What is the youngest you'd use LL7?

[EKS]

I am thinking into the future and wondering about Lightning Literature for my younger son. How young have you used this resource and did you have any problems using it with a younger child?

 

Also, are there any (secular) resources out there similar to LL for slightly younger children?

 

Thanks!

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

 

Deconstructing Penguins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously read it!!!! It is cheaper on Amazon though :001_smile:

[KAR120C]

I am thinking into the future and wondering about Lightning Literature for my younger son. How young have you used this resource and did you have any problems using it with a younger child?

 

Also, are there any (secular) resources out there similar to LL for slightly younger children?

 

Thanks!

I don't remember now exactly how young... maybe 8? It wasn't a problem at all. If the books appeal to you and you aren't dealing with any issues that make writing a particular challenge, I'd give it a try. It's a nice introduction to some literary analysis.

 

We had a book group before we did LL7, and in the group we used the Junior Great Books curriculum. That went extremely well, although it was definitely not open-and-go. We pre-read all the short stories and skipped several that were not appropriate for the younger kids, and we definitely tweaked the discussion process. You can go up a few grades in that one (the youngest grades can be much too easy - but judge by the content and the discussion questions rather than the reading... the reading is easy all the way up), but content can become an issue. Also JGB is definitely meant for a group. I've heard of it done at home alone, but I don't think I've heard anyone who really liked it that way. Its strength is in the discussions.

[Laura Corin]

I used it when Calvin was about eleven. It really depends on the child: the work is not too hard, so it's just worth looking to see if the books will appeal.

 

In a different style: we enjoyed Galore Park's English books - they go from age 8 to 13 - but they don't cover entire texts.

 

Laura

[abbeyej]

We used LL7 and 8 the year ds was 10. (Actually started LL7 a little before he turned 10...) It worked well for us.

 

So far I'm finding that I liked LL7 and 8 a lot more than I'm liking the high school level LLs. The books are more challenging, but the discussions and writing assignments aren't really any deeper or more demanding. I certainly don't consider the writing adequate for a high school English class. ... But we enjoyed LL7 and 8 and I'm glad we did them. I don't know if I would have liked them as much had we waited a great deal longer before using them.

[Quad Shot Academy]

I used it at 10 with my son, but wished I had done it at 9.

[8filltheheart]

We used LL7 and 8 the year ds was 10. (Actually started LL7 a little before he turned 10...) It worked well for us.

 

So far I'm finding that I liked LL7 and 8 a lot more than I'm liking the high school level LLs. The books are more challenging, but the discussions and writing assignments aren't really any deeper or more demanding. I certainly don't consider the writing adequate for a high school English class. ... But we enjoyed LL7 and 8 and I'm glad we did them. I don't know if I would have liked them as much had we waited a great deal longer before using them.

 

I did not like the LL high school program that I ordered. It was so superficial that I was upset that I had spent the $$ on it. I definitely did not consider it high school level coverage. I have never seen the 7 or 8 so I can't compare to that. The one that I ordered has caused me to not even consider any others.

[abbeyej]

...The one that I ordered has caused me to not even consider any others.

 

Yes, we'll stick with the two I have for this year (7th grade, doing the Early-to-Mid 19th Century British and Early-to-Mid 19th Century American sets, to go roughly with our history studies this year), but I won't buy any of the others. While I can make them work for us for 7th, I can't imagine using them for high school work. The middle school programs are light (which I felt was nice because it meant we could still include an awful lot of literature that went with our history studies, etc), but were still a good fit for us (especially used a little before the recommended levels). The high school work? Not so much. I'm especially disturbed by the writing assignments which simply don't cover writing an analytic paper at all.

[Donna]

I plan to use LL7 with my dd next year. She'll be 9yo. In the meantime we are using "Suppose the Wolf's an Octopus" and Best Short Stories as a warm up and to expound on her analysis type skills.

[swimmermom3]

Yes, we'll stick with the two I have for this year (7th grade, doing the Early-to-Mid 19th Century British and Early-to-Mid 19th Century American sets, to go roughly with our history studies this year), but I won't buy any of the others. While I can make them work for us for 7th, I can't imagine using them for high school work. The middle school programs are light (which I felt was nice because it meant we could still include an awful lot of literature that went with our history studies, etc), but were still a good fit for us (especially used a little before the recommended levels). The high school work? Not so much. I'm especially disturbed by the writing assignments which simply don't cover writing an analytic paper at all.

