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LA quandry for 2nd/3rd grade... anyone else in this boat?


sunshineslp
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So, I'll have a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, K and preK next fall.  I am in love with the look of FLL/WWE for my two oldest.  HOWEVER... I must admit, I am feeling drained already just thinking of all the LA it feels like we'll be doing.  I don't see a way around it though, as I WANT to teach them, I don't want to hand them a workbook... it is the nature of the beast I know, but I admit I'd like a bit of a workbook approach for at least SOME independent work...

 

What is it I am looking for?  CLE feels like TOO much, TOO hands off maybe for me?  R&S has been on my heart a lot but it feels too textbook-y, not enough workbook, all answers need written out and my kids would explode. 

 

FLL/WWE- is it too much to do separate levels with both kids?  I was thinking of doing FLL2/WWE 1 with my 3rd and FLL1/WWE 1 with my 2nd grader. 

 

Is there another program you'd recommend that melds both worlds of oral/workbook approach that is VERY VERY doable with multiple children working at different levels and not taking ALL day? 

 

I'd appreciate your help on this:) 

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I have always taught my kids LA (and math) individually, one on one. If that individual instruction is possible, I see the time put into it as high pay off.

 

So I did those individually with two kids. Neither take a lot of time really. I spent a lot more time at those ages teaching math individually! That said, I did not have little ones to also occupy me, and I know moms of many sometimes have to make different choices.

 

If you're overwhelmed or dreading it, I think it's worth thinking about a different path. If the path is going to be more independent, I'd probably pick that path for the grammar rather than your composition I think. I like CLE LA fwiw, though I didn't use it at those ages. WWE really didn't take that long here fwiw.

 

By the time your K reaches 2nd grade and might be beginning this path, your oldest will probably be more independent.

 

 

Edited by sbgrace
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Maybe ELTL, if you did the same level for both it would be easier I'd think. With that said I haven't used it, or any of the others you mentioned! We are going to try ELTL next year.

Edited by UCF612
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Have you looked at FLL 1 and 2?  There is a lot of overlap.  These are gentle but thorough programs for early grammar lessons.  I don't know the abilities of your kids, but I bet you could just use FLL2 for both 2nd and 3rd grader.  Pick up the cd for extra review.  Somedays we do two lessons or spend an extra 5 minutes reviewing poems for fun.

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I'm totally in the same boat. I'm currently doing wwe and fll with my 2nd grader, but I'm not loving it. It just seems like I have too many things that need me to teach the entire time, (when you add in everything else). I need something for grammar that I don't have to do the whole thing with him. I was even thinking about Abeka grammar for next year. I wish SWB's new book was out now!

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I'm totally in the same boat. I'm currently doing wwe and fll with my 2nd grader, but I'm not loving it. It just seems like I have too many things that need me to teach the entire time, (when you add in everything else). I need something for grammar that I don't have to do the whole thing with him. I was even thinking about Abeka grammar for next year. I wish SWB's new book was out now!

I'm glad I'm not alone! That concerns me about your experience with FLL/WWE... I'm thinking it may end up being the same with me. I've heard SWB is recommending R&S but I fail to see how that's more independent.

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I'm currently doing WWE with both my 3rd and 2nd grader. It really only takes 10 minutes or so, and we do it right before our sit down math lesson (which I also teach independently) Look at my siggy-it's doable! FLL on the other hand, I would NOT do separate levels for. I'm doing FLL 2 combined and there is just no way I'd ever do grammar separate with them being so close together. That said, I'd not fond of FLL so am looking at switching.

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Meadowlark, that is interesting!  WWE seems quite doable.  i am worried that coupled with FLL it is just too much.... copywork, everything.  i had read that at one time FLL was meant to be a full program, and that WWE isn't necessary.  I am not sure I believe that.  but what are you thinking of using for LA?

