Looking ahead in Language Arts

I've been looking for a new language arts program. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE Logic of English.  But soon my kiddoes will be through the programs. So I decided to start searching for our "next step."

One of the best things about LoE has been that it covers all of language arts: reading, writing, literature, handwriting, grammar, vocabulary, phonics, and of course spelling.  It is great to have all those bases covered for now, and it would be amazing to find another single program to do it all again.  I am still on the lookout for that perfect program to combine all that and not be prohibitively expensive.  But in the meantime, I'll be piecing together what I know, what I have, and what I feel can give us a simple but thorough approach.

I know I will continue to use the tools from LoE to practice phonograms and probably move on to the advanced ones to give my kiddoes a good base, coupled with review work on spelling rules.  So, my primary focus has been on finding something to cover the other areas of LA like literature, grammar, and writing.

I've decided to jump in with both feet and try out Language Lessons Through Literature for our primary curriculum.  This will determine our readings, grammar practice, copywork, and additional narrations.  It even includes some picture study for a little bit of art appreciation, which has certainly been missing from our schooling.

We'll be coordinating our language arts work with our read-alouds.  LLTL covers one grammar concept at a time using examples and practices from those readings.  The kiddoes will also need to begin doing oral narrations based on fables as well as some from the picture studies.  LLTL also includes a daily copywork or dictation assignment from those readings and narrations.  It does a very nice job of tying all the learning to the literature selections, which I really appreciate (and those selections are all public domain books, which keeps the expenses down).  This allows the kiddoes to see grammar and literature elements in their actual reading, rather than random exercises, so they can more easily connect them to something real.

Copywork and dictation are the basis for writing in LLTL, and should be plenty for the boys.  I'm still looking for something to add in a little more structured writing work for Athena.  I may just choose one concept (outlining, introductions, etc) to work on and assign a monthly project (a la BraveWriter), rather than trying to find another full program to add in, although this is definitely up in the air (I'm having a lot of fun researching programs, even though I still haven't found one I want to use).

We'll continue with our poetry and hot cocoa days, since the kiddoes love those, but LLTL also includes a poem to read with each lesson.  If they don't enjoy having it as part of their daily work, we can always skip it; and I'll make sure to read those poems during our usual poetry time. :)

The best part of LLTL, for me, is that I can begin to add it in now.  The program is laid out for only 3 days a week and can be very flexible.  I have been meaning to give the boys the chance to slow down in their progression through LoE Foundations, and this should be a good way to substitute a day or two a week and still be doing something worthwhile.  A gentle introduction to grammar and an increase in their writing awareness should be just the ticket to keep everyone working without getting burnt out.

--Little Miss Crazy

Calendar building

Right after we celebrated New Years, the kiddoes felt very interested in keeping track of the passage of time (another happy outcome of making resolutions and plans for the entire coming year).  I jumped on this frame of mind and pulled out some resources I've been holding onto .

The kiddoes (well Athena and Goblin anyway) built their own calendars that they plan to use to keep track of the days.  They have had calendars before but still always get lost during the weeks, since they have very little desire to pay attention to the days and months passing.  This time, since they have made their own personal calendars together, I am hoping they will feel more motivated and hopefully keep one another in check (everyone likes to show they're just as good or better than their siblings).

Goblin only made the first two months for his calendar (January and February), but he has been doing a pretty good job of marking off days as we go through the month.  Some nights he forgets, but usually he is very excited to cross out each day when he goes to bed.

Athena made the full year's worth of calendar pages along with fun holiday decorations.  She hasn't been crossing off the days, but she does tell me what day it is when she wakes up in the mornings usually.
 

Although Hulk said he wanted to make a calendar too, he never got around to it.  He was too busy reading Ten Apples Up on Top!.  And I can't say I'm unhappy about that distraction, though. :)

--Little Miss Crazy

Copywork

I started having Athena do copywork initially to work on her handwriting.  She just started writing in cursive last summer, so she is still working on getting many of the more challenging letters formed properly (especially capitals).  I don't insist on perfection, but I do insist that her work be legible, and I do insist that ALL her schoolwork be done in cursive.

