Hi friends :)
I’m enjoying this “How We Homeschool” series. It feels good to document what we are doing, what’s working, and sharing it with you guys. Since I first posted about our pre-k year, a lot has changed. We have already hit some snags and stopped using certain programs, swapping out for others. This is our first year and I expect a lot of bumps in the road as we get going because I am truly learning and figuring out how my children learn best for myself. It’s a journey – one that I am very happy to be on.
Let’s talk about language arts today because this is my strong suit and favorite subject. Aside from it being the true pillar of education (in my opinion), it is also where my own background lies (a degree in English, Literature, & Writing). Language arts encompasses so much – reading, phonics, writing, grammar, spelling. As we get started, we are focused on phonics and reading. We tried All About Reading but it wasn’t a great fit (too much sit down for my wiggle worm). But I do love their readers so you’ll see that below. They are quite pricey directly from All About Learning Press so I scored a used one on eBay (for about 60% less!) I also think she was just too young to get started and I have no problem waiting. After a lot of research and YouTube videos and comparison charts, we have decided on Logic of English. I’ll talk more about this another time, but the main reasons why I like LoE is because it covers phonics, reading, spelling, and grammar as your child progresses. It also covers handwriting, but I am not a fan of the teaching style so we use a separate workbook. But overall, the all-in-one feature is appealing to us. I also like how it prioritizes games and movement aside from seated work. I wanted to wait until W was closer to 5 to start, but she is insistent and really wants to read, so we started Foundations A and finished it last month! We’ll kick off fall with Foundations B.
Aside from that, I have pieced together a few different resources. I have added in new things as we go and follow her lead, for the most part. Here’s what we utilize and what has and continues to build her confidence. We never use all of these in one day… this is just our library of resources, if you will. So we kind of just choose whatever she may be feeling for the day and work on a couple things for about 15-20 minutes or so. Just 20 minutes a day has been huge and it is so incredible to see the progression.
If you want to see an updated list of all our favorite homeschool resources, you can find it HERE.
Amazon affiliate links below.
Language Arts Resources for our 4-YO
– ABC See Hear Do – the perfect choice for kids who like to move their body (and it is available on Kindle Unlimited)
– Explode the Code – Get Ready for the Code A, B, C, and Level 1
– CVC Family Wheels – these have been A HUGE success. She loves playing around with them and reading through as fast as she can. Just amazing. I wrote a whole post about how she learned CVC words HERE.
– Read, Build, Write sheets using loose letters
– Reading Pathways – love the building approach to this and helps with confidence in reading fluency
– Zaner-Bloser Handwriting & Dollar Tree handwriting books
– I Can Read! books (found the full set on eBay for much less)
– Run, Bug, Run (All About Reading reader)
Language Arts Media/Video
– Reading Eggs app
– Teach Your Monsters to Read app
– Leapfrog’s Letter Factory video – No shame, this is how she learned all her letter sounds. That song is catchy catchy.
– Super Why TV program
Language Arts Games
– Zingo
– Melissa and Doug Spelling Puzzle
– 3 & 4-Piece Spelling Puzzles
– Bananagrams
Aside from the above, we work on language arts naturally throughout the day. For instance, she loves writing notes to us and practicing her name (and all of our names). She will sit at our dining room table for a good chunk of time working on handwriting on her own accord. She loves to take our “food order” and will ask how to spell words.
We also use play-doh, shaving cream, and sand to write. These kinds of sensory experiences are always a hit.
We read aloud every single day and sometimes if I come across a CVC word in the book, I will point and ask if she knows it. She loves that. It definitely builds her confidence and makes her feel very much included. We also like to make-up stories before bed. Storytelling and narrating is a beautiful and low-stakes way for your child to use their imagination. This alone prepares them for the writing and storytelling they will do in the future.
Oh, language arts!! I just love you! Writing all this out just makes me so darn happy. Language arts never has to be boring. I hope that the above has given you some inspiration and ideas for your own homeschool. x
