Hi! I'm new here and need some literature suggestions.

[iammommy]

I will be starting to homeschool my 9 year old ds (in 4th grade) this week. I am pulling him out of a cyber school. I need some suggestions for a literature program that incorporates grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. DS is reading on grade level, in fact he's a very good reader, but does not enjoy reading looooong chapter books yet. :)

I prefer to err on the side of "easy" this year since he will be making the transition from "public school at home" to "homeschooling."

I've heard about Learning Language Through Literature, and Total Language Plus. Does anybody have experience with either of those? Or is there something better?

We're also using Horizons Math, The Story of US, and a combo of RS4K (chemistry Pre-level 1) and Creation Exploration (Astronomy). Any suggestions need not be bible based. Secular is fine.

Thanks in advance. You guys rock! This forum is wonderful!

Nan

[Nicoleeeee]

Hi! If you want some fun ways to teach your kid, maybe you should try this website beestar.org. My daughter is using it. She is 5 and loves online exercises very much. Beestar has some interesting exercises about math, English language art, vocabulary, science and so on. There are 2 exercises for every program per week. All of these exercises are systemic and arranged in the public school curriculum. It looks nice.:)
Nicole

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Nan:

I've been using LLATL for about 9 years now and it works well for us here. It is a complete program in that it teaches spelling, grammar, writing, literature, and other language arts components all in one book. But, we do supplement at different levels for certain subjects.

Here (http://www.commonsensepress.com/covers.htm) is where you can learn more about LLATL and see some sample lessons.

I start supplementing grammar with Ridgewood grammar starting in about 4th grade. Ridgewood is a straight forward grammar program with a lot of practice so it works well with LLATL where I feel that grammar is a little weak in the practice area until about 7th grade or so. But, that's us, you can do things differently.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have specifically about LLATL if you would like! You can pm me or just ask it here and I'll try to answer it.

[iammommy]

We just got our LLATL books today! We're using the 4th grade Orange ones. We're starting with The Boxcar Children.
Now, how do I go about arranging lessons? Does my ds read the whole novel and then start the Book section? The second activity is putting the story in chronological order, which of course he can't do until he's read the whole novel.
And how do I fit in the other language arts stuff? Do I just go in order, doing a few lessons each day? What is a reasonable amount of time to take per novel? There are 4 4th grade novels and I can't imagine this will take him all year.
Thanks for your help! I'm pretty confused at this point and need all the pointers I can get! LOL

Nan:001_huh: