What are some of your favorite resources for language arts for a 6yo?

[Kfamily]

Hi! What are some of your favorite resouces for a 6yo (kindergarten) who reads about 4th-5th consistently but still writes about 1st grade (not language skills but handwriting skills)?

Thanks for any suggestions!

[abbeyej]

Well, strangely enough, I've been very happy with FLL and WWE. What I like about both is the ability to telescope material and go as quickly as necessary. FLL doesn't require almost any writing skills, and by glancing quickly through upcoming lessons, you can do consolidate several lessons together and only cover what needs to be covered. The original FLL covers grades 1 and 2, so even if you move quickly, it should have about a year's worth of material.

The text for WWE has about 5-6 lessons (of 36) written out completely and scripted for each of the four levels. You can simply do those lessons and skip the intervening lessons (they include instructions on how to create your own following the pattern of the ones that are written out) if your child doesn't need all of the practice in the workbooks. Even with age-expected handwriting, you might find your child is able to breeze through level 1 and on into level 2 without spending a whole year on a level.

For grammar, I liked Calvert's 5th grade grammar course (available separately from the whole Calvert program). It's fairly no-frills, but it's written directly to the student and is largely self-correcting without ever speaking down to a student. A child who has done FLL1 and 2 could likely do it.

Junior Analytical Grammar is another interesting one, perhaps for when yours is more like 2nd grade age... It covers diagramming...

For spelling, I like Spelling Power because, again, it contains many grade levels in a single volume, so it's easier to speed ahead with a child whose pace outstrips most other materials. It has placement tests, and you can modify the study steps for a child who may not need all of the ones prescribed in the book. (One of my kids could easily handle SP at age 5 -- the other is probably only just getting to that point at 7... While she's a very strong reader, spelling has only recently begun to click consistently for her.)

But so much depends on what kind of child you have...

Really the best advice I can give is to be willing to adjust the way you *use* any decent curricular material. Be willing to jump ahead if you need to (and know that most of the time that will be fine, but if occasionally you need to take a step back and remediate some gap, that's okay too!). Be willing to "telescope" material in order to move more quickly.

[Kfamily]

Thanks abbeyej,

This is very helpful! I do have FLL and Spelling Power so I can pull that out and look it over.

One more question, please, I have Song School Latin I will be starting later this year and then I'm not sure where to go with latin. I'm considering Minimus. What do you think? Do you use latin to teach or reinforce grammar?

Thanks!

[WendyK]

My son just turned 7 (in Jan.). Currently we are using FLL (finishing up level 2 and soon onto level 3). We use Spelling Workout, Elson Readers, lots of reading, and Wordly Wise. Soon we plan to start Writing Strands. I have held off on an official writing program (such as Writing Strands) because of the physical difficultly with penmanship. DS does a lot of dictations, copywork, and narrations, but he groans and moans whenever he has to write stuff (for the penmanship reason). He is getting there though! We still do a lot of things orally.

[Mommy22alyns]

We are using FLL for grammar. We moved somewhat quickly through level 1 and are about halfway through level 2 right now. I've paused briefly for a little more practice on adjectives and adverbs.

We'll start WWE next "year" - in June/July. I'm going to start her at level 1 because I'm going to have her do narrations from listening to me read instead of her reading it herself. We need to get in a little more listening skills. :glare: We may move quickly through that level, I don't know. She could place into a higher level, but I don't want to rush her through the writing stages.

For handwriting, we're using New American Cursive via the Startwrite CD-ROM. I type out the moral of an Aesop's Fable and have her copy it in cursive. She "moans and groans," but loves to hear me read the fable while she writes.

She gets refinement in her print handwriting through spelling lessons (and copywork/dictation from FLL). We use AAS, level 2. There are phrases and sentences to dictate, and that gives her extra practice in neat printing. We went very quickly through level 1 of AAS, and her pace is still very quick in level 2. I'll slow down if we hit a speed bump, but she's a good natural speller.

ETA: I just caught your note on Song School Latin - we're using that at a very easy, relaxed, fun pace. Minimus is where I planned to go next year too, without the TM. We're just going to read through it. Right now, Latin reinforces grammar gently.

Hope that's helped some!

[Donna]

I like the Michael Clay Thompson language arts curriculum at Royal Fireworks Press. I used Grammar Island, Music of the Hemispheres, and Building Language this year with dd and just recently graduated to Sentence Island, Grammar Town, Caesar's English, and the next poetry book that I forget the name of. None of these requires much writing unless you decide to work writing into it. I am using Student Writing Intensive from IEW with dd now.

[Kfamily]

Amber, that does help-thank you! I have really liked the samples for WWE. I'll have to look at those again.
My dd loves to be read to but she wiggles a lot (:001_smile:) and she has to read along with me. She can't stand it if she can't read along. My dh worries that she wiggles too much while reading (her book as a result is moving a lot too). I chalk it up to just being little still. Does your dd do this too?



Donna, the MCT books look very interesting too. I like the idea that you can keep writing to a minimum. She enjoys writing but is only half-way through Italics B so I really want to keep my eye on her form still. We should be in C for 1st grade and I think we can put a little more in front of her by then.

[AnneC]

We also like WWE and FLL. At the moment though we are working through English for the Thoughtful Child. We're not having so much success with Spelling Power so we are using the word lists and I write a word two ways and she circles the correctly spelled word. She finds this much easier than trying to spell the words.

For Latin we are enjoying using Minimus.

[Kfamily]

I really like your idea on writing the word twice and letting her circle the correctly spelled one. I will keep that idea in mind.

Thanks!

[abbeyej]

One more question, please, I have Song School Latin I will be starting later this year and then I'm not sure where to go with latin. I'm considering Minimus. What do you think? Do you use latin to teach or reinforce grammar?

Yes, actually, we do. :)

After Minimus, you can do Minimus Secundus. An alternative to those two might be Lively Latin...

For middle grade students, I love Latin Prep from Galore Park. I think it's an excellent program, and depending on the level of preparation, a bright 8 or 9 year old can handle it...

[Mommy22alyns]

Amber, that does help-thank you! I have really liked the samples for WWE. I'll have to look at those again.
My dd loves to be read to but she wiggles a lot (:001_smile:) and she has to read along with me. She can't stand it if she can't read along. My dh worries that she wiggles too much while reading (her book as a result is moving a lot too). I chalk it up to just being little still. Does your dd do this too?



Becca is a wiggle worm, always has been. She tends to fidget or even multi-task while being read to, but she still retains the info, much to our surprise! If she's reading and "getting" what she's reading, I wouldn't worry too much about the wiggling. :) I should also say that she prefers to follow along with read-alouds too.

Donna, I'd love to see more about how you use the MCT materials. They've piqued my curiosity, but I'm still not sure exactly how they're used.

[Amber in AUS]

Yes, I'd love to see some more info on how to use MCT too. I have checked them out several times but it hasn't clicked with me.

[attachedto4]

Another vote for more info on MCT materials! Anyone? :bigear:

I have looked at these repeatedly for my dd, but over $100 on LA materials that I am unsure of is a gamble. The samples weren't very helpful to me. Do you just read stories related to grammar and writing and discuss? The lessons look so imaginative, right up her alley; I just don't understand exactly how we'd utilize these.