How do you get all of Language Arts done in Middle School?

[NewIma]

So I am trying to figure out LA for 6th grade and it seems overwhelming. Currently we are using CLE and Apples & Pears for LA which has been manageable. Now looking ahead to next year I realize we need to continue with Apples & Pears, a grammar program, and start a writing program and a literature program. That seems totally overwhelming! 

 

I am currently thinking:

 

CLE LA-slowing down to 2 pages a day for grammar

Apples and Pears 4

Lightening Lit 7

Wordsmith Apprentice

 

Is that doable?!?! Is there a way to make this less overwhelming since there is still math, science, history, and geography to do to! lol 

[countrymum]

It does seem like alot. What if you alternate some of them. Like do CLE all year skipping parts that he/she already knows. Do apples and pears all year. Then do 1/2 year of writing and 1/2 year lightning lit? Or alternate months with these. You could have her do oral narrations on the off writing time and do reading out of books you want her to read on the off lit time?

[RootAnn]

CLE LA-slowing down to 2 pages a day for grammar

Apples and Pears 4

Lightening Lit 7

Wordsmith Apprentice

 

This is child-dependent in my house. One was done with spelling by then. We alternate grammar lighter writing or heavy writing with integrated (not separate) grammar depending on the year. By 7th, we have a heavier writing load. We don't use a vocab program or an all-in-one LA.

 

I think the idea of CLE LA is that you shouldn't have to use it and a bunch of other separate programs. We use less full programs than you have on your list. We don't use a separate Lit program, either. We just read and discuss.

 

So, for 7th, we might do Growing with Grammar (or G.U.M. or nothing separate), read 6-12 books for literature (plus 10-20 for history), and a full writing program.

 

Number of books is dependant on how good of a reader I have. If the kid still needs spelling, the writing program is scheduled for less time per week to make room for spelling.

[HomeAgain]

We integrated skills. Writing and history were done as one, OR, literature and writing were done as one.  By making it part of history class, he developed outlines, research skills, formatting.  With literature he learned more about creative writing and literary elements.  WWS does well for working with history if you decide to go that route.

[Serenade]

My son rotates between Rod & Staff Grammar, Lightning Lit, Writing with Skill and Sonlight literature from Core 100.  He is actually in 9th grade, not middle school, but we've tended to use multiple things in the past, too. Grammar usually happens 2 or 3 times a week, Sonlight literature daily, and then we usually switch off in chunks (several weeks at a time) between Lightning Lit and Writing with Skill. 

[KeriJ]

My son rotates between Rod & Staff Grammar, Lightning Lit, Writing with Skill and Sonlight literature from Core 100. He is actually in 9th grade, not middle school, but we've tended to use multiple things in the past, too. Grammar usually happens 2 or 3 times a week, Sonlight literature daily, and then we usually switch off in chunks (several weeks at a time) between Lightning Lit and Writing with Skill.

To clarify (because we are doing something similar for 9th) are you doing WWS daily when you do it, at the same time as R&S? And are you doing any type of output for the Sonlight reading?

Also, are you doing the writing assignments in R&S? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just having some difficulty balancing our similar resources this year.

Edited December 29, 2017 by KeriJ

[2_girls_mommy]

My odd did for middle school: R&S English, R&S Spelling, WWS, writing across the curriculum ala WTM, and Latin. Latin is daily here.

 

We never felt the need to finish anything in a year. We did about 3 days avg a week of R&S English. We sometimes took full weeks off from spelling or even worked a chapter or two weeks. We probably never finished a spelling book. We skipped R&S English 7 altogether. When she finished 8th grade she had worked through R&S 6 (or the majority of it,) and through some of R&S Spelling 8.  Yes, in middle school we did all writing assignments in R&S. I was adamant about that. We also worked writing across the curric, so for most of the years, we didn't work through WWS. We would pick it up and work it for a month when we didn't have a lot of other stuff going on. Then most of the year we didn't touch it, writing instead for co-op classes, with R&S, and for history. Then as the year died down, we would work 2 months through WWS again. We eventually got through most of it, putting it as a higher priority in 9th grade.

 

ETA.... We also probably never finished a full volume of R&S english or spelling. The last  chapters were always "extra" to me. We rarely did them. And with spelling, I just wanted her working and learning. I didn't find it necessary to make sure we finished the whole book most years.

 

So for high school in 9th she did R&S English 8, R&S Spelling 8- I had her do this daily in 9th grade and finished it by Christmas to be done once and for all. The spelling/vocab was too good not to finish. And I had her work more regularly through WWS and we stopped doing the writing assignments in R&S   in 10th grade when she moved into R&S English 9/10

 

My current 8th grader is working through R&S English 6, another spelling program (a mixture of several. She is dyslexic, so spelling is her nemesis!) Latin (Third Form,) and we haven't even started WWS with her. I have her do all writing in R&S. I have decided we will just do WWS straight through for her in 9th. 

