Early Elementary Language Arts Homeschool Curriculum through 3rd Grade

In my last post, I talked about math curriculum.  This post will discuss some curriculum that I use or have used for Early Elementary:  roughly preschool through 3rd grade for handwriting and language arts. 

I love teaching these grades because everything is new and exciting! I love to see light bulbs go off as they "get it."  I love to see their reading slowly improve until by 4th grade they read to themselves.

There is a lot of great curriculum out there for these early years.  I wish I had time to use more than I do.  I will caution you that there is also a lot of curriculum out there that is terrible for little people.  Curriculum that brings tears and squelches any love for learning that could be ignited in these precious, early years.   I won't name specifics, but steer clear of curriculum that brings tears. That causes small kids to "do school" past lunchtime. (that doesn't include the more fun hands-on stuff, or reading out loud, just any book-work type stuff.)  If their face looks like this you may want to re-think what you're doing.     

In my experience, actual sit down and do workbooks at this stage should be limited to no more than 1-2 hours.  Less (much less) for kindergarten.  Add a lot of reading out loud, fun hands on learning outside or in the kitchen, and let them guide you as to what they love and have a desire to learn as well.

For Handwriting, I have 2 that I like a lot:

• Handwriting Without Tears
• The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting

I'm currently using TGTB because I like that they build art into the curriculum, but if you have a child that doesn't enjoy art, then HWT might be a better choice.   Another good option is A Reason for Handwriting, especially for girls that like to color and send letters in the mail. 

Spelling:  Fun Fact:  I never teach spelling with a formal curriculum in the K-3rd grade range.  You can waste a lot of time teaching them to spell words that if you wait until their reading gets better, they will just KNOW how to spell....so trust me on this one....hold off on spelling until later!!

Phonics/Learning to Read:
In Preschool, I typically like to "do school" as they ask to be like the "big kids." 
Some books that I've used and really like are:

• Horizons Preschool book 1 (only) *book 2 has too much writing for this age IMO so I don't buy it.  
• My First School Book (Handwriting without Tears)
• Explode the Code Primers: Get Ready Get Set Go for the Code
• Horizons Math K
• Sonlight Preschool Read Alouds  (I bought most of these books when my oldest kids were in preschool....you can, honestly, just get any great books and read aloud to them from the library...just be sure to include Bible, and a variety of books like fiction, science, social studies etc--this is usually their favorite time of the day).

Kindergarten Language Arts: 
**Treasure is starting Kindergarten in the fall and this is what she is currently working on**

• The Good and the Beautiful Handwriting (Link above)
• Explode the code books 1-3
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature Blue Book  (I have used this since 1998. It is just FUN.  Lots of hands on things.  Lot of tiny books they can start reading on their own right from the bat just like Bob Books).   I enjoy teaching it and they enjoy learning to read with it.   It does have handwriting built in, but I don't care for their style (Italic Handwriting) so we do skip that portion of it.   

1st Grade Language Arts:

• Explode the Code (roughly books 4-6...but honestly some kids go faster and some slower so I do books 1-7 total at their pace until they are done, usually by the end of 2nd grade.)
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature Red Book (This is a continuation of the Blue book...by the time they are done with the Red, they are pretty great readers)
• Abeka Language 1  (Okay, I'm honestly NOT an Abeka fan at all...but I do love their Language 1,2,3 workbooks...they are short, to the point and just work to reinforce what this age group needs..after 3rd grade though, I'm really really not a fan of their language arts)
• Good and the Beautiful Handwriting 1 

2nd Grade Language Arts:

• Explode the Code book 7 (or finish wherever they left off in 1st grade)
• Abeka Language 2
• Sonlight 2 Readers (Read out loud to me all the 2nd grade readers starting with the Beginners Bible)
• Good and the Beautiful Handwriting 2

3rd Grade Language Arts:
**This is Ransom's lineup for next year Language Arts**

• Good and the Beautiful Handwriting 3
• Abeka Language 3
• Sonlight 3 Readers (Reading out loud and transitioning to reading independently when they are pretty fluent readers...usually halfway through this year)
• Language Lessons for a Living Education book 3 (which replaces Explode the Code from last year) 

One other thing that I have seen good results with is the website Starfall.com   We use the free version, and they like to "play" with it in their free time.  My 6th child loved it so much, she accidentally taught herself to read on her own.  

Another one some of my kids have enjoyed for reading is:  https://www.teachyourmonstertoread.com/

To answer a few questions:

**I really don't teach spelling at these ages**

**It might seem weird to have more than one Language Arts curriculum most years.  I really like these combinations..and I feel the most important thing academically to accomplish in these early years is to create good readers.  To make them fluent and to enjoy reading as well.  So we focus pretty heavily on Language Arts in the first few years.  That said, our school is not long and tedious.  Most of these books can be accomplished in under 15 minutes each. We devote the most time to out loud reading from real (good)books, and not boring curriculum readers....and they all have seemed to enjoy snuggling on the couch and reading a good book to me.**

**I think reading aloud to your kids is very important.  I try to do this when I can, and I typically choose good books from our home library.  If you need some ideas, check out the catalogs from curriculum like Sonlight,  Heart of Dakota  or My Father's World.  They all have great selections of good literature ideas. 

I firmly believe that Christians need to be some of the best communicators both with written and oral communication.  How else can we share the Good News of Jesus?   In our homeschool, we tend to make Language Arts a priority for that reason.  

Homeschool Curriculum Review: Math

Hi Fellow Homeschoolers!
I was recently asked to discuss what we are currently using and loving for our homeschool curriculum.   I thought I'd start with math....cause math is just wonderful.  =) 

 Over the last 20+ years that I've been perusing and using homeschool curriculum, I've tried MANY different math curricula.
The list that we have tried at one time or another is extensive:

• Singapore Math
• Abeka Math
• Horizons Math
• Teaching Textbooks 
• Math Lessons for a Living Education 
• Mathematical Reasoning (Critical Thinking Press)
• ALEKS
• Life of Fred
• Principles of Mathematics (Master Books) 
• Math-U-See

And many I've looked at and decided wasn't a good fit for our family...which includes practically all that wasn't mentioned above.  (I'm a curriculum junkie!)  =)
Sometimes a great curriculum for one student is just not a great fit for the next so I've had to ditch a great curriculum for a time to fit a different learning style. (One of the biggest reasons I LOVE homeschooling!!)

Our current math that is working the best for us in this season is:

Pre-K: Horizons Math K
Kindergarten: Horizons Math 1
1st: Horizons Math 2

2nd: Math Lessons for a Living Education 3
3rd: Math Lessons for a Living Education 4
4th: Math Lessons for a Living Education 5
5th: Math Lessons for a Living Education 6

6th: Principles of Mathematics 1
7th: Principles of Mathematics 2

8th: Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1
9th: Teaching Textbooks Geometry
10th: Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2
11th: Dual Credit Math: Either College Algebra or College Mathematics depending on the student

12th: Math U See Stewardship (to make sure all the practical math has been covered for life--I just have them read through it and do any problems they aren't knowledgeable about)

Let me explain a few things that I can already hear questions about.

**I've found that all of my 4 year olds have been ready for kindergarten math and excited to start school to be like the big kids. So we usually finish kindergarten math a year early.

**I really love Math Lessons for a Living Education (MLFLE)  but not levels 1-2. I felt like it was too much writing/copywork for kids too young to have great fine motor skills....so we use Horizons through 2nd grade. Which is perfect because starting in grade 3, I feel like Horizons uses "drill and kill."  Way too many problems to easily overwhelm the average 8 year old.

**MLFLE and Principles of Mathematics are both published by Master books so they flow well into each other

**Overall I love Teaching Textbooks for High school.  It has a lot of repetition and explains concepts sometimes overboard. Each problem is worked out entirely so students are easily able to do this on their own.   On the flip side, Teaching Textbooks can be very frustrating for a student that is a natural at math and loves it.  They explain and re explain. Most kids love that. My student who is a very fast learner at math did not like that at all.

