LLATL grade 6 and up

[...................]

It seems like a lot of people try LLATL in the younger grades, and it's not enough drill in basic skills, and they never try again.

 

But in 6th grade when handwriting instruction is over, spelling is well established, and kids have a few years or formal grammar, then it seems like maybe I could give LLATL another try.

 

At this level LLATL seems to cover the bases of research, writing, Vocab and lit study.

 

Has anyone tried it for their junior high or high school aged kids? I'd really like to interact with my son more with LA next year and enjoy it together.

[Lily_Grace]

We tried it. It was not for us. I can expound on that, but I really think you should make a list of what you expect from LLATL and then see if it matches up before you buy.

[...................]

Ok. Well I am hoping to cover literature study, about 8 major writing assignments, weekly dictation, reading poetry, and grammar -a basic amount of grammar is fine because this child does formal grammar with Greek and is doing a very in depth English grammar this year.

[morningcoffee]

:lurk5:

[Cynful]

:lurk5:

[Gentlemommy]

I'll be watching this be ause we started LLATL this year for 2nd grade and actually like it...I do use a separate spelling curriculum, but for grammar and writing, I'm like it so far, as is my dd.

[Susie in MS]

Hi CT!

 

I consider the jr. and high to be sufficient for what you are looking for, but I also consider the lower levels more than enough for all of the skills you find lacking. So I don't know how much my opinion will help you. It really depends on each child too. I still have the gray book left over from my olders if you want me to look something up for you. I also have the Red and Yellow, but I don't think you are looking for info from those since they are under 6th grade. Just thought I would mention it just in case.

[LindaOz]

I have bought LLATL Green for my 12yo as she starts 7th grade in January. I've used it before with some of my older kids too. I like the range of writing skills and literature that it contains. I do, however, use a grammar program along with it and alternate days. My olders used to do LLATL 3x a week and grammar 2x. I found that the grammar in LLATL is more of an applied grammar which is great, but I like a more focussed incremental grammar too. I find the balance of the two to be good. You may not want to do that and you may find the grammar enough. LLATL Green actually does have a fair bit of grammar in it and also includes diagramming. I also find that the spelling in LLATL has been far too easy for my kids, so they will also do a separate spelling/vocab program at the same time. So, basically, I'm using LLATL as our writing program. Having said all that, I think it's good for writing skills and literature study which, I think, is what you were looking for.

[morningcoffee]

I have bought LLATL Green for my 12yo as she starts 7th grade in January. I've used it before with some of my older kids too. I like the range of writing skills and literature that it contains. I do, however, use a grammar program along with it and alternate days. My olders used to do LLATL 3x a week and grammar 2x. I found that the grammar in LLATL is more of an applied grammar which is great, but I like a more focussed incremental grammar too. I find the balance of the two to be good. You may not want to do that and you may find the grammar enough. LLATL Green actually does have a fair bit of grammar in it and also includes diagramming. I also find that the spelling in LLATL has been far too easy for my kids, so they will also do a separate spelling/vocab program at the same time. So, basically, I'm using LLATL as our writing program. Having said all that, I think it's good for writing skills and literature study which, I think, is what you were looking for.

I'm not the OP but I found this information very useful.

I've used blue to purple book with my dc and also supplemented with grammar and spelling once we got to 2nd or 3rd grade. When we got to the purple book I was very disappointed with the book studies. They seemed very brief and shallow.

What are the book studies like for the higher levels? (sorry for the hijack)

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

Ok. Well I am hoping to cover literature study, about 8 major writing assignments, weekly dictation, reading poetry, and grammar -a basic amount of grammar is fine because this child does formal grammar with Greek and is doing a very in depth English grammar this year.

My oldest used the High School Gold book, British Literature, and my youngest son used the Green Book. The green book has all you mention. I don't remember about dictation in the gold book or the grammar but the rest is there. The poetry units are very good.

[LindaOz]

I'm not the OP but I found this information very useful.

I've used blue to purple book with my dc and also supplemented with grammar and spelling once we got to 2nd or 3rd grade. When we got to the purple book I was very disappointed with the book studies. They seemed very brief and shallow.

