First grade language arts recommendation

Does any one have a recommendation for language arts curriculum for a six year old? I have purchased All About Reading level one and All About Spelling, and some of the COAH literature units, but have no idea what to use to teach grammar and writing. I would prefer something that doesn’t take a lot prep work and is enjoyable if there is such a thing. Is there anything else that I should be teaching with language arts that I am missing? This is our first year homeschooling so I’m not really sure what I should be covering. Thanks!

Teaching grammar and writing at this stage is optional, unless by writing you mean penmanship. If you really think you need to teach grammar at this stage, here are some suggestions:

Play games. File folder fun is a good site, as is the old version of homeschool share. (Look under workboxables).
Make a parts of speech or punctuation lapbook.
I’ve had this one pinned for so long, I don’t know if it’s still available.


Homeschool Helper also has one. Scroll down the page to see the parts of speech lapbook.
http://homeschoolhelperonline.com/lapbook_core_subjects.shtml
Here’s another link:
http://www.knowledgeboxcentral.com/subject/literature/grammar.html
Point out the part of speech you want to emphasize as you are reading. For example, how many adjectives did we find in this book?

If you want a book, I have heard good things about Primary Language Lessons. Some links are:
http://www.primarylanguagelessons.com/
http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/Primary-language-lessons-Living-Books.htm

A similar title is Sheldon’s Primary Language Lessons.
http://brookdalehouse.com/sheldons-new-primary-language-lessons/

As to a writing curriculum for that age, I don’t have any suggestions. I would recommend that you not do too much too early, though. Just give her the tools and see if she shows interest. Otherwise, let it go and focus on penmanship.

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Hey there! I will have two first graders as well this year. We are also going with AAS and AAR (both Level 1). We won’t be doing a formal grammar program. For our composition, I have found a lot of fun writing prompts and worksheets on websites like Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers. I hope that helps in some way!

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I’m using AAR 2 and AAS 1 for my 6yr old/1st grader this year as well, and I’ve picked up First Language Lessons Level 1 (classical approach I believe) to try out. It looks like an ‘open and go’ format and have heard good things about it.

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Thanks for your replies I am glad to hear it is optional at that age. I hadn’t planned on doing it originally but then stated seeing grammar curriculum around and got worried that I should be doing it. I will take a look at your suggestions and just keep it light this year if we do any. Thanks again!

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Climbing to Good English by Schoolaid is a wonderful option. It is designed for grades 1-8. The first grade is not devoted much to grammar yet but it does more of an application of what is being learned in phonics. I believe there are sample pages of these books on Milestone books’ website.
https://www.milestonebooks.com/list/Climbing_to_Good_English/

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Hi there! We are also using AAR and AAS for our 1st grader this year. We are also using First Language Lessons for him (it is a very gentle introduction and the lessons are very brief at this stage). I also think G.U.M. Drops has a book that begins in 1st Grade or spans 1st-2nd Grade and my daughter started these when she was in 2nd and loved it. She is in 3rd now and is doing it for her 2nd year now and still loves it. I won’t start my son in it until next year most likely because he is already in First Language Lessons along with AAR and AAS but it’s another idea to look into. It is along the lines of IEW’s Fix It Grammar. I hope this is helpful! I am sure you could find First Language Lessons Level 1 on Homeschool Classifieds for VERY cheap–I bought Levels 1 and 2 in a combo book for $8 at a homeschool resale and have been using it with both of my children (it has 200 lessons in it!). :slight_smile:

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Read good books! Quality literature is really the best early grammar and writing. My son is 7 and loves to write stories and excels in grammar. We spent the first six years of hid life just soaking up good books and occasionally doing unit studies or playing games. The focus was on phonics and math. Plus reading is a wonderful way to get the whole family involved! Kids are never too young for a good read aloud!

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Without going into too much detail, I highly recommend Voyages in English - It’s a complete grammar and writing program. There is a teacher manual (which is necessary) - with games, rubrics, daily edits, etc - and a student book (also necessary) - with worksheets and assessments. Each unit (each is month long) focuses on a different area of grammar (nouns for example, or adjectives), then has a writing assignment that correlates with the taught grammar (for example, descriptive writing would go with adjectives). The writing assignment is broken up into small, manageable steps completed over a number of days - by the end they have completed a fabulous writing piece to be proud of. Looks like a number of other people also have great ideas. Whatever you choose, GOOD LUCK and HAPPY WRITING! :slight_smile:

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Has anyone had any experience with Horizons Phonics and Reading? Was debating between it and another curriculum but have read so many mixed reviews on it that I think I’m going choose something different. Any opinions would be great!! :blush:

(commenting on this probably a bit too late) We are just finishing up grade 1 (we also used K). We are switching away from it. It’s a great program and accelerates quickly but it became a bit too “boring”. Not a whole lot of review and a bit too book-ish for our liking. some lessons can be a bit long and repetitive. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a wonderful program and out daughter has learned a lot, but the teaching methods aren’t all that great and you are left to go at your own creativity to make things stick.

Thanks for the reply! We did go with Horizons and have enjoyed it pretty well. Our boys are definitely learning with it but I agree that it can be a bit boring. We’ve just adjusted with some fun writing activities and different little things I find on TPT. I’m not sure we’ll opt for it next year or not but like you said, they are learning from it! They don’t complain about it at all and they really like the readers, so I don’t feel pressured to change. :grinning: I may look into using some of Erica’s lit units next year and then use a spelling curriculum. Not sure yet! :wink:

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