A Complete Language Arts Curriculum (Review)

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I believe that looking for a complete language arts curriculum is so important when homeschooling. Language arts is involved in every aspect of our lives so I want to make sure my children use a thorough and complete curriculum to prepare them for their future. Over the past 6 weeks, we have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing Level Red of the Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum from Home School Navigator.

A Complete Language Arts Curriculum

Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum is a complete language art curriculum with six reading levels to choose from, starting at a kindergarten reading level. Each level is a 36-week course with daily reading, writing and word study lessons. It also includes 60 instructional videos and a variety of activities to encourage multiple learning styles. There are downloadable review games, monthly skills checklists and monthly goal sheet/portfolio check-ins. Each level is made easy for parents, as you can open it up on your laptop or tablet and start right away. We printed the monthly PDF package of the lessons and worksheets and then accessed the videos as necessary. One aspect that I love about this curriculum is how organized it is and easy to navigate.

Kindergarten Reading Level

We chose Level Red for my 5-year-old son, which is equivalent to a kindergarten reading level. As soon as we started, I could tell this was going to be an amazing program for my son. The first month of Level Red focuses on circular stories. Instead of purchasing each of the books used in the program, there are video read alouds for each. This really helps to save costs, but I am considering purchasing some of the books as my son really enjoyed them. You could also use the curriculum book list and go to your local library to find each.

Fun with Circular Stories

My son couldn’t wait to start the lesson after watching the video read aloud of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. As soon as we completed the mouse sequencing story handout, he asked to do it again for the next 3 days!

One day we were busy branding calves and he was retelling If You Give a Mouse a Cookie to my parents. Anytime I see my son that enthusiastic about learning, I know I am using the right curriculum with him!

He continued to thoroughly enjoy each story we read and loved the activity of writing his own circular story. One component of the lessons is to encourage writing in their own writer’s notebook. Even my two-year-old would participate, as I would print off a page for him to write on as well.

Word Studies and Sounds

The word study activities for the first month focused on practising the sounds for both consonants and vowels. My son really enjoyed the sound matching worksheets, but he wasn’t too sure about writing his name in shaving cream! My farm boy didn’t want to get shaving cream on his hands! I loved the idea of using a shoe sorter for each of the letters of the alphabet sound-linking cards. We didn’t have an over-the-wall shoe sorter, but I am definitely going to look for one for when my middle son uses this program! What five-year-old doesn’t love running about the house finding objects to place on the appropriate sound!

Author Study and Poetry Notebook

We are currently working on the second month of Level Red which focuses on an author study, Eric Carle. The variety of activities and creativity of activities is incredible. Recently, we sketched ideas for a story about an insect while considering the writing style of Eric Carle.

My son has enjoyed learning nursery rhymes with the nursery rhyme extension activities. We are currently working on compiling a poetry notebook using the poems that are discussed each week.

Language Arts Record Keeping

The portfolio maintenance is really neat as you can upload your child’s work for each lesson and then download the entire portfolio at the end of the year. It is a great way to keep your child’s work organized!

As we progressed through the lessons, my son checked off the lessons as he completed them. It was a neat way to keep track of his progress and it gave him satisfaction each time.

There is a teaching guide for each level which provides an overview of the activities and skills covere.

Future Use of This Interactive Language Arts Curriculum

The Home School Navigator Reading and Language Arts Curriculum from Home School Navigator does an amazing job of teaching language arts in a fun and interactive way. Through reading the books numerous times in each lesson, it really helped my son understand the concepts being taught. We are both looking forward to continuing to use this curriculum! I can’t wait to try the interactive notebooks in the older levels!