HOD's LA; PLL and ILL?

[Aimee]

I have been studying my HOD catalog at every opportunity, and am very excited about the possibility of using CTC and Bigger next year. However, we have a longstanding love of Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons here at our house, and I'm sad at the thought of giving them up. Could these LA books be substituted for the scheduled LA?

On the other hand, I've always felt I need to supplement ILL with a bit of more formal grammar, and worry about whether I'm covering all the bases, so perhaps I would like HOD's LA. Has anyone given these books up for HOD's scheduled LA, and been happy with the choice?
Thanks and blessings,
Aimee
Mom to 6 great kids ages 7-20
Some homegrown, some born in Korea, all born in my heart

[GinainMD]

I haven't used either of the guides yet that you are considering but in Beyond I have found the LAs to be and intergral part of the program that I like to include even though my girls are also using R&S grammar2. Hopefully someone who has experience with those guides will pipe in.

[Bramble]

We used PLL w/ MFW. I think it would be redundant to use them w/ HOD because HOD already has dictation, copywork, narration. If you don't mind redundancy, then you could use them as HOD is designed so that you can plug in your own LA. I will say I was hesitant to use R&S grammar, but have found that we really enjoy it.

[blessedmomof4]

Here is a thread about grammar in HOD: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8816
and another: viewtopic.php?p=16647#p16647
and one more: viewtopic.php?p=29499#p29499
and one about writing/language arts: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8731
that you may find helpful.

[Mom2Monkeys]

I used them for a while and really enjoyed them! Once we found HOD, we gave them up and I'm super happy! HOD incorporates the LA into the lessons so well, and already includes the steady progression of skills such as narration, dictation, copywork, etc. that we no longer needed our beloved CM LA resource-- PLL/ILL. It would be overkill to use both, and if you chose to drop the HOD LA skills, then you'd lose the progression of skills taught through multiple subjects. For instance, oral narrations may come from history or science. Copywork is from scripture and poetry, both of which often pertain to either the character trait focus that ties into history or generally tie into the lessons. Dictation is a nice, steady build in a multitude of skills and the dictation levels in HOD will surpass that of ILL, meaning later you'd have to pick up HOD's dictation in the later guides and decipher where your child will place.

It is easy enough to use your own LA program with HOD, but using a CM type choice will cause so much double work! And as you can see, HOD's lessons in LA are so great! I think you will be very happy with the switch, just like we are

And please forgive any ramblings or crazy words...plethora of distractions happened while typing this and I'm typing on my phone which sometimes has a mind of its own with its predictive text.

[my3sons]

Having the LA skills of copywork, oral narration, and written narration be directly connected to the living books my dc are reading in history, science, and storytime has been a very effective way to teach them. This way of responding to what they've read is powerful. They remember what they have learned so much more, because it is within the context of what historical time period, science focus, or genre focus they have been learning about all year. They can add so much more to it, and it builds upon itself all year long, rather than being an isolated activity, with an isolated concept that changes from day to day. I see it helping them with life skills as well. They are able to give spontaneous narrations upon what they have read for their free time for example, at the dinner table. They don't think of it as an oral narration, but it is. I believe they do this because they have done it for their HOD books in homeschooling. Narrating about books we've read is just something we do to share books/stories with others. I see them beginning to do the same with their written narrations in letters to friends or family, and I see them naturally doing copywork from books they have read on their own time, especially Scriptures from the Bible as this is what they have done through the Common Place Book assignments within HOD.

The counterpart to these excellent CM skills is R & S English. Through R & S English, clear, organized writing is taught along with grammatical skills to improve that writing. This is an outstanding grammar program for so many reasons, but my favorites are that it is Christian, it is thorough, it is clear, it builds upon what has been taught, and it teaches grammar within the context of writing. HOD also includes creative writing instruction, and it keeps this exciting and varied from year to year. Dictation is included in all guides, and the passages progressively teach dictation from year to year, in a steady incremental way that moves dc through levels in a purposeful way. Finally, "Drawn into the Heart of Reading" is HOD's award-winning literature program that teaches LA skills such as reading for moral discernment, studying Godly character traits, learning new vocabulary, studying different genres, answering comprehension questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy, etc. - and all of these skills are taught within the context of the living books dc are reading. I just want to encourage you to give HOD's LA a try - I think you will find it is incredibly rich, and a deep well of learning is tapped by doing LA in this manner. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie