Blessed with seven Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Hi, I am curious if anyone does not like the new Sonlight LA and why? I really think I would like the structure of it but....have heard mixed reviews. Kim Wife to Clayton for 17years, mother to dd14, dd12, ds10, dd7, dd4, ds2 and baby ds 2 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apond Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 We used the grade 3-5 and grade 3 LA with the readers. I used it for a couple of weeks but it drove me nuts one week we would study capital letters and the next week we would study simile. It just didn't flow well for my own logic. I much prefer R&S It is simple and layed out. One part I have continued to use is the copywork they have already printed out for me it has been changed to dictation since January. They pull it from what they are reading which I liked. Anyway this was my experience. HTH Annmarie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 Since I lean toward CM, or Ruth Beechick, I really wanted to like it, but I don't. I've tried LA K, LA 1, LA 2, and LA 6. (All the new versions). The problem I've had is that its not logical or orderly, and the level of LA doesn't work out if you have an early reader, since the readers are tied to the LA package. There is just too much. IMO, for the early years, the focus should be phonics. And yet, in LA 1, they introduce abstract concepts, such as similies. My nearly 4 year old is a beginning reader and is beyond learning letter sounds and cvc words in LA K, but LA 1 is too much of a jump, because its teaching more than phonics. Week 3 discusses dialog and has the child dictate a conversation, that's too much for a barely 4 yr old. I think SL assumes a 1st grader will be using this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed with seven Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 I too am looking for a more CM/Ruth Beechick style of Language. I keep hoping I will find a lot of people who just LOVE the new LA because it sounds so nice. I am wanting to reinforce the phonics we are learning and gently introduce my children to copywork and some grammar concepts. We are doing CVC words in phonics, well..maybe a bit more advanced than that... My main problem is I need the structure of the Instructor's Guides. I am trying to move in the direction of a CM/RB style but...I am pulling in this and that and then find it impossible to implement. For me...I need the structure of an Instructor's Guide but I am also weak in LA skills so want it very clear for me to teach. In saying that...do you all think this would work for me? We are right in line fore the LA 1 readers and I honestly, in the lower grades, don't care for a formal grammar program at all, mainly want them reading, with a schedule, doing copywork etc... Kim Wife to Clayton for 17years, mother to dd14, dd12, ds10, dd7, dd4, ds2 and baby ds 2 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollie010 Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 This is my first time around teaching a child to read, but we have really loved SL K LA with my 4 yo. He did already know letter sounds and was blending CVC words, but we have found enough in K LA to keep him busy and challenged. He is very verbal and we love the directed narration and story starter ideas. These are perfect for his active imagination. We have added an alphabet art activity for the corresponding letter each week and are going back through some of the activities from Wow! I'm Reading! by Williamson publishing. We also do the ETC as scheduled. We love the games and low key approach. Like I said I don't have anything else to compare it to really, but I think we will stick with it as long as it continues to work. DS does not do much of the writing, but we do the memory work. Even dd 2 is picking up a lot from what we are doing with ds. Good luck deciding. Laurel T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 we did la 3. I really just don't agree with their approach to writing. There was a lot of creative writing prompts, which I didn't think was developmentally appropriate. I did love the dictation excercises, but it's not worth the money just for those. We still love and use everything else sl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 For me...I need the structure of an Instructor's Guide but I am also weak in LA skills so want it very clear for me to teach. In saying that...do you all think this would work for me? That's the problem I've had with it, I don't think SL LA is clear. I've had trouble even figuring out SL LA 1, but this very well may just be me and the way my brain works! I do agree with Laurel, that LA K is much better, I can see a pattern there and I do like the beginning copywork and narration. Since I already own it, I plan on using it with my 4 year old, and just going through the phonics part very quickly. Since I own LA 1, I'm going to try to rework that too, but I personally, don't find it intuitive or clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Atl Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I liked the old LA. I agreed it needed more writing but now it does not have enough grammar. I loved how both came from the bks we were reading, giving the lesson context and meaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I used the older version and liked the K LA . But after that it started to not make much sense after that so I dropped it . I really wanted to like it because I liked how it was set up . Just in my mind didn't make much sense either . