chaite Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I am looking into language arts programs for my kids for next year. What are your recommendations? My daughter is 6 and finishing up K and my son is just about to turn 9 and finishing up 3rd grade. I'll be homeschooling in the fall. Thanks! ps. I have no idea what the abbreviations mean, so if you don't mind spelling out the full names, that would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Welcome :grouphug: First tell us more about YOU, not your students, yet. TEACHING is first about the TEACHER. What is your basic personality like? Yes, tell us about homeschooling books you have read recently that wowed you, but I'm more interested in the type of PERSON you are. We have all been wowed by a book, and too often that book is the OPPOSITE of who are. We are often wowed by that which is the most unlike ourselves. There is no one size fits all best curriculum. And you don't need to have it all figured out the first year. If you are scheduling time to do good things, good things will happen. They might not be what is listed in any book you are reading, but that doesn't mean they are not as good as what is suggested in that book. Some of my favorite how-to homeschool books are: How to Tutor TWTM first edition 1999 Guide to American Christian Education Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing Simply Charlotte Mason Mathematics African Waldorf Pdfs Eclectic Manual of Methods Train Up a Child Waldorf Essentials Kindergarten and Early Years How to Write a low-cost/no-cost Curriculum The Complete Home Learning Source Book No Regrets Teenaged Liberation Handbook The Three Rs Homeschooling for Excellence I started back in the mid 90s and some of these books are out of print and a bit dated, but they are often my favorites compared to the newer more complicated and expensive methods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 My personal favorites are: 4th grade: Galore Park Junior English 3 Writing with Ease (take the assessment test for placement) 1st grade: Dancing Bears (learning to read) Apples & Pears (spelling) Writing with Ease 1 I like these programs because they are "open and go" - there aren't a bunch of pieces to assemble, etc, you just open the book and do the next lesson. They are also extremely easy to use for a novice teacher. A&P and WWE cover handwriting and basic grammar for your 1st grader, so you don't need separate books for those. GP's English books cover everything except writing instruction, and WWE does an excellent job of teaching basic composition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease used with All About Reading for your youngest. Michael Clay Thompson's Grammar Island is a good program for your oldest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 I felt like Writing With Ease 2 was a good fit for my second grade son this year, so we'll be continuing with it for next year, using level 3; I like that it incorporates a lot of language arts components, like handwriting, dictation, narration/summarizing, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and literature. We used WWE4 for our fifth grader; it wasn't quite as good a fit, but it was okay, so we'll be moving on to the next book for her next year, which is Writing With Skill Level 1. The biggest problem with WWE4 is that DD had to read a passage before I could do the exercises with her, and with several littles, sometimes getting all of that to line up was tricky -- she'd read the passage, but I wouldn't have a chance to sit down with her, or I'd have a chance to sit down with her, but she wouldn't have read the passage. We've also had pretty good success with the BrainQuest workbooks for the younger grades, to hit specific grammar and spelling and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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