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Ahh, I'm in a similar situation and not sure what to do either.  I use(d) LOE with my daughter (2nd grade next year) but it just exhausts me to considering going through Essentials with her and then going through Foundations with my upcoming K'er.  Ugh.  Sounds exhausting.  So I don't have an answer for you, but I'm looking at possibly only doing LOE a few days a week and also adding in ELTL which will buy me some time to work with my K'er?  I have no idea.  And I'm considering teaching my 3 year old (will be 4 in the fall) the phonograms along with big brother K'er just to make life a little easier once he's ready to start LOE as well.  But adding a new baby into the mix in June may change all my plans completely.  Good thing I homeschool and can change things up at the last minute!

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I use LOE too! And my 2nd grader is in Essentials right now. It's.... Ok. It's rather a waste of time (or money...) because I only want spelling and there's so much of grammar and some writing. To me it's not a good grammar program. I skip all that. So I'm not sure I'll use it again...

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

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Oh boo!  Don't tell me that! :)  Are you using the 1st edition or the 2nd edition?  It sounds like they improved a lot of things between 1 and 2, so maybe there's hope for me? :)

 

I do have ELTL which I want to use with her but it might be overkill with Essentials.

 

And I have to admit, I'm not as excited about Foundations A with my upcoming K'er, probably because I've already been through it once but also because he's just such a different kid - he wants to hit the ground running and learn to read already whereas my daughter wasn't interested in reading so the slowness that LOE IS wasn't an issue for her.  I'm concerned it will be an issue for my K'er.  I have absolutely no idea what to do with him if I choose not to do Foundations.  I never really looked at anything else once I fell in love with LOE for my daughter. ;)

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I adore LOE! I'm a speech path and I just loved the way they taught. But... I agree. I've gone through foundations twice now (almost) and beginning a 3rd and yeah... It gets old and I find myself skipping parts. But that's ok:) I love it and know how to teach it so I'll stick with foundations. I do NOT however think I'll do essentials again. Not unless I feel it necessary. Essentials is really just foundations. Literally. It goes faster but you can start your 5 yr old ok essentials. And yeah, I have 1st edition but I don't think 2nd Ed would change my mind [emoji6]

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

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My kids are more spread out than yours, so that may make a difference. I am using ELTL two years behind grade level to increase the independence factor for my oldest who is a reluctant writer. While levels 1&2 are light, levels 4&5 are tough. So my 4th grader is doing level 2 right now. Because we switched mid year, I'm just having him read the books and do the copy work. Wind in the willows, Peter pan, Alice in wonderland... These are great books for this age and he can read them himself.

 

I haven't decided if I'm going to start my next kid in ELTL next year because She will still be working on all about reading. But when I do start her, I plan to use audio books with her. Possibly using audible immersion reading. I may wait till she's finished AAR and then start her in level 2. Or I may just assign her the audio books from level 1 next year and the cursive copy work. Or I may use all of level 1, cutting back RLTL to just two days a week (right now she does less words, but does it every day). I'm using RLTL with both kids and we love it. It's quick and easy, it actually gets done, but I'm still getting to teach them instead of handing them a workbook. ELTL seems like it will be similar that way.

 

My third kid will start kindergarten in the fall, but is currently doing AAR 3 just a few lessons behind his older sister. Since he will be finished with AAR before he hits first grade, it's possible I might use ELTL on grade level.

Edited by vaquitita
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This is what I dis with my kids.

 

I combined the kids and did WWE2 and FLL2. It is fine to start in those books.

each week do three lessons in FLL and two days do WWE. Combine each narration day with a copy/dictation day. Or skip the dictation in FLL and do the WWE copy/dictation that day.

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You might be able to combine the older two in IEW Bible Heroes. I haven't used it with multiple kids at a time but it is written with coop in mind so the first day of each week is direct teaching. The other days the kids have some things they can do independently. There are also games for review that they could play together, giving it a more social/fun feel. I personally think the grammar in it is sufficient for the grade level, but most people on these boards want more grammar earlier than I do. If you are in that camp, I would think fll2 could be done with them together.

