Review of Learning Language Arts Through Literature

The Red Book Literature

Learning Language Arts Through Literature is published by Common Sense Press. Note there is a discount code at the end of this post. We purchased the Red Book, which is suggested for Grade 2. Aside from the Book Studies that we borrowed from the library for independent reading, there are 6 accompanying readers. Each of these have 5-6 short stories each:

• On the Farm

• Hare Has a Plan

• In, Out, and About Catfish Pond

• Up, Down, and Around the Rain Tree

• The Adventures of Pete the Pirate

• Famous People

What it Covers Besides Literature

Learning Language Arts Through Literature covers many subcategories. You do need the Teacher Book to accompany the Student book at this level. I love that it does so using quality literature as its foundation.

The Student Book teaches phonics, grammar, creative writing, and higher-order thinking skills. It also provides a brief review of first grade phonics and a progression into more advanced phonics.

There is some handwriting instruction for upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and punctuation. Review activities and assessments to evaluate progress are also integrated throughout. Common Sense Press provides a placement test to help select your appropriate level.

Style and Beliefs

Within the 36 weeks, there are dictation, living books, and short lessons. As a Charlotte Mason inspired homeschooler, I feel this does fall into this style. The authors are Christian, but there is nothing overtly expressing faith, and I feel a secular homeschool family would enjoy this curriculum the same.

A Secret Mom Hack

I got this tip from Paige from On the Cove Homeschool. The Student Book comes glue bound. However, it is much easier to use unbound. She used a blow dryer to melt the glue binding, and 3-hole punched the pages to put into a binder. Genius!

We love using the student pages loose in a binder. When we need to homeschool on the go, we can pull out the specific pages for that day’s lesson. There is also a decent amount of cutting and pasting too, and having the pages free helps so much.

How Does She Like It?

My daughter enjoyed LLATL! I should mention that she is an avid and passionate reader. She eats books for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After the first couple of weeks, it became known that LLATL lessons were short and enjoyable, so it was a great experience! I have a discount code for you if you’re interested – use “juicebox” for 15% off anything in the shop.

Side note: She is using Institute for Excellence in Writing alongside LLATL for writing.

This post was our review of Learning Language Arts Through Literature by Common Sense Press.

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