Learning language arts through literature is possible – and fun!
There’s no shortage in the amount of language arts curriculum out there, especially for early elementary homeschoolers. You’ll find them for every type of homeschool method, structured to unstructured, and everything in between. But, what makes a great early elementary language arts curriculum?
Opinions on this will differ greatly, but I have tried a good number in a handful of different methods (hello, homeschool method schizophrenia!) and I have found that using literature-based language arts for early elementary has been the most rewarding for our family.
Here are three reasons why you should consider learning language arts through literature in your homeschool.
1. Literature can provide a rich introduction to writing and vocabulary.
When it comes to using real, living books in your language arts curriculum, you open up a whole world of possibilities to teach your children. With the amount of rich literature out there, you’re introducing your children to different themes and ideas that traditional curriculum options sometimes lack.
In the early years, it’s all about a gentle introduction. By giving our kids the opportunity to see quality literature early on, we’re setting them up to get a wide variety of writing styles and vocabulary that they may have missed out on otherwise.
2. Reading aloud to our kids teaches them to love books.
When we read aloud to our kids early and often, we’re not only teaching them how to read, we are fostering a life-long love of learning. It’s been proven that reading aloud to our kids can actually enhance their vocabulary and language skills.
So often we worry about how early our own child is learning to read, write, and spell properly, that we’re missing the key – to read aloud to them as a way of teaching them. When we read aloud and practice lessons like copy work from passages from books, children are going to naturally learn how to read, write, and spell without having to force it onto them. They will, in turn, learn to love reading, and learning, instead of when we use the kill and drill method that oftentimes results in the opposite.
3. Learning language arts through literature can teach more than just language arts.
Learning language arts through literature opens up a lot of potential opportunities to learn more than just language arts! Yes, you can teach spelling, sentence structure, handwriting, and more using books, but you are also introducing a huge, beautiful world out there to your kids. Science, history, art, culture…there are so many possibilities. Especially when you read award-winning books to your kids, you’re handing them a piece of art. You can study so many different areas of learning just by reading picture books in your homeschool and tying them into your lessons.
A new way of learning language arts through literature.
What if I told you that you could easily provide your kids with an amazing language arts foundation, plus throw in learning science, social studies, and more, all with one curriculum? Rabbit Trails through Literature is a brand new early elementary language arts curriculum that does just that. With 16 award-winning books as it’s the spine, Rabbit Trails teaches light grammar skills, rich copy work texts directly from the books, and hands-on activities that are perfect to spark young children’s imaginations.
The best part about Rabbit Trails through Literature is… the Rabbit Trails! Each and every lesson takes you on a journey into other areas of learning with additional book recommendations and activities so that you can tie language arts in with other fun subjects.
The possibilities of learning language arts, and so much more, through literature are truly endless. Do you use literature as the core in your homeschool lessons?
