Hannah Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 What are you including in language arts? How much time do you spend on each component each week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Bravewrite lifestyle. Probably about 20-30 minutes a day on average (though it can vary a lot) on writing tasks: copywork, dictation, written narration, freewriting. At least 20 minutes a day (though sometimes a good bit more) on reading. We have a choice required reading list and my kids can also choose freereading. I assign reading for science and history, though it depends on what we're doing so sometimes there's a good bit and sometimes very little. About 30-40 minutes a week on grammar directly. We're reading Grammarland and doing a few other things. 20 minutes a day on spelling with AAS for my struggling speller. My other one is alternating between 20 mins a day for typing and 20 minutes for some worksheet spelling and grammar stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 2nd or 3rd grade? When my girls were in second we did: 1 page in spelling workout a day (so 3 days plus test on Friday), about 15 min or less per day. 15-20 minutes per day, 3-4x a week on reading comprehension I used the spectrum books for this 15-20 minutes per day, 3-4x a week on phonics and basic grammar (nouns, verbs, punctuation) Reading- didn't really have a set amount they had to read- we just read a lot- I did have to require it for my one who doesn't like to read- maybe 20/30 minutes minimum 3rd grade was similar: 1 page per day in Spelling w/ test on Fri reading comprehension 3-4x a week Rod and Staff grammar, 4x a week (about 30 minutes including teaching time, sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the lesson) Writing was included in the R&S excercises, (I required answers in complete sentences most of the time) Reading They also wrote brief summaries for History, but I didn't count that as lang.arts. I'm probably forgetting something, as that was a long time ago, but that is pretty close to what we did. They usually didn't take more than 2 1/2- 3 hrs for school, plus history or science 2 afternoons a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheres Toto Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Do you feel BraveWriter needs extra grammar? If you have The Writer's Jungle, subscribe to The Wand or The Arrow, and maybe even Jot it Down, do you think that would cover all the grammar, writing, reading comprehension that is needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 We do Bravewriter too. For us that means: 20-ish minutes of daily "writing practice" Daily read-alouds of good literature, discussing use and meaning as we go along Daily free reading (my 8yo is a bookworm so this is not something I have to force) Weekly poetry afternoons We haven't yet needed to do a specific, separate grammar program. Leading him through grammatical conventions through our reading and writing practice has been enough. For extra, sometimes we pick up one of the Lynn Truss or Brian Cleary books on grammar and punctuation from the library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 8 y/o 3rd grader is using R&S 2, maybe 15 minutes a day, AAR 2 and HOD's emerging reader set everyday, various amount of time, AAS 20 minutes 4 days/wk, and whatever writing, vocab, dictionary skills, etc is scheduled in HOD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Do you feel BraveWriter needs extra grammar? If you have The Writer's Jungle, subscribe to The Wand or The Arrow, and maybe even Jot it Down, do you think that would cover all the grammar, writing, reading comprehension that is needed? I think it depends on the kid and how you implement it. To me, grammar is similar to spelling. Everyone needs *some* instruction, but some kids pick it up from context and just reinforcing that and doing some mini-lessons, which is basically the Bravewriter approach, is enough. Other kids will just never learn to spell unless you have a pretty intensive program. So that's why I've got one kid not doing spelling and one doing AAS. I think it's similar with grammar. We're doing it mostly in context with some mini-lessons here and there. A kid who needed more the Bravewriter way you might just do more with the dictation. However, I thought Grammarland would be fun and we're enjoying it. It's basically just a storybook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 PR- this takes about 30-45 min. WWE- about 15 min. Reading- I do not give her a set time as this is what she would do all day if she didnt have other school work and activities to do. We alternate PR days and WWE days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 We alternate PR days and WWE days. I'm going to go 'duh!' when you answer, but what is PR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melenie Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My 8 year old in 3rd grade does: 15-20 min WWE 15-30 min FLL 20-40min reading related to science or history or literature 10 min spelling work out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpskowski Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My ds8 3rd grade does Reading: Free Read-about 2-3 hrs/day Assigned Reading-30 mins 3/wk