blue daisy Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 We are currently using English Lessons Through Literature, which I really, really like. We aren't using anything specifically for writing in addition to ELTL. Next year, we have an opportunity to do a Brave Writer co-op for my older 2 kids and I think it's a great opportunity. (They will be 7th and 4th grade). BW looks awesome, but definitely different than ELTL, in particular with grammar instruction. Would it be overkill to continue ELTL at home? If I skip ELTL, should I supplement with a different grammar program or any other language arts? What I really like about ELTL is the detailed grammar instruction, including diagramming, which is not a part of BW. If I supplement BW with a different program, do you have suggestions? This is only our first year homeschooling so I don't have extensive experience with the different programs out there. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Well, I'd say that everyone who does Brave Writer does it differently. It's not a laid out curriculum that says do this in this year. I have no idea what a Brave Writer coop class would look like thought it sounds like it might be fun. BW (especially in the younger years) is more a philosophy of how to teach writing naturally. I've done grammar teaching through copywork and discussing grammar in passages and in writing. My kids have not done formal grammar or diagramming. They have excellent scores on standardized tests like ACT and they use grammar correctly in writing. BW has all sorts of helps - anything from the Writer's Jungle in which you can learn generalities and apply them to your school, pdf lesson plans for younger years; online classes - this is what many use when they say they love BW; Arrow and Boomerang pdfs for literature. At my home BW looks like using a number of BW ideas at all ages. My little does more discussion based learning right now. My middle schooler has done some online classes (mostly fiction writing) as well as uses some projects from Faltering Ownership. My older kids use BW online classes and the foundation for their writing teaching. We do other writing, but we LOVE BW online classes to teach them first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I guess your real question is do I supplement -YES. I have added in Center for Literature for literature discussion (no writing). I do a lot of literature reading outside of BW. My older kids read famous essays and I assign writing outside of what we do for BW classes. If they are having issues with something particular in grammar, I find a way to teach it. I do not use a formal other language arts program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmingMomma Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 If you like ELTL, I'd keep doing it and add in the Bravewriter co-op. Part of the Bravewriter philosophy is that kids only need grammar once in elementary, one in middle school, and once in high school. My kids would not retain the grammar if we followed that path. We do R&S English and add in bits of Bravewriter. I'm planning to have my oldest take some Bravewriter online classes next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 1, 2017 Share Posted February 1, 2017 Agreed that everyone does BW differently. We do supplement, though it's funny because I rarely would put it that way in my head. It's more like... sometimes we find other resources and use them as well as *part* of our BW routine, because BW is more of an approach you have than a specific curriculum. It's a little hard to explain. I think what you supplement with or if you do totally depends on what your goals are and what your kids needs are. If ELTL is working, I'd start by adding in some of the BW projects from Jot It Down, Partnership Writing or Faltering Ownership (depending on the right level) and go from there. If the BW stuff is working, maybe add in some more. Maybe transition away from some of the ELTL work. Or find a way to make them work well together. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 1, 2017 Author Share Posted February 1, 2017 THanks for the input! From what I understand about the co-op, they will be meeting once a week for 2-3 hours, doing the writing projects, poetry tea, and some parts of the Arrows/Pouch of Boomerangs lessons there. WE'll do the weekly dictation at home, plus incorporate anything else we want from the BW lifestyle at home. (We've done poetry tea a few times this year, the kids love it. I need to add it in more. Things like that). I want to keep up the grammar and sentence diagramming from ELTL but I'm not sure I need everything else. So maybe I'll just look for a specific grammar program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raifta Posted February 2, 2017 Share Posted February 2, 2017 We do the BW projects from Jot It Down/Partnership Writing/Faltering Ownership (approx 3-4 weeks each project) and poetry tea/Friday freewrites. DD also worked through MCT's grammar/vocab/writing program and CAP W & R simultaneously and is still working on those (Town level grammar and W & R 4) and she also completed TC during this time. It might seem like overkill but she loves to write and read and learn about language so it worked well for us. DS has been working on TC as well as BW and just started MCT a few weeks ago. I like the variation in things that they get to experience and think about when we use multiple programs and (I think) they do too. Or maybe we're just suckers for punishment since we often use multiple programs for everything (math, history, science). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue daisy Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 We do the BW projects from Jot It Down/Partnership Writing/Faltering Ownership (approx 3-4 weeks each project) and poetry tea/Friday freewrites. DD also worked through MCT's grammar/vocab/writing program and CAP W & R simultaneously and is still working on those (Town level grammar and W & R 4) and she also completed TC during this time. It might seem like overkill but she loves to write and read and learn about language so it worked well for us. DS has been working on TC as well as BW and just started MCT a few weeks ago. I like the variation in things that they get to experience and think about when we use multiple programs and (I think) they do too. Or maybe we're just suckers for punishment since we often use multiple programs for everything (math, history, science). I think I am mainly looking to add grammar instruction to BW, and I was checking out Analytical Grammar and MCT last night. I really like the look of MCT so I'm leaning toward that. I have to check out TC again, it's been a while since I've looked at it. I love using various programs too. I just like seeing things from different angles. :) Thanks for sharing what works for you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 We are currently using English Lessons Through Literature, which I really, really like. We aren't using anything specifically for writing in addition to ELTL. Next year, we have an opportunity to do a Brave Writer co-op for my older 2 kids and I think it's a great opportunity. (They will be 7th and 4th grade). BW looks awesome, but definitely different than ELTL, in particular with grammar instruction. Would it be overkill to continue ELTL at home? If I skip ELTL, should I supplement with a different grammar program or any other language arts? What I really like about ELTL is the detailed grammar instruction, including diagramming, which is not a part of BW. If I supplement BW with a different program, do you have suggestions? This is only our first year homeschooling so I don't have extensive experience with the different programs out there. Thanks! "Language arts" includes beginning phonics instruction, grammar, composition, reading/literature, spelling/vocabulary, and penmanship. Some children will learn enough of the mechanics of writing with something like Brave Writer; although I don't believe that native speakers of English need to study their own grammar every year for 10 or 12 years, I think a couple of good years of study is useful. I also don't love diagramming, so for me, the answer is Easy Grammar. If you think it would be good to have more grammar, then yes, you would want to add something for that. I'm thinking that ELTL might be overkill. Like Farrar, I don't think of it as "supplementing." :-) Presumably you are also doing things for the other components of "language arts." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 In BW, the idea for grammar is that you learn from developing your voice, from writing, from reading, and especially from studied dictation, which you're planning to do. It's all super whole to parts though (everything in BW is). Julie says that it's a good idea to do a "grammar year" occasionally. She likes Winston Grammar (which I know Ellie hates!). But you could obviously pick anything - there are so many grammar programs. If you've done a lot of grammar in the past, you might just take a year off grammar and see how it goes. You'll be getting some in with BW and the ELTL stuff. You can always pick it back up. But... that may or may not fit your desires. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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