First grade Lang Arts, what have you loved?

[mindygz]

With my older two I did FLL1 and WWE1. They worked pretty well for my daughter, but weren't as great a fit for my son. I have a Ker now who is reading better than either of them were at this age, and I'm wondering if I'd rather use something else. I've looked into Phonics Road and I like the all-in-one approach. I recently heard positive things about IEW's PAL curriculum, and that looks pretty good, too, though he has already moved beyond the beginning of that. The idea of having it all together is appealing to me, as with multiple kids it is nice to have fewer things to open and schedule. 

 

Any reviews for Phonics Road or PAL, or something else that you have really loved? 

[EmseB]

For all-in-one, my oldest used McRuffy when he was in first grade because that is what his school used and we've used it this year for 2nd grade at home too.  He is a great reader, so the reading portion was a bit behind his ability, but he learned a lot about reading for comprehension.  Otherwise, it was grammar, spelling/phonics, reading, a little bit of writing all together and easy open-and-go.

 

It looks cutsey and colorful, but as we move on and I start to look at other curricula to move him on to, I'm finding that the scope and sequence is actually quite rigorous for grade level.  The writing philosophy in McRuffy, however, is much more along the lines of creative writing than SWB and WWE.

[Peaceful Isle]

Voyages in English (for grammar), spelling workout A, BJU reading and phonics, and HWT for handwriting .

[mohini]

MP Storytime Treasures. Best reading ever.

[alicai]

My 1st grader was reading very well coming into this year so all I did for reading was to assign a chapter a day from selected books (otherwise, she won't read). Some of these I took from ELTL1, which I used in a modified way and was great. She loved listening to a fable and a poem per day, and I sometimes used the grammar lessons as jumping off points. I don't worry about grammar much at this age. Her favorite book was the complete works of Beatrix Potter. She has enjoyed the Elson Reader as well.

 

A surprising hit this year was an app called Simplex Spelling. Since Ainsley loves electronics and absorbs huge amounts from it, I somewhat grudgingly allowed her to do this and she is spelling beautifully. She sets a timer for 15 minutes and does this most days, and has made rapid progress.

 

I also made up my own copywork from her reading, which she did daily. I kept it short because she really struggles with grip and writing but these short daily sessions seem to have been very beneficial.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 18 by SilverMoon

[Syllieann]

We have really enjoyed iew bible heroes. It is just enough grammar with fun activities already done for you. If you're doing ancient, you could tie it into history too. I've been using it just fine without twss. I prefer the kwo/story sequence chart to the way we teaches summarizing. It still allows the kids to separate the thinking from most of the writing. The thinking is recorded in just a few key words or symbols. You can easily have the child narrate the rough draft and then use it as copywork if they aren't up to all the writing yet.