Starting 1st grade and totally confused by LA choices

[kiddio]

Hi! I've been reading along and getting little tidbits for awhile (and have put together my plans for science, history, spanish, art, and math), but have some questions about language arts...now that I've figured out what all those acronyms mean :glare:

I have three: 6, 3.75, and 1.5, so I'm not planning to go way, way overboard (hopefully...I have a tendency to do that anyway!), but I want to cover the bases.

My 6 year old reads very well (probably 3-4 grade level--she just finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, although she didn't 'get' it all she could read it), so I'm really unsure of where to start since I don't want her to get bored or be doing busy work (she'll gleefully do anything in workbook form). Now, remembering that I don't want to go overboard, here's sort of what I was thinking:

Reading: stuff that goes along with history and science

Phonics: ETC (where do I start with this? she's a great reader and I don't want to be putting her through too many paces. do I bother? confused.)

Writing: WWE

Grammar: FLL

Spelling: Um, well, Spelling Workout? Do I do this *and* phonics? Or wait on this?

Does that cover all the areas? Or should I stuff it all and have her do the McGuffey readers and she'll pick up what she needs. The list above feels so disjointed and like it's going to take a lot of time and focus that I'll have a hard time mustering up. Sigh. Remember, I don't want to go overboard :rolleyes: , but I'd rather do enough Language Arts now and sacrifice a bit of science/history/art (since we do that anyway) to catch up on later.

Thanks!
Amanda

[lotsofpumpkins]

I'm not sure what I'd do in your situation. My dd was a beginning reader when she started 1st grade, so she definitely needed phonics. And although she is a great reader now, I can see where phonics are still needed, since she is often figuring out words by context when she reads.

Our 1st grade LA is Rod & Staff phonics and reading. It doesn't start grammar and spelling until 2nd grade.

[AudreyTN]

It doesn't look like you're going overboard to me.

Personally, I would do Explode the Code as your spelling program.

My first grader will be doing LLATL (Learning Language Arts Through Literature) the Blue book. He's had a tough time with reading, so we're still sort of at the beginning. I'll start him in WWE as soon as he can read 4 letter words (as suggested.)

[HiddenJewel]

If you do ETC you will definitely want to consider starting higher than book one or she may be bored out of her mind.

[ElizabethB]

I would do combined Phonics/Spelling with a phonetic spelling program that teaches through rules. That's what I did this year for my daughter who is reading well.

I make up my own spelling based on "The ABCs and All Their Tricks," and I also use a bit of PP to explain the rules.

[attachedto4]

All About Spelling teaches phonics rules, so you could kill two birds with one stone instead of needing to do a separate spelling and phonics.

My dd is in 1st and was already reading well above grade level also. This is what she's doing for LA:

First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind
Writing With Ease
All About Spelling
Lots of readers from the library

[Amber in AUS]

I would do something like FLL, WWE & AAS.

AAS will give you a phonics and rule based spelling program that wont take too long each day and you can move through the first part quite quickly if she is reading and spelling well already. We found ETC tedious and DD HATED it, too much repetition, too many black & white pages, just too much of everything and not enough content.

You could leave FLL (grammar) for now and not intro until 3rd, that would lighten the load a little but I hear it only takes 5 to 10 min a day. I wont be doing formal grammar until 3rd.

For 1st grade LA we will be doing (incase this helps at all)
AAS
copywork alternating with journaling (drawing and sentence about picture)
reading with comprehension discussion or narration

HTH

[jelbe5]

After spending years of putting together my own LA program, I have "discovered" Christian Light Education LA. The CLE program steamlines grammar, spelling, penmanship and writing into one program. I learned about CLE here on these boards. I have recently switched my younger dd to their LA, Reading and Math programs. The LA program is a stand alone curriculum, but I decided to add the Reading program because it is said to be excellent for teaching literary analysis skills. I am very pleased with the products and they are very affordable compared to other products out there.

http://www.clp.org/

[chiguirre]

FLL and WWE are both quite short. They take about 10 minutes most days. If your dd likes workbooks, Spelling Workout will appeal to her. It coordinates with MCP Plaid Phonics. If she is confident writing CVC words and consonant blends, I would start in Level B. Ds is doing both SWO and Plaid with his therapist and they are a very good combination. I think one page or exercise in each (sometimes there's more than 1 on a page) would take a maximum of 15 minutes if your dd's handwriting is on grade level. You can easily break up LA over the course of the day so that it's not overwhelming. Do the SWO/Plaid at one time and FLL/WWE later in the day. On narration days, they can be part of your read-aloud time.

Good luck!

[arcara]

My 1st grader has used WWE, AAS, ang Growing with Grammar (GWG), which is a workbook. These each take about 10 minutes. My dd is also a strong reader and has gone through AAS 2 and the 1st half of level 3 this year.

[cam112198]

I LOVE CLE Math for 1st grade! My daughter is using it right now! I love it so much that I am considering switching to it for LA as well!

[3blessingmom]

Hi! I've been reading along and getting little tidbits for awhile (and have put together my plans for science, history, spanish, art, and math), but have some questions about language arts...now that I've figured out what all those acronyms mean :glare:

I have three: 6, 3.75, and 1.5, so I'm not planning to go way, way overboard (hopefully...I have a tendency to do that anyway!), but I want to cover the bases.

My 6 year old reads very well (probably 3-4 grade level--she just finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, although she didn't 'get' it all she could read it), so I'm really unsure of where to start since I don't want her to get bored or be doing busy work (she'll gleefully do anything in workbook form). Now, remembering that I don't want to go overboard, here's sort of what I was thinking:

Reading: stuff that goes along with history and science

Phonics: ETC (where do I start with this? she's a great reader and I don't want to be putting her through too many paces. do I bother? confused.)

Writing: WWE

Grammar: FLL

Spelling: Um, well, Spelling Workout? Do I do this *and* phonics? Or wait on this?

Does that cover all the areas? Or should I stuff it all and have her do the McGuffey readers and she'll pick up what she needs. The list above feels so disjointed and like it's going to take a lot of time and focus that I'll have a hard time mustering up. Sigh. Remember, I don't want to go overboard :rolleyes: , but I'd rather do enough Language Arts now and sacrifice a bit of science/history/art (since we do that anyway) to catch up on later.

Thanks!
Amanda


WWE and FLL and then a spelling program. I personally use SWR and like it, but recommend AAS as well (it's supposedly more user-friendly judging by comments on this board).

The only missing link might be handwriting. If your dd already knows how to form letters, I would just put a check mark by "handwriting" everytime she wrote spelling words or did copywork in WWE.;)

I don't think you need any extra readers geared for teaching reading - just have her read real books.

[SilverMoon]

I do spelling or phonics with my little ones, not both. However if she's reading through a Narnia book on her own, I would drop the phonics and just explain new rules as she comes to them. She's obviously got a good reading base under her. :)

The LA for my little guy moving into first grade this fall is very similar:
-FLL for grammar
-copywork and narration for writing
-real books for reading
-A Reason For Spelling for his spelling book

Tack on a math book and his daily math/LA portion will take him about 20-30 minutes to get done. Then he jumps in with his big sibs for science and history where he can.

[Aurelia]

Since she can read well, I wouldn't recommend phonics. I do recommend All About Spelling since it teaches the phonics along with the spelling rules, so you can cover all your phonics bases and your daughter shouldn't feel "talked down" to. We will be using WWE level 1 for writing, along with lots of books for reading practice. I don't think grammar is necessary for this age, but FLL looks to be very gentle and a good base if you want to start now.