minimalist language arts

[JennyD]

I am wondering what -- if anything -- to do about LA with my almost-6yo K'er (rising first grader). My philosophy on seatwork right now to keep things short and sweet, so we do math (SM), handwriting (HWT) and cello practice every day, and then move on to unit studies. Next year I am going to add in some foreign language study as well.

 

He is a very accelerated reader -- I'm afraid I don't know what level, but whatever it is it's enough that he gets agitated about things he reads in the paper-- and seems to spell quite well, too. We have never done much in the way of phonics, but I think he has a very strong visual memory and that seems to be getting the job done.

 

His handwriting is perfectly average, and he doesn't have much stamina for handwriting, although he does have a LOT to say and I think he gets frustrated by not being able to physically write more easily. In any event, we are coming to the end of the HWT first grade book and I am thinking that perhaps we should do something else for a bit before moving to the next book in the series.

 

So, two questions:

 

(1) If I were to do *one* LA thing instead of HWT, what would you recommend? I am inclined towards WWE but am more than open to suggestions.

 

(2) I had not planned on doing spelling any time soon, if at all, but my son has been asking to learn how to spell and pronounce words he doesn't know. As I mentioned above, both his spelling and his pronunciation seem remarkably good to me -- clearly he has internalized phonics rules, even if he never learned them formally -- but apparently the only thing he dislikes more than making occasional errors is having to ask Mom how to spell something. :001_smile: Any suggestions?

Edited April 20, 2011 by JennyD

[nmoira]

Copywork should help with both writing stamina and spelling. We use whole works, with the kids doing a bit every day. He could illustrate his books; we liken it to working in a scriptorium. :001_smile:

[chai]

A couple of spelling suggestions: At that age, my dd was very happy with oral spelling drills. I would read a list of words and she would tell me how to spell them--it was more like a game. If I had known about it at the time, I would have used Calvert spelling. We used it around 4th grade. The nice thing about Calvert is that it is computer-based and it is fun. The computer keeps track of words that he misses, so he doesn't need to work on things that he already knows.

 

I'm not familiar with WWE because it wasn't out when my dd was younger. At that age, we had a lot of fun with oral narrations. I would type them and dd would illustrate and make a book. Another suggestion is to do Latin--you'll get lots of LA out of that. Or your son could do FLL in 5-10 minutes a day.

[EKS]

I think WWE would be perfect for what you are wanting to do.

[MinivanMom]

If your son is asking to learn how to spell and pronounce unknown words, then I think that is exactly what you should replace HWT with. Even though he reads well, it might be helpful to go through either a phonics program or a rule-based spelling program to explicitly teach some of the rules. It might not seem to you that he needs the explicit instruction, but it may give him more confidence in sounding out and spelling unfamiliar words. I don't think this needs to be a huge or time-consuming thing, particularly for a child who reads well and is a natural speller. My oldest is a natural speller and we set aside 10 min. each Monday for me to "teach" her a spelling rule. It sometimes seems silly to me when she already spells so well, but she likes discussing the rules and understanding them on a cognitive level (rather than intuitively). Anything more than one day a week would be serious overkill for her.

 

The other issue you mention is stamina for writing. I think that sometimes takes time, especially for boys. I would just make sure he writes daily. It could be HWT, writing in a journal, copywork, etc. It's frustrating when physical skills don't keep up with academic ability, but gradually those fine motor skills will develop.

[JennyD]

Thanks so much for the suggestions -- very helpful.

 

I had been thinking that copywork was the way to go and am glad to have that validated. He is not much for drawing but does already seem to do a fair amount of copying on his own -- I find sheets of computer paper on his floor covered in (all-caps) excerpts from library books. Maybe I will let him choose some of his own copywork and then just insist that he use lower-case letters as well. I plan to also start incorporating a bit of writing into our unit studies.

 

And I like the one spelling rule a week idea as well. My son would enjoy that, I am sure. I am not familiar with the differences between spelling programs but will start with the suggestions here and look around.

 

(Not to get off track, but I cannot for the life of me remember how I learned to spell. Like my oldest, I was also a very strong reader and speller but I went to public school and surely we must have had spelling lessons, no? But the only 'rule' I can recall is the one about "i" and "e." Did we learn rules? Is it that you forget the rules once you know how to spell, along the same lines as phonics and reading?)

[nmoira]

Maybe I will let him choose some of his own copywork and then just insist that he use lower-case letters as well.

I make copyword sheets using fonts from Educational Fontware (we use GDI). They have HWT fonts, but there might be cheaper options.

 

In the early years, I print up sheets using the outline version of the font (similar to dashes, but the student writes inside the outlines). I then have them go sentence by sentence, first on the printout then on blank lined paper, with the understanding that as soon as letter formation is automatic and reasonably proportional, they no longer have to trace first.

[boscopup]

You could try WWE. The copywork and narrations are excellent. I also do copywork in Startwrite (which has HWT, GDI, and other fonts - though they don't advertise the HWT... you can see it in the demo). I got Startwrite via the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. They have instructions on how to order it using a code. You just call them up. Very easy. It gets you $10 off. I actually make up WWE narration and copywork pages in Startwrite, since the WWE lines are huge, and I prefer the HWT lines anyway. Find where your son's writing limit is, and give that amount everyday, then gradually increase it by small amounts. I saw great results doing this method. Just a few months ago, writing one sentence wore him out. Now he can write 2-3 sentences fairly easily, especially if we're using the white board. I also found that making sure he's up high enough compared to the table makes a huge difference, since we use a kitchen table and the kitchen chairs are too low for a 6 year old.

 

I also recommend a spelling program that uses phonics. My son also learned to read very well very early on, but his self-teaching became a problem when he hit the multisyllable words that are in 4th grade and up books. He would recognize some of them, but the ones he didn't already "know", he didn't know how to break down to sound them out. Work on syllabication and the basic phonics rules involved with each syllable has helped a TON. We use AAS, though you may not necessarily need that program. ;) My son wanted to know "why" things were spelled the way they were, and he learns very well by saying "Here's a rule, and here are some words that use that rule... Now let's dictate some sentences that use these words and words we've previously gone over."