English

English

According to BC’s Ministry of Education, English language arts skills include listening, speaking, reading and writing. No kidding! So yes, we want our children to learn to listen, speak, read and write effectively (emphasis on listening, some days). Within that, there are heaps of options. Below I’ve listed the most popular with families at ASCEND.

Early Readers

  • Siegfried Engelmann, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is the most starting point for most of my families. There is also now a newer edition for those who don’t like the way letters are arranged in the original––and shorter too: Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons. A good ‘short-cut’ approach for many, especially as so many don’t work all the way through the 100 Lessons in the original.
  • Run Bug Run! is a phonics reader with a collection of short stories developed by All About Learning, so correlated to All About Reading and All About Spelling, although it can also be used as a stand-alone reader.
  • Other popular early readers include Catholic Heritage Curricula’s Little Stories for Little Folks readers and the Bob Books series.
  • Learning Language Arts through Literature is a ‘living-books’ approach that closely fits BC outcomes. It focuses on all areas of language arts: reading and comprehension, as well as phonics, grammar and spelling.
  • Five in a Row is a series of read-out-loud lessons and discussions for a variety of topic areas, matched to quality children’s books. The books themselves can be purchased together in a pack, or borrowed from the library. I really like the idea behind this program because it contextualizes lessons about geography, math, science language, and ethics within a short, engaging story.
  • Come Sit By Me offers a similar program to Five in a Row, but focuses on Canadian content, and also includes biblical content––so a great alternative for the Canadian Catholic context! Oriented to the primary grades (4-7 year olds) and available through Maple Tree Publications.
  • All About Reading––a thorough beginner reading program, especially helpful for struggling readers.
  • Child1st.com is a multi-sensory reading program geared especially towards struggling learners.

 

Phonics

 

Writing Skills

  • Developed by Andrew Pudewa in accordance with the principles of the Suzuki violin method applied to language learning, The Institute for Excellence in Writing builds skills systematically so that students become strong communicators, ready for the post-secondary world. The Writing Intensives are a great introduction to writing at the 4th grade level especially, as students prepare for Foundational Skills Assessments (FSAs). The writing program focuses on style, organization and form in preparation for secondary and post-secondary writing. Highly recommended.
  • Memoria Press offers a range of resources for all areas of language arts. A classical approach that is both efficient, thorough and engaging.
  • Webster’s Online Academy offers online writing classes according to the Excellence in Writing principles
  • Martin Cothran, Classical Rhetoric with Aristotle: Traditional Principles of Speaking & Writing
  • Jump In is a workbook for learning to write persuasively. Oriented to middle grades, from Apologia Press.
  • Susan Wise Bauer’s Writing with Ease series is a writing program geared towards the intermediate grades (in the logical phase), building on earlier skills learned in Primary Language Lessons. I am not as familiar with this one, so any thoughts or experience you have to share is welcome!
  • If you’re looking for some quick-reference cheat sheets, Rainbow Resource Centre has a range in all subject areas, including English norms and grammar.

 

Writing References

 

Presentation Skills

  • prezi.com––a website and app that allows students to create lively and polished presentations for their subjects. Suitable for grades 6+. Free to parents if a ‘school-based email’ is used to create an account.
  • Word Play: Write Your Own Crazy Comics, for those who would like to learn comic-booking skills.

 

Literature

 

Literature for Boys

 

You can also check out some reading lists here:

  • Simply Charlotte Mason has a page dedicated to various book lists, with the goal of building your own curriculum––but you can also just use the lists, no need to turn everything into a program!
  • Ambleside Online, another Charlotte Mason site, offers a full curriculum organized by subject, so again, you could just use the titles as good reading, or do more with it, as you prefer.
  • ‘Twaddle-Free’ living book lists is also based on the principles of Charlotte Mason for reading good literature, or ‘living books’.
  • The Read-Aloud Revival has several book lists with suitable works, available through (free) email subscription.
  • 1000 Good Books List was put together by the Classical Christian Education Support Loop.

 

Poetry

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