For those using FLL and WWE

[Guest bookwormmama]

What readers do you have your kids using to go along with this Language Arts program and do you use a separate handwriting program or is this all you use? We have been using Sonlight Language Arts and I am looking for something different for my soon to be 4th grader and 2nd grader. Their grammar and spelling leave much to be desired and I love narration, copywork, dictation, classical literature, etc.

 

Thanks and any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

Stephanie

Homeschooling mama to 6 great kids

[LG Gone Wild]

I disliked SL LA as well. I use FLL3 for my 4th grader. I use FLL1+2 for my 1st grader and will continue it through 2nd grade. I used FLL1+2 with my first child and it was really good for him, too. It's light and yet I found it very thorough. Same with FLL3. I remember struggling in junior high diagramming sentences. My 4th grader breezes right through it.

 

I love WWE for my 1st grader. I got the workbook as I find it tedious to make selections on my own. All the selections are made for me. I tried WWE Level 3 for my 4th grader. I found it tiresome since there is no workbook with dialogues and reading passages for me. I like a grab and go approach. Since I dropped WWE, I just have my 4th grader do the SOTW questions, he gives me a narration, and then I dictate the narration give in the SOTW workbook.

 

I recently ordered Writing Strands Level 3 and Imitations in Writing. I have no idea what WS is like. Imitation in Writing looks like a lot of copy, dictation, and narration.

 

I supplement handwriting with Handwriting Without Tears for both kids.

[Sew happily ever after]

For beginning readers I use Ordinary Parent's Guide and SL Fun Tales readers (not their LA readers only). I also use SL I can read it series. Once they are reading well on their own, we use books from our personal library or public library. I try to choose books that are not just fluff. For example DD9yo has been reading classics that are rewritten for younger kids....heidi, Three Musketeers, etc. they are easy to find at the library. I don't feel the need to purchase "readers" or literature anthologies as I think it's better to have them reading real books. But if you wanted a reading program you could readers from Pathways readers or Bob Jones or the like and have them read a passage or 2 per day.

[Guest bookwormmama]

I disliked SL LA as well. I use FLL3 for my 4th grader. I use FLL1+2 for my 1st grader and will continue it through 2nd grade. I used FLL1+2 with my first child and it was really good for him, too. It's light and yet I found it very thorough. Same with FLL3. I remember struggling in junior high diagramming sentences. My 4th grader breezes right through it.

 

 

-Thank you this is helpful to know! So FLL is ok for a 4th grader then? This is the grade level my daughter will be in when we start school this fall and I was hoping to switch her to something else. I have perused the FLL level 3 workbook and teacher guide and though it seems that I have to walk her through it step by step it looks very thorough and more like what I am looking for. I am tired of doing the creative writing with SL LA and my daughter still doesn't know how to put a proper sentence together! I hope this will help with that and cut down on the frustration we are having!

 

I love WWE for my 1st grader. I got the workbook as I find it tedious to make selections on my own. All the selections are made for me. I tried WWE Level 3 for my 4th grader. I found it tiresome since there is no workbook with dialogues and reading passages for me. I like a grab and go approach. Since I dropped WWE, I just have my 4th grader do the SOTW questions, he gives me a narration, and then I dictate the narration give in the SOTW workbook.

 

-You didn't like the WWE with the 3rd grader? And you are using SOTW? Do the questions you use for that come with the SOTW book or is it part of the activity book? Do you use any other read aloud books for history besides the SOTW book?

 

I supplement handwriting with Handwriting Without Tears for both kids.

 

-Where would you start a 4th grade for Handwriting Without Tears? My 3rd grader is starting cursive right now and we have tried Beginning Cursive from MFW and we have tried A Reason for Writing and she is hating both!

Ah...

 

Thanks so much for your input

Stephanie

Homeschooling mama to 6 great kids

[Guest bookwormmama]

For beginning readers I use Ordinary Parent's Guide and SL Fun Tales readers (not their LA readers only).

 

-I have considered getting OPG for my up and coming kindergartener and my now 6 year old who is HATING Sonlight LAK and balks at any and all phonics instruction. How does OPG work?

 

Thanks for this suggestion!

