Homeschool Curriculum Update- Language Arts!

Happy New Year Loves!

How is 2021 treating you so far? I surely hope you are well. If you can’t tell by the title, this is the first in a series of blog posts where I will be updating you on all of the curriculum we’ve used this year. If you need a refresher on what we are using for language arts (LA), check out this blog post. 

I would also like to preface this with homeschool curriculum is an experiment. It just is… you honestly really never how well something will work until you try it. 

Alright now to LA!

I’ll start with the All About Reading (AAR). This was the biggest investment for us, time wise and financially. After prepping both sets for each of my kids, I planned out the lessons. I’m not going to lie- I was intimidated. I was used to open-and-go, easy peasy instructions. Here’s what I’ve learned thus far. 

This curriculum is exactly what my kids need. I honestly can’t express to you the gains my kids have made since September using this curriculum. Not only is James reading more fluently, he now loves reading. It excites and delights him. It’s opened up a new portal for us in all subjects. Jude started this year not being able to recognize any letters consistently or know any phonemes. Now we are at 20/26 with 95% accuracy. Even better-I’m learning and growing with them. The curriculum comes with letter tiles and syllable tags. However, we opted to purchase the app for $20. I know, that’s a crazy amount for an app. However, it’s a lifetime purchase that I can use for both children through their matriculation of this program. 

I will also add this-once we got into a rhythm of homeschool the lessons became way easier to implement and much less intimidating. 

So, basically AAR is a hit and both my kids are excited for me to purchase the next levels for them. 

Our other LA picks for James were for grammar and spelling. Because I felt like AAR was going to need more times and reading is where I wanted the most focus, it was important to me that spelling and grammar were kinda bare-bones. I mean no frills, no videos, no manipulatives. Just simple lessons taught principle by principle. Growing With Grammar and Spelling You See are just that. I also like that there is plenty of time to practice previous lessons while learning new principles. 

Same goes for spelling you see. It was also important to me to have some things that James could easily complete independently so I could work with his brother, Jude. The copy work, rhyming and rhythm practice is just what the teacher ordered. 

Handwriting for both boys is Learning Without Tears (LWT). I honestly can’t say enough good things about this company. Even their price point is really good. For someone who never understood the schematics of teaching writing, let alone to children with a fine motor delay, LWT takes the cake, frosting, sprinkles and candles. Hands down. 

Lastly, we introduced journals this year. While we are still trying to find our footing with using them daily, we use them as frequently as I can and I love seeing their creativity, fine motor skills and critical thinking skills improve. 

All in all, language arts is a hit! I am still looking for good books to add to our library that challenge James and won’t be over Jude’s head… a tough one for this wanna be minimalist. Maybe I just need to cave and let us have a more expansive library? What do you think?

I’ll be back with all our other subjects in the coming weeks.

Love you. Mean it.