FLL not working for us- any recommendations?

[LarlaB]

FLL is wonderful in its simplicity, but contains far to much repetition for my DD. Any recommendations for another program? Something that is simple, less narrated/scripted etc?

 

DD is 6 and will be starting 2nd grade next fall. She learns very quickly- generally not needing to hear something explained more than 1-2x and I want to respect that but also maintain a thorough explanation of subjects.

 

Thanks!

Laura

 

ETA- By recommendations, I mean other curricula options- not how to modify FLL, as we've already done this. :) Thnx

Edited April 16, 2010 by LarlaB
Clarfication

[kokotg]

These Aesop books from Royal Fireworks Press are fun. My six year old is doing these plus Writing With Ease, and we'll likely stick with that (plus poetry memorization) for LA until he starts Michael Clay Thompson in 3rd grade.

[mommyto6]

If you're looking for something for grammar only then I highly recommend Rod & Staff 2. I started it with my 2nd grader this year & it's perfect. There's alot of writing, but we skip it and do it mostly orally.

[Guest]

CLE is easier to use, in my opinion, than R&S. And consumable so no writing out hundreds of sentences. It is also less religious than R&S. You can skip the parts you don't need like penmanship or spelling. www.clp.org

 

Another option is Growing With Grammar. It was great for my needs zero repetition child. www.growingwithgrammar.com

[johnandtinagilbert]

Research the MCT and Phonics Road threads. You may find a fit in either place.

 

For solid grammar (perhaps a bit dryer), with the option of mucho practice, look at Rod & Staff or Christian Light Education. There is a ton of practice in these books, but you can always choose to do every 3rd or every other problem if dc doesn't need so much practice.

 

HTH!

[abbeyej]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

 

I chose not to do FLL3 and 4 because it was not as easy to adapt, but FLL1/2 is fantastic and easy to make work even for kids who are ready to move more quickly. Just don't feel like you have to read every scripted word or do only one lesson a day. :)

[Rhonda in TX]

I loved R&S 2. It is very gentle, and appropriate for the age. My DD did not like FLL (would actually cry when I pulled it out), so I switched her to R&S. It was a perfect fit for her.

[PeterPan]

I'm with Abbey. I always recommend FLL1/2 for the memory work and gentle introduction to the concepts, even though we adjusted it mightily. Basically you just go through the 2nd grade section and do the lessons where each new concept is introduced and move on. This is SUCH a valuable foundation, which you can then start applying in your writing program (recommend Writing Tales 1), latin, etc.

[Alice]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

 

I chose not to do FLL3 and 4 because it was not as easy to adapt, but FLL1/2 is fantastic and easy to make work even for kids who are ready to move more quickly. Just don't feel like you have to read every scripted word or do only one lesson a day. :)

 

This is kind of what we do. I felt like FLL was moving a bit too slow and don't like the scripted part of it very much. But I felt like I'd bought it and I really didn't want to invest in something else. I skip a lot or just combine lessons. I anticipate we'll finish FLL 2 somewhere in the middle of 2nd grade instead of taking all of 1st and 2nd to do them. I also use WWE though so I do the copywork/narration/dictation from there.

[SilverMoon]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

 

I chose not to do FLL3 and 4 because it was not as easy to adapt, but FLL1/2 is fantastic and easy to make work even for kids who are ready to move more quickly. Just don't feel like you have to read every scripted word or do only one lesson a day. :)

 

I agree. With kids who want to move faster just double up lessons and skip the redundant lessons. The year 2 section does pick up speed and covers more concepts.

 

I did go into FLL 3 with my last kid though. She grasped the grammar quickly and ran through that book. By the last third or so of the book she was doubling up the lessons on most days. If you're familiar with the FLL style of doing things then you could skip the workbook and use it more like you did the 1/2 book, which is what I intend to do when my next kid is ready to run through it. All the parts you'd have to write out (diagrams, mostly) could easily be done on a white board.

[Shelly in the Country]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

 

:iagree: This is what we do. I go through the lessons at a faster pace, skipping some at times if DS gets it already and doing more than one a day at times. I should add here that DS loves FLL and looks forward to it everyday. I think I'd rethink things if he disliked FLL.

[LarlaB]

Yes, we've tried retro-fitting FLL (i.e. skipping lessons, modifying & scanning ahead) and I'm tired of doing that- LOL. At this time in life, I need a few things that are 100% efficient and open & go instead of needing to constantly 'tweak'.

 

CLE is easier to use, in my opinion, than R&S. And consumable so no writing out hundreds of sentences. It is also less religious than R&S. You can skip the parts you don't need like penmanship or spelling. www.clp.org

 

Another option is Growing With Grammar. It was great for my needs zero repetition child. www.growingwithgrammar.com

 

I like the looks of GWG- its just grammar and there won't be as much overlap.

[Gretchen in NJ]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

 

I chose not to do FLL3 and 4 because it was not as easy to adapt, but FLL1/2 is fantastic and easy to make work even for kids who are ready to move more quickly. Just don't feel like you have to read every scripted word or do only one lesson a day. :)

:iagree:I loved the scripted lessons, but I was never a slave to the script. Once a definition was memmorized, I would pick one of my daughters to state it as review and then move on. We did do FLL 3 and 4 and did the same with those. The beauty of FLL is that it is a gental approach and you can skip a lesson here and there. I find you need to be careful with this gental approach, since sometimes the student knows enough to complete the exercises but doesn't understand the concept fully enough.

[alpidarkomama]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group.

 

:iagree:

 

We added additional poetry memorization, and only repeated material until it was learned (far less than what was in the book). We also didn't do any of the written work since we do plenty with the rest of our learning and we didn't do any of the supplemental activities. It's a very well thought out, very thorough outline and has served us very well this way.

[WiseOwlKnits]

We had the same problem. We switched to CLE a month or so ago. It was the best thing we've done this year. DD is happier, she's learning more, and things are much better.

[LarlaB]

We had the same problem. We switched to CLE a month or so ago. It was the best thing we've done this year. DD is happier, she's learning more, and things are much better.

 

 

Were you already doing CLE materials? I see, in your siggie, that you're doing Reading & LA.... ;)

[Jenny in GA]

My recommendation is to adjust FLL to meet your needs. Neither of my kids needed anywhere near the amount of repetition included in FLL, but it's still the best I've seen in terms of the quantity and clarity of content for that age group. My approach was simply to skim through the next number of lessons and jot down the most important points. Then I'd go over the material: verses to memorize, grammar definitions and application, pick some of the longer copywork lessons...

:)

 

:iagree:

 

That's what I was just about to say.

We started FLL about a month ago, and are already on Lesson 54.

[Jen+4dc]

We had the same problem. We switched to CLE a month or so ago. It was the best thing we've done this year. DD is happier, she's learning more, and things are much better.

 

My ds detests things he sees as busywork. He wants to get school done, period! I bought CLE LA 100 (since I wanted to build confidence and positive feelings toward the program). We started at the very beginning, even though he's nearing the end of 2nd grade. We've been blasting through them, introducing only the things that are new to him. I freely cross out sections like "match the upper and lowercase letters" because he doesn't need them. But, we've slowed down on things like the "schwa" sound because he never got that in his phonics lessons.

 

It's working beautifully and my ds is determined CLE is what he wants to continue = it lets him drop his ETC, grammar book, and spelling. So, we're going with CLE LA and WWE 2 for his language arts. Plus, of course, he reads to me and I read to him, but that will continue till he leaves my home so.......:D

 

Good luck! CLE is really looking for my no-mess, no-frills, get-it-done-so-I-can-play guy.

