CLE Language Arts

[KrissiK]

Ok, I'm just gonna ask.... does anyone find CLE's Language Arts program a little much. I started DD on their program this year - full first grade program - and with the math and reading have really been successful. But their language Arts, I can barely choke down. My poor dd is so sick of all the exercises on the sounds she can hardly stand it. Has anyone else struggled with this? I bought the full second grade program for her for next year, but am really having second thoughts regarding the LA portion.

 

ETA: I'm thinking about having her start R&S. I have the second grade book, so I won't have to buy another curriculum.

Edited April 12, 2016 by KrissiK

[sunshineslp]

Following. This is my wonder too... Because I've considered it for my 3rd grader but I have heard it can take a long time to do...

 

 

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

[sewingmama]

Yes. but my kids dont seem to mind so we keep using it because it works.

 

I hear the third level gets a lot better so I'm hanging out for that.

 

We also don't start their LA till second grade. No way could my kids have understood it at 5-6. We used an easier language program for 1st grade which is why my kids are a level behind. However as the lessons are short its easy to progress quickly. My kids do 2 lessons a day.

[Guest]

It is easy to skip the phonics portions in 200. Just cross them out. Once you hit 300, there isn't any more phonics.

In 100, it is assumed the child is still learning to read and needs all that phonics practice.

Having used both R&S and CLE for gram/writ/spell, my kids vastly prefer CLE.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited April 13, 2016 by Paradox5

[MotherGoose]

I used it completely for 1st grade La. For my second daughter. First daughter would never ever have been able to do it at 6, but youngest likes workbooks. Starting now, we've switched to spelling work out for my 1-2nd grader, crossing off the spelling in la. Oldest is now doing the 400 level, crossing off the spelling and doing r and s spelling, as well as other writing. We did do r and s spelling in 2 nd with oldest but found it to be just too much. We did do much of it orally, but that got to be to difficult for me, especially when she was in a mood to not cooperate and needed to be sent to her room to stay there till she completed the work.

[Storygirl]

I used CLE 100 for my three youngest, and I did find that it took a long time to get through. We switched to Easy Grammar the next year to lighten the load, with the intention of going back to CLE in level 300, because I knew the focus changed then. We ended up not going back to it (my younger kids are now enrolled in school). I never know if my experience applies to others, because my children have some learning disabilities, but we did find that using CLE made our day very LA heavy. Language arts is actually my area of interest as a teacher, so I think spending a lot of time on it is valuable, and it still seemed like a lot.

 

Just to give you a look ahead, my oldest started CLE LA 500 in fifth grade and completed 600 and 700. (For eighth grade we skipped 800 and decided to do their high school English instead). We have really liked it, but it is rigorous and sometimes tedious. The 600 level is a bear, but 700 and up are a little easier. It's great for grammar but light on writing, spelling, and vocabulary (vocabulary would be covered in their reading program, which is excellent).

 

If you end up dropping it, take a look at 300 and above to see if you want to consider going back to it in later years. DD found it hard to pick up in the 500 level, because it was building on skills taught in lower levels, so I would suggest not waiting until then to start it again.

 

Having used it at both levels, I think if I had another group of children to teach I would do a different grammar program for first and second, do levels 300 through 500, and then consider switching to something else for middle school. DD14 wanted to continue with CLE and likes it, but I would not have used it for middle school for my younger kids.

 

CLE gives a great foundation in those late elementary years. There is more grammar instruction in levels 300 to 500 than most students get over their entire education. I think it would work well to target those ages and levels and then just use something in middle school that reviews grammar to keep the skills fresh.

[FlyingMOm]

It is easy to skip the phonics portions in 200. Just cross them out. Once you hit 300, there isn't any more phonics.

In 100, it is assumed the child is still learning to read and needs all that phonics practice.

Having used both R&S and CLE for gram/writ/spell, my kids vastly prefer CLE.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That is exactly what we have always done- works for us!

[KrissiK]

Thanks for the responses. I'm glad it's not just me. This is our first experience with CLE. My olders did A Beka phonics, FLL for grammar and then started R&S in third grade. This is just waaaay different .

[AnnaM]

I am having my son finish up Learning to Read and then we will go through the LA. It was just too much for him all at once and I figure I can use the LA to reinforce while giving him a chance to branch out beyond the readers that are provided with the program now that he is officially an early fluent reader.

 

[mrsduenes06]

I've done four levels of CLE language arts, grades 1-4, and even though I've looked into some other programs, we are going to continue to do them. The vowel/reading symbol exercises are heaviest in 1st grade and are annoying, but I still have my kids do them (with my help, and even I forget which symbol means what sometimes). It is tedious, but I have found that sometimes the sheer act of doing something tedious trains you to slow down and be patient and learn to distinguish the differences. It also indirectly teaches you how to read dictionary pronunciations down the line, but really, I have them do it for the mental exercise. If you hate it, though, I would just cross that part out. It disappears by 3rd grade and is probably more of reinforcement for reading skills than anything else.

 

I personally loved diagramming in school, and didn't do it until 7th grade. I was both surprised and delighted to see them introduce it in 2nd grade. I think diagramming is a good way to analyze sentence structure. 

 

As for how hard it was or how much time it took, I found that my two sons who have used it so far take maybe 15-20 minutes max to do the whole thing. They never complain that it's too much or too hard, and they are typical boys who love to be into lots of other stuff. Not only that, but they beg to start the next grade the week after they finish the current one because it's become so routine for them.

