sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Contemplating different LA options for next year. And, LLATL has popped up again. We used LLATL Blue, Red and Yellow, and I have not been shy about sharing my overall disdain for the program. Just...dated and boring and the books were below the grade level I had my 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders. Plus...many of the parts of LLATL, I felt were done better by various other programs. Essentially, I only needed the Literature piece and it made little sense to purchase LLATL JUST for that. So for a number of years, I chose chapter books...3 or so a year, plus a Christmas-themed story. I either purchased Lit guides that corresponded, or I made my own...often I modified whatever lit guides I purchased AND made my own. We talked about Literary Elements, parts of a story, vocab., etc. All kinds of stuff. But...it was a lot of leg-work for me. And when my younger two began to reach chapter book age, I began to burn out. So this year, I purchased Mosdos. Opal for my 3rd graders and Pearl for my 6th graders. It's...ok. But I just don't love it. Our literature discussions are not as interesting...less inspired. The stories are all short. And...it's expensive! I *could* go back to my own lit studies but I'm just kicking around a few other ideas. Which brings me to LLATL. Many people had said that the later grades were better than the early grades, and I'm wondering if it might be a good fit for my middle schoolers. We would still be using EIW for composition. I'm already teaching my kids research methods on my own. We use Editor-in-Chief to review and practice grammar concepts. Word Roots for word study. We're done with spelling. Basically, I'm primarily looking for a literature program! Something that has solid lit choices with solid study aspects. Something with a variety of literary genres. Something that teaches literary elements as well as good literary analysis. I'd prefer to read an entire novel, not just a selection. We would likely start with LLATL Green next year...but I'm not opposed to going back a level, or even ahead, if necessary. Thoughts? Am I going to hate these levels as much as I hated the first three? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 We only used Tan. I refused to purchase any more after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 We only used Tan. I refused to purchase any more after that. Is Tan before or after Green? What were the reasons you didn't like it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Well.... honestly, I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. If you have grammar, spelling, writing and everything else covered, and you want to use LLATL just for the book studies, I'm not sure if it's worth it. There are only three book studies in the Green book. Out of all the levels, I think the ones in Green are the most elaborate, with discussion questions, writing character sketches, doing research and writing compositions, lit terms, etc. (Most of the other levels only have discussion questions, a bit of vocabulary and optional activities.) Star of Light is a very Christian book, and during the study of Adam and His Kin, there is a lot of discussion and research about creationism, so you need to decide if that works for you or not. The Shakespeare study on Much Ado About Nothing is 3 weeks long and looks pretty well done. Keep in mind I have not done any of these with my kids. We like LLATL but we skip the book studies for the most part, or I just have my kids read the books and enjoy them. But if you have any other questions, I own all the levels from Yellow to Gray so I can look things up for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 Well.... honestly, I'm not sure it's what you're looking for. If you have grammar, spelling, writing and everything else covered, and you want to use LLATL just for the book studies, I'm not sure if it's worth it. There are only three book studies in the Green book. Out of all the levels, I think the ones in Green are the most elaborate, with discussion questions, writing character sketches, doing research and writing compositions, lit terms, etc. (Most of the other levels only have discussion questions, a bit of vocabulary and optional activities.) Star of Light is a very Christian book, and during the study of Adam and His Kin, there is a lot of discussion and research about creationism, so you need to decide if that works for you or not. The Shakespeare study on Much Ado About Nothing is 3 weeks long and looks pretty well done. Keep in mind I have not done any of these with my kids. We like LLATL but we skip the book studies for the most part, or I just have my kids read the books and enjoy them. But if you have any other questions, I own all the levels from Yellow to Gray so I can look things up for you. Do the book studies, aside from the Shakespeare section, cover more than just three weeks each? Because I need lit studies that will cover the entire school term. Sounds like I need to do some more research on other options. I suppose I COULD stay with Mosdos for now. Just...meh though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 You know...I think my biggest problem is that I really don't have an overall vision for my literature approach. I've got grammar, vocab, composition down for at least the next year or two. I've got a plan for history/social studies that will take us through high school. Science isn't quite as pared down, but I've got a general idea of where I want to go with that. But literature? Gah! So many pieces to fit in. Shakespeare, poetry, literature elements, short stories, novels, classics, British lit, etc etc. I need some hand-holding on what needs to be covered and when. What should my graduating high schoolers have under their belts for literature studies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Do the book studies, aside from the Shakespeare section, cover more than just three weeks each? Because I need lit studies that will cover the entire school term. Sounds like I need to do some more research on other options. I suppose I COULD stay with Mosdos for now. Just...meh though. Nope, Star of Light is also 3 weeks, and Adam and His Kin is 4 weeks. Definitely not enough for a whole term. In my opinion, you really don't need to worry so much about covering all the literature types and elements in elementary school. Most high school literature programs include all the things you want: Shakespeare, poetry, terms, writing, etc. So personally, I spend the elementary years and junior high just enjoying literature (some literature terms and poetry are covered in English) and then focus on all the important literature stuff in high school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 4, 2017 Author Share Posted December 4, 2017 I wonder if MBTP might fit for us? Gotta do some digging on that one, lol. It's expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 Is Tan before or after Green? What were the reasons you didn't like it? I'm not sure. Tan was for 6th. It was very choppy, and the book studies were haphazardly thrown in. The format for the "book study" was really a list of questions that didn't have chapter correspondence. The activities on the side were just thrown in, like a map with Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. There were no directions other than to show his routes. Great. Thanks. So we were left with either me reading over the book with a fine tooth comb or him going back and forth through it. Not to mention the book studies weren't actually scheduled. There was daily work.....and then book study? But the daily work had nothing to do with the book study since it pulled random passages from everything else and the book study wasn't broken down into a schedule. We switched to MBTP and liked it a LOT better. But I bought individual units from Rainbow Resource one at a time. Right now, my youngest uses ELTL and that is more cohesive than LLATL. The books are scheduled, they're part of the everyday work, and while there are no projects, there is plenty of dissecting the text. We'll continue as long as the guides are available because the book selections are definite hits here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 What about Progeny Press or Total Language Plus Guides? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpea3829 Posted December 6, 2017 Author Share Posted December 6, 2017 I have used Progeny Press and Total Language Plus. I did not care for TLP, and Progeny Press is kind of hit or miss. My biggest problem with TLP and Progeny Press, though (and really, any other lit guide approach) is lining up the books I'd like to use with the selections available. The BEST lit guide I've come across was from Discovering Literature Series, from Garlic Press. I more or less stumbled across the guide for Hobbit last year and it was fantastic. It had challenging discussion questions, not too many fluff activities, and it primarily focused on LITERATURE. Not grammar. Not composition. Literature. But...they only have 9 or so lit guides in their challenge series. Five titles in their regular series. The Hobbit one was really really good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.