[Annabel Lee]

OPG works for K through the middle of 1st grade. It starts at the very beginning, introducing short vowel sounds. Day 1 is /a/ as in apple, with a cute rhyme that you and your child say together, and your child repeats back to you. Day 2 is the next vowel, same process, but you review day 1's material as well by adding day 2's letter to the rhyme after day 1's. Am I even making any sense? Let me just go get my book...

 

Ok... day 1 is Aa. Day 2 is Ee. The complete rhyme you chant w/ your child on day 2 is: "A is the first vowel we will say. /a/ is the short-vowel sound of a. E is the next vowel, dont' you see? /e/ is the short-vowel sound of e." So on day 3, you would review/repeat all this plus the lines of the rhyme for the next, new vowel. There are follow-up suggestions for use later in the day to help jog the child's memory, and games as well.

 

By lesson 6, introduction of consonant sounds begins. There is a rhyme for every consonant, which builds line by line for every letter added like with the vowels. OPG is intended to be a lesson a day and has 231 lessons.

 

After all consonants are learned, Section 3 (beginning on lesson 27) is words w/ short vowel sounds, some sight words (the, of, is, I, a), the qu sound, etc. Section 4 (beginning on less. 41) starts two-consonant blends. Section 5 is Consonant Digraphs, section 6 is Three-consonant Beginning Blends, and so on. Long Vowel, Silent-E words start in section 7 on lesson 65.

 

For the digraph /ph/, my 5-yr old read these words from the OPG book to me: photograph, telephone, alphabet, physical...

 

When I first perused through the book I thought "these words look too hard for a K'er", but it really does teach the skills needed to read them.

 

 

As for LA using FLL (grammar) & WWE (writing skill), what I've been using with those for my 2nd grader is this:

Penmanship: Abeka Writing w/ Phonics 2 manuscript to cursive (since we started w/ Abeka when he was 5)

Spelling: AAS

Reading: a) Assigned Chapter Books reading time - challenging reading, no twaddle, meant to stretch his reading level. I choose books from many classical curric's catalogs and websites, such as VP, SL, WTM lists, AO, etc. b) Free Reading time - he can read whatever he wants as long as I don't have any qualms about the content.

 

I wish it were all more integrated and cohesive. It does feel a bit choppy and each LA part isolated. He is learning though.

[Guest bookwormmama]

artic mom, thanks so much this is very helpful!!

 

Would you use this program with a 1st grader who is doing Sonlight LA1 and is using the I Can Read It books or would you skip that? I feel like my son could use some help in phonics... I feel like the LA program we have been using didn't teach a lot of the phonics rules as I would have liked...

 

Thanks so much!

[laurad1125]

We tried SL LA 1 and it just did not work for us. We've also tried LLATL - another no go. We're doing really well now in WWE & FFL. We also use AAS (we're about to move to level 2 after only a few months) and HWT.

 

Handwriting has always been a real issue for ds so extra handwriting was a requirement for us. If your 4th grader doesn't need extra writing practice, I wouldn't bother. And if you just want some extra practice you could do the dictation from FLL (which you're supposed to skip if you do WWE) Unless the 2nd grader was very confident in forming the letters I'd probably do HW with him/her.

 

For reading, I really wanted ds to have a thorough experience with lots of children's classics so we use A Reader's Guide K-12 from Classical Academic Press. http://classicalacademicpress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=36 Ds reads about 1 book a week from the list and narrates to me which I type for him.

 

This LA program is really working for us and ds is LEARNING the stuff. We're hitting this area hard as he's slightly below grade level. We're moving quickly through WWE2 and AAS and he's doing great. We do a lesson or 2 from each book 4 days a week. The plan is to have him on grade level by the end of next year and I'm confident with these choices we'll be able to get there.

 

I plan to follow these choices with my K'er next year with FLL 1, WWE 1, HWT K, and AAS in 2nd.

[Annabel Lee]

artic mom, thanks so much this is very helpful!!

 

Would you use this program with a 1st grader who is doing Sonlight LA1 and is using the I Can Read It books or would you skip that? I feel like my son could use some help in phonics... I feel like the LA program we have been using didn't teach a lot of the phonics rules as I would have liked...

 

Thanks so much!