Read Aloud (him to me)- 10mins 2/wk Read Aloud (me to him)- ? a lot - but from this we discuss (literature), narration (history), copy work and dictation Writing: Not enough - we do copy work and dictation - Looking for writing program (maybe I should look at Bravewriter) Grammar: FLL4 (just started after finishing 3), MCT complete package - we just have practice island left that we are halfway through Poem Study: 10 mins 3/wk Spelling: AAS3 - halfway through - 20 mins 3/wk He also has to do different activities with the words - not a natural speller 15 mins 2/wk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My 8 y.o. 2nd grader is doing English for the Thoughtful Child 2, Writing with Ease, Wordly Wise because he asked for a vocabulary book. We read a few chapters of a book together daily, plus 30-40 minutes of free reading daily (reading and literature). I incororate copywork and/or dictation into other subjects, usually history or science. We don't do spelling, as we also incorporate that into other subjects. How much time he spends on each really depends on the day and the assignment, but I'd estimate that language arts takes up approximately 1/3 of his school time. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gentlemommy Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 Dd is 7, but will be 8 in two months. She is in 2nd grade currently. We do- M, W, F Spelling-Apples and Pears (15 min) Cursive-a free practice sheet (5-10 min) Phonics-OPGTTR (5 min) T, Th, S Grammar-LLATL (15 min) ETC-one page back and front (10-15 min) Phonics-Dancing Bears (5 min) I use the WRTR method for forming letters, and copywork in other subjects to practice. She is required to read for 15-20 minutes 3x per day. Once can be on her own, and she will narrate to me when she is done. The other two times she read aloud to me. We also do a LOT of me reading aloud to them, poetry and literature, which I think counts...but I don't count it in our 'school' time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My DD is 7.5, we just started her 3rd grade (school Jan-Dec here) She is doing: MCT Island level Finishing the last 6 weeks of Classical Writing Primer level before moving on to Aesop A level. Cursive curriculum (print to cursive proverbs from SCM) Literature - reading & discussing. The first two items are everyday, I block an hour for them (an hour total for both together). Cursive is once a week, about 10 minutes max. Literature is about 30 minutes a day blocked, she often finishes her required reading by about 10 minutes in and reads her own thing after that... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 I'm going to go 'duh!' when you answer, but what is PR? Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 R&S English 3 (grammar & composition) 1.5 hours/week Prima Latina -(grammar, handwriting, vocabulary) 1 hour/week Spelling- 30 min/week Myths Lit. guide (vocab. & comprehension) - 30 min/week Free reading - 8+ hours/week Scriptures - (oral reading) 1 hour/week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 In LA with my 8 y.o. we do: MCT Island - 45min-1 hr daily, this covers the reading, discussion of poetry or vocabulary, and Practice Island grammar/4 level analysis/diagramming Spelling - 15-20 min. daily Writing - another 30 min. daily We spend a lot of time on LA, but this kid needs it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted January 23, 2013 Share Posted January 23, 2013 My 8yo (2nd grade) does: ETC--3 pages/day Copywork--Draw and Write Through History, usually a couple sentences Grammar--1 chapter of Grammar-land with worksheet each week, plus Mad Libs Reading--reads a lesson from McGuffey 2nd Reader several times a week with narration, free reading in the evenings We just started Prima Latina--1 lesson a week with daily review Poetry twice a week and lots of read alouds as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeritasMama Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Memoria Press's literature guides for 2nd grade along with their phonics lessons and copywork- this is about 30-40 minutes a day ElizabethB's phonics dvd- about 10-15 minutes a day Prima Latina- 15-20 minutes a day CHC spelling with Spell by Color- 15 minutes a day Free reading, at least 20 minutes per day Plenty of read alouds and narration, including poetry and Tales from Shakespeare, about 30 minutes a day I am adding formal grammar next year. I'm thinking about reading Grammarland with him in the meantime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Turned 8 in November is doing: CHC speller D & grammar D Finishing Latina Christiana 1 this week - not sure whether we'll move on to First Form or try Ecce Romani Ready to start CHC's handwriting book 4 (cursive only) Started IEW All Things Fun & Fascinating, but taking a break while big sis has some other writing, will get back to it soon Since she's a fluent reader, she doesn't do any phonics beyond what's in her spelling book. I sometimes require reading for history, but it really varies. We also do Book-It, so she has to do something every month for that. She has to write a letter to someone once a week, and I'm recently requiring a lot more words and more careful