Wabi Sabi Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 We officially start our new year on Tuesday and I still can't decide what to use with my six year old. I have both WWE1/FLL1 and also the first English Lessons through Literature. (ELTL? I can't keep up with changing acronyms. :laugh: ) I've used the WWE/FLL combo with my older child, so on one hand I'm tempted to just stick with what's tried and true, but I also like how ELTL is more of an all-in-one program and my daughter would LOVE the emphasis on Beatrix Potter stories for the first year. That said, there doesn't seem to be much narration in ELTL, and I think that is a skill we need to really work on with her this year. We could work on narration in history or another subject, but in all reality, I need something like WWE where it's already all laid out for me. I've learned through trial and error that I really need open and go curriculum for my kids. Realistically, I need to choose one and just do it. Trying to do both would be too much for us personally. So, thoughts? Pros and cons? If you were debating between WWE/FLL and ELTL which did you end up choosing and why? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 :bigear: I'll be having the same dilemma in a year or so ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 :bigear: I'll be having the same dilemma in a year or so ... No you won't. By then there will be 2 more programs out. :lol: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aiden Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 No you won't. By then there will be 2 more programs out. :lol: Aaah, nooooo!! Quick, where's the "covering my ears and singing lalalala" smiley?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Aaah, nooooo!! Quick, where's the "covering my ears and singing lalalala" smiley?! I'd just go with this one. :willy_nilly: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janainaz Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I vote for FLL1/WWE1. I used both (FLL1-4 and WWE 1-4, followed by WWS). I found them to be very gentle and thorough; grammar and writing were never subjects that my boys dreaded. All the lessons were short, but effective. Additionally, the more narration practice early on, the better. I also loved that most of the first two books are done orally. It seems to me that it's fairly wise to select a curriculum that builds on the previous level (just my opinion). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 You probably shouldn't listen to me - I would probably just do both. WWE can be split into 2-3 days a week. I have no idea if ELTL can be or not. Or you could just do the narration in WWE which would be only 2 days and then do ELTL. You could also do narration in history or another subject and then leave WWE entirely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrammarGirl Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I vote for FLL/WWE because I love the narration exercises. We do narration in history and science, but DD crafts much more lovely sentences for her WWE narrations than the others. I don't think nonfiction narration can replace the style of fiction narration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 NOTHING! Wait a year or two. Do narrations through other subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertflower Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I'm doing ffl 1 and wwe 1. Mainly because I didn't know about eltl. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 We chose ELTL for my DS5. I like reading entire lit selections. I like the picture study. The copywork and narrations are gentle. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted August 31, 2014 Author Share Posted August 31, 2014 We chose ELTL for my DS5. I like reading entire lit selections. I like the picture study. The copywork and narrations are gentle. Are there narrations at all in the first year? I haven't seen any yet, but perhaps I just haven't read far enough ahead...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 I debated...we have stuck with FLL/WWE mostly because it is tried and true, and we already started the series with #2. I will probably revisit this question with #3 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Are there narrations at all in the first year? I haven't seen any yet, but perhaps I just haven't read far enough ahead...? Yes, there are narrations. From ELTL1: Narrations occur every two weeks throughout both levels. Once the child is comfortable with narrating, you can include narration exercises from history and science reading as well. Each level includes ninety of Aesop’s fables that could also be used for additional narration practice if desired. Level 1 begins with picture narrations. After the instructor reads the fable, the child is asked to draw a picture of the story and then tell his instructor about the picture. During the second half of the year, he will begin standard narrations. The standard narrations at the end of Level 1 and throughout Level 2 start with the shortest Aesop’s fables and gradually increase in length. The procedure for doing the narrations is quite simple: After the instructor reads the fable, the child tells the story back to his instructor in his own words while the instructor writes the story down for the child. Remember that the child is learning a brand new skill and may not understand exactly what is expected of him. Prompting him with questions helps. Ask questions such as, “What happened first?†and, “Then what happened?†Help him get the details of the story in the proper order. Since the instructor is doing the writing for the child, the child has no need to worry about spelling or punctuation. At this stage, I correct nothing more than grammatical errors and, occasionally, a detail from the story. In Level 2, part of the narration will be printed or written for the child to use as copywork for that day. Approached this way, narrations follow a logical progression. Narrations first start with something the child is probably already doing: drawing pictures and explaining them. Next the child begins telling the story without the picture, though he may certainly draw a picture to illustrate his narration. Then, he begins copying his own words. Finally, he will begin writing the story down himself without orally narrating it first. This final stage is not covered in this book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 We have loved ELTL, we are finishing up level 1 right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I was trying to make this same decision this year! I ended up deciding to use a FLL / WWE combination for various reasons. BUT, I