4littlewomen Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (edited) I have been using the Phonics Road for my daughters in K, 2nd and 3rd grades, but I want to consider other options for spelling and writing that are more independent and require less teacher prep. I have 5 children, 9 and under and we are expecting twins in a few months, so I just want to keep things as simple as possible. I prefer secular materials so our charter school can purchase them. I also need to provide paper samples of their work so I don't want an online program. I am thinking of using Analytical Grammar when they are a little older so I don't know that I need to cover grammar right now, but I'm not ruling it out. I have been looking at Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary. I have also looked at CAP's Writing and Rhetoric for my 3rd grader, but I'm guessing that is not very independent. I like the look of Cottage Press's Language Lessons for Children, but of course that is not secular and I would still want to cover spelling separately. I like aspects of Brave Writer but it just isn't planned and prepared enough for me right now. I have also used Logic of English Foundations in the past and might use that for my K student since it is more open and go than PR. My 2nd and 3rd graders are good readers. My daughter in K is reading beginning readers. They struggle a bit with spelling and writing confidence, but they are good at narrating and very creative. They love beautiful language, and enjoy reading and listening to books. I am drawn to Charlotte Mason materials, but also just want to do what is effective and works for us in this stage of life. I am always amazed by the knowledge and ideas offered on this forum so I know you all will have some great ideas I am not considering or some feedback regarding the programs I am. Thank you! Edited January 15, 2017 by 4littlewomen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 There are not any independent CM LA programs, but you could use CM methods in less time (with excellence) than it takes your kids to do independent work. There is Essentials In Writing. It's about as not CM as you can get though. This is not what you asked for, but I am going to recommend the Bonnie Landry booklets. Note, especially, the one about dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 (edited) Not CM, but climbing to good English can be done fairly independently and is secular. Grades 1&2 have spelling in them, but they also make spelling workbooks called practical spelling. Rainbow resource carries the series. My charter school will purchase these. Not secular or independent for young kids (though could be independent for older kids), but quick and easy to use, and CM, is English lessons thru literature. It's three days a week. The spelling by the same people, is quick and easy but very parent intensive. Spelling you see is secular and semi independent, and uses the CM methods of copy work and studied dictation. Edited January 15, 2017 by vaquitita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 +1 CTGE. I used that in grades 1 and 2, and moved to CM proper in 4th. Cottage Press primers bridged them in third. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 That is a LOT of little kids. If I were in your shoes I would scale way back and leverage one lesson to handle as much of language arts as possible. For the K'er I would use Explode the Code. My 5 year old is about half way through book 2, and can work on it mostly independently. It primarily covers phonics, but it also incorporates handwriting practice and very beginning spelling skills. For the 2nd and 3rd graders I would use Writing With Ease 2. You said they are good at narration, so the WWE series uses that strength and gradually transitions them from narrating to independent writing. I love that WWE introduces kids to selections from novels (my kids are often intrigued enough by the teaser that they want to read the whole book), discusses grammar and punctuation as the kids need to use it in their copywork and dictation, can be used as spelling practice (again as part of the copywork and dictation) and gently gets the kids writing "with ease" by first having them narrate to you, and then having them write their own words as you dictate them. The WWE lessons are short and sweet and the workbooks are completely open and go. Wendy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Spelling Workout or All About Spelling are good secular spelling choices. If your kids are advanced in spelling, they can move up a level in SW or use it on level. It's more of a get it done workbook style. All About Spelling is more of a hands on spelling that is very parent intensive if your children need it. Both are good and teach spelling rules, but both are very different. As for writing, SWB has a good writing program as does CAP Writing and Rhetoric. While CAP is a more Christian company and there are proverbs or parables in the writing program, they are alongside other historic works and not overtly Christian in their writing approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 (edited) Do your kids need spelling lessons? I know we see them as a necessary part of language arts instruction in elementary grades, but some kids are natural spellers who pick stuff up just from reading. Both of my older kids are better spellers than me with no instruction ever. My third is dyslexic, she needs different things from the