Homeschool Language Arts

New and Used Language Arts- Total

• Learning Language Arts Through Literature LLATL
• Total Language Plus

Grammar

• Abeka Grammar and Composition

• Abeka Language
• Easy Grammar
  • Daily Grams
    • Daily Grams 6 Options

• Growing With Grammar
• Shurley Grammar/Shurley English

Spelling

• All About Spelling
• Sequential Spelling
• Spelling Power
• Spell To Write And Read
• Phonetic Zoo

Writing

• Abeka Grammar and Composition
• Institute For Excellence In Writing
• WriteShop
• Writing Strands
• Writing Tales

Handwriting

• Handwriting Without Tears
• Italic Handwriting
• A Reason For Writing

Vocabulary

• English From The Roots Up
• Vocabulary from Classical Roots
• Wordly Wise

Popular Language Arts Curricula of Homeschool

Spelling Power for Homeschool Spelling            

by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon

This program has been our favorite for spelling, mainly because it only takes about 15 minutes a day. I also like the way review is worked in.  Spelling Power helps your children master the 5,000 most frequently used words at their own pace — The learning methods used are research-proven strategies explained in the “original” Spelling Power.

Awards:
Practical Homeschooling Reader Awards winner in the Spelling category every year since 1998
Top 100 Picks by Cathy Duffy-which is an award just to be included!

Everything you need to teach all of your children is available in the “Big Orange Book”. It continues to be the only complete spelling program written for homeschoolers by a homeschooler . The 4th Edition of Spelling Power maintains this award-winning approach with the addition of the Teacher Training DVD and the  Spelling Power Digital Tutor.

Three of our four sons were poor spellers. I tried many spelling programs over the years. I discovered Spelling Power when my oldest children were approaching high school, so we didn’t get to use it in their early years of homeschool. It didn’t make my poor spellers into excellent spellers, but it did help them improve more than any other program and in less time. Read about Spelling Power at Homeschool Reviews. Find out more at the Spelling Power Home Site.

Writing Strands for Homeschool Writing Instruction

Writing Strands was named “Best Composition Program” three times by Practical Homeschooling Magazine readers. Also, Susan Wise Bauer in her book,The Well Trained Mind  recommends Writing Strands for writing instruction.

Writing Strands met a need in our homeschool.  The Writing Strands curriculum was written for the homeschool student rather than for a class. The instructions are directed to the student and this format fosters a  student’s responsibility to learn on-his-own. It  only requires minimum parental over site rather than teaching. Parents should be involved in reading the completed assignments and giving feedback to help the student improve.

I felt that Writing Strands was easy to use, and it did not require a lot of time (from teacher or student), and my children liked it.

For more reviews on Writing Strands, see HomeschoolReviews.com

Mini Review of LLATL

If your family is tired of too much grammar drill through endless sentences, this curriculum may be a breath of fresh air. LLATL helps homeschool students learn the details of grammar and English through good literature rather than workbook pages filled with disconnected sentences.

This language arts/English curriculum does a great job of gently incorporating reading, comprehension, grammar, writing, spelling, vocabulary, research, study skills, higher-order reasoning through literature.  The Parent’s Guide has direction as well as duplicates of student assignments.

This curriculum fits well with the Charlotte Mason method as well as the recommendations of Ruth Beechick. The curriculum is easy to use, is not overwhelming, and is generally liked by students. Many children much prefer this method of using great literature to learn required grammar and English skills.

See HomeschoolReviews.com for more about LLATL

Mini Review of Easy Grammar

I really like the original basic Easy Grammar.  In our homeschool we didn’t use a grammar curriculum  every year. The children worked on grammar in their writing and all five of them were required to complete the basic Easy Grammar curriculum. That can be done in less than one school year. For us, sixth or seventh grade was a good time to get it done. It can even be done in high school.

There are many more workbooks available besides the basic Easy Grammar if you feel the need for practice and review. Each family and each student is different. Anyway, you’ll find whatever you need for grammar by this publisher.

The book we used was the original “Easy Grammar: A New Approach to Grammar that Works!”. It is a red book and was the original from which all the other workbooks that they offer are based. The newer workbooks may have improvements, but the original was just what we needed. See Reviews on Easy Grammar at HomeschoolReviews.com

Shurley Grammar/Shurley English Fits the Classical Approach to Homeschooling

Our family never used Shurley, but I have been impressed that the classical teaching community has embraced it as its favorite.  Shurley English is the choice of  the classical curriculum, Veritas Press.

The unique features of Shurley English give students the concrete steps necessary to relate the following:

• a definition to a concept

• a concept to a skill practice

• a skill practice to writing

• writing to effective speaking

Competent writing begins with understanding correct sentence structure, expands to paragraphs, and results in the enjoyment and satisfaction of well-written essays, reports, and letters.

Another Classical Plan detailed by Susan Wise Bauer in The Well Trained Mind also recommends the Abeka Language and the Abeka Grammar and Composition curriculum as a good choice for Grammar and English.

Visit Abeka. com or Shurley.com for more information about these two favorite curricula.

Wordly Wise Vocabulary

– Read Best Homeschool Buy’s Post on the benefits and features of the Wordly Wise Curriculum for homeschool.

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