Guest livingskies Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Wondering if any of you seasoned mamas can help me out? I am trying to find a new language arts curriculum for Gr2 next year, and Gr1 next year for my 2 kids. I tried Before-5 in a Row for preschool LA and found it boring, the books were simpler than what I would have chosen to read, and I didn't like all the extra "fluff" chat. I tried LLATL blue book for Gr1 this year and found the extra activities boring, the books they chose boring for the most part... Just ended up using the phonics readers and scrapping all the extra work. I am using HWT for writing this year as my daughter has CP and has fine motor difficulty, so we do a lot of oral work. I scrapped the book list from LLATL, and we just choose more challenging books and I get them to do narrations afterwards (like mini book reports, orally). I alternate that with having them retell the story in their own words. For pleasure we read chapter books out loud. I am thinking of trying Spelling Workout for spelling, continuing with choosing stories of my own and doing narrations for comprehension. We have lots of phonics books and early readers that will cover Gr1-2. I am at a loss for what to do for just simply grammar. That is not too "fluffy", nor too boring, nor move too quickly... Haven't tried FLL or R&S but have read mixed reviews of both, so not sure what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Have you looked at MCT? Grammar Island should work for both 1st and 2nd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) How about Writing With Ease and First Language Lessons, and just read whatever you like to them as read-alouds. We got one level of Spelling Workout, did all of three weeks of it before I never pulled it out again. My child loved it--the crosswords, that is, but not the rest of it. We just didn't bother doing spelling at all until halfway through Grade 2. But if you have children who do well with a workbook format I'm sure SW can be great. Edited February 10, 2016 by Kiara.I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Have you looked at MCT? Grammar Island should work for both 1st and 2nd. Okay, hijacking the thread slightly, but...I've seen this before. And I am trying to figure out how. I can't really picture teaching my 6-year-old about trochaic tetrameter. If he picks it up on the way by while my 9-year-old is learning it, then sure. But...do a lot of people successfully teach it to 6-year-olds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nature girl Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Okay, hijacking the thread slightly, but...I've seen this before. And I am trying to figure out how. I can't really picture teaching my 6-year-old about trochaic tetrameter. If he picks it up on the way by while my 9-year-old is learning it, then sure. But...do a lot of people successfully teach it to 6-year-olds? I think Grammar Island only covers parts of speech, subjects/predicates, and prepositional phrases...that poetics are in different books. As a disclaimer, we haven't started MCT yet, I'm planning it for 2nd. But really I don't think teaching grammar is all that important for 1st anyway. They'll need to know how to construct a sentence, but that comes naturally, at least at the level a 6 year old would need. So I think a 1st grader would be able to follow along at least on some level, if it was taught to both. MCT seems gentle and interesting enough that a younger child would be able to enjoy it and take from it what they need at that level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 You might look at English Lessons Through Literature. There are good samples on Lulu. There's no grammar in level 1 (at least not so far), just some punctuation and things like days and months, but is grammar in level 2, and both include copywork, literature (not super easy books), aesop's fables to narrate, poems, and picture study. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livingskies Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 You might look at English Lessons Through Literature. There are good samples on Lulu. There's no grammar in level 1 (at least not so far), just some punctuation and things like days and months, but is grammar in level 2, and both include copywork, literature (not super easy books), aesop's fables to narrate, poems, and picture study. This looks fantastic, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much for the suggestion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.