What is your favorite Language Arts curriculum?

[scgirl816]

I need a good grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing curriculum for 3rd grade. It doesn't all have to be combined, but I probably don't want to buy a stand alone spelling or vocab curr. (At least I don't think so! Should I need to?)

 

As far as writing goes, I'd like it to include the how to's of structure but one that also teaches how to write creatively. I want it to be a fun or interesting program, as I have boys, and they can get bogged down with writing, but I think it's such an essential skill that I want them to know how...the fun way! :)

 

I think I am going to use a separate cursive curriculum, so would I still need something with copywork or would that cover it? I am so behind on all of the HS lingo and info!

 

What are your favorites and why?

[Ellie]

I don't do "language arts." :D

 

With an 8yo, Spalding would most likely be my core. It covers spelling, reading, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing.

 

I don't think a grammar study is important for children so young, but if I had to recommend something, it would be Easy Grammar.

 

Children that young are still learning how to write complete sentences, so I'm not sure that I'd focus on *creative* writing at this point. I like Writing Strands very much, but Brave Writer looks good, too.

[deannajo]

With my 3rd grader we are just doing Logic of English - we're using it for grammar, spelling, and handwriting. We should finish this before the end of this school year - much of the first part was review, so went really quickly - we switched to it from All About Spelling because we were frustrated with the pace, but I really did like AAS too. When we're done I'm not entirely sure what we will do - I'm thinking about going to a dictation/copywork approach for all of it. As forth writing, I haven't worried about that yet. Oh, and we're also switching to Sonlight soon (box should arrive tomorrow actually!), so I plan to look at their language arts as well, and may or may not use it... For my older daughter, I remember using Igniting Your Writing when she was around this age, and it was a lot of fun - grammar and writing - I might just pull that out when we are done with LoE for something fun - I like that it has multiple levels for each exercise too, so if my 5th grader wanted to join in, she could.

[Farrar]

I like Bravewriter. It is pretty much all language arts encompassing, but you might need to supplement it, especially for spelling, depending on your kids. I think it's a phenomenal program, but it also is not at all what you described, so there's that. :)

[Heidi]

I love what we do for LA, but I don't think it would be what you're looking for either. We do Rod & Staff English for grammar and writing, Prima Latina for grammar, vocabulary, & cursive, and Spell to Write and Read for spelling and dictation. No creative writing here other than my own made-up assignment every week.

 

I can't think of a "fun" writing curriculum, although I'm sure it is out there. Look at Writing Strands and see if that is fun enough. Or look at Bravewriter Lifestyle for ideas to make your own creative assignments. I have girls that love to write, so fun has never really been on my radar, but I do use bravewriter lifestyle to add interest.

 

CLE language arts is a workbook that combines grammar, spelling, and penmanship. I don't know if/when they teach cursive. I haven't looked at the samples in a while. It gets good reviews from users here.

 

I would recommend doing Latin for your vocabulary. We just started this year and it has proven to be a wise decision. I'm partial to Memoria Press's latin curriculum. A more fun latin would be Latin for Children.

 

Susan Wise Bauer recommends that at 3rd grade you do copywork, dictation, and narration for a solid writing foundation, and that creative writing isn't necessary, but you can add it if you want to. Her writing curriculum is Writing With Ease. Or you can just add in those writing elements in whatever curriculum you choose. The point of copywork is to get down the basic mechanics of how a sentence is written. The purpose of dictation is to help spelling and to learn to hold a thought in your head long enough to get it on paper. Narration is used to learn how to summarize what you've read and compose your own work orally. If the english program you choose doesn't already cover these, it would be a good idea to add them in to your curriculum. For instance, I read our history and science aloud to my kids and they tell me what they've learned: narration. I dictate two sentences to them that contain a spelling word or two during our spelling time: dictation. Our english program teaches the mechanics of a sentence, so I don't have them do copywork anymore.

 

Hope this helps.

[scgirl816]

Okay, I should probably say...*I'm* not entirely sure of what I'm looking for! LOL So all suggestions are very much appreciated. I will say that I am leaning toward Veritas Press for history/lit/latin/etc if I can get it to where we can afford it! But I'm not thrilled about what I hear about Shurley English. That's why I was looking into a different curriculum for language arts.

 

So far as writing, they have IEW in their package, but it seems like it may be a bit advanced for starting out writers, and that's why I was looking for a more basic, fun writing curriculum.

 

I don't know much about their cursive curriculum, but I *think* it includes the copywork and uses Bible verses or the catechism, which I like the sound of.

 

I didn't think about Latin being good for vocabulary...thanks for that recommendation!