 

So for her 9th she will do R&S English 7 or 8. I will look through and decide at end of year, R&S spelling (again, not sure which level. Maybe 6 or 7. Good stuff there. Want her to get some of it,) Fourth Form Latin, and WWS. That with math, science, and history will be her whole curric next year. English will not be daily. And neither will spelling. We will do weeks on and off for the spelling, using it more as a guide to focus on the rules given and the history of English language/reading comprehension than as daily exercises. It doesn't work for her for how to spell. 

Edited December 29, 2017 by 2_girls_mommy

[Ellie]

So I am trying to figure out LA for 6th grade and it seems overwhelming. Currently we are using CLE and Apples & Pears for LA which has been manageable. Now looking ahead to next year I realize we need to continue with Apples & Pears, a grammar program, and start a writing program and a literature program. That seems totally overwhelming! 

 

I am currently thinking:

 

CLE LA-slowing down to 2 pages a day for grammar

Apples and Pears 4

Lightening Lit 7

Wordsmith Apprentice

 

Is that doable?!?! Is there a way to make this less overwhelming since there is still math, science, history, and geography to do to! lol 

 

If you do Lightning Lit, you wouldn't need Wordsmith Apprentice. You might not need grammar, but if you think it's necessary, you could consider one year of Easy Grammar, and then you wouldn't have to do grammar again. And frankly, you might not need Apples and Pears, either.

 

[Laura Corin]

We just used Galore Park plus LL7 at that stage. It was fine. We did LL7 over two years.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Laura Corin

[Lori D.]

One possibility is to not do every subject every day. For example:

 

5x/week

- Math

- Literature/Reading

- Writing

- Spelling

 

3x/week

- Grammar

 

2x/week

- alternate: Science (Mon/Wed) and History (Tues/Thurs)

- Geography

 

1x/week

- Fine Arts appreciation

- Logic

- miscellaneous

- "catch up" time period to finish off any Science, History, Geography, or Grammar

 

Also, try setting a timer for each subject you are doing for the day (say, 45 minutes for Math, 20 minutes for Grammar, etc.), and when the timer goes off, stop where you are and "loop" the rest of the lesson to the next day. You just pick up where you left off, finish the lesson, start into a new lesson, timer goes off and you stop. Etc.

 

And if going with a "loop" type of schedule, perhaps have a longer school year -- 40 weeks, instead of 36 weeks -- which allows you to keep each school day shorter or "tamed" (lol).

 

Another option is to drop one subject each day of the week and rotate through doing one less subject. For example, you've listed 8 main subjects in your schedule: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, Geography. So it would take 8 days to rotate through doing one less subject per day. Example:

 

week 1:

Monday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History (drop Geography)

Tuesday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, (drop History), Geography

Wednesday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, (drop Science), History, Geography

Thursday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, (drop Math), Science, History, Geography

Friday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, (drop Spelling), Math, Science, History, Geography

 

week 2:

Monday: Reading, Writing, (drop Grammar), Spelling, Math, Science, History, Geography

Tuesday: Reading, (drop Writing), Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, Geography

Wednesday: (drop Reading), Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, Geography

Thursday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, History, (drop Geography)

Friday: Reading, Writing, Grammar, Spelling, Math, Science, (drop History), Geography

 

etc.

 

Other ideas:

- Where possible, combine students to do the same History, Science, etc. all together

- Perhaps do the reading of your Literature in the evenings.

- Sometimes, do work orally rather than taking so much time to write it out.

- Practice spelling out loud.**

- Trim out any "busy work".

- Only do a selected amount of circled problems if the student is getting the concept.

-  When doing your planning, "star" some books or activities in advance as ones that you could drop if you are falling behind schedule.

 

** If you have a struggling speller, often the problem is that they are very visual/random processors ("order" does not matter), and they are weak in sequential/auditory processing. Spelling out loud actually helps strengthen that weak area.

 

 

BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

Edited December 29, 2017 by Lori D.

[Momto6inIN]

In middle school we do grammar for 10ish weeks with Analytical Grammar and then spent the rest of the year on writing with IEW. Then they also do 45 minutes of reading from a book list each day and write a paragraph or two summary/evaluation at the end of each book. All of that is done 4 days/week. The 5th day is 1 lesson of Vocab from Classical Roots.

 

They are mostly done with spelling after 6th grade.

 

Sent from my Z988 using Tapatalk

[MerryAtHope]

I aimed for about 90 minutes per day on LA topics. I find that when you are pulling from multiple resources, it helps to set some kind of guideline to keep LA from taking over your day! Your priorities may vary depending on your kids' needs. Here, for junior high, it looked like this:

 

• 30-45 minutes reading
• 15-20 minutes spelling
• 30 minutes for writing or grammar

 

Most years I alternated and did either writing or grammar--not both. Some years I did units of each, so part of the year had a writing focus, and part had a grammar focus. (We used various things for writing and grammar, but my favorites were Essentials in Writing and Easy Grammar.)

 

We discussed literature about twice a week, usually informally. If I had my kids write about what they read, I did that in place of a regular writing or grammar assignment. If I had them do a literature guide, I did that in place of a regular writing or grammar assignment. (We used mostly Sonlight for literature, but I didn't use their guides. Sometimes I downloaded free guides from online from places like Glencoe--and then I would pick and choose what to discuss or have them write about.)