 

I have found my 4th grade naturally applying things he learned on his own from the CLE LA program to his writing. I started off with First Language Lessons but found it didn't work for us because my son responded better to a workbook teaching him what to do for some reason. I also have peace of mind that the thoroughness of the program covers things like alphabetization, grammar, editing skills, spelling, and handwriting. 

 

So I guess I write all of that to say that no program will be perfect, but for the most part, CLE has been worth it for us.

[CAtoVA]

I use CLE Grade 2 mostly for the phonics/spelling rules sections. Yes, the phonetic spellings are a pain but there aren't that many in there. The grammar is review for what we have already finished with BJU English (grade 2). I also am glad my DD will start diagramming sentences at this level. I don't use the writing sections at all. I find that when DD actually sits down and concentrates she can finish two lessons in about 20 minutes. Of course, that is not two entire lessons because I skip some things but this about 85% of two lessons. I think it goes pretty fast and provides the spiral reinforcement that helps her keep "sharp."

 

Until I started using the CLE for phonics/spelling a lot of what DD was learning about "rules" was just going in one ear and out the other. The other program I am looking at and might use next year, because it's similar with it's phonics/spelling approach, is Rod & Staff Spelling. I do like the extra grammar reinforcement with the CLE though.

[boscopup]

CLE overuses the schwa in my opinion, but I just skipped phonics sections that were overkill. My 3rd son did LA 100 and 200 in K and 1st grade and didn't have any problem with the amount of work. He likes workbooks though. :) My 2nd son did LA 200 and 300. I crossed out any phonics sections in 200 because he was doing R&S Phonics and Reading 2 at the time. They teach a bit differently. He found the lessons a bit long in 300. He could do them, but he was asking if we could switch to something else when he finished that level. Funny thing was that I'd recognized that it was getting a bit much busywork for him (he didn't have any problem with the actual grammar), and I was wanting something less independent for him, so last week we switched everyone to English Lessons Through Literature, and that seems to be a better fit. My 1st grader is loving it so much that he's asked to do more lessons than required in a week. ;) My 3rd grader isn't crazy about the copywork amount, but he likes everything else, and the copywork is good for him and thus not "busywork". :)

 

I don't have a problem with diagramming starting in grade 2. The diagramming in CLE was so simple and they provide the lines and everything. Neither of my children that did that level had any issues whatsoever with it. It's not like they have them diagramming complex, lengthy sentences.

[sunshineslp]

CLE overuses the schwa in my opinion, but I just skipped phonics sections that were overkill. My 3rd son did LA 100 and 200 in K and 1st grade and didn't have any problem with the amount of work. He likes workbooks though. :) My 2nd son did LA 200 and 300. I crossed out any phonics sections in 200 because he was doing R&S Phonics and Reading 2 at the time. They teach a bit differently. He found the lessons a bit long in 300. He could do them, but he was asking if we could switch to something else when he finished that level. Funny thing was that I'd recognized that it was getting a bit much busywork for him (he didn't have any problem with the actual grammar), and I was wanting something less independent for him, so last week we switched everyone to English Lessons Through Literature, and that seems to be a better fit. My 1st grader is loving it so much that he's asked to do more lessons than required in a week. ;) My 3rd grader isn't crazy about the copywork amount, but he likes everything else, and the copywork is good for him and thus not "busywork". :)

 

I don't have a problem with diagramming starting in grade 2. The diagramming in CLE was so simple and they provide the lines and everything. Neither of my children that did that level had any issues whatsoever with it. It's not like they have them diagramming complex, lengthy sentences.

Curious, how are you finding ELTL to be, is it mostly teacher dependent or is it 50/50 teacher/student regarding some independence?

[Garga]

I think Rod and Staff and CLE are pretty much the same. I prefer CLE for the workbook vs having to write things out on separate paper for Rod & Staff.

 

My oldest son will be in high school next year and we won't be doing any grammar, other than an occasional review.

 

For my youngest, who will be entering 6th grade, I've decided to take 2 years for the next CLE book. Once they've finished the 5th grade book, there's reallly not a lot of new material left to learn. There are some finer points to grammar, (like that wonky diagramming of a gerund on that little stick man stand) but it's not absolutely necessary.

 

For 6th and 7th grade, my son will do the 6th grade book. And for 8th grade, we'll either do something entirely different from CLE just to maintain what he knows, or we'll do portions of the 8th grade book, skipping a few things (like that goofy gerund diagramming.)

 

(I'm only responding to the grammar portion. We only use grammar and math for the most part. My oldest son is using their reading this year for 8th grade, just to have a way to cover figurative language.)

Edited April 18, 2016 by Garga

[boscopup]

Curious, how are you finding ELTL to be, is it mostly teacher dependent or is it 50/50 teacher/student regarding some independence?

 

I'd say 50/50. They read the book on their own and/or listen to it on Librivox. We go over the lesson. My 1st grader is doing level 2, and he gets to work on the copywork on his own in his beautiful cursive (don't know where that came from, because it certainly wasn't me!). My 3rd grader doing level 3 needs me for the whole lesson. My 6th grader doing level 5 can do the commonplace book on his own, the writing on his own (and then bring to me to discuss and make changes), and the grammar markup on his own - though I sit there while he does it, as it only takes a couple minutes. I can play with the toddler while my 6th grader does some of his work.

 

It's definitely a sit down and work with them moment, but that is surprisingly working better for me, because CLE wasn't getting checked as regularly as I needed, and it was too easy for the kid to not understand something and keep going. Now I get LA done and I know it's DONE. I don't have to go back and check work and then call the kid back to go over errors. It's all corrected as we go, and I'm able to teach it while the toddler is awake and getting in to things. :)