How I Teach Language Arts Using an Eclectic Lifestyle of Learning

Yesterday I introduced our family and philosophy, now it’s time to move into the nitty gritty: how do we DO this thing called homeschooling?  Today the topic is language arts.

Language arts: the subjects (as reading, spelling, literature, and composition) that aim at developing the student’s comprehension and capacity for use of written and oral language.” Miriam-Webster.

Whatever path my children choose in life, the ability to communicate effectively through written and spoken language is fundamental.  Grab a cup of coffee, because with such a broad–and important–area of education I’m bound to get a bit wordy!

Before I start, let me tell you the books with the most impact on my teaching style in language arts.  Though I do own the original Charlotte Mason homeschooling series (which you can read free here), A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola has helped me implement CM philosophy.  Two books by Ruth Beechick have also had a great influence on my homeschool instruction: The Three R’s and You Can Teach Your Child Successfully.  (I reviewed both of them on The Curriculum Choice.)

Reading and Literature

My eleven-year-old daughter was already a tremendous reader when I began homeschooling her in third grade.  We’ve simply continued lots of independent reading and reading aloud.  I am happy with how we’ve arranged what she is reading.  She must read one chapter daily in a book from a literature list.  I created the list with more books than necessary so she has some choice.  She can choose free reading books from Honey for a Child’s Heart and Read for the Heart.  That way I feel confident the content will feed her soul, and it’s far better than looking on the library shelves and choosing by cover.

My eight-year-old son did not take to reading as quickly as my daughter, but is coming along very nicely.  He finished Funnix last year, so this year our plan is simple: read.  He reads to me every day as we cuddle on the couch, and I still read aloud a lot to both my children.  If we need a little backup in any area, it’s Ruth Beechick’s The Three R’s to the rescue.  Her methods are practical and natural.

One thing that I’ve already mentioned twice but I want to stress again: reading aloud.  Not only is it a great source of enjoyment, but I believe the patterns of language and wonderful vocabulary are soaked in through listening to literature read aloud, especially books that would be far above their reading level.

Lastly, we meet with one other homeschool family for a very informal book club.  All of us read the same book and record our thoughts in a journal, then we get together to discuss the book.

Spelling & Grammar

My plan in spelling and grammar is based on ideas from Charlotte Mason and Ruth Beechick.  I don’t use a formal curriculum, but prefer customized instruction by working on issues within their writing.  My son is only eight so his writing is limited (I still act as a scribe for his narrations and stories).  For my daughter, if I see a word frequently misspelled we’ll add it to a list and work on it for a while.  Grammar is also taught within writing.  I have several grammar books (I reviewed Nitty Gritty Grammar) we use for reference.

Composition

Though I love the natural methods of Mason and Beechick, I’m also fine with using a formal curriculum at times.  Last year my daughter and I worked through WriteShop Junior D and she gained some great skills to add to her writing toolbox.  We spent summer and fall without a curriculum, then this winter we’ll try out WriteShop I.

Outside of a formal writing curriculum a lot of writing–letters to friends, notebooking school subjects, stories, a family newsletter, and ideas from my Language Arts Pinterest board.  Other than the letters to friends, we edit these together and use them as a quick lesson on anything from misplaced modifiers to word choice.

General Language Arts Skills

Copywork, Dictation and Narration

These natural and powerful techniques are classic Charlotte Mason.  I am convinced that regular use is a great tool for expanding skills in both written and spoken language.  Ruth Beechick’s books helped with the step by step of using these techniques at each of my children’s specific levels.  Though copywork and dictation don’t happen as often as I’d like, narration is a very regular part of our homeschool, especially in history.  My daughter writes or types her narrations and we edit them together.  I act as a scribe for my son.  He can practice organizing his thoughts and use his vast vocabulary without knowing how to spell the words.

Memorizing Poetry

I always loved the idea of memorizing poetry, but hadn’t made an attempt to implement it.  Then I listened to a talk by Andrew Pudewa called Nurturing Competent Communicators and realized it wasn’t just a fancy skill to impress the grandparents, but was an opportunity to build a model in their minds of the best use of language.  This isn’t a hard and fast subject for us: we find a poem we like, I copy it and post it where we’ll see it frequently.  We recite it often and play around with quizzing each other on what comes next.  The kids learn them way faster than I do!  By the way, I don’t make a rule that they have to be serious classics: Sister for Sale by Shel Silverstein is a favorite.

Latin

I’m putting this in language arts because of the effect it has on the child’s language development with grammar structure and vocabulary.  This is where the classical philosophy enters my eclectic mix.  We enjoy using Classical Academic Press materials: Latin for Children for my daughter and Song School Latin for my son.  With LFC we use it almost exactly as directed, other than taking longer than one week for each chapter–there is a lot of material there!  With SSL I do all work orally with my son and don’t require the written work that is available in the student workbook.

Nightly Notes

One area of writing practice that deserves special mention is how my children and I write notes back and forth to each other in a spiral notebook.  They write their message to me after I tuck them into bed.  Hint: if you have a reluctant writer, the option of staying up a little later to compose a note is a great tactic to encourage writing.  I write back sometime during the day.  Not only is it fun writing practice where I can easily model correct techniques, but it’s a relationship builder as well.

That’s the lowdown on my language arts teaching.  Come back tomorrow for the scoop on how I teach math.  The good news is I don’t think it will be half as long as this post!

The “How I Teach” Series:

• Our Family and Philosophy
• How I Teach Language Arts (You just read that one!)
• How I Teach Math
• How I Teach Science
• How I Teach History
• How I Teach Fine Arts