A Many-Faceted Program that Utilizes Varied Resources to Keep Students Interested & Motivated!

In the younger years, our language arts take a multi-faceted, interactive approach. From Pre-K to 2nd grade include resources that encourage active learning. For instance, both the Basic Phonics and Advanced Kindergarten language arts programs use a hands-on activity pack that has dough, macaroni pieces, sand, string, and more. The activity pack includes a list of activities that teach phonics in imaginative and fun ways. Other resources reflect this active approach to learning the language arts skills. As the language arts programs progress beyond reading and comprehension skills, they add studies of grammar, cursive handwriting, vocabulary studies, and spelling. In the middle and early high school years, creative writing is practiced and the student’s communication skills are refined. Great literature is included in junior and senior high packages in increasing amounts, exposing them to wonderful classics and offering them discussion and evaluation opportunities, including on our online forum.

The Strength of Cross-Curricular Study

All of our language arts programs include readers and a guidebook whose creative writing assignments coordinate with the basic programs. This means you need to order the correct package to coordinate with your basic study! Educators recommend the additional reinforcement that cross-curricular studies offer.

Several Options for the “Learning-to-Read” Ages

We offer several language arts programs and accompanying reader sets to coordinate with main programs targeted for younger learners. Just another way to keep your family learning together, with the perfect options for each student.

WinterPromise has traditionally included quite a bit of pleasure reading in their programs. Themed programs
have always featured Adventure Reading, books that can be enjoyed as a family, which support the theme or
time period.

Meanwhile, language arts programs have always featured Readers or Literature that are right at a student’s
correct reading level. Parents have always been able to choose a reading set for their LA program that is also
cross-curricularly linked to the student’s main study. For LA 5, for example, a parent could choose from several
readers sets, and pick one that coordinates with Quest for the Ancient World, or with Children Around the
World, for example.

However, we here at WinterPromise see things changing in the world of books. A great wave of e-reading
devices is changing how we read and use and think about books.

As we here at WP think about the future of books, we see this change as a great one! Ebooks are less
expensive to produce, cost nothing to ship, allow more books to stay in print than might in traditional print
formats, and — best of all — offer a great option to help homeschoolers keep costs down.

Now that devices like e-readers, tablets, and smartphones can offer you instant, downloadable books, it makes a
lot of sense to us to let parents have the option to utilize this entirely new way of reading. We feel this will
allow WP to focus on bring you even more ebooks in the future, make WP more affordable than ever, and allow
for a whole lot of new ways to use WP!

So, we’re offering our parents the option to buy our themed programs and language arts for 3rd to 6th grade
without the Adventure Reading or Readers, respectively. They are still scheduled in your guide, of course!
Plus, with LA 3 to 6 ebook sets, we’re including our all new eReading Schedules that include questions for the
books we’ve always used, and which are still scheduled. You can still order the readers sets, if you want them,
but this gives parents options to use ebooks or the library. PLUS — some themed programs and LA include
ebook copies of readers!