 

What I am really trying to avoid is having too many programs for different subjects (ie, spelling, vocab, grammar, poetry, writing all in different programs) so that it ends up taking more time in our schooling and costing a lot more. That's really the only reason I was hoping to combine some of those! :)

 

Thank you all SO much!

[2_girls_mommy]

It sounds like you have everything except spelling and grammar. I would go w/Rod and Staff English and spelling. Beginning writing is included in the English, though not much creative writing/fun stuff. You could add the fun stuff, or use the IEW, and skip the writing exercises in R&S altogether if you end up liking them.

 

We have always followed a WTM style writing, using the exercises in R&S plus all of the writing that hmsmith described. We have pen pals that we have kept in touch with for several years as well.

 

ETA, I don't use something separate for vocab either. Latin gives them a lot, plus science and history definitions. And eventually spelling programs turn into vocab programs in middle school, and then we look up words for my 5th grader's lit. program. We get plenty without having to buy a specific program..

[Walking-Iris]

I use Bravewriter and WWE together. For 3rd grade grammar I really like Easy Grammar. I'm going to try FLL with my youngest. I don't think you need to even do a grammar every year. Handbooks are nice to have for reference. Nitty Gritty Grammar, Writer's Express, Woe Is I Jr. Things like Editor in Chief, Daily Language Review, etc. can help keep skills sharp.

 

HWT is a simple handwriting program for cursive.

 

Personally, I love Sequential Spelling. People seem to love it or hate it. For us, it's amazing. I plan on taking all three of my kids through all 7 levels.

 

Wordly Wise is a good vocabulary program, but it gets tedious. The best way to teach vocabulary is to become friends with a dictionary and a thesaurus. Teach your kids how to use them, and keep a running list of words they encounter in their reading that needs to be researched.

 

Does anyone need a poetry curriculum? I'd just read poetry to them. They can learn about the structure of them when they are older. Aim for enjoyment and maybe some simple memory work when they are young. Maybe a poet of the month?

 

WWE and FLL has poetry work. Bravewriter suggests a weekly poetry reading. Arrow guides help with literary elements and monthly lit studies. A book like Jim Treleases Read Aloud Handbook will give you plenty of ideas for books to read.

 

Also FWIW, piecing things yourself, in my opinion, usually is cheaper than buying a publisher's complete program. They usually seem to have a lot of extras that are unnecessary. Local libraries are pretty cheap too.

[Heidi]

Well, while you are researching, I remembered that MCT is a beloved language arts program, especially those with boys. Browse the website and also do a search here on the forums for "MCT". Many people use it and love it. It is better explained in the threads here on the forum.

[scgirl816]

AHHHH!!!! Big sigh of relief. I am LOVING this forum! These are things I have thought to myself but wondered, "Maybe poetry curriculum *is* necessary if all the packages include it?" Good to hear from seasoned moms! Thank you for all the suggestions. It is absolutely wonderful to have a place to come where I can get a wealth of information from people who have been there done that. Looking into all of it! :)

[stm4him]

Here is what we are using:

 

Phonics/Spelling: YesPhonics (like The Writing Road to Reading but a little easier to understand and implement, closer to WRTR than AAS and LOE, introduces phonograms pretty fast and has a video to help....planning on flying through it this year with 3rd grader)

 

Grammar: The Dictation Resource Book and The Homophones Book.....it has a nice grammar handbook in there and we are just going through the topics on a whiteboard to prepare for Essentials next year with CC, grammar memory work from CC

 

Writing: PreScripts (drawing lessons and cursive copywork from CC), IEW Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales (LOVE this)

 

Reading: McCall-Crabbs Book B for comprehension testing and lessons, McGuffey Eclectic Third Reader for oral reading and some dictation, literature list from WRTR and VP for 3rd grade, having her write narrations after each lit. book regarding a few literary terms each week taken from Teaching the Classics, free reading list of books related to our memory work

 

Poetry: Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization (from IEW)

[Juliegmom]

Another vote for Rod and Staff grammar and spelling here! We will also be doing copywork and narration. For writing, I have a variety of things we will use (6 trait writing, "No More I'm Done" and Igniting Your Writing.)

[Guest Sonnett_25]

I think the following review from a different thread of the various writing programs is just what you need:

 

It has been summer holidays here, so I have been reading, reading, reading about writing.

 

I have read 3 of the 4 recommendations from SWB for rhetoric:

Corbett's Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student (re-read this one, and really studied it)

DeAngelo's Composition in the Classical Tradition (yes, the examples are as bad as she says)

They Say, I Say: Moves that Matter in Academic Writing

 

I have also read

Webster's Student Writing Handbook

Lively Art of Writing

 

And I have read the following curriculum (some I actually read like LtoW, CW and WWS; others I really just skimmed to understand what they were doing like Killgallon and WWE):

Killgallon Sentence Composing (middle and high school levels)

Lost Tools of Writing (LtoW, levels 1 and 2)

Classical Composition's Fable

Classical Writing's (CW) Homer, Maxim, and Chreia, (and soon Herodotus as it just arrived today)

MCT's Island, Town and Voyage levels

Writing with Skill (WWS)

Writing with Ease (WWE levels 1,2,3)

IEW's Structure and Style (luckily got these DVDs from the Homeschool library).

