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I feel there is a lack in the Language Arts of CM or can I keep going and my child will succeed…
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I have been doing CM from the beginning for five years now. I have had delayed readers as my DS didn’t take off reading till about the end of grade 4. He took till grade 2 to write about a couple of sentences. I tried to start him in dictation grade 4 but he wasn’t retaining any of the words so I am doing word families with him through sequential spelling. He couldn’t see the words in his minds eye. I want to go back to dictation as it seems so rounded. I need to do written narration’s also. We did the sight word approach for reading which has not worked for my daughter. I tried Delightful Reading with her. Now I am floundering with her as I have now back tracked with an All About Reading program to help her get past grade one reading. She is just finishing her third year of schooling. So because she is even farther behind in her reading I won’t be able to start her in dictation and such until she is ready. The only advantage I have with her is she does way more copy work sentences then my son could at that age. She really enjoys it. My question is, can I be confident to just continue with all this even though they are so behind? Will it work out in the end or have I set them up for failure. I have always seen so much struggle in the language arts that I wonder should I have done a rigorous phonics program, started spelling earlier? Everything else in CM has been fine for me. Do I just continue in the method and will it work out eventually? Maybe those who are much farther ahead that had delays could let me know it is going to be fine.
If I could know this then I will continue to just persevere and do the CM way in Language Arts.
I, so far, have had children who did not take to reading right away. I did use a phonics program in K & 1. They just did not read fluidly until later. For my daughter, it was 9. And then she flourished. At 11 she is reading The Wizard of Oz with ease and enjoyment. DS8 is just emerging as a reader and reading to me from readers still. Both children have been doing copywork from the start. And when we finally made it to the dictation stage, we went S-L-O-W for a while. Even to the point of spelling out most words. They gained skill gradually and continue to. The biggest part of CM language arts that I see later fruit from, is their writing. Exosure to all this good literature has been planted and nurtured along the way. It was not until DD was 9 that she started comfortably producing concise written narrations and creative writing for me. I can certainly see that good literature soil she has been growing in, has impacted her. And I see it in my son’s oral narrations and beginning sentence structure.
It is not a quick process. And we second guess ourselves because we know what they are pushing in public school in the early years, but that doesn’t mean much on the bottom line. My neighbor did her first year home schooling for G2 and was shocked when she actually started and discovered where he was at when she had been led to believe otherwise. I think Charlotte is right on the button when she chose the stages she did in language arts. I see it in my children. I have also seen, when I panicked and pushed for more writing like that the public school learning outcomes described and expected. When I deviated from CM method and totally stressed my children ( and myself) out by putting an unnatural language stage expectation before them. I learned that CM method makes sense and if I am patient, my children are so enriched for it. Sometimes there are extra efforts needed in individual children but the core of their love for learning is in each of them. And if we continue to teach them how to build a relationship with language arts, or science, or art, or math…. we deeply enable them. The academics and logistics come, when they are consistently nurtured, not forced.
Just my own little observations. Be encouraged dear mama, you have the means to grow good persons.
I’ve had success with most of my children with Teach Your Child in 100 Easy Lessons. It is phonics based. That said, one of my children went through it almost three full times before being able to read. I follow that with McGuffey’s readers. Although it’s not very CM approved, this is how we teach our children to read. It allows for a more independent CM style education a little down the road. I’m not saying the the Delightful Reading lessons wouldn’t have worked for them. It’s just what we’ve done.
With the experience of having a very late reader, I’d say it’s a matter of diligent follow through no matter the program you end up choosing. I know others may not agree, but I did some switching for him from time to time based on claims that other methods would work. Ultimately, I see that it was a readiness and practice situation. If I’d stuck with another program over and over, I feel he’d have learned to read at the same time he did with the method we used.
Exposure to copywork, narration, trying dictation from time to time, oral spelling, listening to family read alouds, and reading practice ultimately meant success. It was a long and exhausting process, but when it clicked it was worth it. It reminded me of an overdue baby followed by a several day labor. When the baby arrives you forget most of the trial and pain. ;0)
Whether you change curriculum, or not, it may be a lengthy process. Keep reading aloud. Keep demonstrating good writing and spelling. Keep rejoicing over any new accomplishment. Keep reminding them that each step will help them climb to a higher step. Some steps will feel steeper than others, but each one gets them closer to the goal.
One last note, the brain isn’t fully developed until about 20 years of age. It may be late junior high or high school before reading and spelling are going smoothly. That seems like a long time at the stage when it’s not coming together. All of a sudden it does come together and there are more years understanding the process than those left behind after it finally makes sense.
Blessings,
Becca<><
I have two dds, one is 10 and is a late reader and the other is 8 and read early on. I’ve only been doing CM for one year so I’m no expert but I can speak to my experience with dd 10.
She really just started reading this year. I knew she would once she was ready and she did. I didn’t even bother trying any dictation or spelling at all. We are going to be starting it in the next couple of months actually. It’s my understanding that they have a hard time seeing the words in their minds eye until they have spent a few months reading fluently. She does do copywork, and likes that a lot.