New Functionality & So Affordable! You’ll love the functionality and flexibility of our ebook language arts programs for grades 3-6. Each program is an ebook collection that includes a guide and most of your language arts resources. These ebook collections are specially formatted to make them easy to view on a tablet or laptop, or print from your home printer and use. The language arts worktexts, for instance, can be printed as worksheets at home or in WP’s booklet format at Staples.  A Great Way to Save!  Best of all, your ebook purchase allows you to print as many copies of consumables as you need for your family. Printing consumables can really help you save on most language arts programs, as so many programs include several consumables.  Another Great Idea.  Another change this year is that we are no longer selling readers as a part of our 3rd to 6th LA programs. With the advent of personal reading devices, tablets, smartphones, and laptops, more and more of these books are available in a less-expensive ebook format. Reader sets are still available as special order items, but we believe this offers fl exibility to parents to choose to buy ebooks, or borrow books from a friend or library to reduce their homeschool costs. Instead, we are including eReading Schedules that schedule books and provide discussion questions (see below).  So What Do I Get?  We offer Ebook Sets, in which you receive electronic copies of guides and WP resources, and Digital + Print Sets in which you receive the ebook resources, but also get one print copy of each LA resource. In addition, each ebook collection includes an eReading Schedule. Each eReading Schedule includes a suggested schedule with the books listed, plus discussion and narration questions for the books suggested. Suggested readers are not included, but buying information is included in the schedule, and this gives parents the option to use ebooks or the library.  List of Books Scheduled in Our 3rd-6th Grade eReading Schedules: You can order the reader sets as special order items. Details are online.  LA 3 ANIMALS LIST: Black Beauty, Call of the Wild, Wind in the Willows, Poppy & Rye, Stuart Little, Black Star, Bright Dawn, A Bear Called Paddington, and Ginger Pye.  LA 3 EARLY AMERICAN LIST: Pocahontas & the Stranger, What’s the Big Idea?, Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin, Night Journeys, Hannah of Fairfi eld, Who Was Daniel Boone?, Dog of Discovery, Once on This Island, and Farmer Boy.  LA 3-6 LATER AMERICAN LIST: Iron Thunder, Caddie Woodlawn, The Great Fire, Jim Ugly, Helen Keller, Jason’s Gold, A Year Down Yonder, On the Wings of Heroes, My Side of the Mountain, How to Eat Fried Worms.  LA 3-6 SEA & SKY LIST: The Strange Intruder, The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Shanghaied to China, Fish, Kids’ Shark Book, Crash at Cannibal Valley, Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet, and Mysterious Benedict Society.  LA 3-6 CHILDREN LIST: Rainbow Garden, Treasures of the Snow, The Good Master, A Christmas Carol, The Three Musketeers, The Black Pearl, Listening for Lions, Heidi, Master Puppeteer, and Little Pear.  LA 4-7 EARLY AMERICAN LIST: Children of the Longhouse, Almost Home, Songbird, Guns for General Washington, Yankee Doodle Boy, Little House in the Big Woods, Soft Rain, Who Was Mark Twain?, and Giant Rat of Sumatra.  LA 4-6 ANCIENT LIST: Tirzah, Beauty in the Fields, Bible Wars & Weapons, Rise of the Golden Cobra, Aesop’s Fables, Theras & His Town, Detectives in Togas, and Polycarp: Crown of Fire.  LA 4-6 MIDDLE AGES LIST: The Silver Branch, The Edge on the Sword, Medallion, The Puppeteer’s Apprentice, Adam of the Road, Spy for the Night Riders, Ten Boys Who Made a Difference, Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal, Crispin at the Edge of the World.

A Summary of Elementary Language Arts Programs

Letters to Little Words

The Letters to Little Words program starts with studying one letter a week for 27 weeks. Each week, each letter is introduced with all its letter sounds, i.e. that “a” says three sounds, “g” says two sounds, etc. Most parents are surprised by how quickly students catch on to this methodology. When a parent introduces decoding of the words, they can say, “This word uses the second sound of ‘a.’” For the remaining weeks of this program, students go on to add to their knowledge of the alphabet other 2-letter phonogram sounds. Examples include: er, or, ir, ai, oi, sh and so on. Throughout the year, students have a weekly list of words that they need to decode, starting in Week 10. An additional feature of this program is that letters are introduced in the same week they are used and practiced in the “Animals and Their Worlds” program, fitting hand in glove with this program.

This program offers a lot of flexibility to parents. The phonogram cards and character cards, together with the activity pack, offer a variety of activities that reinforce the learning process in an active way. These resources can help you fill gaps in learning, reinforce skills, and even extend the learning if you want to move more slowly through the program.

Here are some examples of students who will use this program effectively, and how:

• Parents of younger learners, such as a four-year-old who can’t wait to read, could use this program without using the last 9 weeks of more advanced phonograms, but instead, used other learning activities included with the program to continue building reading skills.
• Parents of students who know some of the letter sounds, but not all, usually have great success using the program as it is.
• Parents of students who know almost all of the basic sounds of the alphabet, but have not learned the so-called “long” sounds of the vowels or additional sounds of consonants can also use this program successfully, but may move through it more quickly.

Syllables to Sentences

Syllables to Sentences begins with a three-week review of the phonograms learned in the “Letters to Little Words” program. After that, students begin to decode readers with short three-letter words or less. These readers usually have one short sentence per page. Students also work on word families, building their decoding skills. The program brings the student to the point that he is reading short paragraphs by the end of the year.

Here are some examples of students who will use this program effectively, and how:

• Parents of younger learners, such as a five-year-old who has learned his alphabet and is a motivated student may be able to use this program if the parent is willing to spend more than three weeks on the initial review (using the phonics cards) to really ground the student before moving on.
• Parents of average kindergartners who have fully mastered the alphabet and are ready to decode (or are just now reading) three-letter words will find this program will work perfectly using the program as it is.
• Parents of older students who not “motivated” readers may find that this is a safe, handleable program for students who haven’t effectively made the leap from decoding simple words to reading. Usually such students reach a certain point where all of a sudden the “key turns” in their heads, and they suddenly make reading progress at an incredibly rapid rate, catching quickly up to their more “motivated” peers. This may mean parents will not be able to use this program for an entire year as their student suddenly “outgrows” the program, and parents may find they need to supplement the program, or move on to the next level. This may seem like an additional expense, however, the step from decoding to rapid reading is a vital part of reading instruction, and cannot be missed.

NOTE: My student seems to be “on-the-fence” between these two programs; how do I know which one to choose?
Both of these programs overlap, thanks to the phonics cards and activity pack. If your student knows most of the alphabetical sounds, you may find yourself torn between these two options. At this point, your choice becomes dependent upon the personality of your student, and your own commitment to “adjusting” the program. If your student isn’t highly motivated as a reader, you may want to choose the “Letters to Little Words” program, knowing that at a certain point things may “click” for them, and you’ll need to move on. On the other hand, if your student knows most of the alphabet, but is starting to decode like a house afire, go with Syllables to Sentences and plan to spend more time on review to really ground them. As to your own commitment to adjusting, parents who choose the lower level will find that they may need to double up on some assignments to keep students challenged, while parents who go to the higher level may find that they need to add extra review time and utilize the phonics cards activities to invest in making up for gaps in their students’ learning. Parents may have preferences as to the type of “adjusting” they’d rather do. It’s also a cost issue. If you go lower, and things suddenly click for your student, you’ll need to move on and purchase additional language arts programs or resources.

Paragraphs to Pages

Sometime during “Syllables to Sentences,” a “key” turns in many students’ heads, bringing on that magic moment when their reading ability suddenly explodes and makes rapid gains. This 18-week program serves as a step between “Syllables to Sentences” and “Stories to Short Chapters” that can do one of two things: (1) Allow students whose “key” has turned to continue moving forward, even though they may not have completed “Syllables to Sentences,” or (2) Allow students who have completed “Syllables to Sentences” and yet have not had their “key” turn to continue moving forward at a slower pace than they’d encounter in “Stories to Short Chapters.”

Stories to Short Chapters for Grade 1 or 2

LA 1 offers your students a fun learning adventure in the forest with a smart squirrel named Acorn, the merry chipmunks Dash & Scoot, and Tatty the Mouse. Students will practice more advanced phonograms and blends in exercises and stories of mayhem and mischief that the forest friends encounter. The program begins with students reading short passages of several paragraphs with controlled vocabulary. There will be some unfamiliar words that are new, and we expect that your student will still need some guidance while reading, at first. By the end of the year, most students will progress to reading short chapters. Throughout the year, students will enjoy reading games resources that will reinforce their decoding skills and increase reading comprehension, fluency and speed. They’ll also compile a word dictionary to which they’ll add their new words, aiding them in spelling skills, and helping them to remember the words they’re decoding. This program is for students who are ready to read short paragraphs with some help, and is designed for the student whose reading “key” has turned and is rapidly making strides in their reading. It includes the items listed below, and a guidebook that offers creative narration suggestions to coordinate with a student’s theme programs.

