L.A. after logic of English foundations

[ghomeschool18]

Hello! I’ve found so many great answers here throughout our short journey so far, so when I started thinking through this, I figured I should go ahead and ask. 
 

DD6 would be in K. She is an intuitive reader with a LL of 740 last time I checked, back in August (I’ve since stopped really bothering, as age appropriate and ‘interesting to her’ material at that level is hard to find). We’ve completed Logic of English A-C, because I knew that just because she had self taught and memorized quickly didn’t mean she had the skills to spell or continue to decode unknown words later on (I think she just memorized things quickly- you tell her once, she knows it. Done.)

We are halfway through LOE D and I’m struggling with what to do after that. She’s still so young- the playful nature of foundations has been key and I generally took it a step further to turn the lessons into a buffet of ‘invitations’ …she LOVES it. Do we continue into Essentials? Will it be to dry and to much mental gymnastics for me to jazz up? 
 

I’m not worried about fluency. But I do want to keep her challenged with spelling and continue introducing basic grammar and vocabulary (she loves to write stories). I love the idea of Latin because she is suspected gifted and I think keeping her on her toes is key. Handwriting could use some work but also… she is 6, fine motor skills have never been her strength and often causes her to ‘shut down’ (other challenges like languages or piano don’t seem to illicit this reaction… just hand writing). Her love of language is so strong, I’d hate to stifle it with a ton of handwriting or a dry approach. 

I had considered Spelling Workout but was unsure if it would jive after a Spalding Spelling method curriculum. Also, she pushes against anything that seems like busy work- I once tried explode the code bc I was struggling with providing material for her (her request ‘more school’) and needed something easy for me to just give her while I did other things... She was DISGUSTED 😂 that I would even lay that in front of her. Additionally I’ve also considered Michael Clay Thompson Poodle, as I think she would find the playful style enjoyable. I have also purchased Jacobs Ladder K-1 because her comprehension and narration skills are not strong. She does seem to like drawing tutorials and animals so we keep some animal themed Draw Right Now books in her art cart. It’s not picked up a ton, but she does from time to time. I’ve also done a brave writer DART with her- but I found them to be all over the place with objectives and overpriced knowing that objectives aren’t that structured. We always keep a book basket full of picture books related to whatever topic we are learning about, a mommy read read aloud in progress and she always has a few chapter books going independently. What would you do? Is there anything from this list you would NOT recommend? Anything you would add? I would really love to hear your opinions, most of my friends are not homeschoolers so I’m not sure where to go with all these questions! I don’t want things feeling to disconjointed… and I am type A- I worry about gaps when switching curriculum even if I know I shouldn’t.  Will I regret not moving forward into Logic of English Essentials? Do I puzzle piece with MCT poodle, Jacobs Ladder and SWO? I don’t know…help!

[Clarita]

MCT Poodle, DS 7 really loves it. There's an introductory video and in the teacher's manual where Mr. Thompson talks about how to use it and he emphasizes having the child read the story themselves at least once in the lesson. I actually think that is key. DS7 is getting so much out of reading the book and honestly I don't get it (DD5 and I feel like we are in the weeds and he's totally understanding what a noun is). 

I looked and tried Jacobs Ladder I was not impressed (at least the K-1 book). I was unhappy that the  book just had short excerpts of the books so I would have to hunt down the actual books to read. The questions were "hard" only because a lot of the questions asked were not answered in the story. It was a lot of what do you think or feel and student is making up the answer. 

For reading comprehension, I read Karen Glass Know and Tell and  Rita Cevasco Trees in the Forest: Growing Readers and Writers Through Deep Comprehension.

I try and do something every week where he reads an excerpt from something he likes and has already read before then we explore how the author wrote, so draw a picture of a description (based on the reading), list out a sequence of events (draw or write phrases), it depends on what the passage talks about what you could do with it. I write and print out the passage so I can let him make notes or underline words/phrases/sentences to help him tell back what the passage said.