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I'm considering RLTL instead... But it's something I'd start probably after LOE Foundations C...

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

What level RLTL would you start with after LOE C? Do you like it better than D?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I have a 1st grader and 3rd grader.  

 

When my oldest was in 1st grade, we only did FLL1, and I thought that was plenty.  When he began 2nd grade, we did FLL2 and added WWE2.  By mid year I was not enjoying FLL2 anymore.  It just seemed fragmented to me, and it required too much discussion without enough practice.  I needed something with more order and with more practice.  So mid 2nd grade year I got rid of FLL2 and began doing Daily Grammar grade 2 along with WWE2.  It has been exactly what we needed.  

 

Each day in Daily Grammar is set up exactly the same.  There are 4 skills reviewed each day (mid second grade year a 5th skill is added in).  For the second half of 2nd grade, I wrote each problem (if you'll let me call it that) on the white board.  Then we would work through them together, with us discussing rules of grammar along the way.  I would write the answers on the board.  Once he began third grade, I started writing the problems for each day in a three ring notebook.  We would still discuss the grammar skills as he worked through them, but he was now responsible for writing the answers.  As time has gone by, he does more and more of this on his own without direct instruction or discussion.  You can also print out each page to use.

 

Here is an example of each skill:

 

1.  Correct capitalization: 

      mrs. scott traveled to paris, france last year. (you would quickly review the two capitalization rules with your child here as she corrects them).

2.  Correct punctuation:

     Did you already take out the trash Mom asked ( you would again review grammar rules while your child adds the punctuation)

3.  Parts of speech:

     Adjectives are words that describe nouns.  She ran through the tall grass.

     Circle each adjective.  

     Claire put on her ruffled skirt and purple shoes. (again review the skills)

4.  Join the two sentences together. (the author of Daily Grammar asks the child to rewrite the sentence.  I just ask my son to cross out words, add words, add punctuation, etc, like he's editing a piece of writing)

     Mark loves to bake.  He also loves to swim and play.

 

We have really enjoyed this program.  It is simple and repetitive, and it has gradually become something that my son mostly does on his own (he often does this while I do other work with my younger son), with us always discussing mistakes together when he's finished.  We are moving on to Daily Grammar 3/4 in a few weeks.  

 

Since we've had such success with this program, I decided not to do FLL2 with my 1st grader.  He and I did most of FLL1 last year, so I'm just doing a general laid back type grammar with him this year until he's ready to start Daily Grammar in 2nd grade.  Like my older son, we didn't start WWE1 until after we finished FLL1.

 

I don't know if any of this has been helpful at all, but it has really worked for us.  I know what you mean about feeling like you will drown in language arts.  I needed our lessons to be as short and to the point as possible, without a lot of extra stuff if you know what I mean.  This has been the answer.  

 

Good luck to you!

 

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I have a 1st grader and 3rd grader.

 

When my oldest was in 1st grade, we only did FLL1, and I thought that was plenty. When he began 2nd grade, we did FLL2 and added WWE2. By mid year I was not enjoying FLL2 anymore. It just seemed fragmented to me, and it required too much discussion without enough practice. I needed something with more order and with more practice. So mid 2nd grade year I got rid of FLL2 and began doing Daily Grammar grade 2 along with WWE2. It has been exactly what we needed.

 

Each day in Daily Grammar is set up exactly the same. There are 4 skills reviewed each day (mid second grade year a 5th skill is added in). For the second half of 2nd grade, I wrote each problem (if you'll let me call it that) on the white board. Then we would work through them together, with us discussing rules of grammar along the way. I would write the answers on the board. Once he began third grade, I started writing the problems for each day in a three ring notebook. We would still discuss the grammar skills as he worked through them, but he was now responsible for writing the answers. As time has gone by, he does more and more of this on his own without direct instruction or discussion. You can also print out each page to use.

 

Here is an example of each skill:

 

1. Correct capitalization:

mrs. scott traveled to paris, france last year. (you would quickly review the two capitalization rules with your child here as she corrects them).