Readers to Real Books for Grade 2 or 3

LA 2 begins as your student is ready to read short chapter books. Your student will return to Pine Hollow, and have all new adventures with Acorn the squirrel, the mischievous chipmunks Dash & Scoot, and Tatty the Mouse, along with all the other friends your student met in “Stories to Short Chapters.” Students will gain reading confidence, speed and comprehension as they work through this year’s resources. They’ll also start learning the most basic grammar concepts, as they are introduced to nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and basic capitalization and punctuation rules. The grammar they learn will also help them grow as readers. Throughout the year, students will once again use reading games resources that were a part of their “Stories to Short Chapters” set. These games will reinforce their decoding skills and increase reading comprehension, fluency and speed. Daily stories are 2-3 pages in length with controlled vocabulary. This set includes the items listed below, and a guidebook that offers creative narration suggestions to coordinate with a student’s themed program.

LA 3 “Tracking Down Good Grammar” Program

LA 3 fully grounds students in grammar instruction. Students learn all of the eight basic parts of speech in detail with the help of fun-loving Scout the dog. Scout will lead them through grammar instruction about nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, articles, conjunctions and interjections. They are also introduced to cursive writing. Students continue with their reading skills, reading books that range in length from 65 pages to 300 pages, but which have a consistent reading level very achievable for this age. Students are required to read about a chapter a day.

LA 4 “Solving the Mysteries of Grammar” Program

LA 4 continues student’s mastery of grammar concepts with the fun, mystery-solving sleuth, Cliff Hanger. WP’s exclusive workbooks have students solving mysteries as they complete grammar exercises. This year’s grammar instruction reinforces concepts learned last year, for mastery of basic grammar skills. Students continue their work on cursive handwriting. Students progress into more formalized creative writing projects and read books that average 150-300 pages in length, about a chapter a day.

LA 5 “Digging Into Paragraphs” Program

LA 5 concentrates on student mastery of writing a good paragraph. The creative writing is focused on constructing good paragraphs of various types, from instructive to descriptive and more. Students will also continue with their grammar studies; Scout has made a comeback and is sharing his Alaskan adventures while students progress to more advanced grammar topics such as direct objects, predicate nominatives, nouns of direct address, clauses, verb phrases and more. They’ll continue their practice on cursive writing and vocabulary building. Their daily reading is about a chapter a day from books that average 150-300 pages in length.

LA 6 “Painting Word Pictures” Program

LA 6 helps students to add creativity to their writing with more effective use of vocabulary. They will add words to an advanced word dictionary and utilize a spelling dictionary that includes a thematic thesaurus and homonym index. They will sharpen skills such as developing interest-catching stories, using personification and more with their use of words. Students will also enjoy the creative “Comic Strip Grammar” and “Spelling Works” resources that add a dash of fun.

PRE-K/K – Letters to Little Words
FROM LEARNING LETTERS TO READING SHORT WORDS!

Letters to Little Words begins as if the student does not know anything about the alphabet or any of the sounds, yet does not move so slowly that a student would be bored if he knew some of the sounds. Basic Phonics covers all the sounds of the alphabet, all the vowel sounds (short, long and additional) and, at the end of the year, covers some of the two-letter sounds such as ai, and sh, etc. By the end of the year, the student will be reading three to five letter words, or even reading easy sentences, depending on the motivation of the student.

The Letters to Little Words program starts with studying one letter a week for 27 weeks. Each week, each letter is introduced with all its letter sounds, i.e. that “a” says three sounds, “g” says two sounds, etc. Most parents are surprised by how quickly students catch on to this methodology. When a parent introduces decoding of the words, they can say, “This word uses the second sound of ‘a.’ ” Each of the basic letter sounds also has a coordinating character” that helps them learn their sound and its physical letter shape.

For the remaining weeks of this program, students go on to add to their knowledge of the alphabet other 2-letter phonogram sounds. Examples include: er, or, ir, ai, oi, sh and so on. Throughout the year, students have a weekly list of words that they need to decode, starting in Week 10. An additional feature of this program is that letters are introduced in the same week they are used and practiced in the “Animals and Their Worlds” program, fitting hand in glove with this program.

This program offers a lot of flexibility to parents. The Phonogram Cards and Character Cards, together with the Hands-On Phonics Activity Pack, offer a variety of activities that reinforce the learning process in an active way. These resources can help you fill gaps in learning, reinforce skills, and even extend the learning if you want to move more slowly through the program.

