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Another 'Evaluate my lineup' thread...


MiniBlondes
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This is our first year homeschooling. We identify with CM approach more than anything else. I started out buying Sonlight because I had wanted something boxed and easy to follow but as I started to plan my year, I realized that it was not what I was looking for. At that point, I already had all of the books so I decided to go forward with the LA portion for the literature aspect. I shelved the History portion. I knew that everyone said that their LA wasn't sufficient, so I began looking at other things. Now, I'm afraid that I've added too much. Still other times, I'm afraid that we don't have enough. Please help me! :lol:

 

LA:

(Daily) Spelling Power

(Daily) Wordly Wise

(Daily) Sonlight Reader Schedule (I do the worksheets too)

(Tu & Th) Writing Strands

(M,W,F) Primary Language Lessons/Intermediate Language Lessons

 

I am worried that the girls are getting too much writing and not enough grammar so I'm considering adding Easy Grammar as well. Overkill?

 

I think I'm comfortable with everything else on my lineup but I'm still struggling with LA. Thoughts?

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Hrm. I would....

 

keep Spelling Power.

Drop SL LA worksheets but keep the books and IG discussion questions.

Use copywork, narration, and dictation with the SL books instead.

Drop Writing Strands.

Drop Wordly Wise

Keep PLL and ILL, three days per week.

 

So it might look like this:

 

Monday

Spelling Power

SL reader (plus IG discussion)

Copywork

PLL/ILL

 

Tuesday

Spelling Power

SL reader (plus IG discussion)

narration

Wednesday

Spelling Power

SL reader

dictation

PLL/ILL

 

Thursday

Spelling Power

SL reader (plus IG discussion)

reading aloud (diction)

 

Friday

Spelling Power

SL reader (plus IG discussion)

PLL/ILL

 

If you prefer SL's LA worksheets to PLL/ILL, keep them and drop PLL/ILL. Both is too much, and Writing Strands is completely unneeded unless you love it more than SL worksheets and PLL/ILL. In that case, drop both PLL/ILL and SL worksheets, and only do Writing Strands.

 

Either SL LA or PLL/ILL would be sufficient for grammar without needing the other.

 

Whatever you do, use copywork, narration, dictation, and reading aloud along with your readers.

 

Some of my boys did copywork, narration, and dictation, plus PLL/ILL until 4th grade or so, at which point we switched to R&S English for rigorous grammar. This simple method was tremendously successful. I'm so glad we did it that way. It was more than enough.

 

My youngest child doesn't really grok CM LA, no matter how I present it. He started R&S in grade 2 and is doing well. It's a little more left-brained, I guess.

Edited by Tibbie Dunbar
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Glancing through...PLL doesn't spell out the terms for the grammar but teaches correct usage through practicing the grammar rules. If I recall, we always watched Schoolhouse Rock, so my little ones always knew their parts of speech. I'm thinking that's all that would be on tests for grades 1-2, but I can't speak authoritatively on that b/c we never did testing at that level.

 

ILL, on the other hand, has more formal grammar than many ps students study in grades 4-6. When I used it, I checked it against my state's educational standards and it blew them out of the water. I don't know if that would be true for everywhere, so you might want to check.

 

We added R&S, which is very rigorous, in 4th or 5th grade. Most of the topics studied were not even in Indiana's standards.

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