Language Arts scheduling - grammar, spelling, writing, etc.

[klmama]

How do you arrange your schedule for all the various parts of language arts if you use different materials for each aspect? (It's times like this that LLATL looks better and better to me, even though I know I'll never use it.) I'm asking for a 6th and 4th grader. TIA!

[Closeacademy]

For my first grader, I am using Rod and Staff Reading 1 so it has phonics, reading and a reader. Her schedule looks like this:

 

reader (every other day)

reading workbook

phonics workbook

worksheet (every other day)

(she does math and her lapbook next)

 

For my third grader, I am following more of a LCC path. Her schedule looks like this:

 

History or Science

Lively Latin (bulk of our language arts program)

Math

Lapbook

Composition

 

Hope this helps.:001_smile:

[Deece in MN]

I flip-flopped subjects to help manage our days.

My dd needs spelling so she does that daily. Grammar and writing instruction are done 2 times a week and lit. study 3 times a week. My dc still write daily or almost daily because they write across their curriculum and work on their writing assignments during the week because it is too much to complete on the days of writing instruction. Also, at this point grammar is more review in nature (we use Fix It! from IEW to keep skills fresh) so it doesn't take long so we can focus more time on writing.

My dc are 7th & 9th, but even at 4th & 6th I wouldn't do everything daily. We did writing 3 days a week then and they did most of the work during "class" time. Grammar was 3 days a week. We did Sonlight at that time so literature was daily.

HTH

[Wee Pip]

Ours looks like this:

 

6yo:

Spelling

Handwriting

English/Phonics (teacher's guide activities + 2 different workbooks)

Reading (reader + workbook)

 

8yo:

Spelling

Reading (reader + workbook)

Handwriting

English: Grammar & Writing (units of Grammar & Writing alternate)

 

I let the 8yo pick her own order & that's what she came up with. I hate that LA incorporates so many different subjects and takes 1.5 hours to complete. It's the longest part of the day and uses a huge stack of different books, sheesh. But for the younger years, at least, I'm not sure there is a better way (unless you use LLATL, like you mentioned).

[mcconnellboys]

I use Spelling Workout for spelling, miscellaneous books for word study, Abeka for grammar, and several things for writing (we've just started Wordsmith Apprentice). I also use Getty-Dubay for handwriting.

 

I don't try to make them "go" together in any sort of way. I schedule the amount we need to get done each day from each book.

 

This year, he's generally doing one page of Spelling Workout per day, one to two pages from whatever word study we're doing at the moment, two pages of Abeka grammar and I have the Wordsmith broken down into daily chunks that vary in length. He's finished with Getty-Dubay, but I have some printouts of copywork for writing practice that he does periodically, when we have time (and I remember to give him a sheet to do).

 

He does not do any of these except his spelling test on Fridays, save for when we have an odd page or test in grammar that we need to get done to finish up a unit, or he's finishing up some longer writing project, etc.

 

When I get in a text, I take the total number of pages or lessons to be accomplished, and divide by the total number of days we'll be doing that subject for the school year in order to figure out how much we need to do each day in order to finish for the year.

[Laura Corin]

I use an integrated programme for each kid. Over a one-month period they will do roughly two/three comprehension/analysis exercises, one word derivation, two/three grammar, four or more writing, one oral presentation and four spelling.

 

ETA: Hobbes also does handwriting every day.

 

Laura

[Tree House Academy]

I use a weird method because I was always an English person and this is just what works for us.

 

We do LLATL Orange every day. I adapt the lessons to fit what I want him to know and some things we just skip all together. We also do WT II every day. I hardly ever skip anything on this. Then, two days a week, he does GWG 4, one page front and back and ususally I try to make it fit well with what we are doing in LLATL and/or WT II. The other 3 days a week, he does Vocabulary Connections - a workbook that I LOVE that really teaches him to use context clues to figure out meanings of words. Everyday we do a list of works from Spelling Power and he does one page/CD work from his Calvert Spelling program. Honestly, we finish his entire day in around 3-3.5 hours, so all of this LA only takes up 1-1.5 hours and it is so many different things that he is not getting bored with one thing or another.

[Carol in Cal.]

I don't schedule them, but we do the next thing.

 

My 12 year old does spelling every day.

 

She writes everyday--either creative writing, subject area writing in literature, history, or science, or a structured writing assignment from Writing Strands or Rod and Staff. Often she does two of those in a day.

 

We use Rod and Staff grammar--usually a lesson each day, but occasionally I will let her substitute an Editor in Chief assignment to give her some separate proofreading practice.

 

We work on vocabulary about 2X per week.

 

Literature had been every day, but we have fallen off of that due to end of the semester deadlines--choral extras, church Christmas program, robotics competition, and work samples due dates. We are resetting this starting next week (easing gradually back into the 'full program'.) But she has continued to read every day, and I have been reading to her as well.

 

BTW, don't underestimate the value of reading to an older child! I read "The Christmas Carol" to dd for the first time this year. Of course she was familiar with the story, but the complicated sentence structures, old vocabulary, and Victorian allusions made this both sophisticated and educational for her. In order to get her to learn to read, I promised her that even if she knew how, I would continue to read to her as long as she wanted. I have often had reason to be glad that I did so.

 

I like doing it this way because then I can fine tune each area to what DD needs right now.

Edited January 5, 2009 by Carol in Cal.

[patchfire]

We do grammar four days a week - three days are our main text, one day is a mishmash of stuff from Critical Thinking Co. Next year we're going to go to just three days of grammar, flat out.

 

Spelling & handwriting are everyday, because they are dd's weakest areas. We're about done with our handwriting review, though, so she'll just be reviewing through dictation (in her spelling program) and then next month when we start a writing curriculum.

 

Ideally we'll do the writing curriculum four days a week. I wish I could cut back on spelling but, you do what you gotta do, right? Depending on her progress we may go to four days of spelling around this time next year.

[Stacy in NJ]

How do you arrange your schedule for all the various parts of language arts if you use different materials for each aspect? (It's times like this that LLATL looks better and better to me, even though I know I'll never use it.) I'm asking for a 6th and 4th grader. TIA!

 

I figure out how many times per week I need to do a particular subject, then schedule them out.

 

spelling 4 time per week

grammar 3 X

composition 3 X

reading(lit) 5 X

 

So, we do

spelling on M,T,TH,F

grammer on M,W,F

composition on T,W,TH

reading M-F

 

HTH, Stacy

[angela in ohio]

Grammar and writing - daily

 

Phonics or reading - daily up until 6th grade

 

Spelling/vocabulary, handwriting - alternate days

 

Literature - read aloud by mom daily until about 2rd grade, then a once a week meeting to discuss what they are reading daily