Language Arts

An Apple a day will help keep your spelling woes at bay! Apples is designed for the older student (junior high or high school) who struggles with spelling. Have you ever felt like taking your older student back to the beginning with phonics - but hesitate to do so because the available phonics books are so....elementary!? 

An Apple a day will help keep your spelling woes at bay! Apples is different than any other spelling program out there, taking into consideration the unique needs of poor spellers. Once a week your student is introduced to a spelling rule (called a clue). He will study that rule for the entire week, applying it in all kinds of spelling situations: puzzles, fill-in-th-blank, complete-the-Bible-verse, etc. Some of the clues break a word down into syllables. 

Mention "creative writing" to most typical boys, and they'll run screaming from the house, or play sick, or try to flush their creative writing book down the toilet. However, "Caution: Writing In This Book Might Be Fun!" was written by a boy who really hates creative writing. Stephen, my son, sympathizes with your son's writing struggles and tries to give your son ideas of zany-boy things to write about. Full of bright colors and obnoxious color schemes, writing examples to get the proverbial ball rolling, and crazy ideas (with a few cautionary comments from Mom Kemmerer - er, me), your son might actually enjoy creative writing! 

"Caution: Writing In This Book Might Be Fun!" (Girls version) was written by my daughter and my daughter-in-law. My daughter, Monica, loves to write and desires to pass her sense of enjoyment on to other students. My daughter-in-law, though she doesn't profess to "love" writing, is a wonderful writer. She is, however, one of the most talented, feminine, delightful young ladies you'd ever want to meet. Monica and Rachel teamed up to create a book full of wonderful, girly ideas to write about. Your daughter might actually enjoy creative writing! 

First Language Lessons, written by Jessie Wise (co-author of The Well Trained Mind), is essentially a day-by-day, word-for-word, activity-by-activity script for the parents. It contains everything you need for 1st grade: memory work, stories, copy and dictation work, narration, and grammar. It even contains reminders to praise and encourage your child! 

First Language Lessons 4 uses classical techniques of memorization, dictation, and narration to develop your child's language ability in the important, foundational years of language study. The text covers a full range of grammar topics, including parts of speech, punctuation, sentence diagrams, and skills in beginning writing and storytelling. Optional end units provide practice in dictionary use a letter writing.

This is homeschooling at its best. Here is a book that gives your student real-life skills. If you've ever wondered if your child would have learning gaps that would cripple his future, well, worry no more! "Research in Increments" teaches your students how to write a research paper. Armed with this skill, your child can study anything, learn anything, and know how to present it. This one book applies to any subject matter, be it history, science, social studies, literature, or Bible. If neither you nor your child has ever written a research paper, you need not be concerned. "Research in Increments" breaks the process down into simple, logical steps that can be accomplished in as little as ten minutes a day.

Revolution is an exciting, creative writing project for secondary students based on the events surrounding the Revolutionary War. What was it like during that period in our country's history? What was it like to make decisions of that magnitude? You will have an opportunity to experience history through the pages of this guide.

Word Artist is a simple guide is a delightful introduction to writing poetry. Your fourth-tenth grade student will be led through 3 units that introduce him first to poetic devices, then to non-rhyming poetry such as Psalms and haiku, and finally to rhyming poetry such as limericks. Each assignment comes with samples (many written by other students), and ideas, as well as a writing challenge. By the time your student has worked through this easy-to-use book, he will have written an entire "book" of poetry - a real keepsake! And, Word Artist even provides step-by-step instructions on bookbinding!

All four levels of Writing With Ease workbook contain a complete teacher's guide...but perhaps you want additional help. You can get additional teacher's help in this book, Writing With Ease, Strong Fundamentals. This book contains teacher helps for all 4 levels of Writing With Ease. There are guidelines for approximately what a child should know at each level, how to individualize the program to your child, and additional script for you (the teacher) to help teach writing. There is also a troubleshooting section if your student is struggling. This one book will get you through all 4 years of Writing With Ease. 

Susan Wise Bauer wrote Writing with Skill for students to begin to work through independently, and the text is written directly to the student. Organized by days, each "step" progressively moves students through the workbook as they move from one day to the next. Covering the basics of composition, outlining, sentence skills, beginning literary criticism of poetry and prose, writing narratives and descriptions, and researching and documenting sources, the course culminates with a final project. Using extensive literary models and step-by-step instructions on the lesson concepts, students will gain the tools needed to write with clarify and confidence.

This groundbreaking new writing series combines time-tested classical techniques—the imitation and analysis of great writers—with original composition exercises in history, science, biography, and literature.