How does Living Language fit in with the new curriculums to come?

[Windravyn]

How does Living Language fit in with the new curriculums to come? I was thinking about purchasing it, to get some indepth information about teaching language (I have a first grader currently using the first grade syllabus). But how would that fit in with the second grade curriculum (and later the rest of the grades) due to come out next year? Would it repeat a lot of what I might find in the second grade curriculum, or more like enrich and expand it?

[Donna]

Hi Chris,

Well, that's the $64,000 question....Basically, you don't and won't really need it if you plan on using our full curriculum each year - much will be taken from it and put in appropriate places in the new resources. I am sure I will change some things (because I always do!!) and I am sure there will be bits that do not get included (like the comparisons between conventional education and Waldorf education - and where I differ yet again) but .... over the years, I will certainly give a full complement of LA lessons in each year's curriculum which will include many of the things drawn from Living Language - plus much more. So you could say that over the 5 years from first through 5th grade, you will wind up with more than what was in Living Language.

For instance, I am presently working on the LA guides for the 2nd and 3rd grade curricula. In addition to the main lesson material (such as Saints & Heroes) these guides will go into depth about readers; review and recommend read-alouds; give specific lessons for word families/spelling; grammar etc; discuss goals for these grades; give teaching advice and strategies; discuss handwriting and creation of MLB's - and lots more. So it won't be as if (for second grade) one gets Saints & Heroes, Animal Legends and the two other LA main lessons (Trickster Tales and King of Ireland's Son) and that's it - you also get a guide which helps you plan the LA blocks and pull LA lessons out of them and get an idea of expectations.

Does that help?

And as I am in the process of creating these materials (I am doing 2nd and 3rd together so there is continuity and so they flow well) I am very, very open to suggestions!

[naugust]

How does Living Language fit in with the new curriculums to come?

And as I am in the process of creating these materials (I am doing 2nd and 3rd together so there is continuity and so they flow well) I am very, very open to suggestions!

One of the things I've liked about having "Living Language" and "Waldorf Curriculum Overview" is that I can look ahead of the grade my child is in and see where things are going. Maybe in the grade specific curriculum you could have a brief summary of what will be happening in the next year...

My children will be in grade three and one next year and I'm looking forward to having the support of a prepared curriculum even if I change things a bit. I'd love to see suggestions for alternative blocks etc. even if it is just a book reference.

-Nicole

[Windravyn]

Thanks Donna! I think I understand what you are saying. The grade curriculums sound awesome. It seems like Living Language then might be geared more for the folk that are doing things more on their own, but want some back up, right? I still haven't decided if I'm going to use the 2nd grade full curriculum or just pull from some of your resources to put next year together. It will all depend on finances and the price of the full curriculums, I suppose.

I agree with the previous poster who mentioned how nice it is to be able to see where things are headed for the next year. This is a big desire of mine too. I bought several second grade resources this year just so that I could see what was ahead for us and where the path was leading. Your curriculum overview is very useful for that purpose as well! I love it!

I also really find useful all the additional resources that you share that would be appropriate, especially the ones that are available from the library. I agree with the above poster that suggestions for alternate blocks would be extremely useful as well! That really helps me tailor things just to our needs. Without those additional resources listed, it would definitely be a lot harder for me branch out and add things in to our school year.