Homeschool ELA Curriculum Considerations 2024-25 | 2nd, 6th, & 7th Grade
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- Hello everyone! Today I'm doing a brain dump of curriculum I'm considering for English Language Art. This video covers 7th, 6th, and 2nd grade options. Be sure to watch until the end and let me know your thoughts.
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We also loved 180 Days of Spelling and Word Study for 6th grade.
I tried to recommend another resource, but I think RUclips perceived it as a link and blocked the comment. Sigh. It’s Vocabulary, then you add a dot, and then the letters I’m writing backwards: moc. Maybe that will work! Anyway, they have word lists for almost every elementary and middle grade book ever written. Cheers!
RUclips and links 🤦🏽♀️ Thank you for the resources!
IEW Structure and Style video lessons you can select a video player that allows you to speed up the playback speed. My 2 boys use it and they watch it on 1.5x speed and are still able to follow along and understand the lessons. The wonderful thing about IEW SS is the writing gradually ramps up so towards the end your child does creative writing using only pictures that are provided and the final lesson is a timed essay of what they've learned. You don't have to use the videos, there is a teacher guide you can purchase that would be 100% parent led. Also it's important to note that there's only 24 weeks of writing so potentially not your entire school year. My boys use IEW SS, Abeka Grammar, IEW Phonetic Zoo for spelling, and they write literature logs from our family read aloud as their creative writing.
This sounds like more of her speed. Thanks for the info!
I’d love to hear more about your “stop list” for your children’s independent reading ☺️
Great idea!! ❤️
We love blackbird literature studies specifically because we love the book choices. Just thought I’d add that as many people don’t know much about them.
Adding it to my list! Thank you!
Also, Vocabulary Cartoons (the red cover) is really fun for middle schoolers! I do a word a day with my kids in their SAT I book, since they are a little older, and it's a fun way to learn vocab together.
Adding this to my to be used list. Thank you!
Hi! Love your channel! I would love to hear more about the Stop Points you have for your daughters when they are reading books so they know they shouldn't read a certain book. Your reading suggestions have been great for my 5th grade daughter.
Some ELA suggestions: We use (and will continue to use next year) Writing & Rhetoric for writing/composition and Vocabulary Workshop for vocab. W&R includes some grammar and really helps with comprehension and analyzing texts. And VW has helped with her spelling b/c she is rewriting the words throughout the week.
Thank you! ❤️ I can absolutely share those! Stay tuned.
Thank you for the suggestions! I’ll look into these.
You could look into Write by Number for your oldest. Structure but less prescribed than IEW. It would allow her to choose her topics and add structure to writing assignments across her other curriculum.
I haven’t heard of this one. I’ll check it out! Thx!
If you want more rigor in grammar, Abeka will definitely do that!
That’s what I’ve heard. 😀
We love Mosdos! So much! It’s pretty easy to find used. The anthologies are gorgeous. You could even try it without the teacher’s guide and see what you think. There’s so much good discussion and reading comprehension. You can choose what you want to have them write and what you want to discuss. I really like the vocabulary. The writing assignments are imaginative and varied. I really like how Mosdos addresses character traits and strength of character. Some of the excerpts have inspired my daughter to read books that she wouldn’t ordinarily have considered. Haha…”she won’t stop at two paragraphs”…yes, I have one of those too! I think I’m going to wait until 9th grade for IEW for some of the same reasons you mentioned. Next year, I’m using “100 Ways to Improve Your Composition and Creative Writing” published by Oak Meadow (also easy to find used), along with some Mosdos assignments, but mainly I’m going to just let her write whatever she wants. And by reading her writing, I can ask questions about things that were confusing or could be strengthened, etc. We really liked BJU English for 4-6, but it changes for middle school, and I don’t like it as much. Best of luck with your decisions!
Wow! This was so very helpful!!! Thank you so much!! ❤️
I used Wordly Wise as my kid's weekly spelling in 5th grade.
That’s a great way to use a curriculum for more than one area of study.
For reading we use BJU which includes vocabulary which as you said you could make spelling lists and expand it. For BJU reading, everyday is different - crosswords, short answer questions, matching, word search, rhyming, maps, character analysis, character quotes, and lots more literature components.
Thank you!
Our daughters sound similar here is what we did. For my daughter we did K LOE AandB in summer after kindergarten we did All about reading level 1
1st grade logic of English C then summer and beginning of 2nd grade year finish level 2 then 2nd grade finished level D .
I like breaking it up with all about reading because all about reading is just reading whereas LOE incorporates more advanced phonics grammar , writing , vocab, word roots , and spelling. Our favorite is level LOE D with all the real books !
She has also really enjoyed blackbird for creative writing the story maker unit and a few literature discovery guides and 2nd grade word collector which she really loved.
