First Language lessons …

I’ve used it with my oldest and next oldest girls.  WE really liked it.  They both remember so much  – lots of oral repetition.  I have the oldest version, which incl. both 1st and 2nd grade in one book.

I am using FFL with my two kids, ages 7 & 8. I pulled them from PS last year and so we are new to home schooling and I chose it because it is not a fill in the blank boring worksheet. It is not harsh or very straining and takes just minutes. It helps me since I’m not a teacher of grammar by trade so i am remembering as we go. Otherwise I wouldn’t think to point out capitals or punctuation etc.  My son thoroughly enjoyed a lesson where I wrote different nouns on index cards, linking verbs, on others, and adjectives on others. He was to line them up into sentences and then I pointed out that each had a subject/noun, verb etc.  He asked to keep the cards and he went and showed his sister who was not happy that she didn’t get cards of her own. LOL  Anyway, I am also using the well trained mind writing program, Writing with Ease. I love this a lot, but I have made some changes that are more CM friendly in that,  when I read a passage, I do not ask the direct questions afterward, but rather use them as guides for the kid’s narration. Their first time they included one basic point, but as they get more practice, they are including more and more of the points listed in the direct questions, so I know they are comprehending well. Aslo, while I want them to read classics, there is never enough time to read them all and this allows me the opportunity to expose them to a snippet of a classic and if they show real interest in the book, then I will use that as a summer or night time reader from the library or, if I can download it from librovox, then I will put on my iphone and listen in car over speakers while running errands. Kids love that a lot. 

FFL does repeat quite a bit, but my duaghter is an auditory learner so it works great for her. I just highlight what I want to cover with my son and I do not do all the repeats with him. Hope this helps you. FFL is not CM because it is for 1st-3rd and CM doesn’t recommend grammar until 4th.  

I know CM delays grammar….but I felt so guilty! So for me, FLL was perfect — short, short lessons; no writing, unless you choose to do the “Enrichment” at the end of each lesson; auditory; repetitious.  There are 100 lessons in 1st grade and 100 in 2nd grade.  She incl. narration exercises (which I sometimes skip, since my girls give me plenty of narrations).