heidip2p Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 We have found a few programs that we really LOVE this year. It is making life and school so much fun again! However, I have not found a language arts program that really clicks for us yet. Here is some of our hits for this year... MFW ECC MUS AAS AAR Apologia elementary science I think I like lessons that are short and sweet. I love things being scripted for me. I don't mind teacher intensive as long as the lessons are not too long. I would love a program that is all in one but can piece together if needed. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyWImom Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 One question; what have you used before that you haven't liked, and why? We really like FLL & WWE, because the lessons are short, but good. I also like R & S English, again because some of it is oral, and the lessons are pretty short, but it is also very thorough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 We have found a few programs that we really LOVE this year. It is making life and school so much fun again! However, I have not found a language arts program that really clicks for us yet. Here is some of our hits for this year...MFW ECC MUS AAS AAR Apologia elementary science I think I like lessons that are short and sweet. I love things being scripted for me. I don't mind teacher intensive as long as the lessons are not too long. I would love a program that is all in one but can piece together if needed. Any ideas? Um, what ages? Sounds like FLL and WWE to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 WE LOVE LOVE LOVE MCT LA Grammar Island. It isn't scripted, though. It is teacher intensive to the extent of reading with your child and holding a discussion of the grammar lesson, etc. It really is a blast to do and my two boys love it tremendously! I can't recommend it highly enough. I am just now starting the vocabulary book that goes with the series, so I don't have a review of the entire level since the program seems to gradually add upon itself. So far so good, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Love PAL-R and PAL-W ... I'm not sure what ages you are talking about, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Not sure, CLE is my favorite. The manual takes you step by step and you really don't need to use it past a certain level as the instruction is all in the light units (workbooks). I don't think you can get any easier than with CLE, yet they are getting a great education at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 One question; what have you used before that you haven't liked, and why? We really like FLL & WWE, because the lessons are short, but good. I also like R & S English, again because some of it is oral, and the lessons are pretty short, but it is also very thorough. I am looking for all ages really. We have used GWG, WWW, CLE LA, AOP Lifepacs and that is pretty much it. None of them were terrible I guess I am just looking for something more...or different. Um, what ages? Sounds like FLL and WWE to me. WE LOVE LOVE LOVE MCT LA Grammar Island. It isn't scripted, though. It is teacher intensive to the extent of reading with your child and holding a discussion of the grammar lesson, etc. It really is a blast to do and my two boys love it tremendously! I can't recommend it highly enough. I am just now starting the vocabulary book that goes with the series, so I don't have a review of the entire level since the program seems to gradually add upon itself. So far so good, though! I am so drawn to this. I have just browsed through the site and I am just not sure if we can swing it for everyone. Also not sure if I would have the time needed for everyone. I need to look more in depth though because it looks amazing. Love PAL-R and PAL-W ... I'm not sure what ages you are talking about, though. I am looking for everyone. Our little ones need the basics and our oldest could use some fine tuning. Not sure, CLE is my favorite. The manual takes you step by step and you really don't need to use it past a certain level as the instruction is all in the light units (workbooks). I don't think you can get any easier than with CLE, yet they are getting a great education at the same time. We tried CLE LA this year and it was a miss for us. It is very thorough though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 I am so drawn to this. I have just browsed through the site and I am just not sure if we can swing it for everyone. Also not sure if I would have the time needed for everyone. I need to look more in depth though because it looks amazing. I am not sure the ages of your littles but I will say that I was not able to keep my 6 year old girls interested long enough to teach them past nouns with this curriculum. It is spot on for my 8 and 9 (nearly 9 and 10) year olds but I wouldn't recommend for any younger. Atleast, not my immature, active group and with a bigger group of kids comes more wiggling and distracting than just a single child, etc. I teach the two boys together. My six year olds are struggling with reading, so that is their sole focus at the moment! Timewise, I spend 30-45 minutes rarely more three times a week and just now starting the vocabulary. We spent 30 minutes today on it ETA: I looked in your siggy. I think you could incorporate your 3rd and 5th grader in it. 7th would be too advanced for it but there are higher levels.. and the younglings you would want something else more than