For those wanting a secular all-in-one LA resource...

[Night Elf]

I loved the thread about what might be lacking in the homeschool market. I've thought about putting together and/or writing LA curriculum for years. My passion and interest are the lower elementary grades. I'm curious what age/grade would be most helpful.

 

1. Would you prefer a grade level program, i.e. 1st grade is separate from 2nd grade? Or, rather than grade levels, do you think it would be better to have levels like A, B, C instead?

 

2. When you envision an all-in-one program, what specific areas are you wanting to include? Examples: reading, handwriting, composition writing, spelling, grammar & punctuation?

 

3. Would you expect this all-in-one resource to be literature based? Perhaps a 1-week or 2-week session per book that includes the different areas listed above?

 

I love Sonlight, Winter Promise, and Five in a Row. The first 2 are just too religious for my children at this stage in their education (lower levels were easy to adapt) and the last one is really geared toward much younger children. I do know that FIAR has some older children material but I remember looking through it and not liking it at all. It was nothing like the earlier FIAR programs I had used previously.

 

For those familiar with the LA programs from Winter Promise and Sonlight, what comments do you have about them? Aside from the religious matter, is there a reason the programs do not work for you? I've always thought the organization of Sonlight Lang. Arts was excellent. I loved the old student assignment sheets but would have preferred more daily activity rather than such small bits. It was just never enough for my kids.

[Lovedtodeath]

Sonlight and WP both have a Children's Bible integral to much of their 1st grade LA.

 

I have a detailed post on the curriculum thread as well. I want nothing missing. Grammar, narration, copywork, poetry appreciation with tougher poems and memorization with simpler poems, letter writing, oral reading practice, inependent reading, read alouds. Spelling that has phonics rules and studied dictation. No worries about filling in a hole.

 

I basically want FLL, Queen's LL, and Rod and Staff combined, made secular and add in spelling and reading. Oh, and don't forget conjugating vowels and including terms like homophone and synonym. Easy, right?!:lol:

 

Oh, and I have seen others wishing for character development.

 

I wish you success!

Edited April 11, 2009 by Lovedtodeath

[hsmom27]

1. I'd rather see level than grade (too many kiddos w/ LD, SN, or just needing to get caught up, get upset over "grade level")

 

2. depends on the level. Mostly, I want grammar, spelling, vocab., reading/phonics, oral reading, writing, memorization, dictation, and everything else!

 

3. I'd like literature based, but I'd want to be able to pick my own literature. So maybe something more like DITHOR, that let's you pick what you want to use.

 

HTH:)

[kaylk in tx]

I have a ds who is a year behind in language (grammar and spelling) due to a language/speech delay. Now he's clueing in that he's using a 2nd grade grammar book (GWG) and it's bugging him.... Levels like A, B, C would be better!

[Lovedtodeath]

I have a ds who is a year behind in language (grammar and spelling) due to a language/speech delay. Now he's clueing in that he's using a 2nd grade grammar book (GWG) and it's bugging him.... Levels like A, B, C would be better!

:iagree:I forgot to vote on this one. We have this problem with Math.

[Carmen_and_Company]

 

• Prefer levels instead of grades
  
• Sentence & paragraph imitation through dictation & copywork
  
• Grammar in context: mark parts of speech as introduced along with diagramming
  
• Vocabulary in context--define, synonyms, antonyms, origin & write sentence
  
• Summary or written narration from reading selection
  
• outlining & note taking
  

 

 

Resources I like, but cannot figure out how to implement the best qualities or parts within our LA program:

KISS Grammar

CW Core books--like the imitation of models, sentence shuffle & vocabulary work

CM narration instructions--like when introduced along with length

Sentence Composing series--imitation of classical and or good literature--uses "chunks" to teach phrases & clauses

Analytical Grammar--simple, pick & go, sentence diagramming, and only 3 years max. needed

Stewart English-- excerpts from books & analyzing of sentence structure

Spelling Wisdom--like how author uses copywork & dictation to further spelling, vocabulary, and grammar skills

 

If someone wrote an all in one LA program that provided the best of the above mentioned programs, I'd buy the whole series.

Edited April 13, 2009 by Carmen_and_Company

[chiguirre]

I would love to have a LLATL without the religious content. I'd prefer no Bible stories, no verses and no religious novel studies. I like the fact that it covers everything in a gentle way. Although it doesn't seem like much work each day, by the end of the year you realize you've covered a lot of territory and because it's tied to stories it's been pretty painless for my kids. I also like that it covers a lot of topics so the kids don't get bored or frustrated with just one. As a personal preference, I'd rather that handwriting be based on copywork that allows you to use your own style. I prefer Italic, and cursive examples aren't helpful for us. I'd also prefer colors to mark grade levels because even letters can be discouraging once kids figure out what they mean.

 

Thanks for considering this project, I know it's a lot of work!

[rafiki]

.

[Night Elf]

I would love to have a LLATL without the religious content.

 

Yes, I loved LLATL as well but felt it was too light in many areas for my children. I also loved the AOP Lifepac series. It would have been an 8 on a scale from 1 to 10 if it would have had no religious content. It was just too difficult to get around.

 

Wow, you've all given me some wonderful answers. I'm not making any promises but I am in touch with a couple of friends to discuss possibilities. Of course my personality style wants it all done right now. Eek! :tongue_smilie:

[mo2]

1. Levels instead of grades.

2. Everything: Grammar, composition, spelling, reading, handwriting, phonics, poetry.

3. Literature based: Yes! A variety, please, from fiction to nonfication, American to other cultures, different poetry styles (I still don't understand meter.) Throw in a good sci-fi if you like (maybe just one).

 

Spiral bound or 3-hole punched so I can easily make copies. And please allow us to make copies of the student pages instead of having to purchase extra sets.

 

Oh yes, and if it's not too much to ask, can you have this ready by Fall so I can start using it right away? Just kidding.

[Lovedtodeath]

I love the idea of colors for levels, and I really like 3-hole punched with copies allowed.

 

Independent readers and read alouds could be separate books, but I would want oral reading practice and poetry to be included in the manual, along with all selections that are used for narration, etc. (up to a point, but you did say early elementary, so they won't get very large in that case.)

[Strawberry Queen]

What I would like to see in an inclusive LA program is writing that is not dependent on reading a specific book. For instance, a program like LLATL is a bit useless for me because my kids are not reading books at the same level as their writing.

 

I think it was HOD that had Sarah Plain and Tall in grade 3 (?). Well, my dd in gr. 3 has read Treasure Island among other books this year and SPaT would be seen as a bit too easy.

 

A program that would be wonderful but extremely hard to do is this:

-have grammar for gr. level

-have dictation, copywork, and more standard writing options(writing a paragraph)

-have copywork/dictation from books being read but for multiple levels

 

What I mean is this; you choose to read Treasure Island and have copywork and dictation from the book. The associated writing does not assume high level of writing skill just because the book is challenging. Maybe with level saying that a beginner writer should do project x, a more skilled writer do project y.

 

So I could choose to read book a,b,c,f,and h. I would get copywork/dictation that go with those books as well as writing assignments for a beginner,or intermediate writer.

 

that's my .02:001_smile:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I have a detailed post on the curriculum thread as well. I want nothing missing. Grammar, narration, copywork, poetry appreciation with tougher poems and memorization with simpler poems, letter writing, oral reading practice, inependent reading, read alouds. Spelling that has phonics rules and studied dictation. No worries about filling in a hole.

 

I basically want FLL, Queen's LL, and Rod and Staff combined, made secular and add in spelling and reading. Oh, and don't forget conjugating vowels and including terms like homophone and synonym. Easy, right?!:lol:

 

Oh, and I have seen others wishing for character development.

 

I wish you success!

 

:iagree:

 

I also like the idea of being able to make copies for subsequent children. Some curriculum I was looking into recently says that the copyright permission is for the teacher. You can make copies for any student that YOU teach, even if it is not your own child. I liked that idea.

 

Or even do it in a cost-efficient eBook way (if it's written in a way that this works!).

[Lovedtodeath]

You could still use letters for levels as long as they don't make sense: 4 levels, P, Y , S, and L. :tongue_smilie: