Help with 6th grade LA

[Amp]

My oldest is going into 6th grade and we have not done much formal LA.  He does read good books daily but is not an avid reader.  He hasn't had much formal grammar, writing, etc.  We have used Spelling Wisdom in the past but not consistently.  We used Bravewriter last year but he was not a big fan.  I started noticing gaps last year and unfortunately so did he.  He would come home from co-op or church and say things like "everyone else in my class knew a certain word but him."  He now thinks that he is not very smart and he really is.  I try not to get caught up in that but when we talked about this year, he wants "something more."  My plan that I'm thinking is SWI B by IEW (I just bought this after my son watched a video on it and said he liked it), Grammar (maybe fix it), Spelling (Spelling Workout).  I started looking over the 6th grade planning threads and noticed a lot of people do an all in one LA like R & S, ELTL, LLATL, etc.  I looked at a few samples and see lot's of things that he hasn't covered.  Would you suggest I just pick something like that to cover everything and just add the IEW for writing?  I'm feeling really lost about how to approach this year.

Thanks.

[HomeAgain]

I think your best bet for a first year is instruction at each level of what he needs, just because I've seen so many bad all-in-ones that are frustrating to use and tend to skim lightly in some areas whereas they go heavier in others.  That said, we did find an all-in-one we really liked, even if we did tweak it to drop their spelling and add our own.  We liked ELTL because of the integration between the reading, grammar, and copywork.  I have no idea how it teaches writing instruction past the beginning written narration stage, though, and would hesitate to recommend it because of that.

For my oldest, it was better for him to have separate instruction.  He liked things that were broken down into baby steps and extremely clear expectations: IEW, WWS, Harvey's Grammar, Writing-Tales, even Wordly Wise on the computer.  He needed to be able to focus on output within strict parameters before he was able to go off on his own.  It did him a world of good and he writes confidently now, even if his spelling never quite caught up.

[Ellie]

1 hour ago, Amp said:

My oldest is going into 6th grade and we have not done much formal LA.  He does read good books daily but is not an avid reader.  He hasn't had much formal grammar, writing, etc.  We have used Spelling Wisdom in the past but not consistently.  We used Bravewriter last year but he was not a big fan.  I started noticing gaps last year and unfortunately so did he.  He would come home from co-op or church and say things like "everyone else in my class knew a certain word but him."  He now thinks that he is not very smart and he really is.  I try not to get caught up in that but when we talked about this year, he wants "something more."  My plan that I'm thinking is SWI B by IEW (I just bought this after my son watched a video on it and said he liked it), Grammar (maybe fix it), Spelling (Spelling Workout).  I started looking over the 6th grade planning threads and noticed a lot of people do an all in one LA like R & S, ELTL, LLATL, etc.  I looked at a few samples and see lot's of things that he hasn't covered.  Would you suggest I just pick something like that to cover everything and just add the IEW for writing?  I'm feeling really lost about how to approach this year.

Thanks.

"Language arts" has lots of components: phonics/beginning reading instruction, reading/literature, grammar, composition, spelling/vocabulary, penmanship.

R&S's English series is grammar and composition (as well as using reference materials such as a dictionary and thesaurus); for a complete English course, you'd need to add spelling (R&S's spelling series is Spelling by Sound and Structure), and reading/literature (penmanship may or may not be needed, depending in the child's skills). So, no, R&S's English is not an all-in-one "language arts." :-)

LLATL does include all the components, so again, you wouldn't need to add writing (or spelling). I think ELTL does, as well, but I haven't been able to see it yet so I can't tell.

If you used R&S's English, you would not need to add IEW, as the English series includes writing.

If you (and your son) like the way IEW teaches writing, then do that. I like Easy Grammar, rather than Fix-It, but that's your choice. If your son's spelling skills need formal spelling, then SWO is fine. You could consider adding vocabulary; I like Wordly Wise.