 

You mean OPG, right? That would seem like alot of Language Arts! But then, I've never seen SL LA. You could tag OPG onto anything pretty easily since it's quick. I have the old I Can Read It book, the big all-in-one version. It seems to be similar in the scope of type of words ea. program provides for the child to read throughout and by the end of the book. OPG has daily scripted lessons for you to tell your child that the presented letters make a certain sound together. It is completely phonics-based, and I consider it a complete learn-to-read program. For extra pracitce, I use various readers I've accumulated over the years from Abeka, Bob books, etc.

Something I had to learn the hard way w/ my older son is that phonics rules are usually a bigger part of a spelling program (but not all). I use AAS to supplement and continue phonics reinforcement. Before this school year, I'd always used Abeka for LA, so this is all relatively new to me, too. My poor older ds is the guinea pig for curricula.

 

OPG doesn't take up alot of time. It's very to-the-point and no-frills (unlike some programs that have charts, memory cards, game cards, worksheets, and on and on), although it does have some games. You can get the magnet board & ABC magnets that PHP sells for it.

[Sara in WA]

For books to read, we are using the WWE book selections (in the workbook) for ideas. If my children haven't read the books, the sections are intriguing and they want to find out more. If they have read the books, the sections are fun to revisit great stories.

 

As for handwriting, we use the Zaner Bloser books. Next year my oldest won't do a book as she is great in cursive. So we'll see if copywork and narration provide enough. If she slips, I can just get the other books. I do like to add in handwriting practice so they can really concentrate on form, spacing and slant in handwriting and then concentrate on other things in the WWE/FLL times.

[Aurelia]

We've already started part of what I planned for next year, but we're planning to use FLL, AAS and WWE. I don't plan to add any handwriting instruction since Ariel already knows how to form all her letters. I just have her practice any letters that need work on a wipe-off letter practice book I got at Wal-Mart. I'm planning to use Sonlight's readers 2 list, plus any additional books we may have lying around.

[abbeyej]

We just read. I don't try to coordinate things to FLL or WWE in any way (though my kids have gone on to read some of the books excerpted in WWE, if they haven't read them before and enjoy the passages).

 

I only do "handwriting" to teach my children correct letter formation. After that, we use copywork (in part) to practice neat penmanship. My oldest did spend some time doing Spencerian workbooks, though initially he began with Getty-Dubay. My younger one has simply worked with modern manuscript and cursive, though I may at some point have her work on a little Spencerian as well. For the most part, I want them to learn proper technique, then hone it doing "real" copywork (rather than sentences about Arthur Aardvark who ate apples in an airplane and whatnot)...

[siloam]

What readers do you have your kids using to go along with this Language Arts program and do you use a separate handwriting program or is this all you use? We have been using Sonlight Language Arts and I am looking for something different for my soon to be 4th grader and 2nd grader. Their grammar and spelling leave much to be desired and I love narration, copywork, dictation, classical literature, etc.

 

Thanks and any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

Stephanie

Homeschooling mama to 6 great kids

 

Stephanie,

 

I went from SL to Classical Writing for LA. The models are generally not long enough to be considered readers. It does not skimp on grammar, though while I like the spelling done in the program I wouldn't consider it a mastery based like the writing and grammar components are. I use a separate spelling program with it.

 

TOG happens to have literature scheduled that equates to readers for us, but I believe there are quite a few literature programs out there you could use instead.

 

Heather

 

 

 

[LG Gone Wild]

-Where would you start a 4th grade for Handwriting Without Tears? My 3rd grader is starting cursive right now and we have tried Beginning Cursive from MFW and we have tried A Reason for Writing and she is hating both!

Ah...

 

Thanks so much for your input

Stephanie

Homeschooling mama to 6 great kids

 

SWB stresses dictation and copywork over creative writing. Creative writing is so hard when there is not enough familiarity with sentence writing.

 

HWT has workbooks by grade level. I suppose it depends on how many letters your child knows how to form. Then again, it wouldn't hurt to get the first HWT cursive book which I think is the Grade 3 level. There are also extra practice books.

[ariasmommy]

We are using WWE and FLL, and finishing up OPG as well. I use the Sonlight readers for independent reading, and Getty & Dubay italic for handwriting. We used the lists from the Natural Speller this year, but I'm considering switching to All About Spelling next year - read so many great things about it.:)