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LisaC
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| Posted: Nov 26 2007 at 10:53am | IP Logged
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Help! I hope this isn't too much to ask, but I am overwhelmed with Language Arts Curriculum! Just when are we supposed to teach what? I guess I am just starting on my homeschooling adventure as my eldest is in first grade. This is what I have so far along with my questions, I would appreciate any help or insight whatsoever. Also, just because I mention a book or program doesn’t mean I have personal experience with them beyond reviews and recommendations.
Penmanship/Handwriting – Teaching manuscript from pre-K to first grade, transition to cursive in 2nd grade. How long do you ‘teach’ cursive, i.e., when do you discontinue handwriting exercises? When do you start typing? (I know, too early to consider now, but for future reference...)
Literature – So far I have been reading aloud some great children’s literature (Dr. Doolittle, Book of Heroes by Charles Kingsley and now The Children’s Homer by Colum) and having my son narrate two days a week. I suppose this counts for some composition at this age, as well as reading comprehension.
Reading for fun – My son reads a variety of easy reader stories, sometimes they are related to a subject we are studying, science, history or geography. I don’t require anything from him regarding these but that he read often.
Poetry – We are doing a couple of poems this year from The Harp and Laurel Wreath for memorization and recitation. I write them out nicely, he reads, recites and illustrates.
Regarding Literature, Poetry and Reading: When do you start any type of book reports? When do you start looking at literature critically, i.e., analyzing for character, plot, etc. Likewise for poetry analysis? (I know this is jumping the gun, but I’m just curious for future reference.)
Spelling and Vocabulary – We are currently doing MCP Spelling Workout A and will progress to B in a couple of weeks. Along with spelling exercises, the MCP program requires some brief ‘creative writing’. During these assignments I notice his grammar and turn of phrase aren’t always correct. Should I correct him at this time? Regarding vocabulary studies, I am considering starting with Wordly Wise in the 2nd grade while continuing to use Spelling Workout simultaneously. Question – is this a duplication of efforts? Should I do just the spelling or just the vocabulary or is both okay?
Phonics/Grammar – We are finishing up our phonics and planning on starting with English 1 for Young Catholics this year. For 2nd grade we are thinking of using Primary Language Lessons. After that, I am planning on using the 1960’s Voyages in English for 3rd grade on up. I've also heard Mary Daly's diagramming is good, so we might throw that in when appropriate.
My question here concerns composition: Currently we are doing some copywork that doubles as penmanship practice, then there's the Spelling Workout writing exercises, but when do you start teaching how to write/compose? That is, organizing and outlining and presenting a story or report in a cohesive manner? Is this something that would be adequately accomplished by Primary Language Lessons and then Voyages?
Note: Latin – We are slowly working on Prima Latina and will continue with Latina Christiana when ready.
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mariB
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 4:38am | IP Logged
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Wow! You are doing a lot! Great job. I don't think you need to worry about composition too much just yet. I usually just have our kids this age tell back or narrate a story we have just read. If you want him to compose his own you could have him dictate it to you and later have him illustrate it.
Since you have Harp Laurel Wreath(which I love using too), you have a treasury of poetry! I rarely use a vocabulary book if I'm using a spelling book. And since you read a lot, he is getting his vocabulary right there. Also, if you are doing Latin then he is getting vocab there too.
You have a very complete language arts program and I wouldn't worry about analysis until a lot later(6th or 7th grade).
One of my favorite authors, Jane Austen, learned to write so beautifully from reading the classics. It seems so hard to believe but I see the fruits of it in my very own children.
Blessings to you. This is just my 2 cents, but I wanted to tell you that you are doing great and not to worry.
Blessings,
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marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
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LisaC
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 7:29am | IP Logged
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mariB wrote:
| I rarely use a vocabulary book if I'm using a spelling book. And since you read a lot, he is getting his vocabulary right there. Also, if you are doing Latin then he is getting vocab there too. |
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Mari,
Thank you for your encouragement and information. I agree with you, at this age with the reading and spelling he does seem to be getting a lot of vocab, and we try to go over words he doesn't know. I might just look over Wordly Wise at the next conference to see if it would be helpful.
Quote:
| You have a very complete language arts program and I wouldn't worry about analysis until a lot later(6th or 7th grade). |
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Okay, analysis not until 6th/7th. What about book reports or other reports/research papers? Problem is I just can't remember when I did all these things in grade school! I know this is looking forward beyond 1st-2nd grade but I'm hoping that they are all covered by a
grammar program like Voyages?
Quote:
| One of my favorite authors, Jane Austen, learned to write so beautifully from reading the classics. It seems so hard to believe but I see the fruits of it in my very own children. |
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Jane is one of my very favorite authors too!  I have one more novel of hers yet to read, Mansfield Park. Too bad I only have boys who may never share my enthusiasm about her work!
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vmalott
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 8:07am | IP Logged
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This is my own personal opinion, as I really dislike the whole idea of "book reports" as we were assigned them in school. 
If you are starting your child on the road early with narration, then you are off to a great start. Oral narration is retelling the story. Once the child is old enough to transition to written narrations, these, I feel, take the place of the notion of book reports.
Of course, when to transition a child to written narration is wide open. Some wait until the child has gotten good control over a pencil and has some basic grammar under his belt. Others have a student type the narration. Still others do a combination of both.
