First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind

Most of us really like this book. We use this book in our homeschool family. It is simple, straight forward and not labor intensive for parent or child. This is a great grammer program. After looking at some of the not so flattering comments about this book, I decided to inspect it for myself. YES, they do change some of the wording in the poems. If this presents a problem for you, look up the originals online and make your choice at that time. YES, it is repetative, however, my child has been tested by our local public school and has been designated as "gifted" -- the repetition can be altered to fit your childs individual needs. YES, it is scripted, which allows for ease of use. If you do not need this type of curriculum, you can use it as a spine. FINALLY, I have compared this book to (3) three other curriculums -- Abeka, Bob Jones and Sonlight -- all are thorough in there presentations and FLL stacks up quite nicely when you do an apples to apples comparison of what your child will learn over the course of a school year! Our family has homeschooled for a total of 18 years and I have graduated 2 children who have successfuly gone onto college and our state university. I can confidently say, that your first and second grader will be well served with this book alone, or as a supplement to another grammer program of your choosing and finally, you can choose it as a summer brush-up program. BLESSINGS!

From an educational philosophy standpoint, I completely agree with Bauer that grammar-age students (grades 1 - 4) need a chance to learn and practice the mechanics of writing before adding in the variable of creating original content with complete sentences, correct grammar, and proper punctuation. To this end, her beginning levels use copywork and dictation to expose the student to complete sentences with correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If your child enjoys original writing, by all means allow it (at a separate time), but it is NOT required. In this way, the creation of original things to say (in complete sentences) is separated from the actual mechanics of writing. Removal of this variable simplifies the learning process and eases the burden on the young writer.

From a personal standpoint, I began homeschooling with a 2nd grader, and we completed all 200 lessons in one year (the book is intended to be used for both 1st and 2nd grade). The level 3 book was not yet available, so we then switched over to Rod & Staff grammar & writing as the author recommended in another of her books "The Well-Trained Mind." Rod and Staff is thorough and perfectly adequate, but I much prefer Bauer's style of teaching writing and grammar. Peace Hill Press indicates that Bauer intends to eventually prepare levels from grades 1 - 12. I heartily recommend her program to everyone.

I bought this to use with my almost 6 year old as part of our homeschool curriculum and I love it. The lessons are short, we usually only take about 5-10 minutes per lesson. They are set up for easy use by the instructor and my son likes to do the lessons. I would recommend this to anyone, especially if you are at all intimidated about teaching your child about the English language.

When selecting a language arts curriculum for our child I ordered a copy of "First Language Lessons." After examining the curriculum I returned my copy for a refund. Jessie Wise has taken Emma Serl's books "Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lesson" given them a few twists to create her own book of language lessons. The book consists of mindless twaddle. Wise does not use true "narration" which is having a child repeat back to you in their own words what they have learned. The lessons are monotonuous and have been "dumbed down" from Serl's original text. The poems and stories have been altered to make them "politically correct." Serl's text is a breath of fresh air, engaging the child in language arts with classical literature and poetry. I was quite disappointed in this curriculum as I had expected a higher standard from Jessie Wise. The two language arts curriculums I recommend to parents are "Learning Language Arts Through Literature" published by Commom Sense Press and Emma Serl's "Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons." Both of these curriculums will serve a student well, giving them a firm foundation in language arts.

I just recieved this book in the mail the other day and after thumbing through it a little while, I've decided I really like it. Now, I did find a poem or two where the wording is not the original, hence the 4 star rating. I didn't find this issue problematic, I just looked up the original poem online, printed it out and stuck it in my book. Doing this allowed me the oppotunity to find out some extra information on the actual poet, which was helpful, and I plan on sharing that information with my child.
I love how the author (Jesse Wise) states that we tend to underestimate what our young children are capable learning. This book is all about exposing the child to grammar, mastery is not expected at this level. I'm excited to get started with this book. It's simply done, and seems very easy going, not a stressful grammar program at all. Which makes it really fun for both parent and child.