What are the book studies like for the higher levels? (sorry for the hijack)

 

I like the book studies in the older levels. I don't remember what the book studies in Tan were like, but I liked the studies in Green. Green has book studies on Adam and his Kin, Star of Light, and a Shakespeare play. They are a lot more in depth than the earlier ones. For example, in the Star of Light study, the students write character sketches and comapre/contrast essays on different characters and issues in the book. They also write from the point of view of a character in the story and practice writing an analogy. The studies aren't just 'answer this question about the story' type studies.

 

Does that help? :)

[LindaOz]

Oops sorry. Double post.

[morningcoffee]

I like the book studies in the older levels. I don't remember what the book studies in Tan were like, but I liked the studies in Green. Green has book studies on Adam and his Kin, Star of Light, and a Shakespeare play. They are a lot more in depth than the earlier ones. For example, in the Star of Light study, the students write character sketches and comapre/contrast essays on different characters and issues in the book. They also write from the point of view of a character in the story and practice writing an analogy. The studies aren't just 'answer this question about the story' type studies.

 

Does that help? :)

Thanks - yes, very helpful. :thumbup:

[Susie in MS]

I'm not the OP but I found this information very useful.

I've used blue to purple book with my dc and also supplemented with grammar and spelling once we got to 2nd or 3rd grade. When we got to the purple book I was very disappointed with the book studies. They seemed very brief and shallow.

What are the book studies like for the higher levels? (sorry for the hijack)

 

The gray level has quite a bit of writing along with book studies.

 

Across 5 Aprils- research the Civil War and write a paper on how you feel about details listed. Also write a letter .

 

Lantern in Her Hand- Research a war, identify qualities needed for early pioneers, compare two families listed

 

Eric Liddell- Research Boxer Rebellion and olymipics, essay on competition, paper on what Scripture has to say about the Sabbath

 

5 week writing unit that covers marrative paper, persuasive paper, compare and contrast, research paper

 

God's Smuggler- write an account of a bio and change to autiobio, ,persuasive paper about faith missions, research other countries for religious freedom

 

These book studies also have time line suggestions, suggested bios of important people, suggested interviews, and more.

[Susie in MS]

My oldest used the High School Gold book, British Literature, and my youngest son used the Green Book. The green book has all you mention. I don't remember about dictation in the gold book or the grammar but the rest is there. The poetry units are very good.

 

This is correct. Gold books do not have dictation or grammer. They are lit and writing studies.

[...................]

Well to me this actually sounds wonderful. ! I really just want to explore and enjoy literature and writing. Drilling grammar is ok and it's had its place thus year, but I don't want to do that every year.

 

If I have a 6th grader should I consider using Tan or the 7th grade book?

 

Susie, what if we are not Young- Earth- Only Christians? Will the unit on Adam and His Kin work for us? I don't know much about that book.

 

Also, the reason it wasn't enoug for my son is more to do with my teaching style and his need for repetition because of perhaps some mild dysgraphia issues. Now that handwriting, spelling, and even grammar are well-established, it's more about understanding and application than repetition, even for him. :).

 

 

[Lily_Grace]

I meant to reply yesterday but never got back to this post.

 

We used the tan book, fwiw. We didn't like it. The term 'book study' can be loosely applied to what we saw in LLATL, which followed a format of 36 weekly lessons broken up by a "book study" every few weeks.

 

These are NOT book studies. I just want to point that out, to those who are looking for a way to enjoy the literature. These aren't it. Take their online sample of Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, and really examine it. On the surface it looks fun, lively, and interesting. When doing it along with the book, however, there are some glaring problems:

 

1 question for every two chapters

No application guide in the teacher's manual for matching up activities, breaking down the book, or implementing ideas.

Poorly designed activites

5 vocabulary words for a book about an unfamiliar topic.

 

Then comes the task of trying to fit this in during the 36 weeks, either stretching out the workbook to cover most of the year, shorting the book, or trying to do the book studies and the weekly lessons at the same time, which wouldn't be a problem if the weeks had a continuing theme, but they don't. Each week focuses on a different topic and slightly different skills while returning to previous grammar work.

