language arts
" Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied. Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation. “ - Naom Chomsky
I can’t help but appreciate this quote by Naom Chomsky, an American professor of linguistics. He is also known as the father of modern linguistics. I never heard the term Language Arts until I started homeschooling, but it is such an apt title. As Mr. Chomsky says, there are rules and guidelines we need to know to use language correctly. Yet there is an element of creativity that allows us to apply our knowledge of the language in unique and inspiring ways. This is the Arts part of language, and you can interpret that any way you want.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN LANGUAGE ARTS?
Language Arts includes reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and literature. This can further include many things such as phonics, vocabulary, comprehension skills etc. Keep reading for more on how we do it and the curricula we use.
CURRICULA WE USE FOR LANGUAGE ARTS
Most links will take you to the program website. Some may be affiliate links.
We use Michael Clay Thompson by Royal Fireworks Publishers. Their first level is the Island Series and if you are committed, you should buy the whole set. They cover grammar, sentences, Latin Stems (my favorite), Poetry, and Literature. I absolutely love the sentence analysis workbook which provides four-level analysis practice for 100 sentences. I have a blog with more information on what you will gain out of this program. We are currently doing the Town Series which is the next level after Island.
I use this program as our core Language Arts program for my elementary kid.
All About Learning is the umbrella company of All About Spelling and All About Reading. It is an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum designed to provide explicit, multisensory, and sequential learning . In AAS, you will learn phonograms, spelling rules, application, and much more. They have 7 levels and the levels do not correlate with your grade. You can take a placement evaluation, to help you determine the right level for your child. They’re reading program – All About Reading will also teach phonograms while venturing into the world of decoding words with speed and accuracy.
Institute for Excellence in Writing
This program will teach your kid to write with style and structure, which is the name of their most popular writing program. We currently use All things Fun and Fascinating but will be moving on to their Theme- Based writing programs. Here’s the thing about IEW – your kid will never write the same again. They teach your child to write beyond their typical thought structure and outside their immediate vocabulary making their writing interesting and exciting to read
I love this program. When we first started writing with IEW, it did not excite my kid. The reason was that she was missing a few skills that were foundational to the writing process – summarizing, narration, dictation, and copy work. These are integral to the grammar stage of classical education.. The benefit of doing this is that your kid learns grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, and good writing.
A strong foundation in phonemic and phonological awareness has been quoted as a predictor of early reading success. We use Heggerty in our homeschool to teach these skills. What does phonemic awareness mean? It means your child can recognize the smallest possible sound (phoneme) in a word. With Heggerty, they can isolate it, replace it with another sound, blend several sounds, and add and delete sounds in words. When your child can identify phonemes, they can also tie them to the associated phonograms. This skill can only be built through explicit instruction.
I bought this program for my 2.5 year old and what a lovely program it is. This program is so simple and it is Christian based. It teaches Bible verses, introduces simple prayers, nursery rhymes, lots of reading and prompts to guide discussions with your kiddo. It also includes lots of activities – sensorial, motor, and there is a separate enrichment program if you ever want to add more.
This has been such a find find that I almost considered getting the next level for my 4 year old.
Learning without Tears is the umbrella company for this curriculum. In addition to handwriting, they offer other programs of which we also have the typing program which is a one year license that you can get for just $10.
I love the handwriting program because it offers a ‘less is more’ approach. You will not find sheets of handwriting practice in these books. What you will find is a methodology and sequence to writing each letter. It also teaches how certain letters evolve from a base shape. The purpose of knowing how to write letters correctly is to enable speed and efficiency in the writing process.
Building Writers (seen in picture) offers writing prompts that allow freestyle writing with short lessons on how to sequence and structure your ideas.
I have the Kindergarten LEVEL and wanted to start this program after my kid was ready to write and gain a little proficiency in reading. This is a grammar program. If you are looking for an open and go curriculum, this is it.
We just started this program and it is very simple to implement. It comes with a box with writing prompts that introduce different forms of writing.
It also comes with these large books that you can use in teaching the lessons to your child (The image clearly is not a reflection of the size of this book :-)). I will share more on this once we have had gotten through several lessons so watch out for a blog article in the future.
I had to share this one because it was a big part of our initial journey into homeschooling. We have used their programs to do Unit Studies in Botany, Zoology, Space, and Language Arts.
We moved away from this program mostly because there are a lot of better ELA programs than this one.
My middle child learned his letters and initial letter sounds with the Pre-K level and it is an engaging curriculum. This is the only level I would recommend from our perspective. I still use it for my youngest.
If you are looking for an open and go curriculum, that is easy to implement, this is an option. Also, their Language arts curriculum pdf version is available for free to download.
Fishtank learning is a non-profit organization that designs curriculum made available for free to schools and home educators. They have a paid service called Fishtank Plus that offers tools to enhance your ability to deliver the program.
Fishtank offers Language Arts and Math. I use these for the Language Arts program with my preschooler. They offer several units on different topics. You can’t go wrong picking a topic because they are all so interesting. I have done the Fall Unit with my kid this past Fall.
They list books that you will require to teach this course. You can purchase them or find them at your library.
Your kid will learn new vocabulary, comprehension, narration, and writing through their lessons.