English in the Elementary Years

WHAT IS THE STUDY OF ENGLISH?

When we began home education, we had to figure out the different parts that make up the study of English. I never had to think about that when my kids were in school. With experience I learned that there are two major parts of English: reading and writing.

Once I figured out that reading and writing have subcategories, I placed subcategories below each in a list format. A ven diagram would illustrate the parts well because of the overlapping categories of grammar and vocabulary.

THE BREAKDOWN OF ENGLISH IN LAYMAN’S TERMS

• Reading
  • vocabulary
  • comprehension
  • grammar
• Writing
  • penmanship
  • spelling
  • grammar
  • vocabulary
  • creative ideas

Break English down into its components and then choose a method or curriculum to address each component.

MULTIPLE PARTS; MULTIPLE APPROACHES

A complete English curriculum can be chosen that integrates all the parts into one so you don’t have to think too hard about it.

There are also resources for each subcategory of reading and writing for people wanting to build their own program. This allows for change in one category without affecting the others as would happen in an all-inclusive curriculum. For instance, when a spelling method proves frustrating, another one can be tried or put off for a while.

Reading

READING IS VALUABLE

Reading educates kids about endless topics and human interactions. Through reading, students learn grammar rules, spelling, and vocabulary the organic way. It’s always recommended for kids to do a lot of reading. It literally makes you smarter. The smartest people I know, read a lot as children and continue reading as adults.

LEARNING TO READ

There are many curricula for learning how to read. We used Abeka Handbook for Reading Phonics textbook. My daughters used it at their school, and I used it at home for my son. Kindergarten prepares kids to read in the first grade. The phonics book we started in kindergarten was continued in first grade. See my post Teaching My Child to Read. See also No-Nonsense Kindergarten and No-Nonsense First Grade.

VOCABULARY

Vocabulary can be learned through vocabulary curricula, flashcards, and reading. Because vocabulary building helps students read increasingly challenging works, I think it’s a necessary addition to an English program. A large vocabulary will help your child score well on future standardized tests like the ACT and SAT too. I believe vocabulary needs to be an intentional part of learning. See my post on Vocabulary Building for a fun and free way to pick up some extra words.

READING COMPREHENSION

Does your child understand what he just read? The way to find out is to ask questions about the material. Curricula that address reading comprehension have follow-up questions about the story. I never researched how to improve reading comprehension beyond that. I would guess that reading a lot of books improves comprehension. I required my children to read at least an hour a day throughout elementary school. Oftentimes they read two hours a day.

FIND INSPIRING BOOKS

Children should be given the opportunity to read books that interest them. Find book lists for their reading level. Browse through the shelves at libraries. Consider nonfiction books as well such as science, history, and biographies.

Writing

WRITING IS A TECHNICAL SKILL

Because writing involves so much skill, it takes steadfast effort over many years to become a proficient writer. Grammar, penmanship, vocabulary, and spelling come together to produce writing. There’s also a component of idea generation and converting ideas into words. Natural ability plays a big part in writing. If a student struggles in one of these areas, writing can be a confounding task.

Thankfully, there are a lot of writing resources and methods available to the homeschooler. I have seen many kids overcome major struggles through the effort of a committed parent finding and employing the right resources. In fact, I discovered the virtues of dictation for my son who had no ideas to write about. Read about the amazing virtues of the humble and forgotten tool of dictation in this post: Dictation: The Answer for a Reluctant Writer.

PENMANSHIP

Younger students need to master writing in printed form and/or cursive form. My kids preferred cursive writing over printing. Cursive writing is produced by fluid movements which I think is easier for kids to do. Many parents have had similar experiences with their children. My son learned cursive by using a cursive letter guide. He started off copying each letter until it was mastered. Then he began copying short words.

SPELLING

We used Spelling Power. My older two kids enjoyed this program while my youngest detested it. I ended up discontinuing spelling entirely for my son in the 3rd grade because of his frustration with the method and because the cat found the sand tray on top of the refrigerator and used it as a litter box.

Thankfully my son is a good speller now in the 9th grade. He seems to have picked up spelling organically through reading and writing assignments. His situation is a perfect example of letting some things slide when the battle becomes too big. Try a new approach or back off for a while – or maybe forever!?!

Scrabble is a wonderful game for creatively thinking up words from an assortment of letters. We started playing Scrabble as a family when my kids were just learning to spell and have been playing it ever since.

GRAMMAR

Grammar can be learned organically through reading and writing or through structured lessons. Once my son learned how to read, we started to work through exercises in Emma Serl’s Primary Language Lessons. This book, Secondary Language Lessons, dictation exercises, and irregular verb drills provided the grammar my son needed for elementary school. Formal grammar instruction was pushed out until the 7th grade. See my posts Dictation: The Answer for a Reluctant Writer and Pushing Out Grammar.

CREATIVE IDEA GENERATION

This component is rather hard to address with a curriculum. Most English programs include creative writing exercises. I think that creativity in writing is an inborn ability. My daughters loved opportunities to write creatively. Creative writing was a recreational activity for them. They enjoyed using Writing for 100 Days: A Student-Centered Approach to Composition and Creative Writing. I also found sources of writing prompts to inspire additional creative writing.

My son, on the other hand, could not conjure up ideas to write about. This certainly confounded his writing efforts. Like with spelling, I scrapped the pursuit of creative writing with him. We used dictation in the younger grades as previously mentioned.

Once he started fifth grade, he used a writing curriculum that was analytical in nature. The curriculum was Writing with Skill by Susan Wise Bauer. This curriculum relies on facts within the passages instead of creative ideas. It systematically builds up the ability to create your own paragraphs. It’s perfect for the student who is unable to generate writing ideas. Some kids are just not geared toward creative writing. They just might be better at writing scientific and analytical pieces.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

There are complete English curricula available that package all the components together like a traditional school would. These are great for families who don’t want to figure out the details. But if you want some control and flexibility to make adjustments, consider building your own English program each year. Break English down into its components and then choose a method or curriculum to address each component or just some of the components. Realize that grammar, spelling, and vocabulary are parts of reading and writing and can be learned organically through them without specific curricula if need be. Be confident that if you stray from the beaten path, there is a ton of grace built into the process. Humans are intelligent and adaptable beings. There’s more than one way to gain skills in reading and writing.

Musing: a period of reflection or thought. As such this post reflects my thoughts, opinions, and experiences on the topic. The choice to home school and the methods you choose are yours to determine.