Language Arts for K??

[smarson]

Next year my 2nd child will start K (officially) - he'll turn 6 in November.  He's been so different than my daughter that I'm at a loss as to what to do with him.  He LOVES books.  He's eager to learn to read (currently doing 100EZ lessons with him to get him off my back!).  My daughter didn't know how to read and frankly, wasn't interested in it in the least (still mostly isn't) when we started K so I was starting from zero with her.  We did LOE Foundations and it was a beautiful fit for her!  I had just intended to do that with all the kids but by the time K rolls around he'll already know how to read and I have a feeling LOE Foundations isn't going to sit well with him and his 'I already know that' personality.  (Even though he's not learning all the phonograms right now.  I suppose I could do those with him.)

 

So I'm looking for suggestions.  I've not used anything else other than Foundations and honestly, I feel like LOE is so complete, I've never really thought through all the Language Arts components and what I need to do at each age/stage. I've just used Foundations as my daughter's complete LA.

 

I have always found all the advice here so helpful so I'm hoping you sweet ladies have some direction for me. :)

 

Thanks!

[Aiden]

I'm curious, why didn't you just start Foundations with him when he wanted to learn to read? It's appropriate for kids as young as ... what, 4, maybe?

 

If he's already reading at K, could you just skip him ahead to whatever you use with your daughter after Foundations? (Or is your daughter finished with Foundations yet?)

[HomeAgain]

I'm a big fan of just meeting them where they are.  Language arts in our house started with copywork - letters only, and then building up to one sentence, narrating what he read back to me, memory pieces, and listening to good books.  I intended to start something official in 1st grade, but this works so beautifully for mine and we can customize it however we like.

Edited January 13, 2016 by HomeAgain

[desertflower]

I don't know anything about LOE, but I use FLL/WWE combo when my ds was 5.

 

Very gentle.  Done mostly orally.

[lacell]

I agree. I would even combine lessons with your daughter if possible, unless you think that would cause jealousy.

[smarson]

I didn't start LOE with him when he wanted to learn how to read because it teaches the reading part too slowly for his personality.  He just wants to READ!  He is very active!  And while I think LOE is great for active kids, it teaches the reading very slowly, after the kids learn the phonograms.  I've been very reluctantly going through 100 EZ Lessons with him because I'd rather not actually teach him how to read and just do LOE.  

 

The other reason I'm not doing LOE is that it takes us over an hour to do a lesson with my daughter (still in Book C).  I just want to be DONE by that point and the thought of spending another hour with him is not very appealing.  Perhaps I just need to suck it up. :)

[Kiara.I]

Maybe just remind yourself that K is not really school age yet?

Teach him to read, feed him books, and otherwise do whatever whim takes you.  He doesn't really need a "language arts" program.

[Aurelia]

Maybe The Writing Road to Reading, Dancing Bears, or Reading Lessons Through Literature would fit better? I think if you cover learning to read, some handwriting and read aloud to him, you will thoroughly cover all the necessary components of kindergarten language arts. WRTR and RLTL both include handwriting, if you don't want a separate program. 

[Ellie]

Next year my 2nd child will start K (officially) - he'll turn 6 in November.  He's been so different than my daughter that I'm at a loss as to what to do with him.  He LOVES books.  He's eager to learn to read (currently doing 100EZ lessons with him to get him off my back!).  My daughter didn't know how to read and frankly, wasn't interested in it in the least (still mostly isn't) when we started K so I was starting from zero with her.  We did LOE Foundations and it was a beautiful fit for her!  I had just intended to do that with all the kids but by the time K rolls around he'll already know how to read and I have a feeling LOE Foundations isn't going to sit well with him and his 'I already know that' personality.  (Even though he's not learning all the phonograms right now.  I suppose I could do those with him.)

 

So I'm looking for suggestions.  I've not used anything else other than Foundations and honestly, I feel like LOE is so complete, I've never really thought through all the Language Arts components and what I need to do at each age/stage. I've just used Foundations as my daughter's complete LA.

 

I have always found all the advice here so helpful so I'm hoping you sweet ladies have some direction for me. :)

 

Thanks!

 

For a little person who is just 5, who already knows how to read, you just continue letting him read. He could do some copywork to help develop his penmanship and whatnot, but truly, you don't need to do anything else.

[Ellie]

Maybe The Writing Road to Reading, Dancing Bears, or Reading Lessons Through Literature would fit better? I think if you cover learning to read, some handwriting and read aloud to him, you will thoroughly cover all the necessary components of kindergarten language arts. WRTR and RLTL both include handwriting, if you don't want a separate program. 

 

Spalding covers everything that LOE does, and she said she wasn't sure LOE would be a good fit for her little guy, who will already be reading. :-) (Spalding is the method; WRTR is the manual.)

[desertflower]

For a little person who is just 5, who already knows how to read, you just continue letting him read. He could do some copywork to help develop his penmanship and whatnot, but truly, you don't need to do anything else.

 

This is so true.  I only started with my ds 5 yo because 1) he was ready and 2) I wanted him to get ahead, so we can take it slower when he was in 3rd grade for I was planning on having more kids. 

 

Having said that, my second child is not ready, so we won't be doing FLL 1.  She's more interested in read alouds, math and critical thinking books. 

[Mom2Five]

I love McRuffy K's LA. It is great for practicing short vowel/long vowel words etc. When they are reading those easily, I like to move on to Abeka 1st grade.

[BusyMom5]

Could you still do LOE A, and focus more on spelling?  Cut out the parts he's not interested in (like the worksheets) and add in more reading?

[MrsWeasley]

For a kid reading fluently, I would do phonics through spelling, have the child practice reading through reading aloud to me and reading independently, and handwriting.

[blondchen]

I'd keep going with reading, as fast as he wants to go, and do some kind of handwriting instruction, and that's it. All we did in K was read, read, read, plus handwriting, and some light math (RS Level A, which we could have done without, frankly). It was enough. 

[smarson]

Thank you so much ladies!! I figured I was over thinking it, and it's just K. I guess I was just wondering if there was something else to add in or focus on as we strengthened his reading but with another new baby coming this summer,I think keeping it simple next year will be best. I'll start working on the phonograms with him and his little brother together probably and just read,read,read!! Thanks!!!!