Missyr
- Reviewed on Thursday, April 08, 2010
- Grades Used: K through 8th
- Dates used: 2006- present
We've been using LLATL with our 3 kids for the past 4 years. Our youngest has used nothing except LLATL. For us it has been a blessing and a great tool to implement these subjects in our home. While LLATL is gentle, it has proven to be effective for us. A few misconceptions about LLATL is that it is easy and it is not complete. It seems easy but build concept upon concept. The idea that it is not complete, in my opinon, comes from the fact that it is gentle, therefore it is working on an incremental natural approach. I think it is better to view LLATL as a base for your child's English education. Use it as is and supplement any areas your child needs more work in. For example, strong spellers will be fine with the easy and gentle spelling you recieve in LLATL. Weak spellers will need you to add in a more rigorous program. LLATL was intended to work over the long haul. Especially the grammar portions. I think it is effective when used this way. For my oldest who came into LLATL in the later levels we have had to add in grammar (Winston gramar). I can see my youngest who has been with it from the beginning may not even need this. The gentle repetitive way that it teaches does work if you can handle WAITING to see the results. And remember to add in areas that your child needs work in. Some years that may be nothing, some years it may be as simple as getting a spelling book.
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Mom_of_4
- Reviewed on Tuesday, April 06, 2010
- Grades Used: 5th
- Dates used: 2010
We are currently using the Tan book. I really like this program. In my opinion LLATL is a wonderful grammar/writing/literature program. I like the holistic approach in that ALL skills are taught simultaneously. This has helped my son, particularly in the area of writing. He can see how the parts of speech "fit" together through the dictation/copy work passages.
He is also happy that after three years of diagramming sentences, he is learning proper mechanics through example and sample writings. To him it is less stressful than trying to break down every word in every sentence. Let's face it...when we write do we sit down and map out every part of speech and decide where to place it? I don't think so. And neither does LLATL. It's a natural flow of words.
This program is truly what others have called a breath of fresh air. It is different, but it is working for us.
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chrismaya
- Reviewed on Friday, January 01, 2010
- Grades Used: 2nd
- Dates used: 2002
The whole concept of this is lovely. I REALLY wanted this to work, but it didn't. It just wasn't ENOUGH.
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Min
- Reviewed on Saturday, June 06, 2009
- Grades Used: 2nd-4th
- Dates used: 2006-2009
Red 2nd Grade: you need the readers that go with it. Cutting and pasting are fun to do and the stories were interesting to my daughter.
Yellow 3rd Grade: Literature continues to be more advanced, for example, Madeline
Orange 4th Grade: Chapter books like Boxcar Children and more writing assignments
Overall I give this series a B+ for my kids. They are both very good readers, naturally good at spelling, and tend to shy away from workbooks. With LLATL, there is little teacher prep (although you will be happier if you prep since sometimes you need to check out certain library books) which was good for me in the time period I used it. Plus, it does not take long to do a daily lesson. Because my kids were advanced readers, sometimes the reading choices were not advanced enough. I probably could have solved this by going a level higher.
We need to move away from LLATL for awhile, because my kids need to try new things from time to time to stay interested, which matches our eclectic method of HS. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you try this out. It touches on many different skills so you can discover your child's strong and weak areas. I did supplement with additional spelling words and handwriting, but this would depend on the student and teacher.
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