I have been asking the kids to keep a regular journal this year. It is definitely something I’m going to keep doing. They enjoy it, often work on it while we are reading out loud together, and have an opportunity to get something on paper they care about or are thinking about while also working on writing. They are really too personal to publish, but the pictures the children drew during my mother-in-law’s hospitalization and death were so touching.

Here are some recent entries:

By our Little Cowgirl.

Shooter describing the events that led up to a late arrival to fifth grade band at our public school.

Here is Farmer Boy's journal, where he and his phonics tutor are roasting marshmallows over her stove top.

It has also given me an opportunity to see the children’s progress as the year moves along. Farmer boy switches between cursive and print, which is typical for someone making that transition – and even more so for someone who is dyslexic. He prefers to list the things that are happening in the day to come rather than write about something that has already happened. This is also typical of dyslexia (finding comfort in the routine he has found to work for him – making a list of things he knows are going to happen, and are frequently the same words).

It is heartening that, since we started school again after Christmas, he has been adding some new panache to his entries. He couldn’t resist writing about his black-felt dress cowboy hat from Santa. Often his entries will include very little writing and a detailed drawing, or enough writing that he is too tired to mess with the drawing. It is so important that I understand and respect his dysgraphia in this area. I do always insist on some writing, but I’ve never mentioned it if he doesn’t include a picture.

Last year, we used the Draw Your World program Draw Write Now, which we all liked, was lots of fun and included great art instruction. I would still recommend that program, but I’m going to keep my children working on free journaling because of the creativity and open-ended writing they embrace in this circumstance. Usually, lack of clear instruction and “write whatever you want” makes my boys want to cry…but they love journaling.

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In perfect contradiction to our experience with math, we have used a wide variety of language arts products in our years of homeschooling.

I wonder if part of this is because language arts is MY THING, whereas math is NOT. I found a math program where I feel secure in the methods, and my children like it. Viola! At first I thought I was pickier about language arts because I love it so much.

But upon reflection, I realize it is more because my children all fit well with the math program we happened to try our first year, whereas they all have greatly different needs and abilities to consider when it comes to language arts.

I did find an excellent fit for Shooter, again by lucky accident and because I read tons of reviews, when I chose Handwriting Without Tears his first year. We are still using it now. It incorporates lots of grammar along with being simple and fun.

In case you couldn’t see it in the first picture:

Ahem.

We also use the Sonlight language arts program as an attachment to his literature. His copywork, grammar gems and writing activities are usually directly related to his reading – which is usually directly related to the period in history we are studying (this year it’s American history). Shooter uses the advanced readers. I love that Sonlight has different levels that match with a core in order to give a child work that will be challenging as well as applicable for them.

Shooter has worked on factual writing more this year – including outlines and a research paper. Language arts is probably his least favorite subject, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say he doesn’t like it. He likes it unless it involves ‘freestyle’ writing without enough parameters for his analytical brain.

Farmer Boy is a whole-nother ball of wax! Last spring, we finally screened for dyslexia and discovered he is dyslexic and mildly dysgraphic. Almost everything he does in school is modified because of this different way of learning. I am so happy to be able to do this for him without him comparing himself to same-age peers. He is hard on everyone, but especially on himself. It’s a gift for him to be working so well and having so little frustration this year.

I’ve been using the Sonlight Readers 2 and language arts program for Farmer Boy. He has been doing so well in his Alphabet Phonics tutoring and it is really showing in his reading level. He is *excited* to read his assignments this year, brags about how many pages he has read so far, and even read IN FRONT OF my entire family at Christmas this year. I had to leave the room because it made me cry – he refused to read in front of anyone (including his siblings and father) but me until the past few months.

Although I use the Sonlight language arts planner as a guide, he does most of his grammar work with his lovely tutor, Miss R, and I create spelling lists and grammar work based on what they have been doing in tutoring. He is being taught cursive handwriting by Miss R as part of his program, so he is receiving a different method of instruction than Handwriting Without Tears gave Shooter. Farmer Boy has been working on translating print into cursive, and high (tow-truck) connections:

Little Cowgirl is spending a lot of time on phonics this year, cementing what she learned in her kindergarten-level studies last year. We are using Saxon Phonics for homeschool, which I recommend. A lot. It has been a good fit for us, incorporates every learning style and is especially good for instructing dyslexic children (Cowgirl is probably mildly dyslexic according to her screening this summer). It can be broken into many different sections throughout the day or can be done all in one 45-minute setting (lots of it doesn’t happen while your student is sitting, though, it’s an active program).

She is also working her way through the Handwriting Without Tears Printing Book and likes the readers she is using. We found the readers for sale at a used curriculum book fair – they are public school castaways and are in terrific condition. Here is an activity she completed after finishing a recent story in the reading book:

These are the clues she wrote on the back of the page.

In case you can’t read her clues, they are as follows:
1. it is a bug.
2. I migrate.
3. I am poisonous, so do not eat me.

Here is her drawing on the front side:

A Monarch Butterfly!

Although I *always* want my children to do more creative writing, they either (a) hate it with a burning passion, or (b) aren’t ready to do it unless it involves dictating their story to me. So, although I do insist on a bit of it, they are mostly doing copy work and reading really excellent literature, which is probably most important to me. Being consistently exposed to good writing and being given the proper tools to employ, they will have the ability to communicate well in written form should they ever need or want to.