Copywork has become a fun way to introduce enjoyable and thought-provoking quotes and literary snippets into Athena's week.  Or to draw attention to something from a read-aloud or other book we're using.  Sometimes we discuss what she copies and sometimes they are never mentioned again, but it is nice to know that she has been exposed to them in one form or another.

At the beginning, this process was drudgery for her; she would try to rush through and, inevitably, her work would be sloppy so she would have to fix it.  But now she does not mind it.  It certainly isn't her favorite daily work, but she likes to show off when she makes a particularly good letter or word.  She's starting to show pride in her writing instead of hustling through it and not worrying if anyone else can understand it.  Definitely a change for the better.

--Little Miss Crazy

Moving on into LoE

I mentioned in a previous post that I was very excited about the plans for the boys' language arts starting after we finished up our letter-of-the-week curriculum.  Well, the time has finally come to get started on something new; we have now officially started on our Logic of English curricula!

Originally, I planned to start both Hulk and Goblin into the Foundations program, but since that plan was made months ago, I now realize that Foundations A (which is the only part currently able to be purchased-- I did not find this curricula early enough to get involved in the Beta) is far too easy for Hulk.  He is very motivated and many reading milestones have already flown right by, much faster than I anticipated from my years of tutoring.  So instead of my original plan, Goblin started out in Foundations A and Hulk started into the Essentials curriculum instead.

Foundations is a great fit for Goblin; whenever it seems like he is getting bored or tired, we switch to a new section of the lesson and his interest is regenerated.  Or we come to an active exercise, such as acting out the words after I sound them out (which he always loves).  We work through one lesson each day, covering all the sections.  Sometimes we make it though in one sitting, and sometimes we need a break or two to get little-boy-jumpiness out, but we do complete a full lesson each day.  Goblin's fine motor skills are not yet prepared for writing on paper, so for the handwriting section, we use the tactile letters, sometimes use the whiteboard (mostly for visualizing and for my examples), and write in the air with fingers.  I love that he can begin learning the steps for the letters without needing to put pencil to paper.

I bought the Essentials curriculum to use with Athena next year, which makes it seem like it would be a little advanced for Hulk, but it is actually quite versatile.  Before Foundations was due to be released, I was thinking of starting the boys both into Essentials at a slow and easy pace.  They already have possible schedules laid out for both younger ones learning to read and older ones needing remedial help (and even ESL students and adults).  We're going through one lesson per week, skipping the dictation and composition sections (at least until Hulk's handwriting is ready for constant use).  Hulk is also following the handwriting sections from Foundations at an accelerated pace, generally learning a new letter each day.

I should probably mention that the boys are learning cursive.  These programs do give a choice of cursive or manuscript, but suggest cursive first, which falls in line with my plans.  I chose not to include any handwriting with the letter-of-the-week curriculum because the boys' fine motor skills were not ready for handwriting.  They do sometimes choose to write block letters, but I don't require it or encourage it for school work.  Any written work that Hulk and Goblin have completed up to this point, they explained to me and I wrote out for them.

I am so excited by the progress I already see from Hulk and Goblin in their new curricula.  These programs are teacher-intensive, but right now we are getting into a good routine which should make it easier, and I truly believe this is the best move for us.  I cannot wait to see what is coming as we continue through these programs.

--Little Miss Crazy

Letter of the Week

Hulk and Goblin are following my variation on the popular "Letter of the Week" curriculum this year.  It's a work in progress, getting a little more finished as time goes on.  Of course, now that I feel pretty solid in how it's working overall, I want to change to something else. (Such is my habit.)  We will be sticking with it, right up to Z, but I am very excited for what's in the works after we finish.

Our primary goal for this program has been matching letters with their sounds.  I have only been using the primary/ most common sound for each letter, which makes this incomplete, but I think it has still been very successful in starting both boys on their road to reading.  Hulk is already reading words with short vowels very well, even ones with blends, which makes me feel like we have been making some significant progress.