Here are some examples of students who will use this program effectively, and how:

Parents of students who need to start learning to read and want a solid reading program will love this program.

• Parents of students who know some of the letter sounds, but not all, usually have great success using the program as it is.

• Parents of younger learners, such as a four-year-old who can’t wait to read, could use this program without using the last 9 weeks of more advanced phonograms, but instead, used other learning activities included with the program to  continue building reading skills.

Advanced K Students – Syllables to Sentences & Paragraphs to Pages
FROM READING SHORT WORDS TO READING SHORT PARAGRAPHS!

Syllables to Sentences starts just as the student has learned most of his phonics sounds and is ready to start putting together and reading three-letter words such as mat, set, and kit. The readers support this goal, and the phonics cards and instruction continue to introduce and reinforce more advanced letter combinations such as ea, ch, tch, and so on. By the end of the year, the student will be reading short paragraphs from easy readers.

Syllables to Sentences begins with a three-week review of the phonograms learned in the Letters to Little Words” program. After that, students begin to decode readers with short three-letter words or less. These readers usually have one short sentence per page. Students also work on word families, building their decoding skills.

The Paragraphs to Pages program picks up right where Syllables to Sentences left off. The goal of the Paragraphs to Pages program is to build reading confidence and vocabulary to the point where the student can read a full page or more comfortably.

Here are some examples of students who will use this program effectively, and how:

Parents of average kindergartners who have fully mastered the alphabet sounds and are ready to decode (or are just now reading) three-letter words will find this program will work perfectly using the program as it is.

• Both these programs above are scheduled as 18-week programs, which means at full speed you would use BOTH in one year. This is designed to serve the students that are slightly ahead or slightly behind where they should be. If you need to slow down you can do half the work and make each program a full-year program.
• Parents of younger learners, such as a five-year-old who has learned his alphabet and is a motivated student may be able to use these program if the parent is willing to spend more than three weeks on the initial review (using the phonics cards) to really ground the student before moving on.

• Parents of older students who not “motivated” readers may find that this is a safe, handleable program for students who haven’t effectively made the leap from decoding simple words to reading. Usually such students reach a certain point where all of a sudden the “key turns” in their heads, and they suddenly make reading progress at an incredibly rapid rate, catching quickly up to their more “motivated” peers. This may mean parents will not be able to use this program for an entire year as their student suddenly “outgrows” the program, and parents may find they need to supplement the program, or move on to the next level. This may seem like an additional expense, however, the step from decoding to rapid reading is a vital part of reading instruction, and cannot be missed.

1ST GRADE – Stories to Short Chapters
READING ON MY OWN! FROM READING SHORT PARAGRAPHS TO SHORT CHAPTER BOOKS!

Stories to Short Chapters begins with the student reading 1-2 paragraphs each day and progresses to the student reading easy chapter books by the end of the year. They will be prepared to progress to short chapter books in the second grade when they complete this program.

2nd Grade – Readers to Real Books
READING ON MY OWN! FROM READING SHORTER CHAPTER BOOKS TO FULL STORIES!

Readers to Real Books is a great program for struggling 3rd graders or advanced 2nd graders. It will take the student from reading shorter stories that are only a few pages long to reading longer stores designed to prepare them for “real books”.  As with ALL of our early reading programs the WinterPromise authors have truly controlled vocabulary which enable real confidence as a reader.

BASICS ABOUT OUR READING PROGRAM

All of our early reading programs are based upon a methodology called vertical phonics by many educators. This is a contrast to “horizontal” phonics, in which sounds, particularly vowels, are introduced gradually with soft vowels introduced first, “long” vowels next, and so on. By contrast, vertical phonics introduces all the sounds made by a letter or phonogram at once. Here are some helpful things to know about this method:

Vertical Phonics

• Offers students a way to feel confident that they know what sounds a letter makes.
• Encourages students to feel confident about trying different sounds.
• Generally allows students to start decoding very quickly, and to develop very good spelling skills.
• Advocates writing the letters while saying the sound aloud, so that many learning avenues are used.
• Provides easy learning of phonics concepts often thought of as “advanced,” because the phonograms make so much sense to the student. For instance, a student learns that five phonograms say “er” — ear, ir, ur, er, and wor. Imagine how many words are unlocked by this knowledge, and how easily!
• Advocates using smaller writing paper than traditional programs use to access use of fine motor skills, and build a self-disciplined writing style. The smaller format requires that students develop good habits from the start.

Practical Solutions

Together with a fantastic phonics learning system, you also receive the best in practical helps that you and your student will love. Wonderful hands-on accessories and ideas are prepared for you to use at home or on the go. And they’re easy to do!

An Active Learning Approach and a Fun Theme!

Parents love the active learning approach, but students love it even more! All of our early phonics programs have been designed within a world of adventure and characters that grow with your student. All of the reading is designed with “cliff-hangers” that excite students to keep reading! This makes the learning fun and light for students which encourages learning throughout the whole process.

Another Help

Students who have not “grown up” with vertical phonics may need to take time for some grounding in vertical phonics and phonograms so that they can be on-track with our early reading programs. This is not to say that our language arts programs are more difficult, but rather that skills learned easily with the vertical phonics programs are assumed to have been assimilated quite early in reading instruction. As to other skills, many of our resources are graded by a national educational provider, and they are included in levels right “at” grade level. We strive to grade our language arts at an average level. You’ll find below several options, two of which might be just right for a review emphasis.

UPPER LEVEL LANGUAGE ARTS

Students will enjoy the literature and creative writing development they all receive in these programs. Weekly discussion topics are included in the guidebooks, and students can take advantage of online forum discussions of literary topics, if they’d like to participate. The high school programs do NOT need to be used in order. They are of similar difficulty, and can be used in any order. A couple of the programs are designed to closely coordinate with some of our main programs for high school, and would be most effective if used with those programs, no matter what order the student encountered them.

JUNIOR HIGH LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAMS

LA 7 – “Getting to Know Literature Genres”

LA 7 introduces students to various genres of writing, such as process writing, informational essays, personal narratives, fictional and persuasive writing. They will develop an understanding of how to use these types of writing to achieve stated goals. They will also use a fun grammar program that involves the parent in trying to “catch them” in an error.

LA 8 – “Developing Your Storywriting”

LA 8 focuses on developing the basics of good writing, such as character and plot development, settings, conflict and resolution. Other resources allow students to work on grammar practice.

HIGH SCHOOL LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAMS

HS 1 – “Intriguing Written Expression”

HS 1 involves the student in mastery of the English language, using vocabulary to fully express meaning in their writing. The resource, “Intriguing Word Choices” will teach them how to use words to “flesh out” a description or character, to enrich settings with texture and flavor, and to capture the interest of the reader with key vocabulary choices. They’ll
continue to enjoy getting “caught” in their grammar studies.

HS 2 – “Creating Captivating Fiction”

HS 2 takes students through the process of creating incredible fiction. Students will write their own mystery story throughout the year, using exercises provided in the resource, “Characters, Emotions, and Viewpoints.” They’ll also use marvelous, practical suggestions offered by professional mystery writers in the resource, “Writing Mysteries,” whose suggestions have practical applications for any type of fictional writing. Students will fully explore how to formulate the essentials of plot and character development. They’ll also continue their grammar practice.

HS 3 “Riveting Tales in British Literature”

HS 3 will introduce students to choice works of British literature, and allow them to critique the writing and discover the current events that influenced writers over the centuries. Shakespeare’s works will be highlighted and a couple of them will be studied in-depth. They will have the opportunity for weekly discussion sessions with other students online through our forum, if they choose to participate. This program will complement perfectly our final installment on world history.

HS 4 “American Literature Journeys” (Future Release)

HS 34will introduce students to great works of American literature, and will allow them to critique the writing and discover the influences upon writers in their day. They will have the opportunity for weekly discussion sessions with other students online through our forum, if they choose to participate. Students will also continue grammar instruction and vocabulary development. This program is recommended for use with a future American study.

HOW DO OUR LA PROGRAMS RELATE TO THE THEMED PROGRAMS?