I know she’s finally ready for spelling because she’s starting to write on her own, and she spells the words how she thinks they sound phonetically.
My daughter had trouble in language arts too. In 4th grade she was assessed at a first grade level. In 5th grade, her scores were at a third grade level. We have just finished six grade, and she was assessed at sixth grade. We are planning on starting 7th grade only 1 grade level behind. It seems to me that after the fourth grade, my daughter began to catch on. She was leaping through grade levels, even though she struggled in the beginning. Just try to hang in there. They will eventually catch up. If it helps any, we are starting to use Learning Language Arts Through Literature. It is CM and covers everything in language arts.
I see that Language Arts does build on each other. I plan to do this All About Reading for my DD as I definitely need to back track with her. She so loves to try reading but it is such a struggle. I am trying to follow the SCM guidelines and just try dictation again for my DS. I am always concerned because I had late readers that because it is late writing due to late reading that I should implement some sort of writing course. What I really want to do is believe in the method as I know the fruit is later. That is what I need to hear from CMer’s is that it will for sure happen and I won’t become so behind as we continue to improve his writing, spelling, and also Grammar which I am currently not doing. I am going to pick that back up in the higher grades. I think I just need to hear the veterans that it is going to happen even though it is slow so far. Thank you for encouraging me in this. I might go pick up my SCM Reading,Writing book that I bought from them to get everything back into perspective.
Kim.
I skimmed these posts. But let me just say this. I was a first grade teacher for 6 years before having my first child. I read “Leo the Late Bloomer” to the parents at open house every year.
I wanted them to understand that just because a child doesn’t meet rather arbitrary bench marks at specifically set times, doesn’t mean the child has a disorder or condition. It may simply mean they bloom a little later than the rest. But, bloom they do.
Children who are “behind” in the early years but who have loving parents and a positive, literature- rich environment very often catch up in the middle years. There are plenty of college grads with Masters and further who were considered late bloomers. Take heart.
Also, I used Alpha-Phonics with a few of my children. This year we used Delightful Reading and it has been a joy. Similar concept to Alpha-Phonics but a more gentle, enjoyable CM type approach. I have always believed in a combo of phonics and “whole language” for lack of a better term.
My children range from 5 to 17 and we have homeschooled since my oldest was PreK. We have primarily used literature based learning (Sonlight in the early years, 1 1/2 years of Abeka, picking and choosing different books with CM style, and now looking forward to our third year with SCM).
As far as language arts skills are concerned, that is probably one of the biggest areas that I see the fruit of natural, consistent exposure. We have done copywork since the early years which has developed into “interest notebooks” from time to time. They will pick a topic and research and do copywork into a skinny binder. For spelling, we loosely use Rod and Staff Spelling and again, copywork; for grammar/English we have used a variety of things…Queen Language Arts books, Rod and Staff, Go for the Code books and Phonics Pathways (this was all I did with phonics based reading; the majority of how they learned to read was just sitting with them, reading to them, pointing things out). For writing, we use many elements from IEW, but not the entire program. I love to write and English was my favorite subject in school, along with grammar, so this area is easier for me to teach with confidence (opposite of science and math!).
Fast forward to my oldest two…17 yo dd…has always loved to read and write. Usually comes naturally to her. Loves to narrate on her own and share with me what she’s reading and writes without my asking. 14 yo dd…very musically inclined, very quiet and can sometimes fall in the cracks if I am not mindful. Hence, she doesn’t narrate nearly as much as her older sister. But…the other day I gave her a writing assignment (from one of the narration suggestions on that looooooong list that a poster on here gave once…I printed it out and keep it in sheet protectors and handy). I read it and was so very pleased. I told her that even though she hasn’t written much in a while, whatever she’s doing…it’s getting through. It was creative, the sentence structure was varied and exciting. Just really good. She was also a little later with her love of reading. She was slower to read and just didn’t get excited about it until a little later than her sister.
My point is that I have not used very structured programs for any of these areas but they are (all) turning into solid writers with a love of reading and literature. We have read out loud for years and I still do (for all of them); they still do copywork (the older ones like to copy hymns or passages in the Bible); and we invest in great books for our home library.
My little guy who turned 5 in March…is he able to recognize all her letters??? Not so much. But having seen the fruit of being patient and trusting this process, I am not at all worried. He loves being read to. That’s great…I’ll take that! The reading will come!
I hope this helped to hear a little testimony of my children!
Take heart to know that I have been where you are, worried that this one is behind with this or that (I’ve got one now who struggles with math facts in 6th grade) and I still worry about various topics, but it truly is a blessing to see at least one now in the home stretch and be pleased with what the Lord has done!Blessings,
Lisa
Thanks for the testimony Lisa. I am encouraged to just keep consistently doing copy work, and continue with our spelling/dictation. We do lots of oral narration’s and read many wonderful living books. I will next year start a bit on written narration’s but will understand it might take time to develop. I think every year I get these worried thoughts near the end of the school year when you don’t have as much progress as you had hoped for. But I always see some improvement all the same.
