Language Lessons for Elementary Child V1

My 10 year old daughter loves this!

I don't feel like my child is learning anything.

Love this. I used this series successfully with my three older kids (in college now) all the way through high school!

After much searching, I found something that my daughter actually enjoys!!! She will get out the book, and will complete 4-6 lessons on her own!! This a girl who until now hated book work. It has also spurred her on to learn from other workbooks that she would not touch before.

This is the second book we have used in this series and my son loves it! It teaches in small bite size pieces, perfect my busy boy.

We used this book for the 2012-2013 school year There were things we liked and things we didn't Our 4th grader really enjoyed the picture studies We used a similar Language Arts program the year prior Lessons for both were short and to the point My 4th grader did not mind doing the lessons at all I found the lessons to be straight forward and simple to implement The books can be written in which for some of my children is a big deal These books are geared toward the Charlotte Mason method In the end I felt like we needed more I have many friends who LOVE this method If you like the CM Approach these are worthwhile If you are looking for a Language Arts program with a more classical or traditional program keep looking

I like a lot of Sandi Queen's homeschool products and was thrilled when Rainbow Resource began offering many of her products I have four kids and therefore always have four different volumes in use each school year We've used 8 different volumes so far ~ beginning with the first Little Ones Volume on through the first Secondary Child Volume My kids don't write in our books ~ they either write their answers out on a separate piece of paper or we work together and they answer the questions orally ~ this way the curriculum is an affordable option even on our limited budget Another reviewer commented that she was disappointed in this program stating that "after using First Language Lessons 1-4 by Jessie Wise with their older child a placement in either volumes of Language Lessons for the Secondary Child would have been below his level" This reviewer felt there was very little in these workbooks especially noting that the artwork was pixilated and not worthy of picture study I have some friends who would most likely agree with that negative review and after flipping through any of the Language Lesson volumes would have no interest in implementing the program But I don't think that opinion is a reflection of the quality of the program; instead it is just an honest reflection of the personal style and homeschool method of the homeschooling mom This course is described by the author as "an informal course in the language arts with a Charlotte Mason flavor" I think the "informal" part is what is wholeheartedly embraced by the many positive reviewers of this curriculum (not to mention the positive reviews of the kids who are using it ~ mine included) but I think this "informal" part is also the cause of the negative review as well If you are considering purchasing this curriculum ask yourself if what you want is an informal approach or do you expect a more formal grade-level master-each-skill-before-moving-on kind of curriculum Charlotte Mason embraced what she called a "gentle" learning Your student will find a variety of skills that he/she will be introduced to sprinkled throughout each of these volumes with an occasional opportunity for review For example when the student is introduced to adjectives the use of adjectives are explained along with sample sentences Later in that lesson or sometimes not until the next lesson the student is given opportunities to locate the adjective in several brief sentences The next lesson might offer sentences for the student to fill in the blank with adjectives of their own and then the next day's lesson offers the same opportunity only in paragraph format Often times the curriculum then moves on to other topics and may later review adjectives much later in the course If you want sentences to diagram or definitions of the part of speech to memorize you won't find it If you like this approach but want those details supplement with your own resources or purchase a curriculum that provides those details My kids have been able to pick up enough grammar to suit me and I haven't seen any evidence that a more difficult or time-consuming method actually produces better writers so I'm happy But I have friends who wouldn't be happy because they want that more formal approach That's certainly allowed - just keep that in mind when deciding your curriculum You also need to keep in mind that the author says this curriculum has a "Charlotte Mason flavor" not that it is exactly what Charlotte Mason herself would have used Take picture study for example Charlotte Mason believes that a student should be exposed to one artist a semester with a different piece from that artist displayed for a week or two at a time and giving the child opportunity to see about six different pieces from that artist The children are to be exposed to the art and are then encouraged to make their own observations Now the "Picture Study" that Sandi Queen offers in each of these volumes wouldn't meet this ideal because you are not studying one artist and in fact each kid is not even being influenced by the same artwork since they are working in separate volumes Not to mention that the past reviewer is accurate in her observation of the quality of the printed art ~ some of our Language Lesson Volumes have higher quality print resolutions than others and I think that is due to the edition (she improved the resolution of the art prints in her more recent editions) But here is one example where I think the author intended to expose us to just a "flavor" of the Charlotte Mason approach I personally intend to have a family picture study going where we do study one artist and I attempt to have that artist's work on display in my home and encourage the kids to study the details of that art and let the influence of the painting impress upon each child in a personal way But what I intend and what actually happens are not always the same thing; therefore I am glad to have the picture study in the Language Lessons volumes so that my children are being exposed to some of this wonderful "flavor" even when I am not able to make the actual method happen as I had hoped Plus as another reviewer stated often times the pictures have a creative writing assignment and most often it is this "Story Starter" that is the true gem more than the actual picture study All of this brings me to what I really like best about the Language Lesson Volumes - I love the Charlotte Mason approach and because I really agree with her approach I try to implement her ideas in our school day but I honestly get overwhelmed with nature study picture study hymn study composer study poetry study hero study handi-work copywork dictation foreign language etc added onto the regular schedule of math spelling reading history science etc With Sandi Queen's Language Lessons I rest in the knowledge that even though I may not be able to get to all these great ideas I at least am successfully offering each of my children a "flavor" So some weeks this is just the flavor and I successfully quench their thirst with nature study picture study composer studies complete with the listening of classical music etc and sometimes life happens and the "flavor" that Sandi Queen has put together in her Language Lesson Volumes is the only taste they receive Is it perfect? No But our schedule isn't perfect either which is exactly why I intend to keep offering this "flavor" year after year!

We started using this language arts curriculum this year We love it! We're using Charlotte Mason-based materials more and more but this was our first dive into the language arts materials I wasn't sure if it would be 'meaty' enough for my 4th grader but it has been He's actually 'getting it' when it comes to language mechanics which I must admit I'm pleasantly surprised by This book isn't boring and repetitious like the other language arts programs we've used Mrs Queen does such a great job at varying the lessons and mixing it up a bit One lesson might be picture study and the next may be asking the student to write a short story based on his interpretation of that picture Before I bought this book I was unsure how picture studies and copywork (not too much) could be a benefit in a language arts program but now that we've done more of this type of activity I can see how this truly makes students think outside the box My son had a picture study this week and then wrote a long and creative story about the picture I think he got so caught up in the moment of trying to make the story come alive that he didn't realize just how much he was writing Just so you know he hates to write! Poetry is introduced nicely And the grammar rules are really meaty but in a more enjoyable way Mrs Queen explains everything in a simple way that every language arts program should do but doesn't I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who is dreading the thought of yet another boring language arts lesson

Charlotte Mason's approach to teaching the language arts are extremely different from the more modern fill-in-the-blank drill young children in how to write methods Sandi Queen's Language Lessons books are an incredible tool in actually following Miss Mason's methods I used to use another big name language program and I saw some success in ability to writebut my child HATED writing This year I bit the bullet and completely switched her to Queen's Language and I WILL NEVER GO BACK! Miss Mason teaches to let the child narrate orally starting at 6 years of age By the time the child has a few years of oral composition they can start transitioning into written narration There is no need for tedious lessons on how to construct a paragraph The work they have been doing in their heads naturally turns into the writing I have seen it work! Thank you Sandi for stepping forward with this amazing language program :o)