Language Arts in My Father's World

The study of Language Arts is a passion of mine. I am not the best communicator, being neither naturally endowed with that gift nor having the benefit of early lessons in the rules of self expression. However, I am looking forward to teaching my children to use language gracefully.

We will soon complete our 1st grade year in My Father's World. It did not include grammar or spelling lessons though it did include copywork which is a wonderful introduction to composition. We are going to use Adventures in My Father's World for 2nd grade history, geography, Bible, science, and drawing, but I am going to do something different for language arts.

MFW recommends Spelling by Sound and Structure, and Primary Language Lessons, and has them available for purchase on their website; but they are not included in the thematic units so we can easily choose another method.

While at a homeschool fair last summer, I picked up a copy of Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing, by Sonya Shafer at Simply Charlotte Mason. Shafer points out that in the early grades, children learn correct English grammar by listening to their parents. The formal study of rules are better left until they are a little older and can grasp the abstract concepts and logic involved. I plan to teach Turtle some basic parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, preposition) so that he will become aware that language has structure. From time to time we may use sentence from our read aloud books to talk about how the parts of speech are used; but that is all we will plan to do in 2nd grade.

Similarly, our spelling will be combined with copywork selections from the books we read together while using Adventures in My Father's World. Charlotte Mason says, "Transcription should be an introduction to spelling. Children should be encouraged to look at the word, see a picture of it with their eyes shut and then write from memory." I am looking forward to a more formal study of grammar and spelling with my sons in the future, but for now they are learning so much more effectively by careful observation of the world around them.

Elementary Language Arts

The study of Language Arts gives our children tools to communicate effectively. Everything in our world is governed by rules. We expect that those who participate in  athletics, architecture, medicine and finances are knowledgeable about the rules of their field realize the importance of adhering to them. This is by design-- God created an orderly world and when we break out of that order, bad things happen. Athletes are red carded, structures fall down, sick people fail to get well or financial markets decline.

This is also true for the use of language. Humans begin their study of language arts at the moment they are born. Body language and speech to start with followed later by printed images and text. Some people learn these skills well-- they are naturally capable and have good teachers. Others struggle to interpret input from others and then to respond effectively.

Each of our children is different and will express themselves differently through language; but the rules will remain consistent and it is important for us to teach children these rules through gentle lessons in grammar, spelling, composition, and other skill sets that will make them able to communicate effectively and even artfully in the variety of settings that they are blessed to experience throughout their lives.

Back to school-- again!

After a week of vacation and then a week of caring for sick children, we are back to school. Both boys were excited to pull out their books and learn more. What a blessing!

I have a light school schedule planned for the Christmas season, with reading and math every day along with just one or two other subjects and lots of field trips and holiday activities.

My six year old son, we often call him "Turtle", is taking a break from My Father's World 1st grade. It has taught him all of the basics of reading but he needs more practice, so we are switching to Delightful Reading by Simply Charlotte Mason. It meets his needs perfectly-- he knows most of the words very well but it helps him apply some of the new concepts from MFW 1st (like -ight and -tion words).

We also got an excellent deal on La Clase Divertida Levels 2 and 3. We are almost finished with level 1 now and the kids just L-O-V-E it! It is one of two subjects that I never need to fuss/cajole/threaten them to work on. Even my one year old has learned a lot of Spanish by watching most episodes with his big brothers.

The other subject my oldest son can not get enough of is history. We use The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times. We started with the text book and eventually purchased the MP3 version as well. I read him the chapter once and then he listens to current and past chapters as he likes, learning more each time. Next year we will use My Father's World 2nd grade which includes American History, so The Story of the World will be for fun reading, whenever he wants to pull out his CDs and activity book.