capitals/punctuation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Well, my 8 year old is considered a second grader..he just turned 8 last week. For language arts he does: R&S spelling FLL 2 WWE 1 every day he reads out loud to me for about 30 mins. So, I guess the whole thing takes an hour? It could be a little less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 We tend to be all over the place with la. We do one AaS lesson per week (AAS 4) One FLL 3 lesson a day One WWE 2 lesson a day Then we mix in Winston grammar (basic level), sonlight la (just the writing stuff and diamond notes),, and some grammar island. The kids turned 8 last month. Second grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 ILL - twice per week (~15 minutes, longer if it's a writing assignment) WWE 3 - four times a week (10-15 minutes) Apples & Pears Spelling - daily (~15 minutes, depending on the amount of dictation) Connect the Thoughts Creative Writing 1 - Two to three times a week (30 minutes) Dancing Bears - three times a week (~5 minutes) I'm not sure if handwriting counts as "language arts," but she practices cursive 5-10 minutes a day. We were also doing MCT Island, but decided to put that aside for a bit to do the creative writing and Dancing Bears. Once those are finished, we'll go back to MCT. My plan is to go slowly through both ILL and MCT, and spread them out over the course of 1.5 to 2 years, mainly so I don't have to buy the next level of MCT so soon. It's expensive! :blush: It's a lot of writing, but that's where I wanted to focus this year, since composition and spelling are her weakest areas. DD would be considered 3rd grade in public school here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Dd 8 does R&S 3 & Latina Christiana. She alternates WS2 with cursive copy work from Abeka several times a week. Currently she is reading through the Betsy-Tacy series. She reads a chapter aloud to me each day. She could read on her own but doesn't like to and I'm not sure I trust her to follow through yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 My will be 8 in April child is doing LLATL Red, How to Spell, and EM's daily handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 2nd Grader's English Literature Analysis -- Evan-Moor Poetry Guides (6 week unit; I recommend these) + MP 2nd Grade Literature Guides (I wouldn't recommend these, too much busy work) Guided Reading -- McGuffey's 3rd Eclectic Reader + K-12 Reader Volumes 3A/3B (she reads aloud to me, 10 mins., 2x/week) Book Basket -- Reads independently daily, her choice, her timeframe Cursive Practice -- Latin copywork (5 mins., 2x/week) Spelling -- AAS 3 & 4 (20 mins, 3x/wk) Vocabulary -- English from the Roots Up, Volume 1 (cards only; we learn the simplest definition; 5 mins., 2x/week) Grammar -- FLL 3 (about three lessons/week; 10-15 mins., 3x/week) Memory Work -- She has a packet of poems that she needs to memorize by the end of the school year. I remind her to work on it, and sometimes listen to a partial recitation. Speaking Skills -- We practice introductions, conversations, polite manners, conflict resolution, apologies, requests, phone calls, short speeches, narrations (retelling a story), short plays, public prayers, leading a hymn, and teaching a lesson, along with good posture, eye contact, fidget control, volume control, tone of voice, speaking clearly, and so on. Composition -- WWE 2 (10 mins., 3x/wk) We also read aloud daily, choosing from Bible, Literature & Poetry, History, Science, and Nature Study. They all listen to many audiobooks. We discuss new words and explain them while we talk or read. Finally, she's studying Latin and French, which reinforce grammar and vocabulary/derivatives. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rident_Mama Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 7yo ds and 9 yo dd: Reading: McGuffey 2nd Reader: 7yo reads 2 stories per school day to me. 9 yo reads 2 stories to me every other school day to me. Due to our "roadschool" lifestyle, they use a Kindle, which makes it incredibly easy to check words that they do not understand (one simply clicks the word and the dictionary definition pops up). Comprehension: Discussion of one McGuffey story after reading. 9yo is independently working through Veritas Press's Comprehension Guide to Little House in the Big Woods. Spelling: Every other day, 20 word spelling practice/test (one day = practice, next time Spelling comes around = test) from McGuffey Eclectic Speller. Grammar: Shurley English Homeschool 1. I had to revamp the jingles as my kids learn better from songs than chants...other than that, I really like the format! We do this every other day, alternating with Spelling. Handwriting: Bible verse of the week. I have a Cursive Guided font and a Block Letter Guided font with the upper, lower, and center lines that I use to make our own handwriting worksheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Speaking Skills -- We practice introductions, conversations, polite manners, conflict resolution, apologies, requests, phone calls, short speeches, narrations (retelling a story), short plays, public prayers, leading a hymn, and teaching a lesson, along with good posture, eye contact, fidget control, volume control, tone of voice, speaking clearly, and so on. This sounds fascinating - do you have any resources you'd recommend to get us started? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 This sounds fascinating - do you have any resources you'd recommend to get us started? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I will come back later and post my list of topics. :) I look forward to it!! I elect Hannah to write the course. Ha ha. I'm assuming you mean your Hannah B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBanjoClown Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 DS8 (2nd grade) : Primary Language Lessons Easy Grammar Rod & Staff Spelling 2 Zaner-Bloser cursive handwriting Scholastic Reading Comprehension Assigned and free reading He has already completed Scholastic Analogies and ETC 6 this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyto4 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 My 8 year old (third grader) does: FLL3 -- 15-20 minutes (3 or 4 days per week) WWE3 -- 20 minutes (4 days per week) Cursive -- 15 minutes (2-3 times per week) ETC8 -- 15 minutes (2-3 times per week) AAS5 -- 20 minutes (3-4 times per week) Free reading -- about 30-60 minutes each day He also does public speaking at Co-op each week, and learns so many memory verses for AWANA too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I almost never spend more than 15-20 minutes per session. 1 lesson in Explode the Code per day, we divide it into 2 sessions each day. 1 page in OLVS cursive divided into 4 days, maybe 15 minutes a day. Classically Catholic Memory copy work. 1 topic per day. Little Stories for Little Folks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I'm assuming you mean your H Actually, my H is too busy attempting to dominate the universe to write a course about the social graces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 I have an 8 y/o 2nd grader. This year our language arts looks like this: - required daily reading (both free reading and assigned books) - Sequential Spelling (4-5 times/week, 10ish minutes) - WWE2 (4-5 times/week, 15-20 minutes) - FLL2 (3 times/week, 10-20 minutes) We no longer need a formal handwriting program, and he gets plenty of practice just from his other schoolwork. We don't do formal public speaking either, but we participate in several events every year with our homeschool group for which I require him to prepare an oral presentation (science fair, international fair, biography fair, etc.) Lastly, we've been doing the Evan Moore Daily Science, and I've found that it does double-duty for reading comprehension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 When he was 8 we were doing MCT's Island Level over about a 5 month period. We did 20-45 minutes at a time 4-6 days a week. Usually a bit of Grammar Island and a few pages of either Practice Island or sentence island. We read Building Language and Music of the Hemispheres alternating between the two. We did HWOT Cursive Sucess book for handwriting. Read lots of self selected books and discussed. This year he is 9 and we are doing the Town Level and we did the Alice, Peter and Mole set along with books we have picked on our own- Treasure Island, Swiss Family Robinson, War of the Worlds, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea thus far. He finished Can Do Cursive and is participating in a 3 hour per week Writer's Workshop program with other homeschoolers. We mix it up but aside from tons of reading time, it's about 30-60 minutes per day, 3-4 days a week. Writer's workshop is the 3 hours in class and 10-30 minutes a day most days of journaling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 CLE3, Reading, Read-alouds, spelling with Spellquizzer, Early Reading Comprehension in Varied Subject Matter, IEW SWI-A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollo_la Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 My 8 year old, third grader... 1 hour of reading to herself 1 paragraph of copywork That's it for now. Her grammar and spelling are pretty spot on, and if she's done that "just with reading and copywork" until now, why mess with a good thing? That being said, I did just order Apples and Pears (mostly for my next two in line), but I think my 8 year old will have fun with it. We will likely do some short lessons together 3 days a week and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 My 8 year old 3rd grader is doing: R&S English 4 - 15-20 minutes, 3-4 times per week R&S Spelling 4 - 15 minutes, 3 times per week, plus test Sonlight Core D Advanced Readers - 15-20 minutes once per week (fast reader) WWE2 - 15 minutes twice per week (when we finish, we'll go back to IEW SWI-A and do unit 4) Getting Started With Latin - 15 minutes, twice per week He reads a lot on his own, as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaOz Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 My 8yo is doing: LLATL Yellow Abeka Grammar 2x a week as a complement to LLATL Successful Spelling 3x a week as a complement to LLATL Reading - he is reading Pathway Readers to me, and Boxcar Children to himself. Writing a story about Lightning McQueen :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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