 

 

We didn't try any of the LLATL books before or after, because obviously it didn't match up to what I wanted in a language arts program. But I think anyone who is considering it and wants the literature enrichment part will be sorely disappointed if they aren't aware of how the books work.

[Susie in MS]

Well to me this actually sounds wonderful. ! I really just want to explore and enjoy literature and writing. Drilling grammar is ok and it's had its place thus year, but I don't want to do that every year.

 

If I have a 6th grader should I consider using Tan or the 7th grade book?

 

Susie, what if we are not Young- Earth- Only Christians? Will the unit on Adam and His Kin work for us? I don't know much about that book.

 

Also, the reason it wasn't enoug for my son is more to do with my teaching style and his need for repetition because of perhaps some mild dysgraphia issues. Now that handwriting, spelling, and even grammar are well-established, it's more about understanding and application than repetition, even for him. :).

 

Unfortunately this is one of the few levels I have used yet. I have Adam and His Kin on my shelf to read when dd is older, but have not read it yet. Sorry.

[mama27]

I just started this with my 7th grader and 5th grader. I LIKE that it's not going on and on about pronouns and verb tenses, etc. I like the copywork and the writing exercises.

I don't believe that grammar has to be drilled into someone's head over and over.

I also hate diagramming and refuse to subject my kids to it.

I DO want them to write and enjoy writing and to be able to write well. But I don't think learning parts of speech is the way to do it. Kind of like phonics is useful but eventually I have to drop phonics instruction and just focus on READING in order for my kids to learn to read.

 

 

I

[LindaOz]

I meant to reply yesterday but never got back to this post.

 

We used the tan book, fwiw. We didn't like it. The term 'book study' can be loosely applied to what we saw in LLATL, which followed a format of 36 weekly lessons broken up by a "book study" every few weeks.

 

These are NOT book studies. I just want to point that out, to those who are looking for a way to enjoy the literature. These aren't it. Take their online sample of Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, and really examine it. On the surface it looks fun, lively, and interesting. When doing it along with the book, however, there are some glaring problems:

 

1 question for every two chapters

No application guide in the teacher's manual for matching up activities, breaking down the book, or implementing ideas.

Poorly designed activites

5 vocabulary words for a book about an unfamiliar topic.

 

Then comes the task of trying to fit this in during the 36 weeks, either stretching out the workbook to cover most of the year, shorting the book, or trying to do the book studies and the weekly lessons at the same time, which wouldn't be a problem if the weeks had a continuing theme, but they don't. Each week focuses on a different topic and slightly different skills while returning to previous grammar work.

 

 

We didn't try any of the LLATL books before or after, because obviously it didn't match up to what I wanted in a language arts program. But I think anyone who is considering it and wants the literature enrichment part will be sorely disappointed if they aren't aware of how the books work.

 

 

It does sound like there is a lot of difference between the books studies in the younger books (up to Tan perhaps) and from Green onwards. The studies in Green and upwards contain so much more than just a few questions on each couple of chapters. Also, the book studies become part of the 36 weeks, not in addition to it. It really takes a big step up.

[Susie in MS]

I just started this with my 7th grader and 5th grader. I LIKE that it's not going on and on about pronouns and verb tenses, etc. I like the copywork and the writing exercises.

I don't believe that grammar has to be drilled into someone's head over and over.

I also hate diagramming and refuse to subject my kids to it.

I DO want them to write and enjoy writing and to be able to write well. But I don't think learning parts of speech is the way to do it. Kind of like phonics is useful but eventually I have to drop phonics instruction and just focus on READING in order for my kids to learn to read.

 

 

I

 

 

LIKE!

[Susie in MS]

I just started this with my 7th grader and 5th grader. I LIKE that it's not going on and on about pronouns and verb tenses, etc. I like the copywork and the writing exercises.

I don't believe that grammar has to be drilled into someone's head over and over.

I also hate diagramming and refuse to subject my kids to it.

I DO want them to write and enjoy writing and to be able to write well. But I don't think learning parts of speech is the way to do it. Kind of like phonics is useful but eventually I have to drop phonics instruction and just focus on READING in order for my kids to learn to read.

 

 

I

 

 

LIKE!

