frankiec
- Reviewed on Thursday, July 29, 2010
- Grades Used: K, 2, 3
- Dates used: 2008-present
We use CLE for language arts, reading, and Bible. We switched to CLE from Abeka after my son's first grade. We had used Abeka for K-4, K-5 and first grade but he was getting burned out due to the repetition of activities. Second grade looked like more of the same so I searched for something more engaging yet still academically sound. I found that with CLE!
CLE is a workbook based curriculum, yet has more variety of activities than most workbooks. Each subject has 5 or 10 workbooks per grade so they get the pleasure of finishing a book and starting a new one every few weeks.
It's a spiral approach to learning. Each lesson starts with new material then a review section. There are self checks and a unit test in each workbook (Sunrise editions). The workload is balanced so not to overload or be jerky.
The curriculum is designed to need very little prep for the teacher. In fact, a lot of the work can be done by the student independently after a brief introduction even as early as second grade.
Study skills are integrated throughout so he's learning how to learn with lessons such as using a dictionary, encyclopedia, index and glossary, and note taking as well as grammar for language arts. There isn't much creative writing in the language arts workbooks. In fact they recommend a separate writing program starting in 4th grade.
You don't need a separate spelling curriculum since each language arts workbook has 3 spelling units with daily spelling activities. He's done word searches, cross word puzzles, as well as traditional fill-in-the-blank questions. This helps connect the spelling with the rest of the material.
While my son was already a good reader, CLE has helped his reading skills such as vocabulary, parts and types of stories and poetry. Their reading has both reading skills and comprehension. They show how to read for the main idea, search for information, key phrases or words, etc. The stories in the readers are old fashioned, wholesome which my son enjoyed. They show conservative Christian values and work ethic. There's also a Bible verse that goes along with each story.
I started my daughter in the old version of CLE Learning to Read last fall when she was 4. We did about half of it last year and will finish it and the rest of the first grade program this year. I think the full first grade program is a bit much with younger learners for completing in a year. Since CLE doesn't have traditional kindergarten, the LTR is the first half of first grade.
There is phonics and handwriting in the lessons. They learn a short, fun rhyme with a flashcard to go along with the new sounds. For example T_T_T Turtle Tim takes his home on top of him. There is also a story to go along with the rhyme. She colors a picture like the one on the flashcard while listening to the story. This really helped my daughter remember the letters and sounds.
We didn't use the Primer that came with it since there were a lot of hard "sight words" unrelated to the lessons. However, the new version of Learning to Read has 4 smaller readers. I bought them over the summer and she's already read the first 2 and enjoys them.
I'd recommend Learning to Read to teach beginning reading. It's very gentle but thorough. They even offer a training course to teach you how to teach phonics.
CLE is very affordable. You can purchase the entire year or just a few workbooks at a time as you need them. I was surprised how great an education you get for such an inexpensive curriculum. A full year with all subjects is less than $300 total. Of course if you are just getting a few subjects it is even less.
We have enjoyed CLE. No longer are reading and language arts a struggle. In fact, my son sometimes worked ahead before he realized it! I wish I started my son with it rather than Abeka.
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Cynthia828
- Reviewed on Tuesday, May 25, 2010
- Grades Used: 5th Grade Math and Language Arts
- Dates used: 2009-2010
Well, I have to say that I must have spent close to 50 hours researching curricula last year. I kid you not! It was our first year homeschooling and I was so nervous about finding a curriculum that matched my son's style of learning and was a good fit, that I became obsessed. I have learned that is quite the norm. Anyway, the reviews here on CLE really made me believe that this may be a good fit for us.
We were not disappointed! This curriculum is everything that everyone described it to be. In the beginning, my 11 yo DS really struggled, because he didn't have the best private school education (at $10,000 a year), and so he was falling further and further behind! Anyway, last year, in fourth grade, he scored BARELY on grade level in his SATs. This year, he SATd again and let me tell you, he flew off the charts. Seriously, his scores doubled and his percentage hit the roof! We are very pleased about the results.
Now, a couple of things about the curriculum.
First, you need to know that the very first book (like 401 or 501. etc.) is very confusing. We almost dropped the curriculum because they fail to tell you that the first book offers NO instruction, only a review, so I was thinking "good grief, how are we supposed to learn anything with no instruction." Apparently, had he tested better on the pre-test, he would have skipped that book and gone straight into 502. So, don't panic over the first book in the series. They really should let you know that on the front end, but they don't. I spoke with them about that, and they were talking to the writers about it.
Second, it is TRUE that it is spiral...very spiral, which was great for my spiral learning son. However, this would be torturous for a mastery learner. The format is that each day you have a page where you learn a new concept. You do a few problems and then you head right in to "we remember." My son really needed that so it worked well for us, but if you don't need so much review, then maybe consider doing every other question, as each day there are about 4 pages of math work. This works the same for the Language Arts.
We loved the "Speed Drills" offered in the Math book. It kept him sharp in math facts! Also, in the L/A, we LOVED unit 7 where the entire unit was...step by step by step...how to do a report. It is BRILLIANTLY written and will be resource for my son for years to come.
All in all, it has been a great program for us, but it is definitely not for a mastery learner and can be a little daunting, whether you do math or L/A, but let me tell you, it works.
In closing, let me just say this. A few weeks ago, my son's old class mate, who is still in our old school, came over and asked me to help her with a concept in math. It was decimals. Anyway, my son says to her..."Oh, I can show you" and he quickly sat down and showed her a chart he learned. He drew the ENTIRE thing out. She said to him, "Wow! How did you do that?" His response was that he had been reviewing that chart for a couple of months and so he could "see it in his head." His poor class mate had JUST started decimals and was rapidly coming up on SATs so the teacher was cramming new concepts in every day with little to no review. There is a huge difference there, if you ask me. My son was very comfortable with the concept, and is friend was cramming it all in in one day!
One last thing...the people at CLE are VERY VERY helpful. If you need ANY assistance, they will help you. Also, if you are considering this curriculum, you can ask for a trial package for something like ten dollars. They send you a HUGE package of stuff to look through. Also, I highly recommend that you do the test on line. I understand they are advanced....I believe it!
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