All In One LA suggestions?

[AnneGG]

Any recommendations for an all in one language arts program that is simple, thorough, and affordable? This would be for an upcoming 3rd & 4th grader.
 

They are currently using CLE LA2. Ideally, we could find something a little more engaging but still straightforward. 

We’ve used TGATB in the past. I’m not eager to return right now. 
 

TIA!

[Green Bean]

Maybe pull the 3 parts of Jackrispublishing together? That would cover spelling, grammar, and writing in 3 books. Very straight forward.

https://jackrispublishing.com/

Learning Lang Arts Through Literature

https://www.commonsensepress.com/store/c2/Learning_Language_Arts_Through_Literature.html

Barefootmeandering.com has options.

http://barefootmeandering.com/site/

McRuffy Lang Arts

https://mcruffy.com/pages/shop-now

TGTB is a solid option. New 3rd is being released this summer.

https://www.goodandbeautiful.com/pre-k-8-curriculum/language-arts/

 

HTH!

[Nm.]

Is there such a thing as an all in one LA that’s simple, fun, AND thorough?  Tgtb to me still lacks thoroughness in k-2.  The phonics seems to go a little fast, with lots of sight words.  I haven’t used it, just seen it and have witnessed kids that have been using it.  Maybe I need to try it again. I tried level 4 this year and my very creative DD balked at all the  “creative” parts in a lesson.  I’m thinking if it’s all she knew- she might have done fine with it.  Level 5 looks amazing for her.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Lovinglife123

[AnneGG]

9 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said:

Is there such a thing as an all in one LA that’s simple, fun, AND thorough?
 

There should be!! 

 

 Tgtb to me still lacks thoroughness in k-2.  The phonics seems to go a little fast, with lots of sight words.  

I like Tgtb in theory. In practice it just doesn’t pan out for us. I feel like I have to supplement too much which takes away the appeal of an AIO. My oldest used level 3-5 and he greatly improved, but he needed more review/brush up. The foundation was already there, it was just crumbly. 

 

I haven’t used it, just seen it and have witnessed kids that have been using it.  Maybe I need to try it again. I tried level 4 this year and my very creative DD balked at all the  “creative” parts in a lesson.  I’m thinking if it’s all she knew- she might have done fine with it.  Level 5 looks amazing for her. Those watercolor lessons are fun! My DSS wants to be a cowboy and even he liked it. Lol 

 

[HomeAgain]

Check out Writing Tales or Moving Beyond The Page.

Writing Tales works in two week blocks, covering grammar, writing skills, and spelling, but the last is thrown in as a 'study the words you spelled wrong' sort of way.

Moving Beyond The Page isn't as clear, focusing more on literary elements, vocab, writing projects.  But the units are wrapped around books, which means you can take as much or as little time as you need.

[Nm.]

@AnneGG we use a plain thorough LA and love it.  Once a week (sometimes more) they do a funschooling journal instead, it usually has creative writing prompts, research, copywork, nature study, reading time (they read and write/draw about it), & spelling included.  Trickiest part is watching flip throughs on YouTube (most have flip throughs) to find the right one.  I let them choose. Here are some we’ve bought.

Bugs

Baking

Chef

Horse cover (not about horses)

Horse Dreams (1st-3rd)

Rocks and Minerals

All about Oceans

 

 

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Lovinglife123

[AnneGG]

1 hour ago, HomeAgain said:

Check out Writing Tales or Moving Beyond The Page.

Writing Tales works in two week blocks, covering grammar, writing skills, and spelling, but the last is thrown in as a 'study the words you spelled wrong' sort of way.

Moving Beyond The Page isn't as clear, focusing more on literary elements, vocab, writing projects.  But the units are wrapped around books, which means you can take as much or as little time as you need.

Writing tales looks great! 

[AnneGG]

43 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said:

@AnneGG we use a plain thorough LA and love it.  Once a week (sometimes more) they do a funschooling journal instead, it usually has creative writing prompts, research, copywork, nature study, reading time (they read and write/draw about it), & spelling included.  Trickiest part is watching flip throughs on YouTube (most have flip throughs) to find the right one.  I let them choose. Here are some we’ve bought.

Bugs

Baking

Chef

Horse cover (not about horses)

Horse Dreams (1st-3rd)

Rocks and Minerals

All about Oceans

 

 

 

 

Good idea! I bought the Mars journal during the sale, maybe I should fire up the printer and start that now. 

[Nm.]

We have that one too!!  If she tires of it you can simply rotate journals… 😂 

[Ellie]

Well, I don't do "language arts," so there's that. 🙂

The scope of teaching a child to use his own language well is quite broad, so it can be tricky to find all the components in one place. Also, many of the materials which supposedly teach everything in one place tend to be phonics-light in the first and second grade levels, which IMHO are the most important. So I teach phonics first; since I do Spalding, it's teaching the dc to read by teaching them to spell, a two-fer; it also covers penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing, so for young dc it's pretty comprehensive. When the dc are 10 or 11ish, I do a good year of grammar with Easy Grammar. I never found something I really loved for writing, but Writing Strands if pretty close. If I were hsing again, I would make every effort to do all levels (well, Level 3 and up) of Writing Strands. I don't *teach* comprehension.

