bfw0729 Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 I am struggling to pick a reading/literature program for a 5th and two 6th graders. We read a lot, but I am wanting to dig a little deeper into the analysis of reading without killing the love of reading. I have looked at Mosdos Press, Moving Beyond the Page, CLE, R&S, Discovery literature guides, Progeny, and a couple of others. I really am not aiming to complete a full curriculum, but more or less working to analyze two or three books in a school year or several lessons. I GUESS I mostly have eliminated the list, with the exception of Teaching the Classics, BJU, and Lightning Literature. I haven't fully researched or dissected these three curricula, which is how they have remained. Please, any thoughts on any of these???? Also, does Lightning Lit have materials for 5th and 6th grade? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 It depends how much freedom or how much hand holding you like. From your list my favorite is Teaching the Classics hands down. BJU is more like the Christian equivalent of Mosdos but Mosdos is WAY better. In fact, it is my number 2 pick followed by MBtP. TTC allows you to learn the basics of breaking down literature components and teaching them while learning how to apply the Socratic discussion to any book. It is the most flexible and can be used through 12th. It is the most bang for your buck and most flexible. If you want a bit more hand holding Mosdos is fantastic because while you are using their stories, they teach the elements of lit in a really deep and meaningful way. It is a beautiful curriculum. Progeny, Veritas Press, and Memoria press lit guides can provide structure for diving deeper into books and are a good choice if you are aiming more for hitting comprehension, comparison, and key elements of a book. They aren't as great at teaching literary components like plot, characterization, setting and so forth. MBTP is similar to a lit guide but they have richer and more thought provoking questions and writing assignments. So I guess it boils down to what you are looking for. If it is choosing your own 3 or 4 books go with TTC and maybe a lit guide if you can find one for your book. You could even go with Drawn into the Heart of Reading as it too is more flexible https://www.heartofdakota.com/drawn-into.php I am not familiar with CLE or lightening lit so maybe someone else can hop in on those All though it does look like they have curriculum for older grades https://www.hewitthomeschooling.com/Materials/mLightningLit.aspx ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blendergal Posted June 9, 2018 Share Posted June 9, 2018 Lightning Lit was rolling out lower grade levels, and I don’t think 5th and 6th grade exist yet. Also, it’s a pretty complete language arts program. Could you just choose individual literature guides for a couple of grade-level books that interest you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfw0729 Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 I really appreciate the information nixpix...From what I've read, Teaching the Classics seems to be the best fit. I don't mind working with a BJU-type curriculum, but I want to make sure we are getting into the dissection of the reading material such as theme, author's pov, tone, etc... I even wouldn't mind a few literature guides as blendergal had suggested. I even like the idea of doing a lap book study, which would include the elements, but man, these types of guides are hard to find. I definitely am not looking for a guide that mainly targets comprehension and vocabulary development. Nixpix- interesting about what you stated about Mosdos. Based on what I've read, people didn't seem to favor Mosdos. I should take a look again. I also have talked to the company a few times. Hmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfw0729 Posted June 10, 2018 Author Share Posted June 10, 2018 How does Drawn Into the Heart of Reading work? What's included? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blendergal Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 We had good experience with one of the Rigorous Reading lit guides this year. They’re worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 14 hours ago, bfw0729 said: Nixpix- interesting about what you stated about Mosdos. Based on what I've read, people didn't seem to favor Mosdos. I should take a look again. I also have talked to the company a few times. Hmmmmm That's really interesting. Although, it probably just depends on what someone is looking for and the student. Mosdos feels schooly because it is a textbook with a plethora of short stories from various genres. What I like about it is each unit focuses on some element of literature and teaches it. The end of unit focus questions and comp questions are thought provoking and stretch the student. I like it for the right kid. My DD loves it. We don't do the workbook as the textbook feels like plenty. The teaching guide can feel like overkill. It is super thorough. I just pick and choose from it. My son is more of a TTC type of kid and I do prefer to teach all of those elements more freely with a curriculum like TTC. I have one son who prefers a more lit guide approach and I use them some but I never find they do a very good job with teaching the elements of literature. They do help the student focus on what is critical about the book though, which is helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caia Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 We love BJU Press. Youngest son just completed 5th grade reading this year, and he is looking forward to 6th grade curriculum. There is a lot of reading comprehension/analyzing of the stories in the textbook, but they are not whole books. At the bottom of every worktext page, it list what skills are being worked on for that lesson. If you’d like to know what some of them are, let me know and I can list some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfw0729 Posted June 12, 2018 Author Share Posted June 12, 2018 On 6/10/2018 at 10:17 PM, Caia said: We love BJU Press. Youngest son just completed 5th grade reading this year, and he is looking forward to 6th grade curriculum. There is a lot of reading comprehension/analyzing of the stories in the textbook, but they are not whole books. At the bottom of every worktext page, it list what skills are being worked on for that lesson. If you’d like to know what some of them are, let me know and I can list some. So, I purchased a really cheap ($9) BJU student text. I like the different genres of work. I'm looking to find a cheap student text too. Some of the stories are pretty long. How do you break up the work in a given week? How many days a week do you work on it and about how long for each day? I aim to put aside three days a week for about 45 min each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caia Posted June 12, 2018 Share Posted June 12, 2018 43 minutes ago, bfw0729 said: So, I purchased a really cheap ($9) BJU student text. I like the different genres of work. I'm looking to find a cheap student text too. Some of the stories are pretty long. How do you break up the work in a given week? How many days a week do you work on it and about how long for each day? I aim to put aside three days a week for about 45 min each day. The workbook has the lesson number and reading pages listed at the bottom of each workbook page. The longer stories are broken into sections with bold subtitles (think chapter titles). Each time there is a new bolded section title, that would be the start of a new lesson. We usually do reading 4 days per week, and it probably takes us about 30-40 minutes. The teacher's edition would have a list of questions you could verbally discuss with your student. I sometimes use those, but a lot of time I just ask questions on the fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBlossom Posted June 18, 2018 Share Posted June 18, 2018 Following this thread... We are jumping back into hsing after a year in PS and I am looking for something for my rising 6th grader. I am thinking about Lightning Lit 7 for her. I need something that is not teacher intensive and semi-independent, which I know she would prefer anyway. Is LL cover all language arts well enough or would I need to supplement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfw0729 Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 Sooo... I continued to research, talk, and ask questions about this. I *think* I will be going with Center for Lit's Teaching the Classics. I spoke with Adam on the phone and he was incredibly helpful. I may even pay for the Pelican membership because it gives you access to all sorts of literature and their analyses of them. I first want to try TTC and then the Ready Readers for one or two books. Looks to be a great fit - I hope so! I will update when I get and try them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bfw0729 Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 Ok, I just did it!! I ordered TTC and a one-year membership to the Pelican group. I wanted to wait until I saw the materials for TTC, but from their description, this Pelican group has audible-type books! I stopped my audible membership a while ago bc it was way too expensive. I thought this was a deal, plus I received $10 off TTC. Again, I hope this was worth it! It seems to look great on paper and based on what was explained to me over the phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 9 hours ago, bfw0729 said: Ok, I just did it!! I ordered TTC and a one-year membership to the Pelican group. I wanted to wait until I saw the materials for TTC, but from their description, this Pelican group has audible-type books! I stopped my audible membership a while ago bc it was way too expensive. I thought this was a deal, plus I received $10 off TTC. Again, I hope this was worth it! It seems to look great on paper and based on what was explained to me over the phone. I think you will love the flexibility and long term use of TTC. It is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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