Pages

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Logic of English {TOS Review}

Logic of English Review
For the past several weeks my son and I have been working through Essentials 2nd Edition from Logic of English.  I was so surprised when we received the package and all it contained.  There is just something wonderful about receiving packages in the mail, especially homeschool curriculum!  This is everything they sent us...

Logic of English Review

- Essentials Teacher's Guide, Volume 1
- Essentials Student Workbook, Volume 1 (student consumable)
- Spelling Journal (student consumable)
- Morpheme Cards, Set 1
- Basic Phonogram Flash Cards
- Spelling Rule Flash Cards
- Grammar Flash Cards
- Advanced Phonogram Flash Cards
- Phonogram Game Cards: Bookface
- Phonogram Game Cards: Manuscript or Cursive
- Phonogram Game Tiles
- Spelling Analysis Card
- Phonogram and Spelling Rule Quick Reference



Essentials 2nd Edition by Logic of English is a VERY thorough program for teaching reading, grammar, and spelling.  It is geared for ages 7 and up (they have a curriculum called Foundations for the younger years).   I took roughly two weeks to read through the curriculum and get a feel for the workbooks, cards, and games.  We started the following week, and I'll be honest, after about three weeks of using the curriculum, I'm just now feeling I got the hang of it.  There is a lot information, and it seemed a bit overwhelming, but my son's reading and spelling has grown by leaps and bounds in just the past few weeks.  We plan to continue using Essentials 2nd Edition by Logic of English.

I will do my best sharing the curriculum and how we used it, but I also encourage you to go check out the website.  There is so much more information over there. 

Teacher's Guide Introduction
There is roughly 40 pages of introduction material (hence, the two weeks in took me to prepare before we started).  This includes how Essentials is designed to teach multiple levels of students, the scope and sequence, the importance of teaching phonograms, why handwriting is important, a spelling analysis, tips on making a schedule, tips on how to teach, and so much more.  I find myself going back to these pages often.  There is just so much great information here.

Placement Test and Pre-Lessons
To start with there are three levels: A, B, and C.  There is a placement test you can have your child take to determine which level they need to follow.  My son is Level A, which also means we can use this curriculum for a few more years as well.  As mentioned, Logic of English is beneficial for families who have several children, you can use the same curriculum for all of them and do it together.  There are also 10 pre-lessons.  These help strengthen any foundational skills your child may be lacking before you start lesson 1.


The Lessons
The teacher's guide is hardcover and over 600 pages!  It's colourful and well laid out.  You will find all the lessons in the Teacher's Guide.  The lessons are easy to follow and completely scripted for the parents.  I often read ahead just so I knew what we'd be teaching the next day, but I often just read right from the book.  Meaning no lesson plans!  The lessons are very detailed and well marked.  There are lots of Teacher Tips throughout the lessons, along with optional practice ideas.

Each lesson is divided into five days.
Day 1: Essential Concepts. Phonograms, Exploring Sounds, Spelling Rules
Day 2: Building Words. Spelling Journal, Spelling Analysis
Day 3: Words in Context. Spelling Game, Grammar, Dictation
Day 4: Words in Action. Vocabulary, Dictation, Composition. Optional: Essentials Reader
Day 5: Check Your Understanding. Formative assessment

It took us roughly 30 minutes a day to do the lesson, some days we would spend a bit longer if I felt it necessary.

There are 30 lessons in total. 

One of the things I do love about this curriculum, is the teaching of the spelling rules.  They do not encourage sight words, which I always struggled teaching my children these because they always want to know why.  Logic of English teaches you the why.


The Student Workbook
The work book is a simple with black and white pages.  My son didn't seem to mind this so much.  The Teacher's Guide explained what pages in the workbook to do, and the pages are well numbered with the lesson number and level on each page.




Spelling
There are spelling lists each week.  Each level has a different spelling list.  I don't want to go into all the spelling rules they use to teach spelling, but let's just say I'm learning some things!  They teach the part of speech, syllables, finger spell and cues, and just so much more.  Like I mentioned, they don't teach sight words, they teach why we spell the words the way we do.

The flash cards are amazing, although there are heaps of them.  Here is how I have it organised now, this may change down the road, but it's what works for the time being.



Games
This was probably my son's favourite part.  The games!  At first I thought he might not be interested in them, but he really enjoyed them and learned so much.




Essential Readers
We were also given the download for the Essential Readers.  This is optional to the course.  It is a reading comprehensive supplement.  It is designed to help meet the needs of the older (age 8 and up) struggling reader.  It provides great reading practice.


My Summary
I am completely in love with this curriculum and plan to continue using it.  My son is constantly spelling words and telling me the spelling rules.  I have seen a definite change in his learning since we started this curriculum, and it shows me that it works!




To read more reviews for Logic of English click the link below.
Logic of English Review
Crew Disclaimer


Thank you, Logic of English and TOS, for this great opportunity to review this product.


No comments: