Language Arts for 1st and 2nd

[Elizabeth86]

What subjects for language arts do you feel need to be covered in these grades?

[Kiara.I]

I think it depends on the child.  If the child is already reading fluently then I skip "reading."  I just keep the voracious readers fed with books.

I start spelling in grade 2. (Or at least I have with the first two, who knows, the third might be different.

 

We do handwriting practice or copywork, depending on where they are.  And oral narration.  Hmmm...I think that's all we do...

[HomeAgain]

Yep, it depends on skill. For us the list is like this:

Literature

Copywork/handwriting -> dictation/copywork

Phonics -> spelling

Poetry memorization

Reading

Oral narration

 

I don't teach free writing until 3rd, including written narration and how to write a paragraph.

[Ellie]

Well, I don't do "language arts." Or "grades." :D 

 

Little persons need to learn how to read and write, so that would be phonics and penmanship as necessary for their ages, beginning when they're 5ish or 6ish until they are reading well. Then we add composition as we go along, and try to read more things. If I were homeschooling little ones again, we would probably do lots of copywork, because that makes so much sense to me. Spalding is my method of choice, because it includes everything in one fell swoop: children learn to read by learning to spell; penmanship; capitalization and punctuation; simple writing.

 

My favorite formal writing materials (Writing Strands and Understanding Writing) don't focus on writing paragraphs; they focus on writing, with paragraphs a way of putting sentences into groups that make sense, so that people can actually read them. I use Understanding Writing mainly as a resource, because I couldn't figure out how to make it work for me. :-) Writing Strands would be my preferred formal instruction, when the dc are 9ish and reading and writing well.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited May 17, 2022 by SilverMoon

[mohop]

My 1st grader is a fairly advanced reader but barely writes, so one of our goals this year is to improve writing fluency.  We are doing ELTL vol. 1, which focuses on literature, copy work, very basic grammar (like capitalization and punctuation), and oral narration.  We are adding to that separate spelling and handwriting programs.   

[Guest]

Yep, it depends on skill. For us the list is like this:

 

Literature

Copywork/handwriting -> dictation/copywork

Phonics -> spelling

Poetry memorization

Reading

Oral narration

 

I don't teach free writing until 3rd, including written narration and how to write a paragraph.

 

Same.

 

I have one child that will not narrate. So there's that, too lol.

 

The most basic of basic grammar and punctuation, too in first grade. As in what a sentence is, what punctuation is. Second grade slightly more involved.... like what commas do (we use spoken models, so commas are slight pauses in speech. Poetry memorization helps TREMENDOUSLY with this) and most sentences have more than one part.