 

HTH

[melissel]

I posted almost this exact post several months ago. I liked the general idea of FLL, but it was so much more work than I really wanted to do to figure when and where to skip, more scripted than I really cared to be, and I mainly wanted it for grammar work, since we're covering the other things (poetry, etc.) in a way that I was satisfied with. I ended up with Growing with Grammar and have been extremely happy with it.

 

DD and I read through the instructions and examples together, then I let her go to it. She's pretty language-oriented, so this turned out to be just the amount of repetition, with just the right combo of workbook and mom involvement, at just the right level for her. I highly recommend it.

[LarlaB]

I'm torn between a simple change like Growing w/ Grammar for FLL, and making a more radical change to CLE Reading & LA (getting rid of AAS, ETC & FLL). Thoughts? :)

 

 

 

We had the same problem. We switched to CLE a month or so ago. It was the best thing we've done this year. DD is happier, she's learning more, and things are much better.

 

I was curious and linked thru to your blog, and noticed you previously used AAS. We just started Level 2... How far into AAS were you? Is CLE as thorough in scope/sequence?

 

 

My ds detests things he sees as busywork. He wants to get school done, period! I bought CLE LA 100 (since I wanted to build confidence and positive feelings toward the program). We started at the very beginning, even though he's nearing the end of 2nd grade. We've been blasting through them, introducing only the things that are new to him. I freely cross out sections like "match the upper and lowercase letters" because he doesn't need them. But, we've slowed down on things like the "schwa" sound because he never got that in his phonics lessons.

 

It's working beautifully and my ds is determined CLE is what he wants to continue = it lets him drop his ETC, grammar book, and spelling. So, we're going with CLE LA and WWE 2 for his language arts. Plus, of course, he reads to me and I read to him, but that will continue till he leaves my home so.......:D

 

Good luck! CLE is really looking for my no-mess, no-frills, get-it-done-so-I-can-play guy.

 

HTH

 

Thank you for your reply. :) So you'd recommend starting at CLE LA 100 and going quickly? She's almost completed ETC Book 4....

 

I posted almost this exact post several months ago. I liked the general idea of FLL, but it was so much more work than I really wanted to do to figure when and where to skip, more scripted than I really cared to be, and I mainly wanted it for grammar work, since we're covering the other things (poetry, etc.) in a way that I was satisfied with. I ended up with Growing with Grammar and have been extremely happy with it.

 

DD and I read through the instructions and examples together, then I let her go to it. She's pretty language-oriented, so this turned out to be just the amount of repetition, with just the right combo of workbook and mom involvement, at just the right level for her. I highly recommend it.

 

Thanks for your reply- good to know I"m not the only one. :tongue_smilie: I really like the looks of Growing with Grammar- its so simple & straightforward.

[ProudGrandma]

we love Growing with Grammar here...in case you are still looking...

[Jen+4dc]

Thank you for your reply. :) So you'd recommend starting at CLE LA 100 and going quickly? She's almost completed ETC Book 4....

 

 

My ds just finished ETC 4 before we started CLE. I wouldn't say you have to go back to the beginning, especially if your dc had good phonics. My ds didn't get as thorough a grounding in phonics as I would have liked. And, frankly, ETC 4 was kicking him around for awhile. The idea of syllabication just is.not.clicking. for him. If I were to continue ETC then 4 1/2 is the first 1/2 book I would consider doing.

 

Honestly, I started at 100 because I wanted him to like it. I wanted him to feel smart again and feel successful. We did LU 101 in 3 days. LU 102 5 days. I'd rather he enjoy it and not be frustrated at this point. My plan is to do 3-4 lessons worth a day until we get a really close to where he should be and then slow down to 1 lesson a day. My hope is this will solidify any basics we missed along the way and build up his confidence. I hope!:D

 

The samples of CLE LA are pretty extensive. I think you could get a good feeling for the program from their website. Take a look at it and the other grammar programs recommended (GWG is supposed to be great if all you want to replace is grammar, CLE is supposedly an all-in-one LA, although I will keep WWE going, too).

 

I hope you find something that works for you and your dd!:)