LOE plus Bravewriter...complete LA?

[Guest Homeschooling Shire]

I'm still all over the place with my style of homeschooling. I'm sure it will all work itself out, but I'm starting first grade with my ds7  in the fall and I'd love to not have to switch around a million times. Regarding language arts, if I were to use LOE and Bravewriter together, would that be a complete LA program? One of my concerns is reading comprehension and how to be sure I'm covering everything with that. Another is that I like the daily practice and spiral learning that LOE offers, and if I use Bravewriter exclusively, I feel I would lose that. Currently I'm using AAR, AAS, WWE, and FLL. However, I love LOE and really want to use it. I also wonder if BW offers more in "total" than FLL and WWE.  I would love thoughts on this. Thank you!

[Farrar]

Well, keep in mind that I'm a BW fanatic.

 

I don't think BW is "complete" for language arts for any child who has not yet learned basic letter formation or basic reading. So LoE would address those issues and help it be "complete" for a younger child. So my opinion is that that's plenty for a 7 yo. I assume you're going to do Jot It Down and the Quiver of Arrows (or DIY some BW style copywork/dictation) along with the other BW elements?

 

I think once a child has basic reading and letter formation down that BW absolutely can be complete. However, I think some kids need a separate spelling program - some diehard BW types would say that spelling in context through dictation is enough, but I think that's only enough for some kids. Also, some kids may need a separate grammar program (Julie recommends doing a "grammar year" once every few years where you add in a grammar program). Beyond those things, I think it's generally complete. I mean, it covers literature, different types of writing, and writing mechanics. If you're really following the "lifestyle" then it has poetry, read alouds, studied dictation or copywork, narration, freewriting, discussion, and projects of various kinds. It's a lot of stuff.

 

I do think it offers "more" than the FLL/WWE combo. But mostly, I think it's just offering something different. FLL/WWE has an emphasis on step by step learning of specific information and skills. I think SWB would expect you, as the parent, to add in a lot more of that sort of read alouds and learning fun stuff yourself. I think if you just lined up FLL/WWE with BW, FLL/WWE look very joyless. There's less of the BW creating a language rich environment sort of attitude. However, I think it's more that they're pared down - I suspect SWB's homeschool was pretty language rich, after all. The bigger difference to me is the philosophy of of FLL/WWE is that writing is like a foreign language children learn. As such, it's very broken down into parts so kids can progress through learning it. The philosophy of BW is that writing is something that comes naturally from speech. It's very whole to parts. And, like I said about, there's more places that direct you, as the parent, to try to slow down and foster that love of language and writing over any specific skills.

[Farrar]

Oh, and welcome to the forum. I just realized that's your first post. :)

[Guest Homeschooling Shire]

Thank you so much for your feedback! He is a decent reader. Probably on a second grade level. I guess I'm attracted to him knowing the spelling and grammar rules and just making sure he does have a strong foundation in these things. I like LOE and also CLE for this. Is there a spelling/grammar program that most on these forums love and recommend? Kind of like a top 3-5 list?

 

I'm a bit concerned going into the whole BW lifestyle that I won't "know enough" myself to put all of the things together that he really needs so that there are no gaps, but it does seem that she has lots of help available.

 

Thanks for the welcome! I've been coming to this forum for a really long time now, but finally had a burning question! Lol.

[Farrar]

People on this forum like for spelling...

All About Spelling (similar to LoE but goes farther, levels broken up so more expensive over time)

Apples and Pears (totally different from AAS/LoE/Spalding)

Spalding (cheaper and older version of the same style as AAS/LoE with more DIY work for the materials)

Sequential Spelling (no experience... sorry)

 

I see others mentioned too, of course - Megawords, Phonetic Zoo... lots of options out there for spelling.

 

For grammar, a lot of people here obviously use FLL. Others like MCT's grammar. There are so many grammar programs I wouldn't know where to begin. CLE is popular, like you mention, and Rod and Staff has a lot of followers.

 

If you go the full on Brave Writer route, join the BW Lifestyle Group if you're on Facebook. And read Julie's blog regularly or follow her on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Periscope (I mean, whatever you like best...). She's so encouraging. She'll continually remind you that you can do it, that there won't be gaps that are problems, that what you're doing is enough, that you kids will turn out okay. Really, she's very happy making. :) And if you start off using her pre-made copywork/dictation with the Arrow or the Quiver of Arrows and the pre-imagined projects in Jot It Down and the other project books, then really you won't be missing anything important. It's really about the long view.

[ByGrace3]

I think it's a great lineup for first grade! My rising first grader will be doing AAR and AAS alongside BW Quiver of Arrows and Jot it Down. We will add in other BW lifestyle stuff like poetry teas as well.

 

I have purchased Quiver of Arrows but have not spent much time with it yet...having been through WWE and FLL twice now, I know what I want to cover so I will be sure sure definitions of basic parts of speech and how to find them in a sentence get covered...the basics of copywork, narration, and dictation are the heart of this age's writing and grammar so I feel like Quiver covers it.

[Guest Homeschooling Shire]

Thank you both so much! I have to say...I have been watching Julie's scopes and I am in LOVE with her!!! She could not be more perfect for me. I feel like she is right here in my kitchen with me and is my best friend! Lol. She speaks to the heart of learning and I know that I've just found a treasure trove. Thank you for reminding me!