Newbie! Does my Language Arts program look ok???

[HeidiKC]

I plan to homeschool (first time!) my son next fall when he'll be in 5th grade. I have gone back and forth on what I'm going to do for Language Arts (especially since I noticed that TWTM recommendations have changed since I read the book last summer!). This is what I'm currently planning and am wondering if I've got my bases covered:

 

Spelling Workout F (and maybe G)

Rod & Staff English 5

Wordsmith Apprentice (we'll probably only do this once/week - Fridays)

 

We will also be doing Latin for Children A

 

I bought R&S and it looks pretty dry, but other than it maybe being boring - people seem to agree that it is a good, solid, complete program - RIGHT???! The boring part is mainly why I am also going with Wordsmith Apprentice - it looks like something my son would really love.

 

LA is the one area in particular that I don't feel terribly confident, especially writing. I had originally planned on Writing Strands and A Beka Grammar, and at this point I can't even remember why I changed my mind! So really, I guess I'm not looking for recommendations, but just an assurance that my program looks ok as far as covering all the LA bases and that it will be pretty straight-forward as far as me trying to teach it.

 

Thank you so much for any input!

 

Heidi

[Brindee]

I don't have a bunch of answers, I just wanted to say that R&S is a good solid grammar program. In fact, it is advanced, so depending on what your ds has had, it may be too much for him. If you start the R&S Grammar, and he's really struggling, and you both start getting frustrated, DON'T give up on R&S, I'm guessing it may be past what he's done, so it's too hard. Just go back a level and start there. Many people do them as levels, not grades (we did that), and work through level 6 by 8th grade, then do levels 7 & 8 for Highschool! So if you start off with that idea, then it's less depressing for the child if he doesn't get it! :) My ds struggled with grammar, and R&S was the first one that he understood and really learned from. He was very excited about it! :) However, he was doing the levels as I mentioned above: When he was in 7th grade, he did the level 5 book, in 8th, he did the level 6 book, and in 9th he did the level 7 book. DD did one level behind her grade, though she wanted to try Hake Grammar this year.

 

If you have another writing program, you don't have to do the writing sections in the book. We started out doing the writing, but ended up doing something different for writing, and just worked through the grammar parts.

 

We also did it mostly orally. It makes it more teacher-intensive, but I WANTED to learn it too, and both my kids got it better doing much of it orally! We also did some sentence writing and diagramming on a white board! That breaks it up from the dry it could be. We actually really enjoyed doing R&S, since we were able to do it together like that, and ended up laughing and enjoying our time together while accomplishing "great things"! :)

 

I'm glad you have the chance to homeschool your son. I hope it works well for both of you! This is year 12 for us, and I wouldn't change it for the world! :)

[SilverMoon]

Looks good to me! :) I'll echo that R&S 5 may be difficult if he hasn't had much for grammar instruction. If he's overwhelmed at first you can have him do the drills orally and slowly transition him over to writing his answers out if that's important to you.

 

There's an oral drill and written drill at the end of each lesson, and most of them have a review section as well. I let mine start with just the oral drill, if they barely make any mistakes I'll have them skip the written drill. If they made a few or more mistakes I'll have them do the written drill too (which can also be done orally most of the time). They diagram on the white board. We don't use the workbook too much, but it doesn't have a sheet for each lesson anyway.

 

I do have my kids do the writing assignments in their R&S English, even though they do a different writing curriculum. They apply the R&S writing skills to their WTM-ish writing in science and history. If those lessons land on the same day their writing curriculum also wants a lot of writing, we'll skip to the next grammar lesson, and do the writing lesson the next day.

 

Welcome to the homeschooling adventure!

[Katie.Louise]

I, too, agree with the other posters. We use R&S for grammar. We do it all orally, except diagramming or writing. My oldest 2 girls went to public school last year for 3rd and 5th. They did no grammar at all. We had used R&S before that. So, I am using R&S 5 this year with my 6th grader. At first, I thought that we should have gone with 6, but now I feel good about choosing 5.

 

Also, I agree with the other poster that said if 5 is too difficult, drop down to 4. Don't give up on R&S. It is very thorough. If you are not too confident in grammar, this will teach you along with your children. I am learning things that I know I didn't learn in public school.

Hope this helps,

Katie

[HeidiKC]

Thank you so much for your input. Yikes, now I am not sure how to know which R&S English to use for him! He is in a private Catholic school that is considered very good, he is a fast learner and gets straight A's. And reads at a high level (last year in 3rd grade he tested at 11th grade reading level).