Personally, I've waited until about 6th/7th grade to require a written narration. It's like pulling teeth w/my 6th grader (ds), so he usually works on the computer to get his thoughts down. It's very natural to the 7th grader (dd), and she is now gradually working her narrations into a more formal essay format.
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| when do you start teaching how to write/compose? That is, organizing and outlining and presenting a story or report in a cohesive manner? Is this something that would be adequately accomplished by Primary Language Lessons and then Voyages? |
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As far as these things being taught in a program...I would venture to guess that Voyages introduces them probably sometime in the middle school years. PLL, from my memory, is really gentle, basic grammar, though the sequel, Intermediate Language Lessons, may have a composition section later in the book. It seems that most curricula I've looked at covers formal essays in around Jr. High. Here are two examples: Seton's Composition For Young Catholics (8th Grade) and CHC's Language of God E (6th grade).
Valerie
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Valerie
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ALmom
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| Posted: Nov 27 2007 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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Voyages introduces writing in a way, but I doubt it would be helpful to a child who has done a lot of narrations. It is very dry and uninspiring and all my dc hated it. We dropped VIE with all of our children pretty early on - esp. for writing.
I think that you will find that you will know when to do something more or differently. One thing I've noticed is a sort of catch 22. You want the children to develop the fine motor needed for writing and to not have fear of it but some of this involves writing regularly. It is a sort of delicate balance as you don't want to push and make it a tooth and nail kind of thing, but you do want to encourage. I think keeping more informal till 6th grade or so is important.
However, I recall writing all kinds of things from very, very early on - more in a creative bent. So we wrote out how to do things. We wrote notes and little stories. I'm not sure anyone sat down and taught us any kind of formula - but we bound these books and such. I only remember compliments on what was good and help with editing. We did this with our oldest. She wrote little stories for her siblings and once she had begun doing that regularly (not assigned just started doing it), she seemed interested and we did a couple of Written and Illustrated by things. (We entered the "competition" mostly to keep me on track with helping her edit, bind, etc.) She got wonderful feedback from family and friends and even a letter back from the Written and Illustrated by ... organization. It was involved and we never did more than one of these in a year (and when I had more children it just was too hard to do this regularly) The first one she did was around 1st grade - but it was all dictation to me (ie oral narration that I wrote/typed for her) and then she illustrated and we bound the book together, complete with dust jacket and picture of the author. Somehow the act of taking her oral narration and making it into a beautiful final product was very inspiring. She continued to do things like this on her own. We taught a formal way to write in content area around 6th grade but it really didn't become easy until high school. (It might have been easier if we had done some narration with content area instead of just all creative writing).
Janet
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LisaC
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| Posted: Nov 28 2007 at 10:20am | IP Logged
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vmalott wrote:
| Oral narration is retelling the story. Once the child is old enough to transition to written narrations, these, I feel, take the place of the notion of book reports. |
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Good point, that makes sense about narrations vs. book reports. And thanks for the info on CHC and Seton. Whew! Looks like I have a lot of time before formal composition.
Janet wrote:
So we wrote out how to do things. We wrote notes and little stories. I'm not sure anyone sat down and taught us any kind of formula - but we bound these books and such.
Somehow the act of taking her oral narration and making it into a beautiful final product was very inspiring. She continued to do things like this on her own.
(It might have been easier if we had done some narration with content area instead of just all creative writing). |
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Since I won't worry about starting any formal composition until 6th/7th, in the meantime these are great writing ideas! He does do some writing on his own, but these are wonderful ideas to encourage his efforts, even in the content areas. Thanks so much for your insight ladies!
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Nina
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| Posted: Nov 30 2007 at 5:31pm | IP Logged
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I also agree about the book reports.I have read somewhere that teachers would require them for the purpose to make sure the student read the book.As regards to my 1st grader,we use the Scott Foresman grammar series.I love it.It combines grammar and writing.I only wish that I could find an answer key;it would make grading the 6th grade a little faster. 
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JuliaT
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It is hard to say when to start subjects because each child is different. The subject timeline for my dd is totally different than it will be for my ds because he is not at all ready for anything resembling language arts (he would rather not do any handwriting but I am making him do this.)
I did spelling and grammar with my dd when she was in Gr. 1. I wish now that I had waited until she was older. With all of the spelling work that we did, dd could not spell to save her life. I was so discouraged. I thought either I was a bad teacher or my dd had a learning disability :) She is now in Gr. 3. We are doing the Mr. Grinch lapbook this week. I have been noticing that her spelling is coming along Quite nicely. So I guess it all boiled down to maturity.
As a result of this experience, I will not do spelling or grammar until my ds is at least in Gr. 3. We might do some basic grammar, but it will be in the context of our read alouds, not a formal program.
In regards to narration, again, I think it depends on your child. My dd writes her narrations out. She gives me her narration, I write it out. Then we go over it and edit all of the 'so then's' and any other grammar mistakes. I write it out again and then she copies it out. This takes time, but she likes to doing it this way and I think it is teaching her some editing skills. I don't intend on doing this with ds until he is much older.
The timeline will probably be all different for my youngest when it is her turn. But I'm okay with that. I would rather do it when they are ready rather than start something that they can't handle.
Julia
mom of 3 (8,6,4)
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Lang Art Curriculum 1st-2nd grade