older two. We haven't really attacked spelling yet because we're focusing on reading, but she might be one who would benefit from a well structured program. Make sure you are teaching to the needs of your particular children. Edited January 16, 2017 by maize 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Do your kids need spelling lessons? I know we see them as a necessary part of language arts instruction in elementary grades, but some kids are natural spellers who pick stuff up just from reading. Both of my older kids are better spellers than me with no instruction ever. My third is dyslexic, she needs different things from the older two. We haven't really attacked spelling yet because we're focusing on reading, but she might be one who would benefit from a well structured program. Make sure you are teaching to the needs of your particular children. :iagree: They are still young. You could just teach spelling casually through their other work this year, and reassess if they need more extensive spelling lessons down the road. Wendy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4littlewomen Posted January 16, 2017 Author Share Posted January 16, 2017 Your ideas are so helpful and really have me thinking. I had never heard of the Bonnie Landry booklets but I definitely want to look into the dictation one more. I would like to have a better idea of how to do dictation effectively. In looking into Writing With Ease, I think we do a lot of similar things already with our literature, but it might be nice to have it all ready to go and incremental. I also think my girls would love the excerpts she chooses because many are from books they have listened to or read. I have also looked more at Writing and Rhetoric and really like the look of that for my 3rd grader, but I think I want something I can use to combine the two oldest so I might put that off for now until my two oldest are both ready. I hadn't considered that it might be best to wait and see on spelling, but I like that idea. Right now, it seems like they need it, but I feel like it might click as they keep reading and writing regularly. You are right that they are young and we could definitely hit it more later if needed. Thank you though for the spelling suggestions. I will definitely keep those in mind. I had looked at Climbing to Good English, but wasn't sure if it was secular. It seems thorough but I am not sure if my girls would like it. I am definitely going to look at it more. Thank you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutterfish Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 (edited) ELTL? http://barefootmeandering.com/site/lessons-through-literature/eltl/ Gentle, but, ime, effective. Covers narration, dictation, grammar, picture study, poetry, copywork, etc and should be relatively easy to combine ages. It involves reading whole books, not just excerpts: you can use free audiobooks for the literature, unless you particularly enjoy doing readalouds. Easy to adapt (we substituted our own poetry selections). Apart from a few copywork sections, (which are easy to switch out) it is secular. We're secular homeschoolers and it worked fine for my dd for a few years, before she was ready to move on to something different. There is a yahoo group where you can ask the author questions about the curriculum. I wouldn't say it is independent, but the early levels only took about 20-30 mins a day and the later levels can be more independent with older children Edited January 16, 2017 by stutterfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 . I had looked at Climbing to Good English, but wasn't sure if it was secular. It seems thorough but I am not sure if my girls would like it. I am definitely going to look at it more. Thank you again! TBC, climbing to good english is secular at the ages you have. I haven't used the upper classes, but someone here informed me they aren't completely secular after third or fourth grade. And other people have lamented the font :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Spelling Workout or All About Spelling are good secular spelling choices. If your kids are advanced in spelling, they can move up a level in SW or use it on level. It's more of a get it done workbook style. All About Spelling is more of a hands on spelling that is very parent intensive if your children need it. Both are good and teach spelling rules, but both are very different. <snip> Agree with the above. If you do feel you need spelling, the Spelling Workout workbooks are solid, easy, open-and-go, and largely independent; they're also completely secular, so I assume your co-op would purchase them. I also very much like All About Spelling, but like the previous poster pointed out, as intended it is very time-intensive. However, if, say, you had one child that needed that more intensive, one-on-one instruction, it could be good to have. We ended up tweaking it to work for us because we didn't need such intensive instruction. Basically, we did without the tiles and a lot of the extra-sensory stuff and just used the instruction on rules, etc., and the word lists. In that way, it still wasn't very independent, but it was a lot less time consuming for me and my child (who simply happened to not need or enjoy the other activities). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 Oh, there's also Writing Skills Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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