That sounds like a great combination. Thank you!
For our second grader we used BJU Phonics Review. It is a workbook full of traditional, straight forward, mostly independent phonics review concepts. It has been a great addition to our LA. I bought it from Rainbow Resource Center.
That’s what she’s needing. Straight forward, traditional review of concepts. Thank you!
We use IEW SSS my son doesn’t like video lesson we use it with Mrs Brown and he loves it now.
Thanks for the additional resource!
You may want to look at Kim's reading journals for middle and high school at Not Consumed. I used both this year for my 8th and 10th graders, and it was really impressive! We could pick the literature we wanted our kids to read (we are picky too), but they were exposed to all kinds of great questions and elements of literature within the journals.
Went straight to it. It definitely looks impressive! Thx!
My rising 6th grader has been writing a book that will cover most of her ELA for the upcoming year. It wasn’t what I planned but she really enjoyed writing stories and then all of a sudden she hit a stride and decided to write a book. I have found that the spelling and even vocabulary are just naturally built in to the writing process. Obviously she finds it way more enjoyable when learning new words benefits her own work. I’m reverse engineering comprehension for this year. Instead of saying read this and let’s make sure you understand it. We are discussing what she wants readers to gain from the book or characters, etc. and then asking her to think about how to deliver that message in a subtle way so that kids have to really think about it. It has been amazing to see. The one warning I have since your oldest is a writer as well. It is really hard to get her to stop writing so that she can do other things, like math. Thanks for sharing, I appreciate you taking the time to share what you are thinking. -Heather
Heather, thank you for sharing this process. This is such a great way to vary my daughters thinking. Love this process! ❤️
So my comment maybe as long as your video...haha! So many good choices, I am also torn between buying a literature curriculum for my oldest or just continue to read good books.
However, for my 5th grader we used Sonlight for History, Language Arts, and Literature. Sonlight has the comprehension questions and some vocabulary. That part was great for her but the grammar was little weak. So I added in Abeka 5 and then switched in January to Evan Moor Grammar. Abeka was our favorite until 4th grade but it's just to much. From the Sonlight Literature, I take a passage for copy/dictation and apply the grammar we are learning in Evan Moor. Whatever words she misspells becomes her spelling words. Then I have my 5th grader use Not Consumed Reading Journal for narration. I got this idea from Simply Learning Together here on RUclips. She basically takes what she like from every ELA curriculum and makes her own. Since I started "making" my own ELA, my 5th grader and I have really enjoyed ELA.
If you decide not to write your own curriculum, check out Simply Charlotte Mason Spelling wisdom and Using Language Well. It uses dictation as spelling and the grammar is taught through the passages. I believe it also includes diagramming.
Writing is so tricky, we tried both EIW and IEW. One was not the right level and the other was just t0o long. I also saw on A Place to Nest (RUclips) that critical thinking company has a similar writing curriculum to IEW and EIW that is a quarter of the price. I am going to try that this year and praying for success!
Lastly, Mos Dos Jade was on Facebook Homeschool Buy/Sell/Trade group for $55 shipped. Hope that helps with your decision (wink wink).
Looking forward to History & Science brain dumps 🧡.
She never wants to stop reading. I think even with a lit curriculum I’ll still end up searching for more books 😂
Definitely saves money and stretches me as the teacher when creating resources we love but worth it for sure.
Writing is definitely tricky. She has voiced some of her desires so we will likely meet in the middle somewhere.
Runs 🏃🏽♀️💨 to Marketplace!
Science and History brain dumps coming soon!
Thanks for watching! ❤️
We are using Sharon Watson for high school writing and it’s great. She has some other things. She also has literature. The writing seems more freedom of tops. It’s written to the student like in a conversational tone. She also has a fictional writing for high school that goes through getting published and all. I know high school is farther away for you, but we are just really loving her writing so I had to share. All her stuff looks amazing to me. She has stuff for middle and high school also there is free writing prompts I believe.
My 9th graders are using her Power in Your Hands this year amd really like it.
Thank you! I added her curriculum to my list for the future!
@@LifeofTillmansthe middle school writing is called Jump in writing.
@@ReiverGrad14Thank you!
LOE is a great curriculum. I have heard D takes 1 year to complete. I think finishing would give a GREAT foundation.
I'm trying Beowulf Grammar for my 2nd and 5th graders. My 5th grader independently. Is intended to be used one year, but I will expand each 9 weeks into 18 for my younger. It covers all gramnar a kid 2-6 grade should know. Very colorful and hands on. (Comic and story type)
Look into Total language plus Literature guides, includes vocabulary and spelling, grammar.
I listened a podcast the other day about Young Writers Work Shop. They were saying that the process they teach is the one used by Authors. It was on Read aloud revival episode 235. I do think you have a writer at home. 😊
This is awesome! Thank you!
