4th Grade Language Arts recommendations please

[StephTX]

I thought I had one nailed down, but I keep seeing more reasons to change before I buy anything. I was looking into Shurley, but keep seeing things about it being very teacher intensive, and the teacher book not being well coordinated with the student book.

 

I don't see a heavy literature based one going over very well with DS. He reads, but doesn't particularly enjoy it (which I'd like to work on changing). I'm hesitant to start his homeschooling experience with a lot of reading assignments essential to the curriculum right off the bat.

 

 

Can some of you share your most (and least) favorite LA curricula? (I also am not familiar with all the darn initials on this board so actual names would be awesome lol thanks)

 

 

[Ellie]

What do you mean by "language arts"? And how old is your ds?

 

Do you want grammar? writing/composition? reading/literature? spelling?

 

Shurley English does grammar and composition. It is not something that would have interested *me* because of the jingles. I know many people love the jingles, but they would *not* have gone over well with my dc (or me!).

 

I liked Easy Grammar. It doesn't do diagramming which was fine with me. :-) I don't do it with children younger than 9ish, though.

 

For composition, my favorite is Writing Strands (Level 3 and above). I love the way it teaches, and if I were homeschooling again, I would make every effort to be able to use all levels with my dc (it was written after my dc were too old for it. Boohoo).

 

Once children know how to read, I prefer using good trade books (books you'd find in the library) rather than vocabulary-controlled basal readers, and letting them read.

 

If I wanted something specifically for vocabulary, Wordly Wise would be my first choice.

 

Other favorites here for grammar and writing are Analytical Grammar, First Language Lessons (FLL), and Writing With Ease (WWE).

[SilverMoon]

.

Edited May 29 by SilverMoon

[WIS0320]

I'm planning for 4th grade and here's what we're going to use: 

 

Rod and Staff English 4 (grammar)

Rod and Staff Spelling 4 

Evan Moor Daily Language Review 4 (very short daily grammar practice)

Evan Moor Daily 6 Trait Writing 4 (very short daily writing skill practice)

Classical Academic Press Writing and Rhetoric: Narrative (writing skills) 

Queen's Pictures In Cursive

6 Moving Beyond the Page L/A units that will sync with our history studies 

 

[TarynB]

Welcome! 

 

My DS sounds similar to yours.  We started homeschooling in 4th grade also, and he would have resisted a literature-heavy curriculum at that time too.  (Thankfully, that has changed since then, so there is hope!)  I've found that it works best for him to piece together our LA curricula rather than using an all-in-one, because his ability level in reading comprehension and vocabulary was/is different than his level in grammar and writing/composition. 

 

So, in 4th grade, we used (all open-and-go): 

 

- Easy Grammar - And later switched to Hake Grammar, but only because we wanted the spiral review and diagramming in Hake that EG doesn't have, although you could add review to EG via the related supplement Daily Grams, plus a separate diagramming resource if that's important to you.  Looking back, I definitely wouldn't stress about grammar instruction, beyond the basics of capitalization and punctuation, until 5th grade.

 

- Writing With Ease level 4 - This level is "optional" if you've completed the previous levels, but since we were new to the series, we needed it.  If you use this, be aware that the dictation sections are difficult and many of us that use it do not require the dictation of entire passages as written, as some of them are very long.  As a matter of fact, remember that you do not have to follow any curriculum exactly as written!  Do some stuff orally instead of making him write it.  Teach him to type if he's pencil-phobic like many kids (esp. boys) this age.  Skip things that seem like fluff.  Whatever you use, make it work for you, not the other way around.

 

- Spelling Workout - simple but effective (for us)

 

- no formal lit program, just good library books and talking informally about some of them but not all

 

Most of all, I'd encourage and remind you that you don't have to jump into doing all subjects at once.  Perhaps just do some math and reading every day while you get your bearings.  Take your time in choosing materials and just  enjoy being with your son. 

 

 

[TXMary2]

We use WWE, FLL, Rod and Staff Spelling, CAP's Rhetoric: Fable and select exercises and lessons from CLP LA and Rod and Staff English.

[TarynB]

We use WWE, FLL, Rod and Staff Spelling, CAP's Rhetoric: Fable and select exercises and lessons from CLP LA and Rod and Staff English.

 

OP, I agree, CAP's - which stands for Classical Academic Press - new writing materials might be a good fit for your DS.  I've looked at what they have out so far in the series and I really would have liked to use it with my son if it had been out when he was younger.

 

http://classicalacademicpress.com/writing-rhetoric-1/

 

The two books that are out so far are targeted to 3rd/4th grade, and more levels are planned to be released. 

 

[FriedClams]

CLE. Love it. Thorough and concise.

[Carolinagirl1]

We love CLE (Christian Light Education) too. It is grammar, spelling, and handwriting all in one. There is a separate reading curriculum (CLE) that we use as well.

[Angie]

Another vote for CLE (Christian Light Education). I have a 4th grader using it. Its the right amount of work, no overkill...very thorough too. I'm new to homeschooling so I wanted something open and go and CLE is perfect. You can get samples on their website. We didn't get the separate Reading Curriculum because my son hated reading so I wanted to take a relaxed approach. My goal was to let him read whatever books he wanted as long as they were at or above his reading level, and we just discuss it. He loves reading now. He is reading 6-8th grade level books.

[Angie]

Here's the link to Christian Light Education

 

http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/3

[Bree]

I love Shirley because it just makes English make sense to me. It is more teacher intensive and teaches parsing instead of diagramming. We are going to do Rod n Staff for 4th grade since they can do it more independently and is a strong program.

[StephTX]

Thank you all so much for your help.

 

I'm definitely leaning toward an open and go approach, at least until I get my bearings.

[FriedClams]

CLE couldn't be more open and go. The reading is well worth the time. It covers literary terms, etc. - not "learn to read" stuff. I'd definitely check their scope an sequence. The reading is about 20 minutes a day, every other day.