Language Lessons Series by Sandi Queen

Pick-up-and-go language arts Charlotte Mason style. Copywork, dictation, and narration from interesting, vintage works including poetry, speeches, and stories. Full-color art reproductions typically depicting a long ago, slower, more rural lifestyle. A full spectrum of language arts skills starting with phonics and handwriting and progressing through creative writing. A gentle but thorough introduction to grammar and mechanics with periodic review. An emphasis on creative expression and poetry appreciation. What's not to like? This is a far cry from repetitive, dry grammar books and their accompanying boredom.

There are 180 teacher-student interactive lessons in each book. Lesson times are very short (5-10 minutes) in the early books and progress to about 30-45 minutes in the upper level books. The beginning books are scripted while later books progress into a warm, instructive, conversational narrative. These perfect-bound books are designed to become a consumable student portfolio. Often particularly in the early grades students are asked to draw pictures on left-side facing pages all of which are left purposely blank. Except for the high school book, copywork/dictation space is provided. Grammar exercises requiring editing or some sort of marking (i.e. circle subject; underline predicate) always have adequate space for completion. There is no prep for the teacher although interaction and discussion with the student and oversight of their work is necessary. Answer keys provide time-saving answers for the objective portions but may not be needed for the younger levels.

Grammar coverage is comprehensive and thorough although practice is minimal. Continual review is provided for all grammar concepts once introduced and skills are carefully sequenced through the years to encourage concept understanding. Descriptive, narrative and creative writing are all covered in varying and increasing (through the levels) degrees. However, paragraph construction skills are minimal and essay construction is found only in High School Volume 2. ~ Janice