2. Correct punctuation:

Did you already take out the trash Mom asked ( you would again review grammar rules while your child adds the punctuation)

3. Parts of speech:

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. She ran through the tall grass.

Circle each adjective.

Claire put on her ruffled skirt and purple shoes. (again review the skills)

4. Join the two sentences together. (the author of Daily Grammar asks the child to rewrite the sentence. I just ask my son to cross out words, add words, add punctuation, etc, like he's editing a piece of writing)

Mark loves to bake. He also loves to swim and play.

 

We have really enjoyed this program. It is simple and repetitive, and it has gradually become something that my son mostly does on his own (he often does this while I do other work with my younger son), with us always discussing mistakes together when he's finished. We are moving on to Daily Grammar 3/4 in a few weeks.

 

Since we've had such success with this program, I decided not to do FLL2 with my 1st grader. He and I did most of FLL1 last year, so I'm just doing a general laid back type grammar with him this year until he's ready to start Daily Grammar in 2nd grade. Like my older son, we didn't start WWE1 until after we finished FLL1.

 

I don't know if any of this has been helpful at all, but it has really worked for us. I know what you mean about feeling like you will drown in language arts. I needed our lessons to be as short and to the point as possible, without a lot of extra stuff if you know what I mean. This has been the answer.

 

Good luck to you!

This is fabulous! Thank you! So, you do still use WWE? You like it? I think you are hitting the nail in the head... I feel the same way... Too much discussion and not enough practice. My kids seem to do best with a mix of auditory and visual materials.

 

I've not heard of daily grammar, so you have to write it all out for the child? There is no workbook?

 

Mama kelly: ELTL is English lessons through literature [emoji4]

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I have a 1st grader and 3rd grader.

 

When my oldest was in 1st grade, we only did FLL1, and I thought that was plenty. When he began 2nd grade, we did FLL2 and added WWE2. By mid year I was not enjoying FLL2 anymore. It just seemed fragmented to me, and it required too much discussion without enough practice. I needed something with more order and with more practice. So mid 2nd grade year I got rid of FLL2 and began doing Daily Grammar grade 2 along with WWE2. It has been exactly what we needed.

 

Each day in Daily Grammar is set up exactly the same. There are 4 skills reviewed each day (mid second grade year a 5th skill is added in). For the second half of 2nd grade, I wrote each problem (if you'll let me call it that) on the white board. Then we would work through them together, with us discussing rules of grammar along the way. I would write the answers on the board. Once he began third grade, I started writing the problems for each day in a three ring notebook. We would still discuss the grammar skills as he worked through them, but he was now responsible for writing the answers. As time has gone by, he does more and more of this on his own without direct instruction or discussion. You can also print out each page to use.

 

Here is an example of each skill:

 

1. Correct capitalization:

mrs. scott traveled to paris, france last year. (you would quickly review the two capitalization rules with your child here as she corrects them).

2. Correct punctuation:

Did you already take out the trash Mom asked ( you would again review grammar rules while your child adds the punctuation)

3. Parts of speech:

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. She ran through the tall grass.

Circle each adjective.

Claire put on her ruffled skirt and purple shoes. (again review the skills)

4. Join the two sentences together. (the author of Daily Grammar asks the child to rewrite the sentence. I just ask my son to cross out words, add words, add punctuation, etc, like he's editing a piece of writing)

Mark loves to bake. He also loves to swim and play.

 

We have really enjoyed this program. It is simple and repetitive, and it has gradually become something that my son mostly does on his own (he often does this while I do other work with my younger son), with us always discussing mistakes together when he's finished. We are moving on to Daily Grammar 3/4 in a few weeks.

 

Since we've had such success with this program, I decided not to do FLL2 with my 1st grader. He and I did most of FLL1 last year, so I'm just doing a general laid back type grammar with him this year until he's ready to start Daily Grammar in 2nd grade. Like my older son, we didn't start WWE1 until after we finished FLL1.