@@LifeofTillmans 💙
We took about 3/4 a school year to finish D using 2 days per lesson only doing lessons 4 day per week. Level D is mine and my kids favorite level highly recommend doing it.
Thank you for sharing your experience!
We did Foundations A and B in Kindergarten, C in 1st grade, and D in 2nd grade. We split every lesson into 2 days.
That seems to be the path we’re headed down as well. I feel like this will also allow us time to do other things and more practice if needed.
Have you taken a look at Progeny Press? I kept passing them over, but at my daughter’s request we tried some and she loves them. She’s a heavy reader and writer and I was pleasantly surprised. Also, my daughter started at Writing Strands Beginning 1 and I just let her go at her own pace. She is in Intermediate 1 now and it does pick up. She loves it and has asked to finish the series.
Thanks! I will check them out!
Bju reading and literature are very thorough and put together great in my opinion.
Glad to know that!
For your middle daughter, a suggestion for Easy Grammar is too cut down on the number of pages she has to do still getting the concept across. I used Fix it Grammar with my 4 grader simple and to the point. Supplement with Spectrum where needed. She loves that approach better than all that fluff. I am sure you will figure it together with your daughter. Blessings.
That’s an idea I could try. Thank you for this recommendation!
For your rising second grader you could try Teacher pay Teachers they have free worksheets for independent work.
Yes!!! Thank you!
Your upcoming 7th grader may enjoy Bookshark’s language arts program. The writing is guided but gives lots of Creative freedom.
Thanks, I’ll check it out.
My oldest is heading into 7th next year too. ELA is always something hard to pick out. We did BJU English 6 this year. We liked it, but there are too many lessons. I was at a homeschool store and they suggested Editor in Chief Level 2. My son does well in grammar (sounds like your daughter does too). You might want to check it out. I'm so use to traditional grammar programs, so I'm hoping it's enough for that.
The amount of lessons in a curriculum is definitely a concern. I forgot all about Editor and Chief! Thank you!
Oak Meadow is very writing focused. You might like it, if the book selections are a good fit.
Good to know! Thank you! 😃
This was great. It can be crazy how one child thrives on one program and another child thrives on another. What was the creative writing program you had mentioned?
It really is!
My 5th grader uses Layers of Learning writers workshop.
Here is what my 6th graders uses.
amzn.to/3TYiFhR
What is the pirate creative writing book you mentioned? ---> I feel the same with IEW. If you already have a talented writer, especially a creative mind, IEW is way too restrictive!
She turns her nose up to anything video lesson related 😅
Here is the creative writing curriculum i mentioned.
www.amazon.com/dp/1945353007/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_XVFX37ZCTQFJPH359XVC?linkCode=ml2&tag=lifeoftillm03-20
I've tried EIW several times with my student who dislikes video instruction. Yes, the video lessons are shorter, but it went TOO slow for a writer who was already good at writing. It was almost broken down TOO MUCH. We ended up using the notebook, ditching the videos, and the writing was done in a few months - LOL! Just my two cents...
I needed this two cents. 😂 thank you!
If you like Moving Beyond the Page you might like Novel Units.
Thanks, I’ll check them out!
Suggestion: you can also take a break from subjects for a semester or the entire year. I have done it and will continue to do so. My oldest daughter the books she was reading in assigned subjects I would use the vocabulary and spelling words from them instead of buying a curriculum or workbooks. It works well or even better. It’s more work but the benefits are outweighed. I too myself is planning subjects and curriculum for next school. It is not easy but we do our best. If the curriculum or books works for them. Let them to do it. They are the ones actually doing the work and not us.
Thank you for this wisdom! ❤️Starting and stopping each year allows for change of routines. I do love that idea. ELA is not my love but do want to provide the best for my girls. It’s worth the extra work as you said. Thank you again! Happy curriculum planning. ❤️
You could look at the free good and beautiful language arts pdf, and just print off the pages that you think would make good supplements.
I didn’t even think about doing that. Thank you!
Have you tried moving beyond the page's spelling? My daughter struggles with spelling and it has been so helpful for her
I haven’t, I’ll take a look. Thx!
Have you considered Saxon Grammar (Hake grammar and writing) for grades 3-8?
Forgot they had a grammar program. Thx!
Hi
Hi!
Sorry late
❤️
We have used Progeny Press guides for selected literature in high school. They are a smaller company and don’t get a lot of talk on the internet, but their content is excellent! They include vocabulary, comprehension questions, optional project based work, deeper critical thinking questions and essay prompts. Their essay prompts are excellent and their dig deeper questions have led to some wonderful lit discussion with my teens.
I actually just had my eye on a few of their studies. I may grab one to try it out. Thanks for the recommendation.