[LindaOz]

I DO want them to write and enjoy writing and to be able to write well. But I don't think learning parts of speech is the way to do it. Kind of like phonics is useful but eventually I have to drop phonics instruction and just focus on READING in order for my kids to learn to read.

 

 

Ooh yeah! Love this :hurray:

[Donna A.]

Many of the posts in this thread confirm what I've felt about LLATL all along. I've used some of it over the years, but never a full program. That's partly due to indecision on my part, and partly because the student books are frustrating to me... starting a new lesson on the back side of the same sheet of the previous lesson, or not being perforated/not tearing out well... those kinds of things. But as far as *content*, I think LLATL is great. I've just never followed through on completing a whole year of it. (Though I've used parts of several different years.)

 

I haven't felt like my 8th grader has had a full course in language arts yet this year, so here it is the end of November and I'm looking around. :rolleyes: The two areas where she's lacking the most are in writing instruction and lit study. She's doing some reading, and she's doing some writing (with Notgrass), but needs something more. One reason LLATL is one of my top three choices is because I've seen the fruit of using it long term in some personal friends of ours. My friend has four children, the oldest currently in 10th grade, and she's used LLATL all along with her kids. They are excellent communicators. They love words, they love writing and aren't the least bit intimidated by it, they have an extremely high vocabulary.... they play word games for FUN. :001_cool: One reason we enjoy being around them so much is because of how pleasant they are to converse with! Now granted, there may be more to this than just the fact that they've used LLATL for so long, but they're the ONLY family I know who've used LLATL long term, so I think it must play at least some part in their "communication confidence", whether verbal or written. (I think confidence is the key word there, as my own dd is sorely lacking in confidence, despite her broad knowledge base and love of history and literature.) LLATL seems to bring a lot of confidence without bogging down the student.

 

Oh, and my friend's high schooler jumped right into MFW high school without any problems, and without any intimidation whatsoever about that Argumentative Paper she had to write in Week 1. My own dd didn't have that same experience... it was a real learning curve for her. Not so much the reading and other assignments -- my dd's an avid reader and loves history, literature, theology -- but the writing assignments were hard for her in the beginning. I was entirely too lax with her in this area prior to high school, so that's my fault, but the reason I bring it up is because I've seen LLATL take a hit from naysayers a LOT during my 12 years of homeschooling, claiming it's too light or too easy or whatever. However, my friend's dd, who used LLATL for many years (and nothing else for language arts or writing except Easy Grammar, I think), walked right into the same high school course without even a twitch.

[morningcoffee]

I meant to reply yesterday but never got back to this post.

 

We used the tan book, fwiw. We didn't like it. The term 'book study' can be loosely applied to what we saw in LLATL, which followed a format of 36 weekly lessons broken up by a "book study" every few weeks.

 

These are NOT book studies. I just want to point that out, to those who are looking for a way to enjoy the literature. These aren't it. Take their online sample of Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, and really examine it. On the surface it looks fun, lively, and interesting. When doing it along with the book, however, there are some glaring problems:

 

1 question for every two chapters

No application guide in the teacher's manual for matching up activities, breaking down the book, or implementing ideas.

Poorly designed activites

5 vocabulary words for a book about an unfamiliar topic.

 

Then comes the task of trying to fit this in during the 36 weeks, either stretching out the workbook to cover most of the year, shorting the book, or trying to do the book studies and the weekly lessons at the same time, which wouldn't be a problem if the weeks had a continuing theme, but they don't. Each week focuses on a different topic and slightly different skills while returning to previous grammar work.

 

 

We didn't try any of the LLATL books before or after, because obviously it didn't match up to what I wanted in a language arts program. But I think anyone who is considering it and wants the literature enrichment part will be sorely disappointed if they aren't aware of how the books work.

 

Your experience with the tan book sounds similar to my experience with the purple book. We had really enjoyed the series up until then.

[Susie in MS]

Donna, your friends sound like mine. Their boys, now grown and VERY advanced, used only LLATL with a small amt of Daily Grams at one point. They are excellent communicators with expanded vocabulary and great writing skills. They have soared in college as well. I have no doubt that LLATL is thorough without endless the repetition used in other programs.