{"id":315,"date":"2020-07-03T21:53:43","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T21:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/?page_id=315"},"modified":"2020-07-03T22:54:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T22:54:37","slug":"language-arts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/?page_id=315","title":{"rendered":"Language Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We don&#8217;t use the term &#8220;language arts&#8221; in our homeschool, so if you are looking for information on <a href=\"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/reading\/\">reading,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/writing\/\">writing,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/grammar\/\">grammar,<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/spelling\/\">spelling,<\/a> etc., you can click on the individual subjects.<\/p>\n<p>I have been asked by a few potential homeschoolers to recommend language arts curricula. Here is the info I sent them. This info is also available as a separate blog post that you can share with others <a href=\"http:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/2020\/07\/03\/language-arts-for-the-new-homeschooling-family\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Good and the Beautiful<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is usually the curriculum I recommend when people are first transitioning from public school to homeschool. I haven\u2019t used it myself, but I have looked through it and have heard very positive reviews from many moms. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodandbeautiful.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.goodandbeautiful.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1593625842763000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFWbvDHSxk9jNrlqw__iBfIJn9fuw\">https:\/\/www.goodandbeautiful.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros\n<ul>\n<li>Free download (levels K-5 are free)<\/li>\n<li>Keeps kids on track with public school peers (for the most part)<\/li>\n<li>\u201cOpen and go\u201d (meaning no parent prep required)<\/li>\n<li>High quality and (mostly) kid friendly<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s lovely to look at<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cons\n<ul>\n<li>Expensive to print (or buy a hard copy)<\/li>\n<li>It includes spelling\/phonics\/handwriting all together, so if your child is behind in one, it\u2019s tricky to customize<\/li>\n<li>Lots of worksheets (some busy work)<\/li>\n<li>Doesn\u2019t work well for kids who have a hard time sitting still<\/li>\n<li>It can take a long time to get through all the work each day<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They just came out with an updated 3<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0grade book. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/5FtcL5fPRNc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Here\u2019s a video walk through.<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>The Charlotte Mason Method<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t a curriculum, per se, but more of a collection of methods that can be combined with high quality literature to make a curriculum. This is the approach I use. It takes a little more time to wrap your head around, but it takes less time per school day than The Good and the Beautiful.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pros\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">High quality and kid friendly<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Very low cost (most books are available from a library)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lessons are short, therefore school doesn\u2019t take forever<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No worksheets<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The books are interesting for Mom, too<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Cons\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be confusing at first for Mom<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mom has to plan ahead<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn\u2019t include grammar until age 10, so if that\u2019s a problem for you, you\u2019ll need to add it in<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are no worksheets, formal tests, or grades. Some parents prefer to have more immediate feedback on what their students are learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simplycharlottemason.com\/what-is-the-charlotte-mason-method\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">This blog post<\/a> from Simply Charlotte Mason is a good description of what the method is. For me, following this method is a lot easier than using something like The Good and the Beautiful. That is not the case for everyone.<\/p>\n<h3>Other Options<\/h3>\n<p>There are many, many, many other options. You can make yourself crazy by trying to learn about them all. I&#8217;m going to link to a few other options below. These are more expensive options than the two I&#8217;ve already highlighted, but if you use a program like My Tech High or Harmony, the cost isn&#8217;t prohibitive.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/timberdoodle.com\/collections\/curriculum-kits\/nr-kit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Timberdoodle<\/a> \u2014 I am very impressed with the selections in these curriculum kits. They include everything you need (math, reading, spelling, history, etc.) for a complete school year. The individual items\/curricula that they use are well-respected. I use some of them myself. You can customize these kits if you need a different level (or if you already own something). If you want to just place one order and call it good, this is a great option.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bfbooks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Beautiful Feet Books<\/a> \u2014 This company offers collections of wonderfully curated books. If you don&#8217;t want to spend a bunch of time wading through book lists to decide what your family should be reading, buy a history or geography pack from Beautiful Feet Books. They also have literature and music packs. And even some on character building. This isn&#8217;t a complete language arts program, but the quality books are the bulk of your language arts program.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bookshark.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BookShark<\/a> \u2014 This company is similar to Timberdoodle. It is a collection of many of the best homeschool curriculum available. It emphasizes literature more than Timberdoodle, but Timberdoodle has better toys and games. BookShark also combines lessons into a four-day school week, which some family may find very appealing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We don&#8217;t use the term &#8220;language arts&#8221; in our homeschool, so if you are looking for information on reading, writing, grammar, spelling, etc., you can click on the individual subjects. I have been asked by a few potential homeschoolers to recommend language arts curricula. Here is the info I sent them. This info is also&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/?page_id=315\"><span class=\"more-text\">Continue reading<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-315","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/315\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/315\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/homeschool.vandagriff.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}