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Alison
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| Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 1:52am | IP Logged
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Michael Clay Thompson's language arts series:Wondering if people who used this series could share their thoughts. It looks very different from other language arts series but also very interesting!
thanks
Alison
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amyable
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| Posted: Jan 06 2010 at 7:26am | IP Logged
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Well, we have only been using it a little over month, but I am loving it so far. It seems challenging, but in a fun way (with little stories, etc - at least in the level we are on). So far it's a very "sit on the couch and talk about language" kind of series.
Hmmm, well, my kids just sat down to do school with me and I can't think of anything to say  -- is there anything in particular you were wondering? 
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of 
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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margot helene
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| Posted: Jan 08 2010 at 8:29am | IP Logged
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WOW - I just came upon his stuff through another reference and I am really impressed with it. I just about cried when I saw that his 4-part analysis of the sentence is what I "came up with" for Lingua Mater 8, thinking I had discovered it HAHA. (Except I had the students write the 4 lines above the sentence and he has then write it below.) I had thought about it for two years before putting it together and then, gee whiz, there it is in a beautifully crafted integrated program. Sigh!
The recommended program does just grammar the first quarter and then vocab and then writing. I think perhaps the grammar would be a good supplement for PLL and ILL, however, his promotion of academic writing over other kinds of more informal writing gives me pause. He says that in high school and college, no one is asked to turn papers in that are "journal entries" or short stories, so his writing program focuses on academic writing. Well, I still think it's important for a child's imagination AND his writing skills to do creative writing, or writing that he/she is interested in. He does build from sentences to paragraphs to essays as the years progress in the elementary level, so it's not like a 3rd grader is being asked to write an expository essay, but I think good academic writing is based on a wide palette of descriptive and creative invention.
Anyway, I think it's well worth checking out . . . and not just for "gifted" students as his website promotes.
Margot
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amyable
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| Posted: Jan 08 2010 at 10:23am | IP Logged
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margot helene wrote:
Anyway, I think it's well worth checking out . . . and not just for "gifted" students as his website promotes.
Margot |
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Yes, I definitely wouldn't call the two I'm using it with "gifted"  Although I think their 6yo sister is, as she is listening in to their level and absorbing much! (among other things) They do have a decent vocabulary, however, which I believed served them well as I will explain below.
I just came on to say that we finished the Grammar Town book today. We had a busy morning and I wasn't planning on doing it, but they asked and said "You even skipped it yesterday Mom, let's do two days worth."  That means SO much to me to hear - my children don't often request work!
Now, it IS a huge amount of information packed into a little space for children who have not had extensive grammar study, and sometimes my children feel like their brain is full pretty quickly. But MCT tries to make it clear that Grammar Town (and the other grammar books that are used in the beginning of a level) are introductions - they are to be read and studied, but the real absorption into their brains will come with the practice books, and the other books (writing, poetry, etc) that all tend to reinforce each other. The practice books aren't like tests -- "Here, take this and let's see how little you remember!" --you can continue to teach and remind by doing many practice sentences with them. I know I will learn, and re-learn, right along with them, because right now I couldn't tell you the difference between a gerund and a verbal (or even what they ARE  ) even though we just learned about them a few days ago. It's OK. 
I will say that the stories and examples in the grammar program often have high level vocabulary. My kids do ask for clarification on a regular basis, but it doesn't seem to bother them. Also the stories about "Grammar Town" can take awhile to figure out what he is getting at. Each story is used to illustrate something that was just taught, but it's not always super clear to my tired brain at first, like the two groups of people, one who talked only about the subject of an event and the others who talked only about the predicate . Joining the MCT language arts yahoo group is helpful.
I think I've babbled on enough for someone who has only done one book of the program. I'll check back in in a month or so to tell you how the poetry, writing, and vocabulary books are going and how they all fit together!
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Amy
mom of 5, ages 6-16, and happy wife of
The Highly Sensitive Homeschooler
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Michael Clay Thompson's language arts
