Newbie Classical Suggestions Please!

[hweakland]

We have just begun our journey into Classical education and I am pulling out my hair trying to decide what to choose for us!

 

I have pretty much choosen TOG for history/literature as we are doing the sample 3 wks for year 2 right now and love it. My son is very much "into" history and loves how indepth it is. He is even doing work at the Dialect level which suprised me! With the older two we need suggestions for grammar. They have both been using Pathway for several years but they both are getting very bored with it and would like a change. We are currently using FLL but they are not thrilled with that either.

 

What we are also still trying to narrow down is what to go with for our younger DD who is 8. I cringe to tell everyone that she is still not a fluent reader but I must so that I can get appropriate suggestions for her. With her we are having difficulty choosing a reading/language curriculum. We are currently using FLL but I am not having much success with her with that. She is just bored with it and does not seem to be getting much out of it. I have looked into SL but I have no idea what all she would need or where to start her off. She can read word lists very well but has a hard time with full sentences. I have read a lot about R&S and am considering that for my older two but I don't know if it would be best for my struggling reader. I really think she needs something to get her reading and we will work on grammar once that is accomplished. We have also tried Joyce Herzog's reading program, HOP, as well as BJU and ABEKA, none of those seemed to fit. So any suggestions?

 

Also, we would love feedback on when to start Latin as well. My husband is leaning toward using Prima Latina but I am still undecided as that seems pretty dry.

 

Thanks,

Hope

[MSNative]

For your 8 y.o -I know some people swear by All About Spelling. A good friend used it with her 8 year old who was a struggling reader(she started with the first book and went up from there) and said it did wonders. Haven't tried it, but thought I'd pass it on. We use Megawords and I think you could do the same thing with it.

Take heart - her son (10 y.o) is now a voracious reader. Seriously, she can't keep the kid in books. One other thing she did was get him started in series books at the library. Anything he was interested in (that was not inappropriate) She didn't worry about the fact that they were pretty fluffy, she just wanted him reading.

 

With mine, we just read books aloud together. I read one sentence, he read the next. Moved onto I read one paragraph, he read the next....one page...one chapter... Took about a month, but then both were very good readers.

 

Have you tried the high interest/low reading ability books? My kids did the Wonder Stories and enjoyed them. http://www.mariinc.com/workhigh.html

 

Also, if you search on high interest low vocabulary you will get tons of recommendations for reading books (not workbooks).

 

 

 

Wish I could help you with your older kids. We use TOG and R&S and love it, but we're not middle school yet. Very interested in hearing what suggestions you get. I've heard good things on the board about Rex Barks: Diagramming Sentences Made Easy.

http://www.amazon.com/Rex-Barks-Diagramming-Sentences-Made/dp/1889439355

Don't think it's the complete answer but it might be a good resource.

[SilverMoon]

My logic stage kid uses Rod and Staff's English for grammar. If yours have used FLL they could slide into the R&S 5 book easily enough, but I'd hesitate to place them higher in that series without a solid grammar base. There's also some writing instruction mingled in with the grammar.

 

For the 8yo I'd get Phonics Pathways, have her read out loud to you daily, and make sure you're reading to her daily. Phonics Pathways is a simple, no frills and gizmos phonics book. It covers the phonics rules from blending through about a third grade reading level, without being babyish. I'd hold onto the FLL, and keep in mind it may not make much sense to her until she's reading better. My slower reader couldn't figure out FLL 1/2 until third grade, then she did the whole book that year. Now in fourth grade she's completely caught up and gone ahead in reading and grammar.

 

If her spelling book isn't also teaching her phonetically I'd switch to one that is.

 

I don't have any experience with R&S reading, but it seems to get good reviews. I haven't used a real reading curriculum with any of my kids though. Solid phonics instruction and reading to me has been more than enough for my four book addicts. :)

 

I think third grade is usually the lowest recommendation for beginning Latin. If you want something more lively, give the products at Classical Academic Press a look. Their Latin for Children is geared for kids in grades three through six, but can be sped up for olders. I wouldn't put your little one in it until she's on her feet running with reading.

[hweakland]

Thank you both for blessing me with your suggestions :001_smile:.

 

I have been reading tons to my 8 yr old and we have been reading word lists using a right brain phonics program I had used with my dyslexic son but she seems to have stalled with that. I am now looking into All about Spelling since the spelling she is using does not seem to fit her.

 

As for my older ones I think we will go with Rod and Staff 5th grade. Hopefully I can find it used.

 

Blessings again,

Hope