[Mona]

I have used LLATL red and yellow, and I’m currently using orange. It is open and go, covers all the things, and the length of the lessons are just right for my active boy who rather play. He’s enjoyed the book choices so far. Rainbow Resource recently did videos for each level in the series so you can see what a week using LLATL would look like. They have a play list for LLATL on their YouTube channel.

[AnneGG]

9 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said:

@AnneGG we use a plain thorough LA and love it.  

 

 

 

What LA do you use? 

[Nm.]

21 minutes ago, AnneGG said:

What LA do you use? 

Rod & Staff

[Servant4Christ]

I used CLE for years and what I discovered is that an all-in-one LA curriculum just isn't a good fit for my children, though it sure helped ME streamline! We switched to R&S and though many find it dull or plain, it works for us. I can and do choose to make it more fun by being creative and having games and activities beyond the curriculum that practice the skills being taught. I rarely find an all-in-one that is at the right learning level in all three main areas (grammar, writing, and spelling). R&S allows me to place them correctly without holding them back in any area they happen to be excelling in. For instance, my oldest sometimes needs to slow down in grammar to practice a skill longer in order to retain the information and we can do this without disrupting spelling quite easily. With CLE, we couldn't. 

[Helpdesk]

Well-Trained Mind Press has this article on its website to explain *why* we don't offer an all-in-one LA curriculum.  (We did try, years ago, and it turned into people wanting a substitute for THIS level of THAT topic ... which reflects the reality that the different areas of LA are separate subjects, and children progress through them at different speeds. My personal child read at the 5th grade level within 6 months of learning to read, but writing? Not so much...  (I use that as an illustration of the "separate subjects" issue). Maybe this article can help in thinking through what to do.

If you are interested in seeing what WTM Press curriculum offers and the "where to start" article, check out this FAQ.  

[AnneGG]

35 minutes ago, Servant4Christ said:

I used CLE for years and what I discovered is that an all-in-one LA curriculum just isn't a good fit for my children, though it sure helped ME streamline! We switched to R&S and though many find it dull or plain, it works for us. I can and do choose to make it more fun by being creative and having games and activities beyond the curriculum that practice the skills being taught. I rarely find an all-in-one that is at the right learning level in all three main areas (grammar, writing, and spelling). R&S allows me to place them correctly without holding them back in any area they happen to be excelling in. For instance, my oldest sometimes needs to slow down in grammar to practice a skill longer in order to retain the information and we can do this without disrupting spelling quite easily. With CLE, we couldn't. 

 

23 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said:

Rod & Staff

I actually really like R&S. These two kids just struggle with multiple books for one subject. I guess I could try it again, maybe it would go smoother now that they’re older.
 

I also have to keep myself in check when I piece things together because I tend to go overboard. 

[AnneGG]

I probably don’t even need to buy anything if I piece it together because I have a ton of stuff…..

FLL/WWE

Rod And Staff

Primary Language Lessons

Veritas Press Lit Guides

Memoria Lit Guides

Voyages in English

Dictation day by Day

Draw Write Now 

Literature Pockets 

 

And who knows what else….

I find so much at the thrift store. 🤪 probably need to re-donate half of it. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by AnneGG

[Ellie]

Rod and Staff Publishers' English series does a fine job of teaching grammar and writing. It isn't exciting, or cute, but it does a fine job. Note: it works much better when the children do it as intended, i.e., in writing on actual paper, as opposed to doing it orally. Its spelling series is good from 4th grade and up. The phonics portion of the reading series is heavy sight-reading, so I can't recommend it, and its upper level readers tend to explore their sect, so, mmmm, maybe not that. The penmanship series is ok, although IMHO, it teaches the dc to write much, much too big, so that they are almost drawing the letters instead of actually writing them. Also, it teaches a transitional hand (e.g., manuscript, transition, cursive), which is totally unnecessary, IMHO.

[Nm.]

2 hours ago, AnneGG said:

 

I actually really like R&S. These two kids just struggle with multiple books for one subject. I guess I could try it again, maybe it would go smoother now that they’re older.
 

I also have to keep myself in check when I piece things together because I tend to go overboard. 

4x a week is all we do, and they do it all in writing.  None are “at grade level”.  Boys are 1-2 years “behind”.  My DD is just starting her grade level, in March.  I don’t assign lots of extra on top of it.  

Their checklist is brief for LA

*rod and staff English

*spelling

When my one struggled with being overwhelmed with our checklist, I wrote next to each item how long I thought it would take him- 15 for English, 5 for spelling, etc.  Once he was really comfortable with LA, I was able to add in a little dictation, a little writing (writing strands for 6th grader).  It is cool to see how efficient they are with English now after completing a couple levels. I’m glad I started them all at least a year behind.  They built up a lot of endurance and never struggled with new concepts.

I always wondered about how one year of grammar works out.  I don’t have to teach them any writing, it’s all built in.  I think if I were to do one year of grammar there would be an extra need for writing programs.  Curious how that works out on test scores too.

Edited March 4, 2023 by Lovinglife123