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Writer's pictureNiki Lavin

Homeschool Language Arts Comparison - The Early Years

Updated: Sep 1, 2022

When we started homeschooling 6+ years ago, there were not many curriculum choices out there. And there were far less secular resources! It is almost amazing to me how many choices there are today. It is almost overwhelming.

So in today's post I'm going to talk about some of the language arts curriculum we have used in the past with my oldest daughter and our first homeschooler. I will also include videos from my YouTube channel where you get get a peek inside each of these programs.


The first video of this mini-series was a side by side comparison of the three programs:



All About Reading

We began our homeschool journey using the All About Reading program. Before I talk about our experience, I do want to say that I think AAR is an outstanding program. It is beloved by many and for good reason. It is a well designed, engaging, multi-sensory program that works so well for many students. Our favorite part around here is the Ziggy games (which we still use now!)


At first we enjoyed it, but as time went on it became more of a chore. My daughter began to become frustrated, and more and more of our lessons were starting to end in tears. As a first time homeschool mom, I continued to push forward thinking I had to keep going. Then EVERY lesson ended in tears for not just her but myself as well! Eventually we had both had enough and we just stopped working on learning to read for a time. In hindsight, I should have recognized that this simply was not a good fit for us and tried something new.

We tried the program a few years later with my second daughter. Again it start out well, but over time the newness wore off and she just wasn't in love with it anymore. She did complete level 1. But she just didn't love it.


All of that being said, I do still like the All About Reading program and do recommend giving it a try. It has worked so well for many, many homeschoolers! And I still have mine to try out with my younger two some day.


Here is the video of my flip through and review of the Pre-reading and Level 1 All About Reading program if you would like a peek inside and to learn more:


Logic of English

The next program we tried with my oldest daughter was the Logic of English program. And this program worked well for her for several years. She is a game lover, and this program is chalk full of games! This program is also very well designed, engaging, multi-sensory program. My only small issue with this program is that was initial written for use in a class room setting. So some of the activities were a little awkward or difficult to do one on one. But I do have an older copy and do not know if they have changed that in reason years.


We used this program for about 3 years and we did like it, but it was never love for my oldest. But again I still recommend giving this program a try. It is excellent.


Here is the video of my flip through and review if you would like more information about this program as well as a peek inside:


Pinwheels

Last but defiantly not least, we have Pinwheels by Rooted in Language. We never used this program with my oldest (it did not exists yet unfortunately). But we are currently using it with my middle daughter. She is a very reluctant reader, so she is older than the recommend age. But this program has worked wonders for her! The progress she has made since starting Pinwheels is amazing.


I love that this program focus on the entire ELA umbrella. It is not just a learn to read program. It includes writing, narration, spelling, and even grammar at an early age. It is also engaging and multi-sensory, which I find so important in any curriculum. It is a very well thought out and very well designed program that we just love!


My one complaint is there is a ton of moving parts, but it is a necessary evil. It you want multi-sensory, you need multi-parts. So being organized is going to be very important if you are going to use this program. But don't worry, the tell you exactly how to organize things!


Here is my flip through and review of the Pinweels Level 1 and 2:



I hope that this mini-series of videos is helpful to you when trying to chose a ELA curriculum for the early years of homeschooling. If you have questions, please let me know. I will be happy to answer them as best I can. If you have used any of these programs before, I would love to know how they worked for you! Please leave a comment.

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