In my opinion, the letter crafts are what make the LotW curriculum so fun and so appealing.  We make one uppercase letter craft and one lowercase letter craft each week based on the most common sound for each letter.  The boys really enjoy this, and after we finish them, they go up on the wall, so the boys can use them as a reference for how the letters look and sound in the future.  Most of our ideas have come from other blogs and websites but there have been a few I have come up with myself, since choices are limited based on my pickiness.

We also use quite a few paper resources.  I did not want to work on writing with the boys yet at all, which challenged me to find pages that I like. Hulk adores worksheets, so I wanted to give him a good variety without including the "print the letter so many times" pages that are so prevalent.  I found quite a few that we have really enjoyed around the internet for free (or very very little).  A bunch come from education.com, but many also come from other homeschooling blogs.  We do mazes, dot-to-dots, letter hunts, coloring, circle/match the sounds, etc.

We also do some simple activities each week.  I task them to find items around the house that begin with the letter of the week.  (Not including the first few weeks) we read a group of short words.  We play with Alphie's letter cards.  We watch old Sesame Street songs and skits on youtube.  We sing songs.  They play Boggle Jr and build words for the pictures.  Usually the boys come up with plenty of ideas of their own, so we go off on little tangents.  Each week is different and most of the time, the boys are asking for "more school;" it doesn't get much better than that.

--Little Miss Crazy

Some great links for Letter of the Week resources:

education.com 

Confessions of a Homeschooler 

No Time for Flashcards 

Totally Tots

1+1+1=1 

Spell Out Loud

Ultimate Alphabet Craft Collection

Poetry and Hot Cocoa

During our first couple months or so, I was lucky to get through basic Math and Language Arts with the kiddoes, throwing in a little History or Science a few times a week.  Most of the things we are doing this year are workbook based, since Athena is used to that format and Hulk LOVES worksheets (Goblin doesn't have much of an opinion one way or the other).  Even though I did my best to make sure the basics were as simple to cover initially as possible, I still felt exhausted by the end of each day.  I was wondering how we were ever going to work up to having time for the fun "extra" stuff when we were already having so much trouble with the basics.

Then came a Wednesday morning when I was tired and grouchy and didn't want to face the day.  I called off school and decided we would just have to make it up another time (this was the first good choice I made that day-- having the ability to make our own schedule was one of the biggest reasons we chose to homeschool, but it took a bad day to make me start implementing that thought into our regular daily life).  I sent the kids outside to play and started making myself some tea and settling into a good book.  I started thinking about how much nicer it was to relax with the written word than to deal with worksheets again when the idea finally rose out of the back of my head.

By the time the kids came inside, I had 3 cups of hot cocoa (to join my cup of tea), 3 bowls of animal crackers, and a small stack of poetry and nursery rhyme books all laid out on the table.  This was our first bi-monthly poetry time, and it went extraordinarily well.  The kids were thrilled and kept asking for "One more poem," and I realized that this was exactly what we needed.

After we finished our drinks and snacks and all the poetry my voice could handle for that day (I'm doing most of the reading), I called school back on, and we finished Math, Language Arts, and History with plenty of time to spare before dinner needed to be made.

Covering the basics ensures that the kids are getting educated, but it isn't the best education we can offer.  The extra stuff is the stuff that really matters in our days, and it makes them so much easier to last through.

I know poetry time is not my unique idea.  Honestly, I had probably read it from a blog or a forum many times before that cold Wednesday morning, but it clicked for me that day to put it into our life and our schedule.  Doing something a little different and making it special (I find the kids think it's much more fun if we lay out the tablecloth and they get to use "grown-up cups") is the perfect way to remind yourself of the fun you can have in your homeschool when you try.

--Little Miss Crazy

By the way, that IS a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth on top of the poetry books.  I included it so I could continue our daily read-aloud while they were enjoying their snacks before beginning the poetry.