Do I need a lit program (7th grade)?

[lisabees]

Okay, so I'm new to hs. I am tweaking some things. I find that I am much happier when following a more laid out program. I have changed from history and science texts to OM and I am thrilled! So is ds13.

 

DS reads on a sixth grade level. Just a few months ago, he was reading at a fourth grade level. While he is finally happy to read his own books in the evening, I read aloud most of our literature books. We have read From the Mixed Up Files... and Mrs. Frisby... I have used Garlic Press and Glencoe lit guides for these. We have also listened to Beowulf, Celtic myths and Story of the Middle Ages.

 

Now, I am confused. For history, I wanted to read King Arthur; Catherine, Called Birdy, Crispin etc. I also want to read Where the Red Fern Grows, Island of the Blue Dolphins, the Giver etc.

 

Do you all have two books going at once? For some it might be fine. I wonder if it would be overload for my son. I was going to use individual lit guides for each, but now I am thinking I need the plan already laid out for me, in which case I would have to use the required books. It would also be easier to cover short stories and poetry and literary elements if laid out for me.

 

We are using IEW SWI for writing. I use Spelling Morphographs and Megawords for spelling. We will be starting Vocab from Classical Roots and Easy Grammar soon.

 

So, do I need a lit program (secular, like Lightning Lit) or should I keep it all separate?

 

My goal this year is to get ds to enjoy reading and feel confident doing so.

 

Aaaahh! I am confusing myself with my disjointed thoughts. If you have gotten this far, thank you!

Edited October 18, 2009 by lisabees

[Julie in MN]

While he is finally happy to read his own books in the evening, I read aloud most of our literature books. We have read From the Mixed Up Files... and Mrs. Frisby... I have used Garlic Press and Glencoe lit guides for these. We have also listened to Beowulf, Celtic myths and Story of the Middle Ages.

 

Now, I am confused. For history, I wanted to read King Arthur; Catherine, Called Birdy, Crispin etc. I also want to read Where the Red Fern Grows, Island of the Blue Dolphins, the Giver etc.

 

Do you all have two books going at once? For some it might be fine. I wonder if it would be overload for my son. I was going to use individual lit guides for each, but now I am thinking I need the plan already laid out for me, in which case I would have to use the required books. It would also be easier to cover short stories and poetry and literary elements if laid out for me.

 

So, do I need a lit program (secular, like Lightning Lit) or should I keep it all separate?

 

My goal this year is to get ds to enjoy reading and feel confident doing so.

 

At my house, a 7th grader needs some literature study. But he does NOT need to study every piece of literature. Last year, ds did 2 Progeny Press guides. Or if he'd done LL7, I think that's a total of 4 full-length books (and some poetry/short stories). I wouldn't do much more than that as far as grilling him on what he reads. For all the other books my son read in 7th, I just chatted with him or had him do a one-page evaluation on the book's merits. He also belonged to a boys' book club & they did some chatting & looked at small things in each book.

 

But mostly, we're still working on enjoying literature in jr. hi at our house, like you've mentioned. And that isn't compatible with slogging through a full guide on every book.

 

As for multiple books, that hasn't been a problem for my son. I also thought it would be, but it's not. He can have a literature study book, a read-aloud with mom, a book club book, and a filler book when none of the others needs to be done. He seems to like the variety. But he's not a huge reader (prefers talking :) ).

 

Julie

[skaterbabs]

My 6th & 7th graders are using Lighting Literature 7 together, but my 6th grader reads quite well and enjoys doing so. I don't know if that would work for you.

[lisabees]

Thanks so much for plowing through my post!

 

Would it be okay to go through all of the literature we want to read, without much more than a discussion?

 

Then, to tap into other genre and literary element discussion, get Mosdos Pearl and the workbook?

 

My newest thought...

[Stacy in NJ]

I have a 7th grader. We use lit guides mostly from Hillside education. They include vocabulary words and discussion questions with a writing assignment suggestion at the end of each book. We'll also use more complex guides from Progeny Press for a few books as well. We don't use guides for every book; sometimes it's just read and discuss.

 

Whether you choose to use a lit program is really a personal choice. At the 7th grade level, it really isn't necessary to be completely comprehensive. You'll have more time through the high school years to get more indepth with lit analysis.

 

If your goal is to entice your ds into reading, you may not want to overdo the lit analysis and instead just enjoy a bit of discussion.

[Wendy in ME]

I was having similar concerns about my 7th grader's lit study. I wanted to work through WTM's list for seventh grade early modern but I was not confident that I could provide enough discussion. My compromise was to add a program (I chose CLE 7th because it doesn't take the entire year and uses short stories to teach from but it is not secular) and then read throught WTM list together separately from a lit program. Now I feel like we have the best of both worlds because he is getting the study that he needs of literary elements and reading and enjoying good literature.

[Laura Corin]

At my house, a 7th grader needs some literature study. But he does NOT need to study every piece of literature.

 

Calvin reads a book a week through the year, but will only study two or three in depth. We have spent over a month on The Merchant of Venice and will study one or two novels later in the year. In addition, he'll study passages/poems as part of his Galore Park SY English course.

 

I think that Lightning Literature is a good programme to start with. You don't have to get it finished in a year, nor do you have to study every piece.

 

Laura

[gingersmom]

I made out at the beginning of the year a list of books I wanted my daughter to read. I then went online and find as many literature study questions as I can (google any combination of the books name and study guide, literature guide, etc).

 

I then go to amazon.com and look for study guides. Rainbow resource also sells a lot of study guides and so does http://www.perfectionlearning.com.

[klmama]

Okay, so I'm new to hs. I am tweaking some things. I find that I am much happier when following a more laid out program. I have changed from history and science texts to OM and I am thrilled! So is ds13.

 

 

 

What is OM?

[Wendy in ME]

OM is Oak Meadow. It is the name of a curriculum.

[lisabees]

OM is Oak Meadow. It is the name of a curriculum.

 

Yup. Oak Meadow. I use the science and history with plenty of supplements, of course. But, just knowing what to cover, what questions to ask, what history projects to do has been great for me. And more thoughtful and hands-on than using a text.

 

OM's English program, to me, is not a complete one at all.

 

Just my 2 cents. ;)

 

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and thoughts on where to go from here.