Whereneverever Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) Or some other LA program. I think I really want something all in one. I've also looked at Writing Tales, but I'm nervous about it only having two levels. DD is finishing R&S English 2 and Spelling 2. We're not doing a reading/lit program, but I think we'd like one. She's currently reading The Last Battle from Narnia. Would something like LLATL be good? I was looking at the Yellow Level. Or maybe Orange. Any other ideas?:bigear: Edited January 30, 2011 by theretohere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 (edited) I really like LLATL. Have you checked out the http://www.commonsensepress.com/covers.htm web site to look at and try the samples? You will likely need to find the correct level to match your dd reading level. Edited January 30, 2011 by Tammyla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 I really like LLATL. Have you checked out the http://www.commonsensepress.com/covers.htm web site to look at and try the samples? You will likely need to find the correct level to match your dd reading level. I've been poking around looking and I'm a little unsure- what's more important, matching reading level or writing level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 You are going to have to work that answer out based on your student. Instruction level isn't working at their absolute top or bottom skill, and finding a balance can take effort. Look at the book list and the sample lessons and then you may need to print and try before you purchase. I've been poking around looking and I'm a little unsure- what's more important, matching reading level or writing level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Thanks- I'll see what I can figure out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmMusa Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Greetings! First year homeschooling, here, to a 4th and 3rd grader. I got Orange for grade 4 and Yellow for 3rd. At first I thought this was the neatest book. Then it seemed reaaally easy for them. However, when it came time to test, they did awful in grammar! My son finally turned to me and told me that they don't explain it and that they spend like on day on a certain part of speech (or other grammar topic). It's true. I paid more attention and realized the grammar was a bit weak. It does have creative elements, and I think there is probably sufficient writing and copywork. Last week I ended up buying FLL 3 for both kids and they LOVE how the information is presented and followed up. And so am I, honestly. It feels more like education than LLATL did. However... since I already have LLATL, I will from now on just pick the neat parts and do those. We'll not even go through any grammar or spelling or writing in LLATL (that sounds kind of pathetic, I know, but we're covering those topics from other books). I'll use it for the "Literature Links" and other intersting things like my 4th grader's Research Unit. Those can be useful for us, for sure. I felt the levels were too easy for the grade level. Maybe that's b/c the school district my kids were in before h/s was good. Maybe LLATL is a little on the easy side. Those are my thoughts and my experience. I started to question LLATL back in the fall, and finally in January just had to move on for some real meaty grammar and writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 Greetings!First year homeschooling, here, to a 4th and 3rd grader. I got Orange for grade 4 and Yellow for 3rd. At first I thought this was the neatest book. Then it seemed reaaally easy for them. However, when it came time to test, they did awful in grammar! My son finally turned to me and told me that they don't explain it and that they spend like on day on a certain part of speech (or other grammar topic). It's true. I paid more attention and realized the grammar was a bit weak. It does have creative elements, and I think there is probably sufficient writing and copywork. Last week I ended up buying FLL 3 for both kids and they LOVE how the information is presented and followed up. And so am I, honestly. It feels more like education than LLATL did. However... since I already have LLATL, I will from now on just pick the neat parts and do those. We'll not even go through any grammar or spelling or writing in LLATL (that sounds kind of pathetic, I know, but we're covering those topics from other books). I'll use it for the "Literature Links" and other intersting things like my 4th grader's Research Unit. Those can be useful for us, for sure. I felt the levels were too easy for the grade level. Maybe that's b/c the school district my kids were in before h/s was good. Maybe LLATL is a little on the easy side. Those are my thoughts and my experience. I started to question LLATL back in the fall, and finally in January just had to move on for some real meaty grammar and writing. Interesting- thanks! We started with FLL and my DD was really bored by it, so if this is less grammar and slower moving then that's not really a great solution for us.:tongue_smilie: Any other suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I tried LLATL in 3rd grade because I wanted to take our homeschool in a more nontraditional direction. By Christmas break, I knew we had to switch. I wound up choosing BJU for the rest of 3rd and 4th. It greatly brought up dd's language arts skills on her tests. Honestly, I've not found an all in one program I like. You might consider Total Language Plus. I only used it for 2 books a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 I tried LLATL in 3rd grade because I wanted to take our homeschool in a more nontraditional direction. By Christmas break, I knew we had to switch. I wound up choosing BJU for the rest of 3rd and 4th. It greatly brought up dd's language arts skills on her tests. Honestly, I've not found an all in one program I like. You might consider Total Language Plus. I only used it for 2 books a few years ago. I keep really wanting an all in one program, and not finding one. I'm starting to feel like I'll be piecing next year together, as well. :glare: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandajh Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I really wanted to like LLATL. I wanted to like it so much that I bought it 2 times and then sold it....2 TIMES! It just did not work for us. It was too...um..jumpy? It just jumps around without making any sense to me. There was not enough review of grammar topics. And before I even bought it I was told that I would need to supplement spelling and grammar since LLATL was so light on these topics. That should have been a red flag. I have decided that there is no such thing as a complete language arts program out there that is really complete. :) Amanda http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 I really wanted to like LLATL. I wanted to like it so much that I bought it 2 times and then sold it....2 TIMES! It just did not work for us. It was too...um..jumpy? It just jumps around without making any sense to me. There was not enough review of grammar topics. And before I even bought it I was told that I would need to supplement spelling and grammar since LLATL was so light on these topics. That should have been a red flag.I have decided that there is no such thing as a complete language arts program out there that is really complete. :) Amanda http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/ I really appreciate the reinforcement- it's helping me feel like I'm making the right decision. I really don't want something too light on grammar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbygirl Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I use it and like it. I prefer it to Sonlight that we struggled to keep up with. I find it's really easy to adapt and it makes it flexible for me. I usually check out some of the books that are used for the dictation passages for extra reading and we do Spelling Power in addition to LLATL. That has worked well for us. I like that it has dictation and a lot of creative type writing, which is what my dd is strong in. It plays to her strengths and my dd has really turned out some top notch writing assignments using LLATL. Last year (7th grade) we did a great deal of sentence diagramming that got very complex. I didn't find it light in grammar at all. Hope this helps. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susankenny Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I love the idea of LLATL, but we really don't like the program at all. Perhaps if you stay with it for the long haul, it all comes together - but we couldn't get past the first year. It was very boring for my daughter. Susan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We like LLATL here :D I like the copywork/dictation and for us the grammar is just fine. My dd is using the purple book and also does ILL. My ds is using the tan book. He was using Saxon Grammar to go along with it but stopped a few weeks ago (we added in Greek). Next year we won't use LLATL though :( . The two older kiddos using LLATL this year will use Bob Jones dvds next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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