 

My kids needed spelling into high school, so I did place a priority on that (we used All About Spelling). Some students might be fine working on spelling in their writing. That would have been overwhelming and not as productive here though.

 

We did not do a formal vocabulary program. I read aloud to my kids throughout high school, so we discussed vocabulary, colloquialisms and the like through that, their readers, and every day discussions. In the context of their spelling program, we also talked about unfamiliar words and looked them up in the dictionary at times. We also covered some Greek and Latin roots through that. 

 

HTH some as you do your planning!

[NewIma]

Wow!!! These ideas are amazing!!! I love this board!!!!!  

Edited December 30, 2017 by NewIma

[NewIma]

I think alternating subjects of different days might be tricky for us, but doing a year of grammar and then a year of writing might work really well. I am always overambitious and want to make sure I am being realistic. It is also hard for me to figure out how much grammar a student actually needs.  

[Serenade]

To clarify (because we are doing something similar for 9th) are you doing WWS daily when you do it, at the same time as R&S? And are you doing any type of output for the Sonlight reading?

Also, are you doing the writing assignments in R&S? Sorry for all the questions. I'm just having some difficulty balancing our similar resources this year.

We do WWS and Lightning Lit in chunks -- maybe 4 to 6 weeks of each at a time, usually not overlapping.{Although a certain child didn't do the Lightning Lit Tom Sawyer section over the holidays, so we may double up some in January.)   Whichever one we're doing, we'll usually do 4 times a week.  Rod and Staff we'll do at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times.  We do most of the writing assignments in Rod & Staff, but not all. The Sonlight is usually just reading, with some discussion.  I figure there is enough writing between Writing with Skill and Growing with Grammar.   I do occasionally have my son write a report or narration on a book he reads for Sonlight.   In general, on most days we do 2 English things, unless there is a longer Writing with Skill or Lightning Lit assignment.  On our busy day, Tuesday, we might only do one, or none, depending.  Oh, I generally divide a Rod and Staff book over two years.  We also still do spelling, even in 9th grade.  My son is using the list of spelling words from Sonlight Core 100.  I also still read aloud, not every day, but most days.  This allows for some lit discussion in depth, and gives me a chance to point out some of the things we are learning about in Writing with Skill and Lightning Lit. 

ETA:  My son also does Wordly Wise.  This sounds like we do a lot, but I don't think he spends more than an hour a day, except for the reading. 

Edited December 30, 2017 by Serenade

[KeriJ]

We do WWS and Lightning Lit in chunks -- maybe 4 to 6 weeks of each at a time, usually not overlapping.{Although a certain child didn't do the Lightning Lit Tom Sawyer section over the holidays, so we may double up some in January.) Whichever one we're doing, we'll usually do 4 times a week. Rod and Staff we'll do at least twice a week, sometimes 3 times. We do most of the writing assignments in Rod & Staff, but not all. The Sonlight is usually just reading, with some discussion. I figure there is enough writing between Writing with Skill and Growing with Grammar. I do occasionally have my son write a report or narration on a book he reads for Sonlight. In general, on most days we do 2 English things, unless there is a longer Writing with Skill or Lightning Lit assignment. On our busy day, Tuesday, we might only do one, or none, depending. Oh, I generally divide a Rod and Staff book over two years. We also still do spelling, even in 9th grade. My son is using the list of spelling words from Sonlight Core 100. I also still read aloud, not every day, but most days. This allows for some lit discussion in depth, and gives me a chance to point out some of the things we are learning about in Writing with Skill and Lightning Lit.

ETA: My son also does Wordly Wise. This sounds like we do a lot, but I don't think he spends more than an hour a day, except for the reading.

Thank you. This is so close to what we do. Hearing it from someone else helps me fine tune my plans for this semester.

[ScoutTN]

I only have one logic stage student so far, but here is how it works for us:

 

No spelling - she doesn't need it.

No formal vocabulary program. We discuss words, she reads widely, and takes Latin.

 

Grammar- Rod and Staff (only the straight up grammar lessons). 20 minutes 4x a week.

 

Literature - She reads and we discuss. I have used Figuratively Speaking to teach literary devices. Lit reading (and lit that goes with history) is for her to schedule. Not during our prime school time.

 

Writing. This is where we spend our time because it pulls everything together. Finishing WWS1 this semester. Next up: The Lively Art of Writing. 30-60 minutes 4x a week.

 

This student loves to read and discuss literature. She writes well, but struggles mightily with organizational skills. Writing about literature is fun for her. Essays will stretch her, but not frustrate her. Research papers she will detest (unless the topic is of particular interest) abd will be very challenging.

Edited December 31, 2017 by ScoutTN

[Ellie]

I think alternating subjects of different days might be tricky for us, but doing a year of grammar and then a year of writing might work really well. I am always overambitious and want to make sure I am being realistic. It is also hard for me to figure out how much grammar a student actually needs.  

 

There are only eight parts of speech and some thingummies like gerunds. How many years do you think your child needs to study those? :-)