 

Yes, as you can see, I have also spent a lot of money. But I see things so clearly now and I wanted to share my understanding. I hope this helps someone..... I also don't mind answering questions.

 

I have found that Corbett is the best overview of the scope of writing, and would recommend it as a must read for anyone interested in teaching writing to her children up through high school. Corbett sorts classical writing into the 3 canons: Invention, Arrangement, and Elocution, and I have found that organization perfect to sort the different curriculum into.

 

Invention: by far the best curriculum I have read to improve a student's invention is Lost Tools of Writing. It uses the exact same list of Common Topics found in Corbett. However, when I read Corbett, I just could not understand how to get from the list of topics to putting them into an essay. And in WWS and CW I was spoon fed too much, so I could not really see the forest through the trees and implement it on my own. LtoW teaches the student how to ask questions based on the Common Topics and then how to arrange them into an argument. Also, LtoW and CW are the only curriculum that give any attention to the Special Topics associated with judicial, deliberative, and ceremonial discourse. The Lively Art of Writing has 2 excellent chapters on how to create a thesis statement. WWS (as planned for grades 5-8) studies half of the Common Topics listed in Corbett, I assume she will cover the rest in her high school curriculum WWStyle.

 

Arrangement: Different curriculum attacked this in different ways. IEW does the best job in teaching kids the traditional paragraph structure, story structure, 5 paragraph essay. But also does this is a very formulaic manner. I have not seen IEW's more advanced materials. LtoW is also formulaic, but at the essay level. They Say/ I Say is unique in its discussion of arrangement. It focuses on the persuasive essay at the highest level and how to incorporate your ideas into the ongoing Great Discussion of books, essays, and ideas. This is the kind of arrangement I needed to write my dissertation. WWS's discussion of arrangement is not based on an standard outline, but rather on imitation of great writers – imitating how they describe and narrate historical and scientific topics (for level 1, haven't obviously seen the other levels)

 

Elocution: Killgallon and Classical Writing tie IMHO for the best instruction on style of the sentences. They both have you play with sentences, change them around, evaluate how the new sentence augments certain aspects of an idea. LtoW teaches some extremely advanced stylistic features that are covered in Corbett. However, it does not spend enough time on each of these features for the student to actually be able to use them effectively. IEW teaches more formulaic style including a certain number of features for each paragraph, but it does not actually teach you HOW to change a sentence around. WWS so far has a fairly limited approach to style.

 

Critical Reading: Both WWS and CW require students to analyze classic writers to help them understand what makes writing effective. CW does this somewhat better than WWS. MCT has you read classic essays but does not spend much time guiding the student through them.

 

Classical Curriculum using the Progymnasmata. Corbett does not discuss this at all and has a somewhat condescending attitude towards it. The progym is a series of exercises that teaches you how to create different paragraphs and discuss different set topics, It uses Corbett's rhetorical ideas in a restricted and controlled manner. DeAngelo explains the purpose of all of the exercises very well, but his writing examples are as bad as SWB said. I actually could not finish the book, and the examples tarnished my feeling towards the progym. Classical Composition is a progym course which you would finish by 8th grade and then move to rhetorical writing. CW is more than just progym. It stretches the progym out to cover up to 12th grade (although the additional books are not out yet). By stretching out the progym exercies, it mutates some of them to make them truly rhetoric, meaning persuasive essays. The initial idea of the progym is that it happened before rhetoric – a student learned how to write and think using the exercises and then used this understanding to construct persuasive arguments. CW merges the two at the higher levels.

 

Classical Curriculum not using the progym: LtoW follows Corbett's text but does not use the progym exercises. It is an early Rhetoric curriculum that teaches persuasive writing. WWS also follows Corbett's text but does not use the progym exercises. However, in contrast to LtoW, WWS does not teach students about persuasive writing. Instead, it teaches each of the Common Topics (well, half of the Topics) that will be used later to construct a complete argument in a rhetorical composition.

 

Classical vs Modern writing: I have seen some discussion of this, and was confused for a while. But all this reading has cleared it up. In Ancient times there was a lot of time spent on ceremonial and judicial speech, to praise the fallen and to defend oneself (you acted as your own lawyer). These types of writing are not really done now, more of an ancient style. Also, many of the progym exercises use essay starters (like maxims etc) that are not commonly found today. WWS definitely uses more modern styles of writing than CW for example.