Thanks,
Kim.
I also want to just clarify that I realize that the Lord gives such varied abilities, bents, talents and interests. I know that not all of my children may end up writing well, just like I haven’t seen so much natural math ability for a few of my kids. They have to work really hard at it. My youngest, 5, may end up being science and math minded (and then I’m in trouble!). Also, my daughter (11) is adopted from China and she doesn’t struggle with math much at all. So while I have seen fruit from CM’s natural methods, I would suspect that at some time when they are older, if it’s not coming naturally, they will have to work a little harder at it. Does that make sense? And not negate everything else I said??!! 😉
This is such an encouraging thread
.My dc are not new to CM but only one of them has been taught using her methods from the beginning. That particular dc (almost 8) is slow to read (reminds me of my oldest), or to catch on, I should say. He is progressing, I can see it, but like marmiemama mentioned, it’s just not his bend. He will learn to read well someday (soon, I can tell) but he is much more of a sports fanatic, science experiment-y (will it blow up??!!), outdoorsy, rough and tumbly kind of kid. But, he does love to be read to so I only feed him quality literature which he narrates by drawings or acting out the passage. His oral narrations are hit and miss, his drawings are good (sticks to the passage), but I because he seems to be going a mile a minute, I have to read shorter passages to allow for a quality narration. But, he is progressing!
My middle boy is a natural reader/speller (or at least concerned over his spelling), enjoys poetry, narration, discussions, and fine arts. He loves to read outloud and enjoys most LA. I don’t know if that is something CM has contributed to or not, but I’m so glad for him that good literature is valued in her method, along with oral narration. I’m excited for what the future holds for him in this area. I just keep doing what CM suggests (although may not be 100% on target, but I try) because I have seen its fruits.
My oldest boy used to hate to read, wasn’t very good at it, but now reads daily (actually asks for the newspaper). Gives good/solid oral narrations (written are good, just not very long, which I am ok with right now). He is not a natural LA person, but I keep him in good quality books, provide time for narration/discussion and just keep moving forward. I doubt he is University bound, but, I do think that after having read good quality lit, discussions w/ me (and mentors) that he has a lot of good ideas to turn over in his head. I do want him to have a solid LA background but I’m also looking to have the quality lit be something that has shaped him, given him food for thought, and aided in being able to write when he needs to.
I think I’m veered from what you were hoping to hear. You have already received much encouragement from these great ladies, and maybe more will chime in.
Are AAR and DR similar in format? I’ve read a bit about All about Spelling and it seems similar to the Delightful Reading suggestions is All about Reading tied to AAS? I’d like to encourage you to keep up with your CM style of teaching. Sonya explains CM style spelling lessons here: http://simplycharlottemason.com/2012/06/21/teaching-spelling-subject-by-subject-part-5/. That may help you find some help for your children. While I am not a CM purist, I am thankful for Sonya’s clear explanations. They give me additional tools to use with my own children. All learning methods tend to seem as if they promise wonders, but they all require grace and patience in reality. Learning takes time. 🙂 Enjoy the process and have fun learning with your children. 🙂
Becca<><
Sometimes I talk to other homeschoolers (some even CM) in my community and find they are all doing different program’s not really doing the CM way as listed above that Becca mentions. I get nervous because my children are not doing all these program’s and therefore the process seems slower where as they are with their program’s. Although they started earlier and didn’t have reading delays. I should realize it is time because I have bought some of these things and in the end find I may have wasted some money. I am going to take the advice from the above messages and expect more copy work. He needs to see it on paper more and then we will start dictation again next year which you can take till grade 12 if needed. So I should have time to step back a bit and really get it right in the order of Reading, Copy Work, Dictation. Then I will continue our oral narrations and just some written narration’s. Again time will help this too. I will do more picture narration’s as DS enjoys drawing. As for Grammar I can continue this when I start more written narration. Does this sound like a good plan?
Kim.
I like your plan, Kim. This is what I would do if I were you. I know it’s hard when you feel like you are the only one that you know of doing what you’re doing. For us though, I try not to think about it too much because I know my girls were miserable with our homeschooling efforts until we started CM a year ago.
And of course reading this forum helps me a lot!Like I said above, we do a lot of copywork, and are going to start spelling in the fall. (Spelling Wisdom). For much of our narration we do picture narration. I use those composition books that are blank of the top with lines on the bottom. They draw what they remember, and on the bottom they copy a sentence that I have written on a white board. We do this in addition to our regular copywork. I’m hoping that next year we will get away from the picture narration and that it will naturally flow into written from the work we’ve done this year.
Take heart to know that I have been where you are, worried that this one is behind with this or that (I’ve got one now who struggles with math facts in 6th grade) and I still worry about various topics, but it truly is a blessing to see at least one now in the home stretch and be pleased with what the Lord has done!
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