Our Language Arts Favorites

This is my eighth year homeschooling my children. Wow! Many things are different from when we started. This past week I have been trying to figure out what to do for our writing curriculum next year and beyond. I know what I want to do, but I needed to pick the appropriate levels for my children.

The younger two have the possibility of doing the same level of writing, which would be fun to do together and less expensive for me. But I just didn't feel good about that. Every time I tried to decide which level to have them do together, I got confused. So I started to consider putting them on their own level and having them work independently. That option felt so much better, and it was easy to see where to start them. They are going to start on IEW's new writing curriculum, Structure and Style for Students. N will be in 4th grade and will start at the beginning, with Year 1 Level A. E will be in the 7th grade and will start with Year 1 Level B. Year 2 of both levels seemed like a more logical place with their writing experience, but those won't be available until the end of the year. Also, starting them with Year 1 of their level leaves enough levels ahead to fill future school years!

N has already done two years of IEW writing, using Theme Based books. E has done three years, using Theme Based books or writing with other subjects. They both do very well with IEW, but all of us are ready for some new teaching and Structure and Style for Students will be perfect for this!

Year 1 Level A is already available. Year 1 Level B is ready for pre-order, and if you order now you can get free shipping with the code below. The code is good until April 1.

Below is what we've finally decided is our favorite way to do language arts. The colors on the right are what my kids actually did. Here's what we like:

• All About Reading - K-2. My kids finished the fourth level in second grade. 
• Writing With Ease 1 - A great beginning to writing and grammar in first grade. We actually did a few weeks of book 2 in second grade before People and Places in Our Community.
• All About Spelling - Start in 1st grade and go until the child has completed all 7 levels. My daughter finished it in 6th grade. I chose to have her start Phonetic Zoo then. She is in Level C and will be done with spelling curriculum after she finishes that.
• Fix It! Grammar - Start in 4th grade. Do one book a year, finishing in 9th grade.
• IEW Writing - I use theme based books with my kids in 2nd and 3rd grade, or I assign writing according to something else we are studying. This works well with science, history, and even with literature studies. The parent needs to use Teaching Writing: Structure and Style.
• In 4th grade, we move to Structure and Style for Students. This is IEW's video teaching course, the child watches a video and then does the writing assignment. 
• The Good and the Beautiful High School Honors - This is likely what my kids will use from 10th to 12th grade. My older two are on Level 2 now.

Recently I received a sample of Structure and Style for Students Year 1 Level B. I like how it is laid out and easy for the children to know what to do each day. We have used Theme Based books that we loved (People and Places in Our Community) because it was so easy to follow the schedule and the source texts were engaging. Others (Radar and Robotics, discontinued) we didn't love because the daily/weekly structure wasn't as easy to follow and the source texts weren't as engaging. Anyway, from the sample lessons I received, I feel the new Structure and Style for Students will be perfect for us. My kids always want fun lessons and Mr. Pudewa provides that in the videos! Plus, I can relax a tiny bit as the writing teacher.