Thoughts on English Lessons through Literature? (ELTL)

[JessReplanted]

I have been browsing through old threads and I just discovered ELTL. I think I'm going to get this for my 2nd grader.

Are many people still using this? Has anyone used consecutive books in the series?

I would like to get the older "Christian" version, and I'm wondering how to find the workbook that went with it?

 

Also, is it designed to work in conjunction with Reading Lessons through Literature? 

 

Thanks!

Edited August 19, 2021 by JessReplanted

[HomeAgain]

We did 3, D, and E.

The workbooks for both are the same, except the Christian one has proverbs as part of the copywork choices.  You are probably better off just creating your own copywork page when you want to add that copywork in.  3 (Now C-Cultivating) had two copywork options for most lessons, except the independent writing.  That is a lot of copywork, but it was there so parents could extend to 5 days a week instead of 3.

Our progression was 3(second grade), break for more detailed writing instruction with Treasured Conversations because I thought Black Beauty would make him sad (third grade), and then D and E.

We did not move to F, Flourishing this year, even though my kid loved the program.  I realized he was not ready for the vocabulary and interest level of Sherlock Holmes and Call of The Wild.  We're doing IEW, and I added our own literature books.  Instead of the grammar instruction in ELTL, my son requested I write similar exercises using his Elson Reader and literature books. 

 

We also have Reading & Spelling Through Literature.  They are not designed to work together.  R&STL uses the Elson Readers to teach Orton-Gillingham spelling, curating each word list to go with the vocabulary found in the stories.  Because I started this with an older student, we were able to skip the reading portion and focus on the spelling (Ds is in Elson Reader 6 this year, which is on par with the vocabulary from ELTL E literature selections, whereas the R&STL maxes out at Elson Reader 4, I think.)  It's a great program and just what ds needed to get his spelling over a hump.

[barnwife]

I have kids in levels A, B, and C. It's working for us. We don't read the literature (because we've already read most of them, and don't care for the others). They just read the lesson portion and do the workbook stuff. The kids in levels B and C do the lesson pretty independently. I check in with them/their work when they are done. I read the lesson to the kid in level A (not an independent reader yet). 

My kids read lots of other things, so I'm not worried about skipping the literature part. Currently, oldest does 3 lessons a week in ELTL C, and 2 sessions of Wordsmith Apprentice (he needs extra writing help). When he finishes C, we will probably focus on WA until he finishes that. At that point, my tentative plan is to return to ELTL, while doing Killgallon on non-ELTL days. 

I think it has been a fabulous gentle start to language study. 

We haven't used Reading and Spelling Through Literature, so I am no help there!

[macmacmoo]

We did 2, C, and D

For my eldest we have moved on to Writing with Style. We tried a few things for grammar, going to try KISS grammar if that doesn't work i'll go back to ELTL for grammar.

Next kiddo did 2 and is going to do C this year.

Kathy will let you buy any of the older pfds. you can find her email in the contract section of the Barefood Meandering website.

Edited August 24, 2021 by macmacmoo