 

I don't know if any of this has been helpful at all, but it has really worked for us. I know what you mean about feeling like you will drown in language arts. I needed our lessons to be as short and to the point as possible, without a lot of extra stuff if you know what I mean. This has been the answer.

 

Good luck to you!

This is fabulous! Thank you! So, you do still use WWE? You like it? I think you are hitting the nail in the head... I feel the same way... Too much discussion and not enough practice. My kids seem to do best with a mix of auditory and visual materials.

 

I've not heard of daily grammar, so you have to write it all out for the child? There is no workbook?

 

Mama kelly: ELTL is English lessons through literature [emoji4]

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This is fabulous! Thank you! So, you do still use WWE? You like it? I think you are hitting the nail in the head... I feel the same way... Too much discussion and not enough practice. My kids seem to do best with a mix of auditory and visual materials.

 

I've not heard of daily grammar, so you have to write it all out for the child? There is no workbook?

 

Mama kelly: ELTL is English lessons through literature [emoji4]

I do use WWE with both kids.  The younger is doing level 1 and the oldest is just finishing level 2.  I do really like it.  They each do 2 narrations a week, but I add in a bit more copywork for the younger boy.  He does copywork every day instead of the suggested twice a week (he can handle this.  Twice a week is plenty for someone just starting WWE).  I often make my own copywork/dictation for the boys to tie it in with our science and history more instead of using the suggestions in the WWE books.  It just depends.

 

WWE is very easy to implement.  It takes 5 (maybe a bit longer for the older boy) minutes a day for the narrations.  Copywork takes however long it takes them after I introduce it to them.  They do it all by themselves.  I wouldn't suggest doing WWE together with your kids because the point is for them to learn to summarize.  They can't each do that very well if they're hearing the other one summarize the same selection first.  You could start your 3rd grader in WWE2 and the 2nd grader in WWE1 if you want.  I think that is just fine.  If you want them to both start at level 2, just start the oldest first and then start the youngest a month or two later.  Then they won't be hearing each other summarize the same passages back to back.  Does that make sense?

 

Here's a link to Easy Grammar.  http://www.easygrammar.com/daily-guided-teaching-and-review---grade-2.html

I just purchased the Daily Guided Teaching and Review for Grade 2 e-book.  You can print out each page for your child to use.  You can also buy a workbook.  I just didn't like printing so much paper (and I'm cheap and didn't want to buy the workbook.  Ha!).  It was really nice to do it on the white board each day.  I could also customize the sentences or change a skill if I noticed that he needed to practice it more.  

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The reason I recommend Abeka is:

Colorful

 

Open and Go (after your first month with the TM you will quickly know what to slash and which parts to keep and do on the white board)

 

All connected- phonics, spelling, handwriting, reading are all reinforced and overlapping!!! This is great for a second grader to finish building a very firm foundation ,

 

Very Strong Phonics emphasis- as you know from using LOE phonics is so important and cannot be stressed enough.

 

My kids found both WWE extremely boring, and repetitive and at that age I wish I had instead just focused on phonics, spelling, and handwriting and the rudiments of grammar like Abeka does.

 

My kids both liked FLL but not a jot or tittle of it stuck in their brains (sorry SWB!) / we have always had much better long term retention from traditional workbooks in LA

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A jot or tittle [emoji23] ah, I needed that giggle!

 

I'm not sure about abeka all in one for la. I'd need to look at it... I was mainly thinking of using only the grammar bit. Is that able to be done? We'd use it next year, so 3rd grade and 2nd. I am considering using the reading part too, though... I know very little about abeka!

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

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Using FLL 1 and WWE Year 1 with a 2nd grader...It's been great.  I just didn't start it until this year and she could technically be in 1st grade, so we started with Level 1.  There's a lot of overlap, so I don't have her do copywork out of one and then copywork out of the other.  I combine them.  I have a 4.5 yo doing gentle preschool and she actually really enjoys doing FLL 1 with us.  Of course, she doesn't do the copywork, but chimes in when there are phrases to repeat, listens to the poems, etc.  