 

My sentiments exactly. We are utilizing some of the British Medieval unit to go with my 7th grader's history work, but my 12th grader chose to work with other materials that I had for the same time period. That said, I would still recommend LL 7 & 8 for strong readers from 5th grade and up for the reason that Abbey mentioned in that it allows one to cover literary analysis in a gentle fashion but leaves plenty of time for other literature.

 

ETA: Kai, given the literary exposure your younger one has already had, 5th grade would probably work fine and maybe even fourth. Although, I did find that Swimmer Dude was still a bit too literal for some works. He couldn't understand why his brother and mother were rolling on the floor when he exclaimed, "They're all going to drown!" with regards to Edward Lear's poem, "The Jumblies."

Edited October 3, 2010 by swimmermom3

[Capt_Uhura]

I will be doing LL7 with a 5th grader. We've done some Teaching the Classics and he really enjoyed that. The books in LL7/8 were ones we had planned to read this year or he has read already. We'll see how it goes and adjust when necessary.

 

Capt_Uhura

[abbeyej]

I did not like the LL high school program that I ordered. It was so superficial that I was upset that I had spent the $$ on it. I definitely did not consider it high school level coverage. I have never seen the 7 or 8 so I can't compare to that. The one that I ordered has caused me to not even consider any others.

 

I'm veering away from the OP here to ask... What *do* you like for 8th grade / early high school? I'm going to make LL work for us this year (7th - using their Early-mid-19th Cent British and American guides), but as I said, I won't be buying any more of their high school level materials. Next year we'll be doing 1850-present in history, and it's such an incredibly rich and varied period to study in literature as well. I don't mind using individual guides for pieces of my own choosing, or using one guide that incorporates several books... But I'd like some additional direction, besides just me flying by the seat of my pants...

 

Do you have favorites to recommend? Something that will help make the transition from middle school toward more rigorous high school study?

[8filltheheart]

I'm veering away from the OP here to ask... What *do* you like for 8th grade / early high school? I'm going to make LL work for us this year (7th - using their Early-mid-19th Cent British and American guides), but as I said, I won't be buying any more of their high school level materials. Next year we'll be doing 1850-present in history, and it's such an incredibly rich and varied period to study in literature as well. I don't mind using individual guides for pieces of my own choosing, or using one guide that incorporates several books... But I'd like some additional direction, besides just me flying by the seat of my pants...

 

Do you have favorites to recommend? Something that will help make the transition from middle school toward more rigorous high school study?

 

LOL......I was just coming in here to comment on alternative sources. ;)

 

From a classical perspective, we have used Kolbe and GBA's Socratic discussions.

 

I absolutely love LL from LOTR. However, we spent enormous amts of time on the units between the books and really "developed" the analysis being presented in those units. It took us 2 yrs to complete it. (it is an excellent program for middle school lit)

 

For a more modern flair, my recommendation is surprisingly OM. My 9th grader is doing their English 9 this yr. This is my ds who is a slow reader and extremely ahead in math and science. The reading in OM is very "light" as in there aren't very many novels. However, the critical thinking portions for the books have been solid and have lead to his analyzing the lit on a completely different level w/o guidance in that direction.

 

I think that OM could definitely be used by advanced children at much younger ages. If used as a high school student, it allows plenty of freedom to add in additional literature, a lot more.

[abbeyej]

One more question while I'm at it... ;) Have you used or considered Windows to the World from IEW? It's another I had on my list to look at for 8th or 9th grade...

[8filltheheart]

One more question while I'm at it... ;) Have you used or considered Windows to the World from IEW? It's another I had on my list to look at for 8th or 9th grade...

 

Sorry, no I haven't looked at it. I bought several IEW writing/spelling products way back when and wasn't overly thrilled with them and I really haven't looked at any of their products since.

[abbeyej]

Sorry, no I haven't looked at it. I bought several IEW writing/spelling products way back when and wasn't overly thrilled with them and I really haven't looked at any of their products since.

 

Their writing program has never appealed overly much to me, though I do have the poetry memorization stuff, and the selections are good. Not that I could be constrained to a single book in that regard. ;)

 

But WttW seems like a possible choice for me for next year (8th), if we also simply read through the WTM 8th grade reading list...

 

I've also got the GBA/Angelicum high school literature website open. I like the selections, but I'm not seeing samples of the program itself. Am I just looking in the wrong place, or are they not there? ... I know I don't have to have high school figured out this year. :) But it does seem like having that in mind might influence my choices for 8th.

[EKS]

Thank you all!

 

I've ordered LL7 for use either later this year or next. I also looked at the OM offerings and I think between it and LL I'll be able to piece together a literature program for the next several years.