Each of our language arts programs cover all the language arts skills, including grammar, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and creative writing. We offer a variety of resources in our language arts programs. For many of our younger grades, you’ll find activity ideas that are hands-on for kinesthetic learners among the resources. Workbooks make up some of the resources, which offers independent work to allow parents freedom to work with other students and reinforces valuable written and testing skills for students.

You’ll also find unexpectedly fun resources like our “Hands-On Activity Pack,” a Grammar Rock CD game for grammar reinforcement, and even the lighthearted, “To Root, To Toot, To Parachute: What is a Verb?” In addition, all of our creative writing programs integrate with the student’s main study, offering a cross-curricular approach many parents love and writing assignments that draw students into wanting to complete them.

Finally, our main programs offer several language arts programs–and different reader sets–that are tailored to meet all your students’ needs, no matter what their grade level. This means the American Story 1, which is targeted for grades 1-3 has a coordinating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade language arts, each with their own reader set. It’s really designed to meet your family’s needs perfectly.

Early Reading Programs – Divided by Ability, Not Grade

Letters to Little Words
Learning letters and phonograms.

Syllables to Sentences – 18 or 36-Week Program
Takes Students from three-letter words to reading full sentences.

Paragraphs to Pages – 18 or 36-Week Program
Takes students from reading sentences to longer passages.

Stories to Short Chapters – 36-Week Program
Reading easy stories independently, and continuing more advanced phonics study.

Readers to Real Books – 36-Week Program
Reading early chapter books and gaining reading comprehension and speed.

MIDDLE GRADES LA

LA 3 – Tracking Down Good Grammar
Learn the eight parts of speech with Scout the Dog!

LA 4 – Solving the Mysteries of Grammar
Advanced grammar skills with mystery format that encourages fun learning.

LA 5 – Digging Into Paragraphs
Master the basics of writing a solid paragraph with Scout, now in Alaska!

LA 6 – Exploring Word Pictures
Focus on choosing the right words to express your written ideas as you journey along with the Starship Endeavour and crew.

LA 7 – Mastering the Writing Process
Study the writing process and produce five different non-fictional papers and reports in a year.

LA 8 – Develop Your Storywriting.
Learn to construct a plot that speaks to readers and supports your writing goals.

HIGH SCHOOL LA

LA High School 1: Intriguing Written Expressions
Discover how to use words to enliven writing of all kinds.

LA High School 2: Creating Captivating Fiction
Construct fictional characters and create a piece of mystery fiction.

LA High School 3: Riveting Tales in British Literature
Discover a selection of authors and poets from across time in Britain.

Each of our language arts programs cover all the language arts skills, including grammar, spelling, handwriting, vocabulary, and creative writing. We offer a variety of resources in our language arts programs. For many of our younger grades, you’ll find activity ideas that are hands-on for kinesthetic learners among the resources. Workbooks make up some of the resources, which offers independent work to allow parents freedom to work with other students and reinforces valuable written and testing skills for students. You’ll also find unexpectedly fun resources like our “Hands-On Activity Pack,” the great “Acorn’s Game Set” that allows you to practice phonics skills while playing games, and even the lighthearted, “To Root, To Toot, To Parachute: What is a Verb?” In addition, all of our creative writing programs integrate with the student’s themed study, offering a cross-curricular approach many parents love and writing assignments that draw students into wanting to complete them. Finally, all of our main programs offer several language arts programs–and different reader sets–that are tailored to meet all your students’ needs, no matter what their grade level. This means the American Story 1, which is targeted for grades 1-3 has a coordinating 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade language arts, each with their own reader set. It’s really designed to meet your family’s needs perfectly.

Each of our language arts programs features schedules for all of the themed programs that are appropriate to the language arts level. That means that LA 3, for instance, has readers scheduled that coordinate with Early American, Later American (for use with American Story 1 or 2, or All-American 1 or 2), Animal Worlds, Children Around the World, and Adventure in the Sea and Sky. Each language arts program also features creative writing or creative expression assignments that coordinate with themed programs. It gives each theme a strong cross-curricular link to the coordinating language arts program.