Feeling a little overwhelmed by language arts...

[anabelneri]

I've been reading through a lot of old posts trying to pin down my plan for next year, and I'm at that stage of overwhelm where my list of things I want to buy just keeps getting longer but there's no way Sweetie needs all of that! So I'm hoping for some help...

 

Situation: Sweetie will be a 3rd grader, totally into stories, reads a couple grade levels ahead, and has average spelling abilities. We did FLL 1-2 last year in about 6 months and WWE1 through the year, but haven't done anything this year beyond narrations & poetry memorization. She's an auditory and visual learner (heavy on the auditory).

 

Here's what I'm sure we'll be doing:

 

 

• Ambleside's literature w/ oral and written narrations
  
• IEW's poetry memorization
  
• Webster's Speller for continued reading instruction
  
• MCT's Island level (I already have it)
  
• oh, and she's taking French (Alex et Zoe, starting book 2)
  

 

 

I know we need spelling... I'm looking at either Marcia Henry's Words or Megawords. I liked the idea of Phonetic Zoo but folks here have scared me away from it.

 

Here's what these boards have convinced me are fabulous and I should be adding in (or otherwise considering):

 

 

• Killgallon (Sentence Composing first?)
  
• Sentence Family
  
• FLL3 or R&S3
  
• Writing Strands
  
• Classical Writing - Aesop
  
• IEW... no idea what, but it's on my list
  
• oh yeah, and I've got Lively Latin on a list somewhere too
  

 

I know I've got a lot of different subjects here, but it seems like grammar and composition are tied together at the hip. My hope is that, as Sweetie moves forward she'll get to do both academic and creative writing, and that she'll also have a good grounding in grammar. I've seen that some folks think MCT needs good grammatical backup, that Killgallon is fun (as is Lively Latin), and that many writing programs are seductive :D.

 

So what would you do?

Thank you so much!

[Ravin]

Well, we're using the following for 3rd grade:

 

Webster's Speller (for spelling)

Classical Writing: Aesop (for writing)

Lively Latin

 

I'm operating on the assumption that she'll get enough grammar reinforcement from the combination of the writing curriculum and Latin. If not, I have Simply Grammar sitting on the shelf.

 

If I could find something succinct for spelling rules, I might add that in, but I think my DD is more likely to retain the patterns she gets from Webster's. We'll have finished Word Mastery for phonics, and learning to spell with Webster's will reinforce all that. We will also do copywork (for handwriting purposes if nothing else) and poetry memorization just for the fun of it. DD will read to me for reading practice, and I'll read to her for literature.

Edited January 18, 2011 by Ravin

[NanceXToo]

I'm not familiar with many of the things on your list- I've pretty much stuck with just Oak Meadow with very minimal supplementing from my first days homeschooling on. It does look like an incredibly long list for any grade, though, and especially for a 7-8 y/o so I'd definitely narrow that down. But anyway I wanted to say that we just started Sentence Composing over here with my 10 y/o who is in 5th grade (who would have been in fourth if she'd been born one day later), and I find this to be a good age for it. In that she can get what they mean without a problem, is a good reader etc, but she still needs some help with composing the sentences. I'm not sure she would have been able to do it at all in third grade. I'd wait til 4th or 5th on that if I were you, but that's just a suggestion. :)

[Closeacademy]

You don't need to do too much. What needs to be covered is:

 

composition

grammar

spelling

and something to read

 

If you have that covered then you should be OK. For my 3rd grader we are using:

 

Scott Foresman free language arts workbooks (grammar & composition)

reading easy readers (reading something)

Oak Meadow followed by Spell to Write and Read (spelling)

 

:001_smile:

[GypsieFamily]

Wow. I feel exhausted even thinking about doing that much.

 

Dc do a spelling combination of Webster's and SWR (a hibrid we've arrived at), Classical Writing and LfC. They have done memorization in the past, and loved it. Literature and read alouds generally end to come in free time, as they read a lot. Don't burn yourself (and dc).

 

We tried to do a lot more earlier in when we were schooling, but cut back a lot now because we got tired of doing it all. I have found more is less as now they choose to read so much for fun.

[TKDmom]

 

Here's what I'm sure we'll be doing:

 

 

• Ambleside's literature w/ oral and written narrations

• IEW's poetry memorization

• Webster's Speller for continued reading instruction

• MCT's Island level (I already have it)

• oh, and she's taking French (Alex et Zoe, starting book 2)

 

 

I know we need spelling... I'm looking at either Marcia Henry's Words or Megawords. I liked the idea of Phonetic Zoo but folks here have scared me away from it.

 

 

 

You need to stop reading the boards. ;) (I tell myself the same thing daily, but you'll notice that I'm still here...) It looks to me like you already have a full LA schedule. Could Webster's Speller double for spelling and reading instruction? I'm only marginally familiar with it, but maybe you could pull words out of the lists and put them on SpellingCity.com for practice, games, and tests.

 

Last year, I used MCT Island, WWE, Lively Latin, and SL Readers for my 3rd grader's LA. I couldn't have done any more. I added spelling this year, and it's really hard to get it all done. MCT should provide for your grammar needs. I didn't love the way writing assignments are presented, but if you are doing oral and written narrations alongside MCT, I think your writing needs will be covered nicely. Island level also has a nice poetics book and Building Language serves an introduction to Vocabulary. I can't imagine adding a 2nd language in 3rd grade.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Edited January 18, 2011 by bonniebeth4
typos

[boscopup]

It's really hard to pick just one, when there are SO many good curricula out there! But I think you do need to look at each subject individually and pick ONE program that meets that need. I know I had trouble picking grammar. There were 3 programs I liked, and I couldn't decide which one to go with. I finally sat down and figured out which one would likely work best for me and my son, and I picked that one. Next year, we are switching to one of the other choices, but we're not doing them both at the same time. ;)

 

Look at threads that compare the different programs you have overlapping right now. That might help you decide. Make sure you're looking at the threads that talk about the downsides to each one. A praise thread can talk you into anything, but then you come to a thread that shows dislike for a program, and you might see how it might be a problem for your family too (if you or your child think the same way as the people that had problems). It doesn't mean the program is bad, but it might not be a fit for your family. Or there may be 3 programs that are all a great fit for your family, but you just need one, so you pick the one that most meets your needs.

 

But yeah, make a list somewhere of the programs you are looking at for grammar, spelling, composition, and reading. If you have more than one program down for any of those subjects, whittle it down some more until you just have one. Streamlining really does help a lot. For example, your Webster Speller... a PP suggested using it also for spelling (afterall, it is a "speller" :D), and I think that's an excellent idea. I am just switching spelling programs myself, and when I decided to do that, I also dropped our phonics program because I knew that the spelling program I had chosen would take care of phonics instruction. So instead of having two separate programs, we'll just have one to do each day.

[anabelneri]

You need to stop reading the boards. ;) (I tell myself the same thing daily, but you'll notice that I'm still here...) It looks to me like you already have a full LA schedule.

 

:lol: No doubt. That's partly why I posted... I need folks who have experience to tell me where to stop.

 

So the stuff we already have planned is enough? Would anyone add anything to it? I'm considering using Webster's for spelling too, as suggested.

 

Thank you everyone!

[angela in ohio]

• Killgallon (Sentence Composing first?) Nope.
• Sentence Family Nope.

• FLL3 or R&S3 This would be instead of MCT.

• Writing Strands Nope.

• Classical Writing - Aesop You'll already have writing in MCT.

• IEW... no idea what, but it's on my list Great program, but you won't need it right now if you're doing writing in MCT.

• oh yeah, and I've got Lively Latin on a list somewhere too I do think Latin is valuable, but wait until reading instruction is finished and add spelling first.

 

 

I would just worry about adding spelling. Perhaps after you finish the Webster's you could add something, or just use the Webster's; I do spelling after we finish reading instruction. Latin would be nice, but you have time for that later if you are still firming up reading skills and doing French.

 

Pick one thing for each area and do it well. If you use too many curriculum, you end up just checking things off the list to get done, and not actually learning and applying skills.

 

One thing to remember is that in each thread about a curriculum, usually only people who are interested in it or like it will post. So it is easy to start thinking that everything is wonderful and necessary. For everyone loving some curriculum, though, there are others who think it is a waste of time or not as good as something else. We all have to make choices, but that doesn't show up well on a message board.

Edited January 18, 2011 by angela in ohio

[ElizabethB]

You can get a free French book that teaches through syllables (I think, you used to be able to get a pdf free, I'm pretty sure you still can...)

 

The books are Manuel de lecture and Manuel d'ecriture.

 

http://www.lalibrairiedesecoles.com/librairie/lecture,1

 

If you can't figure it out, ask for French speaker help!