Language arts primarily consist of reading and composition (writing). This can be a whole lot for one post, so I'll discuss these more in depth in future posts. For now, I'll give a broad overview.
First and foremost, a library card is the key to a life of literacy. We take regular trips to the library, and the kids can basically choose whatever books they want. My kids love these trips. I like to mix it up by visiting different libraries every once in a while.
To teach reading, we begin by reading out loud as a family at least twice a day. Each kid can choose a picture book for me to read to them. Then, we'll get cozy and read. After the picture books, I'll read a chapter or two from whatever chapter book we're working on at the moment. My kids who can read can earn extra screen time if they choose to read aloud instead of listening to me read.
To teach reading, I wait until they start to show interest in learning to read. I begin with phonics. I like to use letter manipulatives, like Bananagrams tiles and alphabet refrigerator magnets. Once they can read consonant-vowel-consonant words, we begin by reading out loud very simple books. Bob Books are great to start out with. Then, we'll move on to easy readers followed by regular picture books and eventually chapter books.
My kids mostly self-direct their writing for now. They begin writing letters of the alphabet as they're interested, and I'll help them to form the letters properly. Once they have begun to write whole sentences, I include grammar as a rotating subject in our daily Main Lessons. I like to use a method that I've adapted from Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle. Basically, I'll write a couple sentences from a short story, but I include several mistakes. My kids copy down the sentences correctly, trying to find the mistakes as they go. We'll talk about the mistakes, along with any new concepts that show up in the sentences that I want them to learn. Sometimes I will have them underline a certain part of speech. We also have fun with the parts of speech by using Mad Libs. Eventually, I'll teach them to write different styles of essays, poetry, and technical writing.
Speaking and listening skills are another important aspect of language arts. My kids generally self-direct learning that too. I would like them to be somewhat comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, so I include reciting poetry and speeches on their self-directed learning idea lists.
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