 

I take a light-hearted, conversational approach to it.  It doesn't take long to complete (10 minutes/day?), and with 100 lessons at 2-3 lessons per week, you're done in a year (give or take / year-round or traditional 36-week schedule) without having to do it everyday and without a stressful pace.  

 

For WWE 1, I look at the examples SWB laid out for each week or series of weeks, and then adapt it to whatever chapter read-aloud we're currently doing. It was too fragmented to have my child narrate small passages in WWE from other books, so we use the current read-aloud we're on.  Meaning, I don't want her to narrate The Wizard of Oz, for example, until we're actually reading it.  It's too jumpy for my style to dive into complex books that she's never heard; not impossible--just not enjoyable.  

 

Each day, before we go on to the next read-aloud chapter in any given book, I ask my DD's to narrate the previous chapter.  Obviously, the 2nd grader gives more detail and a more complete narration, but my preschooler chimes in and narrates here as well.  I ask questions for comprehension aimed at both levels.  I figure as long as we're hitting the following several times a week, we're good: (1) narration (of any books--read-alouds, SOTW, science, etc.), (2) copywork either from FLL or WWE, (3) basic grammar, either through FLL, WWE, or other writing projects we're working on.

 

The most time-intensive part was at the beginning of WWE, writing out sentences on lined paper for my child to copy.  I have a by-the-week file system set up for the year, so, when I could, I just looked ahead, wrote out the copywork sentences and filed them away for the upcoming weeks.  I understand this would be a lot for the OP to do, as she is dealing with more children.  I wonder if the copywork could be written out and copied for the 3rd/2nd/Ker to do (the most advanced student could copy 3-4 sentences, while the Ker could copy 1?)  Maybe I'm making this harder...just remembered there is a workbook that goes along with WWE?  (We don't use that.)  

 

Someone above mentioned there's not enough practice involved.  I'm unsure.  It seemed like DD was doing so well with punctuation, capitalization, etc.  Then the last couple of weeks, I've noticed she forgets these when she's writing on her own.  My assumption is that the repetition will need to happen for a few years to take hold (K-3 or 4th)?  Or maybe a different curriculum would drive those things home in a better way?  I don't know if it's a repetition thing or just a developmental thing for her.

 

By the way, our strong point is not memorizing poetry, so all year we've just read the poems and skipped the memorization.  I plan to take a break from FLL/WWE this summer and focus on poetry by itself, a la Bravewriter tea-time-style.  I think it will make it more enjoyable for us, vs. the pressure and hassle of memorizing each week along with FLL.  I plan to have my kids pick out their own favorite poems to memorize vs. the ones listed in FLL (they're good, but not all are favorites.)  My hope is to make it fun with a super-casual "family talent show" once every few weeks to have them recite the poems aloud.  We make these "talent" shows very silly and relaxed.  

 

ETA: Just realized it's not obvious--wanted to add that we do other LA stuff: longer writings/projects, spelling/ phonics, reading assessments...so I'm just using FLL/WWE for grammar and part of our writing.  

Edited by vonbon
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The above description of Abeka is intriguing...will have to check that out because I've sort of longed for something that was all-in-one vs. my eclectic approach that takes more time to prep.

 

And now I'm worrying about the "jot and tittle"!!!   :ohmy: Is that the problem--DD is not going to retain a bit of this FLL?  Hmmm.....   :huh:   

 

(following)

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I haven't read through the whole post but I combined WWE for my dyslexic 2nd grader and my Ker, and am doing separate levels of FLL, and then have a 3rd grader in her own levels of both. All 3 of my kids LOvE these lessons, and my 2nd grader usually hates everything!

