First Language Lessons Level 2

What I like about the book is that it does go over grammar concepts again and again so it's a good way to keep me on top of it and help my son to review things over and over again. He actually did memorize quite a few of the definitions. This is the second book so I just ordered it after I finished the first book. what I don't love about it is some of the poems that they chose. I just don't like them because they are old-fashioned and some of the themes in the poems are old-fashioned themes like expecting children to not ever wiggle or to not make a mess when they eat.it is very open and go and easy and it takes no time at all to finish a lesson so that's why I appreciate about it.

I LOVED level 1. It was new, it was working. However, level 2 follows the EXACT same format as level 1 which I guess shouldn't surprise me but by now both my daughter and I are tired of it (if you didn't do level 1 then you might enjoy it but two years of this is too much). I'm all for rote learning except when it becomes, well, really, really rote. I think something that would make a difference is if they had set the definitions to a song. We're part of Classical Conversations (which I highly recommend) and there is a TON of memory work but it is all set to music so kids never tire of it and it actually helps them to memorize. I guess you could make up your own songs but it would've been nice if the author had thought of music as an option or even writing definitions down, quizzes, . . anything to give variety and to appeal to different learning styles.I looked ahead to the reviews for level 3 because I am just not sure we can go through the same thing again but I noticed there is a workbook with that one and there is diagramming of sentences. I loved diagramming although I was older when I did it. One of the reviewers for level 3 suggested writing the definition on a piece of paper and reviewing it when working on that part of speech instead of repeating 3 times. I would suggest the same for level 2; figure out some way to commit it to memory other than saying 3 times blandly.I love The Well-Trained Mind book and method so I don't want to discourage you from that but, as with anything, I guess, it needs tweaking. I've already tweaked by adding nature sketching and journaling because my daughter is very good at writing. We also work til the end of a page instead of going by the clock.Maybe if the author revises this series she will add other ways of memorizing. Repeating 3 times is excellent unless you're doing it several times a week for years. Let's keep the rote but make it creative.

After reading the positive reviews of this book on the internet, I decided to take a look.I thought it would be a good follow up to Dr. Ruth Beechick's book, "Language and Thinking for Young Children.""First Language Lessons" is authored by Jessie Wise, a former school teacher, administrator and mother of homeschooling graduate and author, Susan Wise Bauer. The curriculum is based on Mary Hyde's series "English for the Thoughtful Child.""First Language Lessons" is divided into two sections, first and second grade. However you can use the book with children in upper elementary grades or when you feel your child is ready to begin grammar lessons.On the first grade level your child will be covering the topics of nouns, common nouns, proper nouns, pronouns, action verbs, poem memorization, picture narration, copywork, telephone numbers, days of the week, initials, days and months, seasons, oral composition, addresses, titles of respect, capitalization and punctuation, dates, statments, questions, commands and exclamations.On the second grade level your child will be covering the topics of nouns, poem memorization, action verbs, linking verbs, types of sentences, commas, helping verbs, capitalization, picture narration, contractions, dictation, adjectives, predicate adjectives, helping verbs, interjections, conjunctions, letter writing, addressing an envelope, direct quotations, indirect quotations, quotation marks, adverbs, writing postcards, articles, prepositions, synonyms, antonyms, written compostion: ordering ideas, forming paragraphs, and copying the final work.The author includes a chapter on "How to use this book" and a "glossary of terms" for the parent to reference.Overall "First Language Lessons" builds a firm foundation in language arts for your first/second grade child.I give this curriculum an A+!

I see online that other parents have been confused by her presentation of linking vs helping vs state of being verbs. She gives the example of "She is." as a sentence that uses a state of being verb. My research online confirmed that state of being verbs are one form of (the most common form of) linking verbs, not really a separate/distinct category of verbs. If she presented it this way, it would get her off the hook from offering awkward "sentences" like "She is." and "You are." as examples of "state of being" verbs. Hope this makes sense. Just wanted to affirm that if you're confused, it's because she doesn't have this quite right, I don't think. I found it helpful to do additional research online and I'm not going to teach it the way she presents it. But we enjoy these books. A lot of repetition, which is what my 2nd grade son needs, but some nice poetry, stories, and pictures to break things up.

So far I really like this book. My kids are surprisingly into these lessons (I say surprisingly because I didn't think grammar lessons would be so well received). Easy, short lessons which require little to no preparation but they are certainly high quality set the bar high for young learners (which I appreciate). My kids have enjoyed learning the memorization passages. I definitely plan to use these with my youngest and will buy the next level when we complete these. My 5 year old is doing level I and my 7 year old is doing level II.

We are using this book for our homeschool grammar and it does the job well. I find that it is very thorough -- there is a lot of review and reinforcement, which I don't find overbearing. There is also a lot of recitation of grammar definitions, which drive my daughter crazy, but which are serving a purpose. The books recommendation is to chant, but daughter has chosen to make songs out of them instead. This makes her a little bit less crazy. I could also do without the recitation, but in the end it is probably helpful to learn the definitions. Everything is explained in a very accessible way, for both kids and adults. The lessons are scripted, telling you exactly what to say, so if you don't have a clue how to teach grammar, it leaves nothing to wonder about. If you don't like scripting (which I don't), it's very easy to paraphrase. My daughter also easily gets what is being said. Most of the lessons are oral, but there is also a small amount of writing that kids have to do.Overall, I'd say this is a great book for teaching grammar to young children. Exciting it is not (at least we don't think so), but it is extremely effective. I'd recommend it, particularly for kids who like things organized and do well with structure. Creative kids probably won't like it as much, though it would still teach them well.

Good quality grammar book.

AMAZING product for reading comprension. I have 3 boys and all of them have loved FLL

nice product

A good book I use this book for home schooling. A classical method of teaching. However , you will need additional resources to supplement this book. My 6 year old seems to like it.