likely. May not work for you if you want it all combined! Best wishes on the hunt. Thankfully I can divide my four into two groups so it isn't as intimidating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 I am not sure the ages of your littles but I will say that I was not able to keep my 6 year old girls interested long enough to teach them past nouns with this curriculum. It is spot on for my 8 and 9 (nearly 9 and 10) year olds but I wouldn't recommend for any younger. Atleast, not my immature, active group and with a bigger group of kids comes more wiggling and distracting than just a single child, etc. I teach the two boys together. My six year olds are struggling with reading, so that is their sole focus at the moment! Timewise, I spend 30-45 minutes rarely more three times a week and just now starting the vocabulary. We spent 30 minutes today on it ETA: I looked in your siggy. I think you could incorporate your 3rd and 5th grader in it. 7th would be too advanced for it but there are higher levels.. and the younglings you would want something else more than likely. May not work for you if you want it all combined! Best wishes on the hunt. Thankfully I can divide my four into two groups so it isn't as intimidating. Not looking to combine at all. I just like using the same program just on various levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Re MCT, could your older dc read Island and or Town to and work on the exercises with the 1st and 3rd graders thus cementing the knowledge for themselves and freeing up some energy/time for you? Then you work more at higher levels with the older children? Also, consider IEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Adding: On MCT, I think having several children to work with on it would help actually. Some of the exercises (in Sentence Island) involve writing that is more fun with more children, like where one child writes subjects and the other predicates and then they are put together and it comes out often funny. This is because it is set up to be able to be used in a school setting. But I think it also would work well with different ages at once. IEW could work well also because it is a whole system approach for the parent, and then each child can be working at his or her own level. I had trouble finding a good writing (LA) program at first, and now ended up with several all of which are good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Lynn Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Your description sounds exactly like FLL to me. You could use FLL 3 for your 3rd grader and FLL 4 for your 5th grader if he/she is new to grammar. If he/she already knows a bit of grammar, FLL 4 might be too easy. What to go to after FLL4 for your 5th and 7th grader is the tough question, imho. Maybe AG (analytical Grammar) for the 7th grader? Writing is harder, imo, to figure out. I resisted IEW for years because it didn't appeal to *me.* I finally got SWI-C for my oldest and it's nice to have someone else do the teaching. I decided to try All Things Fun and Fascinating from IEW with my 3rd and 4th grader. We're not far into it, but so far they like it. And my 6yo insists on joining us for it. I never would have guessed that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 PLL/ILL or Galore Park might fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 FLL/WWE sound like a good idea to me too. They are short, scripted, easy to use, and very effective. I'm also LOVING KISS Grammar, especially on the tablet. It's snuggle time with my boy. :001_wub: It has you analyze sentences from real literature, in a very similar way to that of MCT. It doesn't take long to work through it. We do one exercise at a time right now (later on, we may do parts of an exercise when it gets longer to do a sentence). It takes 10 minutes or less, and we have a lot of great discussion. The cool thing is that you can't just go by the pattern as you can in most grammar programs. You actually learn to analyze by how a word is functioning in the sentence. This is much more effective for my son than the typical grammar sentences where it's too easy to just figure out the pattern (my boy is good at patterns!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heidip2p Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 FLL/WWE sound like a good idea to me too. They are short, scripted, easy to use, and very effective. I'm also LOVING KISS Grammar, especially on the tablet. It's snuggle time with my boy. :001_wub: It has you analyze sentences from real literature, in a very similar way to that of MCT. It doesn't take long to work through it. We do one exercise at a time right now (later on, we may do parts of an exercise when it gets longer to do a sentence). It takes 10 minutes or less, and we have a lot of great discussion. The cool thing is that you can't just go by the pattern as you can in most grammar programs. You actually learn to analyze by how a word is functioning in the sentence. This is much more effective for my son than the typical grammar sentences where it's too easy to just figure out the pattern (my boy is good at patterns!). Any idea if I can use KISS on a Kindle Fire? That would be really nice. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribbean Queen Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 PLL/ILL or Galore Park might fit. :iagree: Grammarland is fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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