Question about LA

[anmom]

Our new year starts in January, so I am making myself crazy right now trying to figure out our next step for the new year. Currently we are doing Sonlight A with the language arts 1. While I like parts of SL, we are switching things up this year and this is where I am getting confused!

 

As the year has gone on, I have realized that while I like the readers ok in LA 1, I do not like the rest of the program for LA. I was looking to switch this year from SL to FLL 1 and WWE 1. My question is with using FLL on the samples I see I dont see anything about assigning readers to go along with what we are learning. Am I just missing this, or is it something I will have to come up with on my own? If I do have to come up with it, what are your suggestions on how to know what books coorespond with what level and so on?

 

Also, we are currently doing ETC and DS really likes them. Would it be overkill to move on to books 4-6? What about Beyond the Code? I have heard of some people using those along with ETC 4-6.

 

I guess you can tell that I am new to all of this:tongue_smilie: thanks for the input! Last year I just bought and entire box curric from SL, and while we have been fine, I have found what I liked and didnt like and would like to switch up several things for this next year.

[Lots of boys]

Hi, we use FLL and WWE along with ETC and it works great. FLL is strickly grammar, WWE is writing (dictation, narration etc.), and ETC is strickly phonics. I think Beyond the code is designed to be used along side the last few books of ETC but I have never used BTC so I'm not sure.

 

We just use readers for our kids that we pick out ourselves. My ds7 reads chapter books to me from series like Magic Tree House etc. My ds5 is still reading BoB books.

 

I think you will enjoy FLL and WWE !! Good Luck

[Jay3fer]

We're just using McGuffey's alongside FLL / ETC and I must say, I'm very impressed with the language in them.

 

McGuffey Book 2, which we just started, includes some light poetry reading as well, which means dd6 is going to be exposed to the rhythmic cadences of poetic language, not just prose - I love it! Some of the language is dated and awkward (a la "has not Mother a fine hat?") but I just explain anything weird and we go through it. These books are amazing because the kids basically go off and do things on their own - play in ponds and run around all day in unstructured, unsupervised ways that kids of today would never get away with.

 

Also - about ETC: There have been a few threads on here warning people to skip ETC 4 and come back to it AFTER 5 - that's what I'm planning to do when we finish 3. Apparently Book 5 is compound words, pretty simple, but Book 4 is syllabification, which is more complex for some kids. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!

[morosophe]

Hey, we're in our second year of SL here as well, and here's what we did:

 

We continued with the SL readers. They're part of the core, so if you get the history and read-alouds schedule, you should also get the readers schedule, with its questions for each chapter. It comes in its own packet (since reading levels are wisely divorced from the subject matter at these levels), but it's included.

 

Since you aren't getting SL's LA, you won't get the chart telling you when to do workbooks (Explode the Code, Plaid Phonics, or whatever), the instructions for creative writing that was waaaay above my son's head anyhow, or the instructions on copywork and related grammar associated with the readers.

 

If you still want to do the workbooks, most of them are made to divvy up into the 36-week year anyhow, so you can easily figure out how to do it. (You could also check the sample weeks from Sonlight, and see: oh, they do two pages a day for four days a week, or whatever.)

 

For composition, we switched from SL's LA (only the copywork and grammar discussion part of which ever got done anyhow) to WWE, and are now doing R&S English 2 for grammar. (My son does much better when reading things himself, and enough of our lessons are oral already that I really couldn't see adding FLL to that.)

 

The switch away from SL's LA worked really well for us. I'd say, Go for it!

[boscopup]

You can continue with SL readers or just search for good books on Scholastic Book Wizard at the level your child reads (plug in some books your child reads currently, and then search for books on the same or slightly higher reading level).

 

FLL and WWE aren't meant to be used with any specific reading program. That's one nice thing about them, because kids are often asynchronous, developing in some areas quicker than others.

[3peasinapod]

We use SL cores, but not their LA. We use FLL, WWE, AAS, ETC with OPGTR, and SL readers. It's perfect. FLL is just grammar, not a complete LA curriculum. You will need grammar, writing, spelling, phonics/reading.

 

The Beyond the Code books correlate with books 1-3 of ETC. Book 5 of ETC is challenging also (a lot of suffixes), but book 4 is tricky, as it discusses where to separate syllables. It even confuses me sometimes. I like AAS for syllables better than ETC. We did them in order and moved on with both older DDs.

[Spy Car]

Also - about ETC: There have been a few threads on here warning people to skip ETC 4 and come back to it AFTER 5 - that's what I'm planning to do when we finish 3. Apparently Book 5 is compound words, pretty simple, but Book 4 is syllabification, which is more complex for some kids. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!

 

"Warning" is a strong word, but yes some people do skip over 4 and come back to it later because the syllabification rules are relatively tricky. We did not skip 4 (because I only found out after-the-fact that some do) and I have mixed feelings. This book was not mastered in the same way earlier material was, but it also seemed to help with reading fluency. I have seen others post similar feelings on reading improvements following 4.