meshed our schedule so that our days flow more like a ELTL lesson. (the flow was what I liked about ELTL...not necessarily the content or teaching methods.) I was also greatly moved by Andrew Pudewa's talk "Nurturing Competent Communicators". So I decided to add in some of his elements into our day. So more focus on oral recitation and things like that. Our days look like this: 1) Early AM--Oral Recitation / Poetry Memorization: IEWs Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memoriztion (5 minutes in the AM during our regular memory work. Kids recite various poems/scripture from memory with enthusiasm and gusto while the rest of us clap and applaud them on. We really ham it up!) 2) Content subjects: We do DAILY oral narration of our history and science readings using the methods taught in the WWE book (not workbook). The kids tell me what they want me to write, and I copy these sentences into the kids history/science notebooks while they give me the sentence. I write slowly and neatly so they can get used to holding words/ideas on their head while the act of writing takes place. I talk about why I have capitalized certain words, added in certain punctuation, etc. 2) Short Grammar Lesson from FLL: We use this book for GRAMMAR instruction only. I do not use their suggested poems, narration exercises, picture studies, etc. (I have those things covered already.) We teach a lesson on grammar and then move on to copywork. (We do use the memorized definitions from FLL though.) 3) Dictation and Copywork: Each day the kids do copywork. These sentences come from the books I am reading aloud, their current reader, or from their narration. (Similar to ELTL--I do NOT pull random sentences or excerpts out of context for the sake of copywork/narration. We read real books in their entirety, and then pull real samples from those books to study.) Our copywork schedule looks like this: Level 1: Day 1: Copywork from literature (read aloud or reader) Day 2: Copywork from their own narration (in content subject) Day 3: Copywork from literature (read aloud or reader) Day 4: Copywork from their own narration (in content subject) (After Level 1 becomes fairly easy.) Level 2: Day 1: Copywork from literature (read aloud or reader) Day 2: Dictation of sentence used the day before Day 3: Copywork from their own narration (in content subject) Day 4: Dictation of sentence used the day before I do not pull these sentences ahead of time. I literally open up the books up and find an appropriate sentence. (Or open their history/science notebooks up and pull one of their narration sentences.) I try to find a sentence that highlights what we are studying in grammar. (For example, a sentence with some proper nouns, verbs, pronouns, or commas in series, etc. THEN, (in the case of copywork) I write the sentence on the board with no capitalization or punctuation and we take turns identifying errors. (Works on editing skills). After we find the errors we find the verbs or nouns, etc. Then the kids copy the sentence from the board into their copywork notebooks in their best handwriting. Occasionally we also do copywork from our current memorized poem from IEW. 4) Literature: Instead of using the ELTL books, we have made our own read aloud list using some classics, some books which tie in with our history (historical fictions, etc.) , and other JUST good books from the Sonlight read aloud list. We also use Sonlight readers. Like I said, we pull our copywork/dictation sentences from these sources instead of using the copywork sentences in FLL. ETA: Excuse all of the typos. I am typing while holding a very squirmy toddler! Never a good idea! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 I think you'll cover your bases better with WWE1/FLL1. Literature selections are better selected in relation to the skill being studied and narrations are better directed. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrunchyGirl Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 ELTL. I used level 3 last year with my oldest and am planning level one with my middle child as soon as she gets to a point where a short copy work sentence is appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyraTooters Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Following! I'm torn between these two as well. Can I jump in and ask a question real quick? If I chose FLL/WWE foe my seven year old (second grade) where do I start? First book or second book? We'll be coming from Abeka language (first grade) if that helps any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherOfBoys Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 We use ELTL1 and WWE2 three days a week. I didn't think ELTL1 had enough writing for my son. We had already done WWE1 last year and we were looking forward to trying to teach spelling through the dictation this year in WWE2. Spelling Workout A and B was just busy work last year. We are having THE BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER! (four weeks in :laugh:) We like the whole stories that ELTL gives us and the poems, fables, and picture studies. I feel like we are getting more rounded/branching out with ELTL. Sorry to confuse the two choices but we are soooo happy with this choice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenNotOfTroy Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Following! I'm torn between these two as well. Can I jump in and ask a question real quick? If I chose FLL/WWE foe my seven year old (second grade) where do I start? First book or second book? We'll be coming from Abeka language (first grade) if that helps any. The Peace Hill Press website has evaluations for the different levels of WWE so I would start with those. FLL 2 would probably be fine. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TyraTooters Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 For levels 1 and 2 of FLL, there's no student workbook, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelenNotOfTroy Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlene Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I know this is an old thread, but I am having a similar dilemma. Does anyone have anythingvto add? Any updates or new opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparrowsNest Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I am using ELTL with my 1st grader. I plan to add in WWE in 6 months, maybe a year, depending on how things go. WWE is pretty quick around here, 10-15 minutes, so I don't see the harm at this point in doing both once she's ready to move onto WWE skills. I've never used FLL, so I can't help you there. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.