 

What I will be using:

 

For 5th through 8th, we will use WWS with Killgallon to shore up the lack of style in WWS. I like the modern writing style in WWS.

 

9th and 10th LtoW, I may even compact levels 1 and 2 into 1 year. This is early rhetoric.

 

11th -12th : Rhetoric. We will be writing across the curriculum without a curriculum. For an overview of rhetoric, Ds will read Corbett both years; for critical reading, we will apply Corbett to essays; for arrangement, we will use They Say/ I Say; and for style we will continue with Killgallon.

 

I like CW, I really do, but I am concerned about the focus on non-modern writing styles. I think I will be creating my own CW by using the above books.

 

I disagree with SWB about how difficult Corbett was to read. If you skip the part on logic, the rest of the text is straight forward and relatively easy to read. I found his examples and very lengthy discussion of them to be excellent, just excellent. And after studying all the topics, I think that I could now guide my son to analyze other's essay writing (like MLK or Rachel Carson) using my knowledge of the topics. Very very useful text, and I will definitely have my son read it twice in both 11th and 12th grades.

 

 

Well, that is about it!! Hope you enjoyed it!:001_smile:

 

Ruth in NZ

 

 

Rod and Staff is great for grammar. For penmanship, American Cursive Handwriting by Michael Sull is the best I've seen yet. It's similar to the Palmer method (the program that our parents and grandparents used in the '20s to '50s). It's a massive book, a complete curriculum for all the years of penmanship study.

[LindaOz]

I need a good grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and writing curriculum for 3rd grade. It doesn't all have to be combined, but I probably don't want to buy a stand alone spelling or vocab curr. (At least I don't think so! Should I need to?)

 

As far as writing goes, I'd like it to include the how to's of structure but one that also teaches how to write creatively. I want it to be a fun or interesting program, as I have boys, and they can get bogged down with writing, but I think it's such an essential skill that I want them to know how...the fun way! :)

 

I think I am going to use a separate cursive curriculum, so would I still need something with copywork or would that cover it? I am so behind on all of the HS lingo and info!

 

What are your favorites and why?

 

My ds is about to start 3rd grade and he will be doing Learning Language Arts Through Literature Yellow. LLATL is a program that introduces writing quite gently using copywork, and it does include some creative writing. Along with this he will also be alternating with Successful Spelling, Abeka Grammar, and free writing/fun writing projects. He will also read to me and spend 30 minutes a day in free reading. He is very excited about learning cursive too, and I have just discovered these handwriting books.....

https://www.queensho...5f8f3cd402c0e73

 

I know this probably looks like a lot of Language Arts, but I schedule it so the different areas are alternated thus not doing too much in one day. It works well for us and provides some variety.

[angelmama1209]

here is our list for next year so far

 

grammar- fll3

spelling- still researching

writing- writing tales was recommended to me and looks great!

phonics- explode the code

vocab- wordly wise- we pair this with the FREE online stuff and DD LOVES it

handwriting- a reason for handwriting

[Troxie]

When we started homeschooling we were WTM purists and we used FLL and WWE and Spelling Power. Fll 1&2 were a great foundation in grammar and I don't regret it but the upper levels bored my son (literally) to tears. We've evolved, eased up and become a lot more flexible since then :laugh: Now we use the entire MCT(Michael Clay Thompson) Language Arts program which includes grammar, writing, vocabulary, literature and (yes, here it is) poetry. My son is not a great speller, so we also use Sequential Spelling. We love SS! We tried Spelling Power (WAY too much! Spelling should not be a full time subject!) and Spelling Workout which we found a bit too random. Sequential Spelling is logical, takes us maybe 10 minutes a day and it has noticeably improved my son's spelling. We absolutely LOVE MCT. It is made for gifted students which my son is not, so it sometimes takes us longer to work through the lessons, but the beauty, logic, and effectiveness of the program have hooked us. We've decided that a program that actually stands a chance of teaching my son to love words and language is worth the extra effort.

 

I don't believe I have ever come across any one curriculum that teaches ALL the things you are looking for - especially spelling and vocabulary tend to be separate subjects. I have heard good things about Voyages in English which includes grammar and writing, but I think you are always going to need to go with separate curriculums for Vocab and Spelling.

[mamakelly]

I'll toss something totally different out there. We use Bob Jones English for 2-6th. I love love love it for it's simplicity and the open and go factor. I started using it with my oldest boy, because I wanted something that "looked" fun, but was still solid and would do a good job of teaching grammar and writing. The books switch off, one chapter on writing, one chapter on grammar. My boys loved it, and I loved that they loved it. Just a thought different than the rest.