Can we talk about Language Arts?

[songsparrow]

Language Arts is easily the subject that I struggle with most in terms of planning and teaching. For three primary reasons - (1) the subject area is so broad, encompassing creative and nonfiction writing, literature and nonfiction reading, grammar and mechanics, spelling and vocabulary, as well as possibly various media studies; (2) I've never found an out-of-the-box LA program I love; and (3) I have difficulty knowing if my expectations are realistic / on grade level.

 

So, what do you consider to be the hallmarks of a quality LA program at the elementary, middle & high school levels?

[Farrar]

I think language arts is hard to discuss because people mean different things by it and different things are meant at different grade levels. A kindergartener working through phonics, practicing handwriting and listening to picture books read aloud has a full language arts program. An 8th grader reading novels, writing essays and studying some early SAT vocabulary has a full language arts program. But there's no overlap there in the sub-categories of what they're doing.

 

Stepping back from that, I think that writing and all its various parts is the hardest piece and the piece with which most people become frustrated. I think that writing is a bit like math in that there are lots of steps you have to take and you simply have to take your time and not rush it. But unlike math, which can be tackled in a certain order with individual, discrete skills building on each other, with writing you often have to come at things much more as a whole. If math is learning to take one step after another in a straight line (it isn't quite, but near enough), then writing is like learning choreography for a complex dance. Practicing the different sequences and steps all out of order actually makes sense much of the time. I think a good writing program is inevitably more spiral than a good math program.

[Donna A.]

Stepping back from that, I think that writing and all its various parts is the hardest piece and the piece with which most people become frustrated. I think that writing is a bit like math in that there are lots of steps you have to take and you simply have to take your time and not rush it. But unlike math, which can be tackled in a certain order with individual, discrete skills building on each other, with writing you often have to come at things much more as a whole. If math is learning to take one step after another in a straight line (it isn't quite, but near enough), then writing is like learning choreography for a complex dance. Practicing the different sequences and steps all out of order actually makes sense much of the time. I think a good writing program is inevitably more spiral than a good math program.

 

 

THANK YOU for this explanation. I *totally* get it, as I'm sitting here watching the video of my daughters' dance performance from last summer. The analogy between choreography and writing is spot on.

[stm4him]

In my mind I break it down into 3 key areas which are English (phonics/spelling/grammar), Writing (handwriting, copywork, composition, writing for a presentation, being able to put answers in writing, etc.), and Reading (oral reading, literature, and living books). I personally have a list of skills in mind that I've pulled mostly from The Well Trained Mind, The Core, and Teaching the Trivium and they are what I want them to be able to do before entering 7th grade. It doesn't matter to me all that much when exactly all the skills get covered as long as they are covered systematically and thoroughly. So from that list I choose curriculum and trust that those publishers know the best way to introduce those things and when and it is my job to make sure that all the bases are covered by the "deadline". I also like to stick with a company's products from beginning to end as much as possible in order to avoid jumping around, gaps, starting over, too much overlap, etc. I have trouble with the subject of English the most because the publishers I love don't have complete sets out yet. So for now I can only use what is out but later I may have to do some shifting around, adding or deleting as I see fit as the new books come out. But here are the basic curricula I use (or plan to use) for these subjects:

 

English: Saxon Phonics K-2 (used one year early), Logic of English Essentials (grades 2-3), and Essentials of the English Language (4-6) with Spelling Plus and Saxon Grammar and Writing 4-8

 

Writing: Writing Road to Reading manuscript for preschool, Logic of English Manuscript for K, Logic of English Cursive for 1st grade. Copywork comes from Classically Cursive (VP) and Pre-Scripts (for next year, from CC) and some copywork is in their VP literature guides. Composition comes from Saxon Grammar and Writing (4th-8th) and IEW (2nd-6th) plus letter writing. They learn to write complete answers using literature guides from VP and the history and Bible curriculum from VP, etc. They also learn to write presentations for CC.

 

Reading: Oral reading comes from the Bob Books and McGuffey Eclectic Readers. Literature and living books come from Veritas Press as well as lists from CC and SOTW and various other awesome books I pick up. Some reading comprehension is also covered in their phonics program. They practice oral narrations from the age of 4 on and eventually they learn to write them down.

 

Memorization: They memorize grammar definitions and lists at CC and they memorize poetry using IEW's Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization.

 

Vocabulary: This comes in from all three subjects in different ways, both naturally through their reading and explicitly through Saxon, LOE, and IEW (and even their literature guides sometimes). Also, they are learning Greek and Latin so they will also get a lot of vocabulary there.

 

Because Saxon is extending their grammar and writing program down to K eventually and LOE is extending both down and eventually up with no time table on any of these I am unsure whether we will ultimately go with Saxon or LOE or a combination of both to meet our needs in the younger grades but we will decide as the books come out and as I can compare what skills the books present vs. what they have already learned. But I am sure that either way they will cover all the bases needed.

 

From 7th-12th grade their Language Arts program will be guided by CC's Challenge program and hopefully Omnibus and other supplements from Veritas. But those are decisions I can more clearly make as we reach that level. I just know what I need to do to prepare them in the meantime.

 

HTH!

[Ellie]

Language Arts is easily the subject that I struggle with most in terms of planning and teaching. For three primary reasons - (1) the subject area is so broad, encompassing creative and nonfiction writing, literature and nonfiction reading, grammar and mechanics, spelling and vocabulary, as well as possibly various media studies; (2) I've never found an out-of-the-box LA program I love; and (3) I have difficulty knowing if my expectations are realistic / on grade level.

 

So, what do you consider to be the hallmarks of a quality LA program at the elementary, middle & high school levels?

 

I never use the term "language arts," because no one really knows what it means, and it isn't anyone fault that no one knows what it means.. :glare:

 

In the younger years, in my head, lol, it's better to plan for the specific components of English literacy: learning to read fluently, learning to spell, learning to write correctly capitalized and punctuated sentences (and I'm not talking about writing reports or anythng), and learning good penmanship.

 

When children get to be, oh, 10ish, they can begin writing more complex pieces, including poetry. Grammar can be added in, and their reading can include more genres--fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories, etc.

 

From 13 and up, there should be the most emphasis on writing and literature.