 

He has not learned diagramming yet, but I think he'll pick it up quickly. I guess I'm not completely sure what all he has covered (which sounds like a bad, inattentive mother!). I know he's done most of what I see in R&S 4, but not sure about all of it. I guess I can show him the TOC and ask him what sounds unfamiliar. Or wait - I am SO smart... I should just have him bring his current LA book home so I can check it out. He never has homework since he gets it done at school and has only brought the book home once all year so I could look at it once.

 

But I guess I'm thinking that even if there are a few things that his book doesn't cover that R&S 4 covers... we should be ok because of the review in level 5? I don't want him to struggle with something that is above him, but on the other hand a big part of why I'm homeschooling him is that he is not being challenged at all in school!

 

Thank you!

 

Heidi

[SilverMoon]

Ah! Private schools are much more likely to teach grammar at the elementary level, in my experience. :) In that case he may do just fine in 5. That book doesn't expect any previous knowledge of diagramming and will start him with just the simple subject/verb skeleton.

[Brindee]

If you're confident in his abilities in that area, then certainly get level 5! Now you're aware of the possibility that it could be tough, so you'll be able to watch for that. Going slow can help, but sometimes, going down the one level if the child is struggling, can really help. All the books go over the same things, so it's hard just looking at the TOC to see what's been covered. Each book goes deeper, and explanations for things considered already covered and learned are very sparse. So, the previous level may explain certain things better. If that were to happen, you could just use the lower level to help him brush up on certain concepts, then move back to the next level up. R&S English doesn't cost that much to begin with, and it has a good resale value on this board, so it'd definitely be worth doing if he needs it!

 

If you do well with grammar, then you'd probably be able to help him over the rough spots and he could do fine in the level 5. I was NOT good in grammar, so the lower level helped my kids as well as me! :)

 

Oh, another thing, I LOVE the Teacher's books! LOVE them! I needed the info. they have, and they're so clear! I hadn't found such great manuals for teachers in other programs. It was just one more reason to like R&S English!

[HeidiKC]

Thank you both! Yes, he's definitely doing grammar this year, I just am not sure what exactly (I know they start diagramming in 5th grade). Very good info that R&S does much of the same concepts year-year, just goes deeper/gets harder.

 

I think I will start with 5 and see how it goes, and be open to moving to 4 if we need to. And P.S. - I am so clueless when it comes to grammar it's embarrassing! I never learned diagramming myself, so am anxious to learn alongside my son. I think he'll like it that mom is learning, too.

[mom2fiveboysnc]

i haven't read all the responses but wanted to share what i did last year (my 1st year hsing) i started my 5th grader (public schooled through 4th grade) in R&S 3, we whizzed through MOST of it but not all. i wanted to gauge what he really knew and prepare him for what he didn't. that being said, we went slowly through R&S 4 and are going to start R&S 5 in the fall. LA and grammar are not his strong points. so for 7th grade he will be in R&S 6. he is much better at it than before and we may be able to finish the whole thing in 1 yr. but we don't do a lesson everyday as most do. we alternate with writing and actual reading "assignments". of course he does daily reading also and spelling about 3 days a week. HTH! cheryl

[Brindee]

And P.S. - I am so clueless when it comes to grammar it's embarrassing! I never learned diagramming myself, so am anxious to learn alongside my son. I think he'll like it that mom is learning, too.

Then you'll probably appreciate the Teacher's books like I did! No shame on YOU in not knowing the grammar well, shame on the schools/teachers that allowed you (and me) to get through school without knowing grammar well! :glare: :001_smile:

[skaterbabs]

R & S is really heavy-handed with the theology. If you're not HSing for faith-based reasons it may get to be too much fairly quickly.

 

CLE has less beating you about the head with their theology, and is (IMO) academically superior anyway.

[HeidiKC]

I have already bought the R&S English 5, and have looked through it. The theology doesn't bother me, but it's kind of funny how old-school it all is. As though the book was written in 1940 and was never updated - even the illustrations!

 

Oh, well, we're going to give it a try and see how it goes. I suspect his grammar program at school this year is pretty good. They started the year with predicates and I'm not sure what all they've done, but tonight he had a worksheet on linking verbs. He says it is all very easy (and gets A's with little effort). If 5 turns out to be too much, I have no problem going back to 4.

 

And yes - I'll be using the TM! I am actually excited to learn grammar. I can't believe I didn't even know what a darn predicate was. My son had to keep explaining it to me and I think he wondered what the heck my problem was!