kristin0713 Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 I'm looking at these two programs and wondering what else out there is similar. Literature based, all-inclusive LA with a good mix of copywork, dictation, spelling, grammar instruction/review, and basic writing exercises. I like the format of Good & Beautiful but I really don't love the art and geography. ELTL seems a little less structured or maybe that's just what I'm seeing from the samples. Any other programs I should look at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 What grade(s) are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 We use ELTL 2. I think it's level B now? As suggested, you do three lessons a week, and it's more or less scripted. It doesn't cover all the topics Good & Beautiful does. I like that it has picture study included. And the biggest selling point for me was that the copywork in the workbook alternates between the quote and blank lines, so that the student can copy right underneath the original. I think ELTL does dictation in later levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 What grade(s) are you talking about?My kids are currently in 6th and 4th. We have done soaring with spelling and growing with grammar for a few years, they can diagram pretty well and I have randomly given them copywork and dictation over the years. I think I would place them a little lower than their grade for either of these programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 I personally really love ELTL and I feel it does a really nice job covering basic WWE and FLL together (that's how I think about it) with the joy of reading good classics. The poetry selections are good too! Cottage Press is another you might want to look at. I know others have enjoyed it. I have also never used LLTL but isn't that also an all inclusive LA program? We tried and threw away TG&TB for what it's worth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 What didn't you like about TG&TB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 The Good and Beautiful was a bust here. It was too disjointed and the younger grades don’t have a teachers manual. I tossed it after about 2 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjand6more Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 I love TG&TB LA for Pre K, K, 1. It has been a great fit for my boys. Huge bust for LA grade 4. We kept with it until Christmas. Not enough writing. Spelling was ridiculous. We like novels. She schedules extremely easy readers and short stories. DS hoped he would like the art/geograpy. Turns out, he hated it. We used ELTL 3 and 1. DS in level 1 cried every day. He totally rocks the phonograms, though. DS in level 3 liked it ok but asked to do something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohop Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 ELTL doesn't really have a "spelling" component, other than dictation. So we add spelling. But my oldest is in fourth grade and has been using ELTL since 1st grade, and it works well for us. Simple, easy to implement. My second DD is going to need a little more hand holding to get through the diagramming when she gets to that point (she's first grade). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted March 7, 2018 Author Share Posted March 7, 2018 (edited) Huge bust for LA grade 4. We kept with it until Christmas. Not enough writing. Spelling was ridiculous. We like novels. She schedules extremely easy readers and short stories. Hmm, this is why I wonder if my DS might like it better. He is not my reader and writer and would prefer short, easy stories. What do you mean by ridiculous spelling? Too easy? I'm thinking my DD would do better in ELTL. I looked at LLTL, but the books that go along with that don't fit with my other plans for next year. Cottage Press looks sweet...that might be an option too. Any other suggestions, please share! Edited March 7, 2018 by kristin0713 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 What didn't you like about TG&TB? It was incredibly disjointed. Topics would be introduced willy nilly and never seen again. Alot of jumping around, not enough practice, many errors, and maybe just not enough to my liking. Plus some lessons were so long and other lessons not so much. The phonics content might be good but my DD did Abeka 1 so it was just way below her level. My DD is in 2nd and started grade 2 TGTB in August. By lesson 35 I was soooo done but she liked it. I didn't trust it was enough so I kept all of our other LA curriculum. I gave her the choice to drop and she said she wanted to finish it. She got to lesson 98 and then finally decided she was done. We never even tried the spelling as we have a spelling we love already and it was...not sure how to describe it....somewhat random. It is free so it isn't like you are losing out on anything. The reading selections were like watching paint dry. My DD loves classics and old books in general but even she was left less than thrilled. I will say this is just my one experience and opinion. I could use it with DS and it might be incredible. Every kid is so different. I would say if you are not Christisn run the other way. We are Christian so that wasn't an issue (although she may have been more conservative than we are). None the less, for a non Christian home this curriculum would be torture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
three4me Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 (edited) See, for us we couldn’t stick with ELTL. It felt dull and uninteresting. TGTB has been great. While I don’t love everything about it, it gets done. My attention span apparently isn’t great, so I don’t mind at all that it skips around so much. It also keeps things interesting for my kids. My daughter is almost done with level 4 (she says she loves it) and my son is just finishing level 2. Edited March 8, 2018 by three4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 We looked at both before deciding to go with ELTL this year. TGTB was........not. I downloaded levels 2 and 3 and compared them side by side. Not only did they use the exact same (extremely wrong) geography introduction, but the author's idea of good and beautiful literature was not beautiful or fantastic writing, but moralistic, simplistic works that hammered home what a "good" child should be like. When it got to the page where it declared some of my kid's favorite books as terrible because the characters were not "good" children, I gave it a pass. I'm all for criticizing the same books because the writing style is formulaic and trite, but that was not the problem she had with them. I'm thinking those qualities would have been fine, given what else she has the kids read. We've made ELTL our own, using it as a tool to introduce actual good books. The grammar is woven in nicely, the writing assignments are just the right speed for my 8yo, and while we don't do the spelling, we've enjoyed most everything else associated with the level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAttachedMama Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 I really prefer ELTL too. (Although I am using TGTB with my preschooler, and he loves it!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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