With the read aloud, since we are reading chapter books now, every time we start I just casually ask what happened last time like we need to know what happened last time to remind ourselves where we are in the story. Then I would just also ask him to tell me about things he's interested in and genuinely talk to him about it until I kind of understand the subject (I find it's better when I don't actually know what he's talking about to start with then it forces him to give me a better summary). 

Sometimes there's reading factual stuff as a part of science or history, then before reading I pose the question to him like "Let's find out where frogs live" then after reading ask him "Well, where do frogs live?". Same with history, we do Story of the World and they have comprehension questions. I pose those to my children ahead of the actual reading, then they answer the question after the reading (I do allow them to look up the answer if they want). I don't do that all the time but occasionally. 

Funny what you said about Explode the Code, I actually moved DS7 to Explode the Code from All About Reading. I only do the writing parts, then I tell him we are doing this so you can spell and write. He can do as many or as little of the workbook pages as he needs to be able to spell words using the rule covered in the lessons. Definitely some lessons he skipped all of it and just spelled the words for me. Other lessons though he asked for extra work because he didn't feel confident.

 

[Momof4sweetkids]

DD6 finished AAR4 right before her 6th birthday and now we are doing AAS1, WWE 1 (just the narrations, not the copywork) and FLL. It is going well I think? But she's my oldest so who knows!

[Green Bean]

nm.

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:57 PM by Green Bean

[BusyMom5]

I think you need to stop and clarify your goals for next year.  I can't tell what you want to do, so it's very hard to recommend a program.  

Handwriting- this is a fine motor skill that must be practiced, but it's normal to still be struggling at 6.  I would try to work up to copywork- sentences that the child writes out, including proper punctuation, capitals, spelling, etc.  You can use this to teach basic grammar and parts of speech. I like McRuffy handwriting for this but it's kinda $$.  My DD is also 6 and isn't quite ready yet- hopefully next year!  Right now just fill-in the blank type books with lines are best.  She just needs one word at a time for now.  I am focusing on forming the letters correctly,  sizing and spacing. 

Spelling- Do you need a spelling program on her level?  If she's ahead, this might be hard to find a good match.  Often the levels that would challenge her in words will include activities that are too hard or don't leave enough room to write.  Right now mine is doing a 1st Grade spelling.   She knows all the words, but we are focusing on the handwriting part 😉  I thought Spelling Workout looked like it had interesting activities. 

Wordly Wise- this is a vocabulary program but you might look at it and see if it would interest her.  Activities often include parts of speech, words with multiple definitions,  and there are little stories that they must answer the questions from.  This might be too much writing and the lines might be too small.

Reading- I have not found a good reading program for kids who are still very young but reading so far above level.  Most K-2 programs are still teaching Phonics. 3rd grade programs have too much output for one's who aren't ready for that much writing.  I say just let them read whatever they want!  Find some good book lists and see what your library has.  

I have used both AAR and LoE with my older kids.  AAR readers are still a very good option after LoE.  You might just get the readers for Level 4 to focus on the more difficult phonograms.  I tried the Essentials and it felt like a completely different program!  My kids didn't like it at all.  I wouldn't recommend it for a younger child who is already reading.  I think it would work well for an older kid who is an average reader or who struggles with reading and needs to review the reading rules.  

 

 

[Clarita]

For handwriting, DS7 likes Handwriting Without Tears. The font is pretty ugly, but it doesn't require a lot of handwriting. I make sure to tell DS I picked a handwriting curriculum that doesn't require him to do a lot so he has to be neat and focused for what's there. It's labeled by grade but just look at the samples and figure out what level your daughter would be comfortable with handwriting-wise. 

I also worked with my son at that age on scribbling to build up stamina. Since he didn't like free scribbling then I asked him to write as many name a letter or number in 5 minutes as possible. In the beginning, I also had to specify in your messiest handwriting.