[Amp]

Thank you.  He has great penmanship so I'm not worried about that and honestly, he's a decent speller.  I looked at Spelling Workout and it seems to cover several things that he will probably like.  Writing was a complete guess, since we haven't done much.  IEW is popular among most people here so I showed him a few reviews and a video and he said he wanted to try it.  I saw that Fix it is a free download on Homeschool buyers co-op so that's why I thought we could try that.  I'll take a look at Easy Grammar, thanks for the suggestion.

3 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I think your best bet for a first year is instruction at each level of what he needs, just because I've seen so many bad all-in-ones that are frustrating to use and tend to skim lightly in some areas whereas they go heavier in others.  That said, we did find an all-in-one we really liked, even if we did tweak it to drop their spelling and add our own.  We liked ELTL because of the integration between the reading, grammar, and copywork.  I have no idea how it teaches writing instruction past the beginning written narration stage, though, and would hesitate to recommend it because of that.

For my oldest, it was better for him to have separate instruction.  He liked things that were broken down into baby steps and extremely clear expectations: IEW, WWS, Harvey's Grammar, Writing-Tales, even Wordly Wise on the computer.  He needed to be able to focus on output within strict parameters before he was able to go off on his own.  It did him a world of good and he writes confidently now, even if his spelling never quite caught up.

Thank you.  My son also seems to really do better with very clear expectations and directions.  He's really wanting more independence so he doesn't have to wait on mom to do certain things.  I'm trying to keep that in mind as I look at things.

[MamaHill]

7 hours ago, Amp said:

My oldest is going into 6th grade and we have not done much formal LA.  He does read good books daily but is not an avid reader.  He hasn't had much formal grammar, writing, etc.  We have used Spelling Wisdom in the past but not consistently.  We used Bravewriter last year but he was not a big fan.  I started noticing gaps last year and unfortunately so did he.  He would come home from co-op or church and say things like "everyone else in my class knew a certain word but him."  He now thinks that he is not very smart and he really is.  I try not to get caught up in that but when we talked about this year, he wants "something more."  My plan that I'm thinking is SWI B by IEW (I just bought this after my son watched a video on it and said he liked it), Grammar (maybe fix it), Spelling (Spelling Workout).  I started looking over the 6th grade planning threads and noticed a lot of people do an all in one LA like R & S, ELTL, LLATL, etc.  I looked at a few samples and see lot's of things that he hasn't covered.  Would you suggest I just pick something like that to cover everything and just add the IEW for writing?  I'm feeling really lost about how to approach this year.

Thanks.

R&S English Grade 5 is a super solid grammar course, imo.  I realize your boy is going into 6th and might balk at the 'Grade 5' on the cover, but it would easily fill in any gaps.  There are many sections he could do totally independently just by reading the day's lesson and completing the work you assign.  This might appeal to his desire to be more independent.

Even though R&S English includes composition, you could just skip those sections and continue on with the IEW that you already purchased.  Add in a spelling component (Spelling Workout would be fine if he's a natural speller), and you'd be set.

As far as your son wanting something more and to be more independent...I just went through this last year with my then-5th grader.  She would come home from church feeling down about what she didn't know and feeling not as smart.  We buckled down, she worked HARD, and I feel like she's up to speed now.  Most importantly, her confidence in her own smarts has grown by leaps and bounds.  It's been wonderful to see!  

[Amp]

3 hours ago, MamaHill said:

R&S English Grade 5 is a super solid grammar course, imo.  I realize your boy is going into 6th and might balk at the 'Grade 5' on the cover, but it would easily fill in any gaps.  There are many sections he could do totally independently just by reading the day's lesson and completing the work you assign.  This might appeal to his desire to be more independent.

Even though R&S English includes composition, you could just skip those sections and continue on with the IEW that you already purchased.  Add in a spelling component (Spelling Workout would be fine if he's a natural speller), and you'd be set.

As far as your son wanting something more and to be more independent...I just went through this last year with my then-5th grader.  She would come home from church feeling down about what she didn't know and feeling not as smart.  We buckled down, she worked HARD, and I feel like she's up to speed now.  Most importantly, her confidence in her own smarts has grown by leaps and bounds.  It's been wonderful to see!  

Thank you.