[8filltheheart]

Their writing program has never appealed overly much to me, though I do have the poetry memorization stuff, and the selections are good. Not that I could be constrained to a single book in that regard. ;)

 

But WttW seems like a possible choice for me for next year (8th), if we also simply read through the WTM 8th grade reading list...

 

I've also got the GBA/Angelicum high school literature website open. I like the selections, but I'm not seeing samples of the program itself. Am I just looking in the wrong place, or are they not there? ... I know I don't have to have high school figured out this year. :) But it does seem like having that in mind might influence my choices for 8th.

 

I did not use Angelicum, only GBA. Here is their 9th grade reading list: http://www.academybookstore.org/GBAStore/Categories.bok?category=NINTH+GRADE%3AGREAT+BOOKS+PROGRAM

 

The Socratic discussions are the heart of the program. The study guides http://www.academybookstore.org/GBAStore/Detail.bok?no=6645 do help them work through the materials in a comprehensive manner. If you do not enroll for college credit, they will send you a zip file with the answer key.

 

I was extremely disappointed in the writing feedback, so if you spend the money for the program, the Socratic discussions are as good as it gets.

 

HTH

[abbeyej]

I did not use Angelicum, only GBA

 

Aren't they the same, except for the religious content?

[8filltheheart]

Back when I used GBA, Angelicum did not have Socratic discussions and you had to register GBA for them. Since I only used the lit and discussions, I simply ordered everything through GBA. I looked at Angelicum's materials back when my oldest was in middle school and really haven't since. FWIW, I would recommend sitting in on a discussion to get a feel for the classes before registering.

 

I switched paths with the next child and went with Regina Coeli for 9th grade (very disappointed) and then went with Kolbe for 10th. I really like Kolbe. This yr she is doing American lit and American history and I went back to designing my own b/c Kolbe doesn't have an American lit cycle.

 

On a completely different note since you are looking at high school resources, one that I recently found that I highly recommend is the AP US history teacher's guide put out by Duke Tip. I wrote a reveiw about the guides on the high school board recently. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210969&highlight=AP

[abbeyej]

Thanks so much! I really do appreciate all of your input on this! I'll take a look at Kolbe and at the Duke resources as well... I know I've got a little time :) but it makes me feel better to have a plan in mind, even if I end up changing it six times between now and then. :) I can't believe I'm worrying about high school with this child -- it seems like we were just sitting on the floor and playing with pattern blocks!

[Beth in SW WA]

Thank you all!

 

I've ordered LL7 for use either later this year or next. I also looked at the OM offerings and I think between it and LL I'll be able to piece together a literature program for the next several years.

 

Kai,

How did it go? Would you recommend? I'm looking for something along these lines for dd for next year (grade 4).

 

Thanks!

[EKS]

Kai,

How did it go? Would you recommend? I'm looking for something along these lines for dd for next year (grade 4).

 

Thanks!

 

I ended up using K12's 6th grade literature course last year (without the rest of the LA parts) and it did the trick.

[Beth in SW WA]

Thanks, Kai.

[Harriet Vane]

Thanks so much! I really do appreciate all of your input on this! I'll take a look at Kolbe and at the Duke resources as well... I know I've got a little time :) but it makes me feel better to have a plan in mind, even if I end up changing it six times between now and then. :) I can't believe I'm worrying about high school with this child -- it seems like we were just sitting on the floor and playing with pattern blocks!

 

Abbey (and others who criticized the LL high school offerings), I'm curious to hear more of your thoughts on the LL high school materials. I used both the Am. Lit. packages from LL last year for 8th grade for dd. Together, I thought they covered a good amount of material.

 

Are your criticisms based on using just one per year, or two?

 

Also, the writing assignments varied widely in depth. Each unit had 4-8 choices, some of which were more scholarly, some of which were fairly frivolous. It seemed that a parent exercising careful oversight could make the program a weightier one simply by choosing the more scholarly assignments. Do you feel the program isn't weighty enough because ALL the writing assignments were weak, or because some of them are??

 

Finally, what elements do you expect a good literature program to contain?

 

I have been doing Ancients with dd this year per TWTM but am putting together next year's list for her. I have also purchased LL7 for ds to do next year as a 6th grader. I am interested to hear your perspective on LL as I am ruminating over these things.

[Donna]

I started LL7 with my 9yo dd about a month ago. We are doing about a chapter a month and it is going really well. She likes the readings, enjoys the discussion, and I am able to fit it in with the other things we are doing. I can make it deeper by adding in my own questioning as well.