepare, and give different types of oral presentations in front of a group)

. . .optional:  Grammar (possible light review, if needed, in support of strengthening writing and proof-editing writing)

. . .optional:  Read Aloud (do some Literature together and discuss for English credit; good public speaking practice; enjoy family "reader's theater" of classic plays, share enjoyable or important books or books to encourage/challenge personal faith, or  books to be shared just for fun)