Placement - Starting LLFT mid-year or a later year

[MelissaB]

My daughter has only gotten through Lesson 27 in Language Lessons for Today Grade 2 because she was finishing her first grade phonics the beginning of her 2nd grade year. Should I continue with this book or start on Grade 3 since she will be in 3rd next year? I could do some of the lessons from grade 2 over the summer? What are your suggestions?

You are a diligent Mom.

I think either way would work out alright in the long run. We would probably try to finish the lessons over the summer. We would do them together orally (no writing), which would only take about 5-10 min./day. {Maybe at bed time?} Oral exercises would also make it possible to complete two lessons a day and finish quickly.

[Julie in MN]

I agree you have 2 possibilities, and that LLT can be cozy couch time.

To me, a big consideration is whether she needs the lessons -- i.e. she only got to lesson 27 because that is where she needs to be -- or she was just "doing something else for language arts" for a while, and she'll be ready for 3rd grade language arts in the fall.

When my son came home to school in 3rd, we started with the 3rd grade level (it was PLL then), just because he had been "doing something else" (very little) for 2nd grade and was ready for 3rd grade language arts. However, I liked the table of contents, where I could go back and present an earlier lesson if we came to a topic that was new to him. In the same way, you could keep your 2nd grade book on hand when a bump in the road appears.

Or, if she is just at level 27 in her learning, then go to lesson 28 in the fall, or in the summer, but don't worry about being "behind." And like Melissa said, she may get to a point where she does more than one lesson a day or you see her ready for the next level.

Do what's right for her. We have lots of freedom as homeschoolers, which sometimes can be scary but can be freeing, too.
Julie

[afelton]

Thanks ladies! You are both so encouraging. I think I will do some lessons in the summer. Probably all oral.

[kw4blessings]

I wanted to add that we had a similar situation. We used PLL for my daughter's 2nd grade year. We didn't finish all of the lessons, but when I talked with someone at the MFW booth of our local convention, she said to go ahead and start with LLFT 3rd grade. I planned to fit in some of the last PLL lessons during the summer, but it didn't happen. She still did fine with the 3rd grade book this school year. FWIW!

[al24]

We are new to MFW and beginning ECC this year with my 5th grader. I would like to try LLFT as well, but not sure what level to get. Do you normally just get the same grade your child is in?

Thank you!

Reply from Julie - Staff » Tue May 30, 2017 2:32 pm
Hi and welcome!

You are correct - in most cases, students begin LLFT at the grade level they are working at in other subjects. The 5th grade book will be written at a 5th grade level and teach skills appropriate for a 5th grader.

Enjoy the new resource!
Julie

[bethinga]

Because we used a different English/language arts program during the first half of this school year, my kids only completed half of their grade level LLFT by year's end.

Question: Should I continue working through the current books, or move them on up to their new grade level? My upcoming 3rd grader would need to either finish LLFT grade 2, OR skip the second half of that and begin grade 3 LLFT. My upcoming 5th grader needs to either complete grade 4 LLFT, OR go ahead and begin grade 5 LLFT.

Reply from Julie - Staff » Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:13 am
Hi Beth,

Typically, we recommend using LLFT at the student's grade level.

When you began LLFT-2 in the middle of the year, we often suggest you begin in the middle of the book - only going back to earlier lessons when you saw a need to go over a certain topic. Then, the student would begin LLFT-3 when she began 3rd grade.

Since you have used the first half already, and you do have the 2nd & 4th grade books on hand, you could glance through the table of contents for the second half of those books to see whether there is a topic or two that you would like to spend time on before jumping into the next levels. I think the last two lessons in the 4th grade book, on writing an autobiography, are fun ones to do

I would especially recommend going ahead and moving your 5th grader into LLFT-5 soon, if that student seems ready, since level 5 is really a jump-off point for formal grammar. It is nice to have the entire 5th and 6th grade years to build those grammar skills without rushing.

Julie