Oak Meadow English 8: Reviews Please!

[Murrayshire]

I'm considering going with Oak Meadow's Grade 8 English for my son next school year. I really, really need someone to chime in about what you liked about it and what you didn't like about it. 

Ds likes the previous edition book list with Lord of the Flies, Hobbit, Call of the Wild, etc.... The newest edition looks great, too, but doesn't excite him as much (Echo, Moon Over Manifest, Criss Cross, et). We may just stick with BraveWriter but I'm really wanting something that he can follow on his own when I'm unavailable for him. 

If you used/use Oak Meadow English, could you pretty please talk to me about it! 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 8, 2019 by Murrayshire

[Soror]

Let me tag a friend that has more experience with it- @BusyMom5 . I borrowed it and used it a bit myself but mostly found the guide not very helpful, the writing instruction, in particular, was lacking. 

[Lori D.]

Totally an aside from your question, lol... But what about putting together a book list of titles DS is excited about and going with some great individual lit. guides, and then a writing class (Bravewriter?) or a program for instruction/rubrics (and can set it aside occasionally to do a writing assignment of interest out of one of the lit. guides)?

Here are some good guides to go with the 3 titles you mentioned that DS was very interested in:
Lord of the Flies = Garlic Press Discovering Lit. Challenger
The Hobbit = Garlic Press Discovering Lit. Challenger
Call of the Wild = Glencoe Lit. Library

Garlic Press is limited in offerings, but all I've used are great. Other books+Garlic Press guides your DS might be interested in:
The Giver (Lowry)
The Hunger Games (Collins)
The Graveyard Book (Gaiman)
The Odyssey (Homer)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)

Glencoe Literature Library guides+books that might be of interest:
Across Five Aprils (Hunt)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Twain)
Animal Farm (Orwell)
Hatchet (Paulsen)
Island of the Blue Dolphins (O'Dell)
Red Badge of Courage (Crane)
Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Stevenson)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)
Tuck Everlasting (Babbitt)

Edited February 10, 2019 by Lori D.

[Murrayshire]

Thank you Lori D.... we have been putting together book lists for years now, pairing them with literature guides (Boomerang, arrow, Moving Beyond the Page, etc).... I think we still may plan a Bravewriter Writing class but really wanted to stream line all the Language Arts learning as I may be working part time next school year. I'd love something not too worksheet-y or busy-work-e...and something that is easy for my 8th grade boy to follow on his own. Just curious how Oak Meadow's all-in-one English serves others. 

 

I have always appreciated your insight and options that you throw out on the table! This big reading list looks right up his alley... He LOVED Hatchet this year and begged for more. I ended up buying all the Paulsen books for him to just read and discuss. Thank you again for chiming in! 😚

[Murrayshire]

On 2/10/2019 at 1:18 PM, soror said:

Let me tag a friend that has more experience with it- @BusyMom5 . I borrowed it and used it a bit myself but mostly found the guide not very helpful, the writing instruction, in particular, was lacking. 

 

Thank you so much! I have heard the writing instruction is lacking. We plan to take the 3 part series of the Essay Prep BraveWriter style. So now I'm wondering if OM would be a waste if we are just using it for literature, grammar, vocabulary....? 

[Lori D.]

3 hours ago, Murrayshire said:

...This big reading list looks right up his alley...I may be working part time next school year.... Just curious how Oak Meadow's all-in-one English serves others. 

If nothing else, you can just enjoy some of those titles as fun solo reads or as read aloud. (:D

Hope you get more feedback on Oak Meadow -- and some other options! -- to help you choose! And good luck to you if you end up working next year. Warmest regards, Lori D.