Middle School LA

[BusyMom5]

Right now I am thinking I will join the masses doing IEW SWI-B, but if that does not work out, what exactly should Middle School LA look like?  We don't need spelling, grammar should only be slight review (probably Grammar Fix It! a few days per week is plenty).  I feel like we need to focus on writing and literature, but she's a bookworm and reads all sorts of stuff without my prompting, so maybe not literature?  I don't really know what MS LA is supposed to include, and how much of our day it should take up.  For the little ones, it feels like LA is a big portion of what they do.  If I go lighter on LA for my 7th grader, I might be able to fit some neater extras in for her, or a foreign language?  And any other writing program suggestions? 

[Aurelia]

You might want to plan for a few books that will stretch her for reading. I'm not sure what kind of literature your DD reads right now, but you can read things like Lord of the Rings or Great Expectations. 

 

Is your child a good writer, or does she struggle with it? Mine struggles a bit, so I'm looking at things that are a bit easier, like Jump In. I believe Thinking in Threes and Writing with a Thesis are getting some attention at the moment, and there's always The Lost Tools of Writing or The Lively Art of Writing. 

[....]

I'm not sure if I'm ruining my kids' educations forever, but here's what our middle school/junior high LA has ended up looking like:

 

1.  Easy Grammar Plus

2.  Daily writing in a journal + writing about literature after she finishes the book (she recently wrote a 5-6 page paper about The Yearling - for example)

3.  Literature that we pick out together

 

At one point, my daughter worked through the 8th grade Spectrum Writing workbook - which is supposed to be aligned with what the public schools do - but it was really easy for her (so easy I think my 6th grader would've been fine with it).  Writing about the books she read ended up being much more challenging.

 

I did buy The Lively Art of Writing, but it looks a little dry, so I'm going to hang onto it for another year or so.  I also have Writers Inc as a reference.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 18 by SilverMoon

[SkateLeft]

In our house, middle school LA includes composition, grammar and literature. My main goal is to prepare them for high school level writing, though my son needed some additional support in literature too. My girls worked through literature lists that we put together, while my son has used Mosdos.

 

I dropped spelling long before middle school for both of my girls, who were natural spellers. My son continued with spelling through 7th, because it was a significant weakness for him.

 

 

[kalphs]

1. Complete Book of Grammar and Punctuation
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Book-Grammar-Punctuation/dp/0769643329
2. Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals 
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Writer-Writing-Ease/dp/193333925X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426774016&sr=8-2&keywords=writing+with+ease+strong+fundamentals
3. Writing with Ease Level 3 
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Writer-Workbook-Writing/dp/1933339306
4. Spelling as outlined in Ruth Beechick's book, "You Can Teach Your Child Successfully."
http://www.amazon.com/You-Teach-Your-Child-Successfully/dp/0940319047/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1426773792&sr=1-3&keywords=ruth+beechick
 

[mom31257]

If you are doing SWI-B and Fix-It, then I think literature and possibly moving into some writing about literature would be enough for English LA if you are confident to be covering grammar well in the writing. I love Memoria Press' Poetry and Short Stories: American Literature. Here is the page it is on about half-way down. The anthology includes great, classic short stories and poems. The student guide covers vocabulary, literary terms, socratic discussion, and finding evidence to support the ideas. I think that aspect is taught much easier through short stories and poems than whole books. 

[Cottonwood]

Maybe look into the middle school levels with Moving Beyond the Page?  It's a literature based curriculum so she'll get tons of great reads in .  It's a bit light on the grammar but you have that handled already.   THere is a lot of writing in the middle school levels.  Of al the MBTP subjects, I'm most impressed with the LA ones for this age.  My non-writing, resistant-to-LA DS12 is tearing it up. lol  There's variety every day and options for the kids to choose to get the same skill. You can buy it by unit (estimated 3-4 weeks per unit) or the whole subject.  Every unit includes the literature some of the lessons are taken from.  You can buy just the MBTP unit book and source the lit yourself (if you have a good library system).  It's a la carte, almost any way you want to try it.  If you don't like it, you're not out much.  

[Cottonwood]

Maybe look into the middle school levels with Moving Beyond the Page?  It's a literature based curriculum so she'll get tons of great reads in .  It's a bit light on the grammar but you have that handled already.   THere is a lot of writing in the middle school levels.  Of al the MBTP subjects, I'm most impressed with the LA ones for this age.  My non-writing, resistant-to-LA DS12 is tearing it up. lol  There's variety every day and options for the kids to choose to get the same skill. You can buy it by unit (estimated 3-4 weeks per unit) or the whole subject.  Every unit includes the literature some of the lessons are taken from.  You can buy just the MBTP unit book and source the lit yourself (if you have a good library system).  It's a la carte, almost any way you want to try it.  If you don't like it, you're not out much.  :)