Language Arts for the

Busy Homeschool Family {Review}

It’s no secret that I’ve tried to make our days run smoothly by including curriculum that can be done at least somewhat independently, this year. At 8 months pregnant and already having 6 kiddos, it is extremely beneficial to use either software or workbooks that my kids can use without me sitting over their shoulder. That being said, I found the perfect language arts for my fourth grade daughter. I love the thoroughness of Language Smarts™ Level E from The Critical Thinking Co.™.

Language Smarts™ Level E can be used as a complete curriculum or as a supplement to your other language arts. In my opinion, it is definitely a complete curriculum. I should start off by saying that my daughter loves reading and writing. When I compare myself to her, a person who really struggles to immerse yourself in a language, I just wonder where she gets it from. She has never struggled with either of those subjects. However, I have noticed that without a formal language arts program she has a few holes in her knowledge of language arts. While somethings she picks up naturally (like spelling) not all the intricacies of our language come easily without being taught in some form. That is why I love this language arts workbook by The Critical Thinking Co.™.

Just one look at the extensive table of contents and you’ll know that this is a complete language arts curriculum! Here are just some of the subjects that this curriculum covers:

Synonyms
Antonyms
Analogies
How to use a dictionary
How to use an online dictionary
How to use a thesaurus
Nouns
Plural and Possessive Nouns
Verbs
Regular & Irregular Verbs
Perfect Verb Tense
Adjectives
Adverbs
Compound Subjects
Capitalization
Punctuation – including commas, quotation marks, colons
homophones
frequently misused words
Story Map
Comprehension
Inferences
Themes
Genres of Literature
Writing steps
Personal Narrative, Opinion Writing and Informative Writing

That is just a glimpse of what is included in this language arts workbook! I love that it doesn’t just cover the parts of speech but goes in depth on reading and writing, as well! As a mom, this makes my life so much easier. Although my daughter loves reading and writing (and does a lot of it) this makes me feel better that she is getting some more formal instruction through this program.

As far as how it is laid out, it seems that each subject is given a short introduction and then a page of practice. The following pages go a little more in depth on whatever it is they are studying. For instance, the first page talks about counting syllables and gives ample practice. They include a word list for the students to practice counting the syllables in those words.

The second half of the page includes a section that the students can write their own 2, 3, and 4 syllable words. The following page delves a little deeper into how to divide a word by syllables if your word follows the double consonant pattern or the VCCV and then later the compound word pattern. In all, they included 5 pages of practice on syllables which each page focusing on different information.

The practice pages include fill in the blanks, word searches, creating your own sentences, word scrambles, crossword puzzles, fill in the letters, and story mapping (filling in setting, characters, conflict, beginning, middle and end). I love that there is so much variety. All of it is educational and some of it is really fun! The best part is the pages are never confusing – very straightforward so the student should always know what is expected of them.