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed with seven Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Those who want a CM/Ruth Beechick style of Language Arts..what would you use? I need structure... Kim Wife to Clayton for 17 years, dd14, dd12, ds10, dd7, dd4, ds2 and baby ds 2 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 What about LLATL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed with seven Posted April 13, 2008 Author Share Posted April 13, 2008 Is LLATL a "complete" LA program? Would I need to add anything else? Are the read a louds comparable to Sonlight? Kim Wife to Clayton for 17 years (almost 18) Mother to: dd14, dd12, ds10, dd7, dd4, ds2 and baby ds 2 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readwithem Posted April 13, 2008 Share Posted April 13, 2008 I haven't seen the new LA but we did SL for 6 years. I *hated* the LA every year, finally gave up and tried several other things, and ultimately landed with R&S in 5th grade and haven't looked back. They're not pretty but they get to the point quickly and precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I haven't used LLATL yet. I'm waiting for it to arrive. It is supposed to be complete, but some do supplement. It really just depends on the person. Dayle in Guatamala seems to have a lot of experience with it. You might want to post to her to get your questions asked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessed with seven Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Thank you all for your input. I have heard good things about LLATL and R & S. I keep hoping sonlight will work, not sure why...I think because they consulted Ruth Beechick but I just read where RB said she looked over it, offered suggestions, but had nothing to do w/ the actual rewriting of it and hasn't even seen the new LA so... What to do? There are too many good options! Kim Wife to Clayton for 17 years (almost 18) Mother to: dd14, dd12, ds10, dd7, dd4, ds2 and baby ds 2 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I'm just chiming in to say I'm in the same boat! I'm looking over SL LA and WANT to like it, since I plan on doing Core 1 for my two boys this Fall, but the mixed reviews make me hesitant. I hope you find the answer you need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Kim, I am using the old LA K-2, but not the new. :D Actually from what I have seen the samples in You Can Teach Your Child Successfully is pretty close to the new SL LA. Ok to what people have stated here as negatives. It jumps around: yep, it is spiral on purpose. Covers a topic, drops it and comes back later, several times during the year. RB agrees with this approach to learning things and from my experience all RB LA does this (though I never did try LLATL). It lacks grammar: again on purpose. RB suggests you wait till Jr High to cover grammar, then cover it for a year. Then in High School have another year of grammar. It spends too much time in creative writing: agreed here! I am unclear as to whether RB would agree with this. If she did it would be only via the parent doing the writing for the child. I honestly think Classical is much more right on, in doing narrations and dictation, for the younger K-3rd ages. RB examples that look like the SL LA is in a book for 4th graders on up. Let me be clear that I don't take issue with these complaints, but just want the OP to think about whether it is RB style that they really want. :001_smile: For those who just don't like the IG I think the problem there is trusting RB/SL methods. It is a leap of faith because you can't exactly see where you are going. There is no focus for the week, no main goal or purpose. Make sense? I started using SL LA before the redesign, and I still use the old LA. It had twice the dictation, so generally my kids do one sentence a day in dictation and the exercise sheets as appropriate. I think the early levels of SL do a great job of teaching rhyming, quotations, punctuation and antonyms and synonyms...even homophones and palindromes. I do like how they teach phonics in word families, and that they use ETC. I don't think they have enough phonics activities, hands on, and oral work. It worked great for my oldest who was chomping to learn, but she would have done great with any program. My 2nd dd it didn't have enough reinforcement and so I had to add SWR for phonics. The next two I didn't even try SL alone, they are doing a combo of SL, ETC and SWR. Nor do I think there is enough narrations, which I think should be the backbone of writing in K-3rd. The last complaint I have sometimes seen of SL LA is die hard RB fans don't always care for SL's choice of passages for dictation, because they seem to often choose passages to show a grammatical point rather than something that is just great writing. This might have changed with the new LA. I am not around the SL boards anymore to know for sure. There is one other RB LA I haven't seen mentioned. The Bravewriter has LA called: The Arrow, The Slingshot and The Boomerang, but it starts at 3rd grade. The format might also turn some people off because it is basic HTML code, so they use **** to indicate indentions and such. Because she is a writer, It is my opinion that she chooses much better passages and the writing portion of her LA is really good. Ummmm the rest I don't really use. :D The best thing is that you can buy just a book for $6. I use it for breaks from using CW. I started out pretty RB but like the other's who have had problems trusting it. To me, it seems great for a teacher who is a master of grammar to say to delay. When needed they can still explain things. More of a learning through unschooling when things come up, but I didn't know grammar, so when an issue came up and my dd looked to me for an answer all I could say was, "I don't know." That bothered me. In the end I moved to CW planning on making the whole program more relaxed. Then I found we had to reverse engineer the grammar because we were both lost. Now we are doing a formal grammar program (JAG), and when we come back to CW Aesop B both of us should be confident about the grammar and able to do the diagramming. In the end I guess I am a hybrid. RB till about 3rd (with more dictation than she would do though), and then classical from there on out. Hope you find what you are looking for... Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 I think LLATL is supposed to be a beechick approach too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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