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You might be able to combine them in ELTL. I just started using 3 levels of ELTL with my kids. I technically could have combined my younger two, but I didn't want to. So we're doing levels 2, 3, and 5. The read aloud portion is independent because I use Librivox (plus my kids are able to all read their respective books on their own, but the 3rd grader benefits from having the audio as well). Then when it's time to do LA, I grab one kid, go over their material, get them started on copywork and such. Grab the next kid, do the same. Two of them have dictation, so I need to read that after they study it well. And my oldest has some writing that requires me to do some back and forth (like in the literary analysis last week where he tried to get away with one sentence :lol: ).

 

I have a 14 month old, so I was a little concerned about going from independent CLE to mom-intensive ELTL, but it's really been a good change for us. It's only 3 days per week, and it is covering all our LA bases - grammar, writing, literature, spelling, etc. It takes me less time to work with my reluctant 3rd grader in ELTL than it took me previously to encourage him to finish his work in CLE LA, R&S Spelling, and Zaner-Bloser Handwriting (we weren't doing the spelling or handwriting sections of CLE). And now I'm doing the dictation and oral narrations that I had previously been forgetting to do. :p

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That's great! How do you manage reading three different books? I would've have time to read all those to be up on what they're doing. That would pose a problem, wouldn't it? Are the parents supposed to read along so they know how to teach the lesson? Or is it not a problem for the child to be reading independently without the parent doing so?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

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That's great! How do you manage reading three different books? I would've have time to read all those to be up on what they're doing. That would pose a problem, wouldn't it? Are the parents supposed to read along so they know how to teach the lesson? Or is it not a problem for the child to be reading independently without the parent doing so?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

 

My kids can read the books themselves, but I have them use Librivox also (particularly the younger two) to listen to it. They follow along on their Kindle. :) The passages from the book are used for grammar analysis and copywork/dictation. There is usually a model story in the lesson to work on narration and such (where you might need to know what's going on). My 6th grader (level 5) did have literary analysis on a short story he'd read as his "book" in lesson 3, but I was able to walk him through it without having read the story myself. Levels 2 and 3 won't have that, as they're not doing literary analysis yet.

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Ok, that makes sense. I think it sounds too parent intensive for us. I'd feel like I need to be reading everyone's books and that's just too stressful! It sounds great though.

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

 

You don't have to read them yourself, at least not in levels 2 and 3 that I've seen. :)

 

I did the independent stuff and just found that it was actually becoming MORE work for me. Today, I did ELTL with two children (the third is out of town), and I'm done, done, done. No checking work. It was checked while we were doing English together. And since we were discussing the grammar lesson and working through it together, my children learned more and I was able to catch mistakes before they continued. It took less time than it used to take to get my kids to finish their independent work ("Stay focused!" "Keep working!" "Finish up!"). :)

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You don't have to read them yourself, at least not in levels 2 and 3 that I've seen. :)

 

I did the independent stuff and just found that it was actually becoming MORE work for me. Today, I did ELTL with two children (the third is out of town), and I'm done, done, done. No checking work. It was checked while we were doing English together. And since we were discussing the grammar lesson and working through it together, my children learned more and I was able to catch mistakes before they continued. It took less time than it used to take to get my kids to finish their independent work ("Stay focused!" "Keep working!" "Finish up!"). :)

Im finding this true for me too. I spend less time on RLTL then I did getting them to do their workbook.

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I still can't figure out what ELTL is, lol!!

 

I caved for the end of the year and ordered CLE. I just can't deal with WWE and FLL anymore. Maybe we will try Abeka next year, it sounds like it would work for me.

Search Barefoot Meandering

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I still can't figure out what ELTL is, lol!!

 

I caved for the end of the year and ordered CLE. I just can't deal with WWE and FLL anymore. Maybe we will try Abeka next year, it sounds like it would work for me.

Oh this worries me! [emoji33] I'm considering WWE and FLL next year. I keep thinking I'll regret it but it seems so thorough and short lessons. I'm thinking of adding easy grammar into it for some independent work too. What didn't you like about it (FLL and wwe)? I can't decide about ELTL. It is feeling too parent intensive for me for some reason. Reading the books feels too much. Id prefer open and go. But I can't make up my mind. I keep going back and forth...

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