 

Bill

[LindaOz]

"Warning" is a strong word, but yes some people do skip over 4 and come back to it later because the syllabification rules are relatively tricky. We did not skip 4 (because I only found out after-the-fact that some do) and I have mixed feelings. This book was not mastered in the same way earlier material was, but it also seemed to help with reading fluency. I have seen others post similar feelings on reading improvements following 4.

 

My ds is nearing the end of book 4 now and I agree that it has really helped with word attack skills and thus reading fluency. It was well worth doing IMO.

[3monkeys]

I started Beyond when my son was complete with book 3. There is no way you can start it at book 1 if your dc is at book 1 level. Beyond's purpose is for reading comprehension. You read a story and answer questions about it. It also has some fun activities thrown in. My ds loves it.

We also muddled through book 4 because I didn't realize it was one some recommended skipping until half way through. He did okay with it, but not sure he really got it!

[Kathryn]

We left SL LA2 a few weeks ago. We made it through Week 17. I had not really been happy with it from the beginning, but this year was much worse. The copywork is just random passages from the readers, there is no rhyme or reason to it like I see with Writing With Ease. The grammar seemed entirely haphazard. A concept was covered quickly and forgotten quickly. Review was few and far between. And, again, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to when particular concepts were introduced. And the emphasis on creative writing had DS in tears most weeks. He simply isn't wired like that and it made him feel terrible. Not to mention, the "examples" that they give are so clearly written by adults that it was laughable--and absolutely no help in showing me what to expect of him.

 

We were already doing ETC Books 4-6, AAS1, and HWT1 along with Sonlight. We are continuing with Sonlight's readers. Instead of the grammar, copywork, and composition components of SL, we started Growing With Grammar 1, Writing With Ease 1, and Winning With Writing 1. Our entire school day got SO much easier! I hadn't realized how tense SL's LA was making DS. He's now asking to do more LA every day, whereas he used to cry when he saw the LA materials. I actually just added FLL to my Amazon order to check it out as well. The time we're spending is still so much less than it was with SL and I feel like we're getting a lot more done.

 

So, to answer your questions, yes, you will still need to figure out readers. We still do ETC even though DS seems way beyond most of it. We did Book 4 "on time." It was extremely difficult, even for me. Open and closed syllables are something I was not taught. I did NOT require mastery on Book 4 (nor do we do the last page of each lesson where they have to spell the word entirely on their own) since that will be covered in AAS.

[anmom]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I think we will skip ETC 4 and come back to it after 5. I had never heard that before and am glad it was mentioned! I think I will add in Beyond the Code as well. There is no way we could have done it when we started ETC 1. I think he is ready for it now.

 

I "think" what I decided is to change SL LA 2 to FLL 1 and WWE 1, but keep the SL readers. I didnt realize you could get an IG for JUST the readers for less than $5. It gives me a stepping stone to know what level books to do when and then add to it as I see fit. And, just to clarify what one poster said-I am not talking about the read alouds that come with the core, I am talking about the grade level readers that the kids read to me. Those are a totally different package for this core.

 

Thanks again!

[Kathryn]

And, just to clarify what one poster said-I am not talking about the read alouds that come with the core, I am talking about the grade level readers that the kids read to me. Those are a totally different package for this core.

 

Thanks again!

 

The previous poster was correct. When you buy a core, starting with Core A, it comes with the readers and the reader guide. You can pick which level you want, but cores come with the reader packages. You can also buy the packages without buying a core, or you can just buy the guide. But if you're buying a core, you get the whole reader package.

[anmom]

The previous poster was correct. When you buy a core, starting with Core A, it comes with the readers and the reader guide. You can pick which level you want, but cores come with the reader packages. You can also buy the packages without buying a core, or you can just buy the guide. But if you're buying a core, you get the whole reader package.

 

 

Ok, thanks, I didnt realize that. I purchased the core without any additional subjects used and havent recieved it in the mail yet. I dont know if I even asked what level the readers was she had. That would be perfect if it is the right one, otherwise like I said I think it is less than $5 to get the schedule.

[Kathryn]

Ok, thanks, I didnt realize that. I purchased the core without any additional subjects used and havent recieved it in the mail yet. I dont know if I even asked what level the readers was she had. That would be perfect if it is the right one, otherwise like I said I think it is less than $5 to get the schedule.

 

yes, the readers schedule is just around $5, so not a big deal on money if you need it.

[acurtis75]

"Warning" is a strong word, but yes some people do skip over 4 and come back to it later because the syllabification rules are relatively tricky. We did not skip 4 (because I only found out after-the-fact that some do) and I have mixed feelings. This book was not mastered in the same way earlier material was, but it also seemed to help with reading fluency. I have seen others post similar feelings on reading improvements following 4.

 

Bill

 

:iagree: we did exactly the same thing. While I didn't feel dd mastered the book. By the end of it we moved on and I found when we returned to syllables later she knew what to do.