Every morning I head to the chore boards to put the magnets up for the kids. This is what I found this morning. On Olivia's board she left me a note. It reads, "#1 thing I would like for my birthday is Christian (spelling changed, lol) Light school books." What does this say about a child that is willing to put school books above gifts, gadgets, clothes, etc.?So here is the full story on what brought this on. We used CLE language from first grade through the beginning of fourth grade. The lessons are long and vigorous so I thought we would change our approach and use Intermediate Language Lessons. We are 35 lessons into it and although she does it she thinks she isn't learning anything. She is tremendously concerned that she is falling behind in language and isn't learning enough.
I'm stuck. Do I change back to CLE since she likes it and I had no real issue with it? Do I continue with ILL since it is a wonderfully gentle approach to language that I believe would create great writing skills. Or do I use CLE for three days a week and ILL for the other two, or some other combination of the two?
ILL pros: Gentle approach with wonderful variations of dictation, narration, picture study, composition, and memorization. I think this is the language we truly use as adults to become efficient writers. I also like that it comes in one book for three grades. I don't feel the pressure to rush through the book to finish a set number of lessons in a year.
ILL cons: Not sure there is enough grammar taught. Or if there is it is delayed into older grades.
CLE pros: Very thorough. I rest easy knowing that everything she needs to know will be taught, reviewed, and mastered. It has quizzes and tests to assure me that the concepts are being taught. Easier to keep record of what has been learned.
CLE cons: The lessons are long and I'm not sure how much of what is taught will be pertinent in adult life. I feel like it teaches more for test taking. How many adults, not in writing professions, remember all of the parts of speech and can diagram sentences? And if you can remember all of them how often do you use them?
Okay, so there is my current dilemma. Any suggestions?
3 comments:
As you know, I follow the more "gentle" approach to language and it *is* hard to tell if they are "getting" it. I think your daughter is probably more used to the workbook method and doesn't see herself that she is learning. As a way to tell if the things are sinking in would be to write a sentence or paragraph without punctuation and have her fix it- preferably on something that she has gone over using ILL. Maybe have her circle the nouns in the paragraph, etc. That would show both of you that she is learning.
It's funny that she is worried about it. It's true that most of us don't consciously use a lot of the grammar and I think that by seeing and copying good language we can instinctively learn it.
Just my two cents, since you asked. Let us know what you decide!
If I were in this situation, I'd get the one she wants for her to do on her own time when she wants to do it...since she seems motivated in it...and I'd get the one that I actually want to teach to do during the time I'm taking from my day to teach it to her. :) This will accomplish one of two things: either she will see herself as overloaded with work and decide that the language she "has" to do (your way) is enough after all...or she will enjoy the extra challenges and will excel and you will have lost nothing! :)
Lindsey:
It really is sweet that she feels that way. My oldest daughter went through a time of being afraid that she wasn't learning enough.
I think I would do the combination and see how that goes.I have used both rigorous and gentle methods in the LA area and, yes, they are very different. Some children thrive on the rigorous curriculum while others really need the gentle approach.
Congratulations on raising a child who is concerned about her education!!! :)
Post a Comment