**If a student just loves higher math and/or wants to go into a STEM field that requires Calculus, I honestly feel that Life of Fred is the most rigorous and best preparation for math nerds.   It goes way deeper and wider than pretty much any other math out there. It explains so much of WHY something is done that math nerds relish!  So for that kind of student, I would start Fred in Pre Algebra or Beginning Algebra.

**While I love the Life of Fred Elementary, for us it wasn't enough work as a stand alone curriculum until about 5th grade. It's plenty enough starting at 5th grade and do recommend it for advanced kids around that age as a great option.

So that is what is currently working in our school right now.  There is not really a wrong choice though. If what you are using is working and not causing stress or tears in you or your kids, then stick with it!!!  If math is stressful or brings tears, then I'd recommend switching curriculum even if you are only a month into it.   We had to do that when we tried Abeka....it's just too much "drill and kill."   We want math to be fun (as much as possible anyway).   What works for 1 or 2 students might not work for a houseful of students and vice versa.  You know your children's learning style, how you like to teach, and what season you're in. Nobody is better at making curriculum decisions for your family than YOU are!  So don't feel you need to fit into anybody's mold.  I'm only sharing what is currently working with us to give people ideas.  Happy Homeschooling!

Teach Them Diligently Opryland Homeschool Convention

I had the opportunity to go to the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool convention again this year in Nashville at Opryland.  My husband and I enjoy going and always come away encouraged.  This year we also brought our daughters and a friend.       If you homeschool and have not been to a convention, I highly recommend Teach Them Diligently!!!!

The highlight for me is always the exhibit hall.  There is nothing like the biggest room you've ever seen full of exciting books that interest you.  It makes my heart race a little just thinking about it. Perusing the books and curriculum is always great to get ideas from and make decisions for curriculum for the new school year.   

This year, I took time out to go to 3 sessions as well.  To give you an idea of what the convention is like....at any given moment you can choose from TWENTY possible sessions to attend that are going on simultaneously all over the Opryland Convention Center.  Every hour there are 20 NEW sessions.  Whew. 

This year, I went to a session by Kevin Sorbo, Hollywood actor (Hercules/God's Not Dead), director, producer.   His talk was called "Fame, Family and Faith." He talked about the costs of being vocal in his faith in the secular world of Hollywood.  He is a very outspoken Christian and homeschool dad of 3 as well. 

The next session was by Ann Dunagan titled, "Training Girls to be Mission-Minded Women."  She encouraged homescoolers to not just let their girls sit like pretty princesses but to be warriors for Christ....reaching a lost world and focusing on the women, children, orphans and other needs that women tend to have more of a heart for than men do.  Their family has visited 116 countries with the gospel...so they are living what she teaches.  She gave a lot of examples of how they have incorporated their entire family in missions/evangelism/church planting.   

The 3rd session was by Israel Wayne entitled, "How not to Educate (like a heathen)."  He explained the Biblical view of education vs the cultural view. He showed that we need a family mission statement.  His is, "Know, love and serve God and to love and serve others."  He says every area of our lives need to be focused on this one mission.  Education is no exception.   He described our life as a piece of pie.  As Christians, our spiritual life is the foundation of the whole pie.   When we "cut" into our life, pieces like education, money, friends, entertainment etc...should all point towards God and our mission as a Christian.  Just like a blueberry pie...every piece is full of blueberries, so every area of our lives should reflect Christ. 

He also talked about how far from Christian roots American education has moved.  He showed a Harvard College Mission statement from 1636.  Wow..has it changed a lot!!!

I wish I had time to go to more sessions. Every one impacted me in a new way!

Thankful for this time to be encouraged to press on, to re-align my goals again and to be excited for a new homeschool year coming up!  

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 

 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?"