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This article is part of a series on homeschool literature curriculums. If your students are older, check out Best Homeschool Literature Curriculum for Middle School and Best Homeschool Literature Curriculum for High School.
Our picks for the best homeschool literature curriculum for elementary:
- Learning Language Arts Through Literature
- Memoria Press Literature Programs
- Beautiful Feet Books
- Moving Beyond the Page
Developing an appreciation for good quality literature is one of the best gifts you can give your child. There are many different ways to expose your kids to great books in the homeschool setting, such as incorporating read-alouds, library visits, and lots of free reading time into your homeschool day! There are also many great curriculum options that either focus on good literature or use wonderful literature selections to teach other subjects, such as history and science. In this article we’ll tell you about some of our favorite homeschool literature curriculums for elementary students. If you’re looking for poetry curriculums specifically, check out our article Best Poetry Homeschool Curriculum for Elementary. And if you want to find out more about elementary language arts programs for homeschoolers, check out Best Language Arts Homeschool Curriculum – Elementary.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature
If you’re looking for an excellent and comprehensive literature program that will provide your child with a complete language arts education, consider Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL). Using classic literature and other engaging texts as its starting point, this program covers a range of language arts topics, including reading comprehension, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and writing.
LLATL is designed to be flexible and adaptable to different learning styles and teaching preferences. The curriculum includes a teacher’s book with lesson plans and teaching suggestions, as well as a student activity book with exercises and assignments. There are also optional assessments and tests available for those who want to use them.
One of the key benefits of LLATL is its focus on literature-based learning. By using literature as the foundation for language arts instruction, students can develop their reading and writing skills in the context of engaging stories and characters. This approach helps students develop a love of reading and writing that will serve them well throughout their lives.
Overall, Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a well-regarded homeschool curriculum that can be a great choice for families looking for a literature-based approach to language arts instruction. Each year is color-coded as follows: grade 1 (blue), grade 2 (red), grade 3 (yellow), grade 4 (orange), grade 5 (purple). Grade level kits, including the student and teacher books as well as all other materials, can be purchased at Christian Book.
Memoria Press Literature Programs
Another popular option for teaching literature in the homeschool setting is the literature guide series offered by Memoria Press. Each guide focuses on an individual work of classic literature, helping students understand and analyze the story they are reading. The guides include comprehension questions, short writing assignments, and fun projects related to the story. This curriculum provides a wonderful way to teach literature book-by-book or with a unit study approach, as the guides can be bought individually or in complete grade-level packages.
The Memoria Press literature program is designed to be taught in a small-group or one-on-one setting, which makes it well-suited for homeschool families. The curriculum includes a Teacher Guide with lesson plans, discussion questions, and assessments, as well as a Student Guide with reading assignments and exercises. Students learn broader language arts skills such as grammar, writing, and vocabulary in the context of the literature they are reading. For example, students might study grammar concepts by analyzing sentence structure in a classic novel, or they might practice writing skills by writing essays or creative pieces based on the literature they have read.
One of the key benefits of the Memoria Press literature program is its emphasis on classical education. By exposing students to classic literature, the program helps students develop a strong foundation in critical thinking, analysis, and communication skills. It also helps students develop an appreciation for the rich cultural heritage of Western civilization. Overall, the Memoria Press literature program is a popular option for homeschool families looking for a literature-based curriculum that emphasizes classical education and Christian values.
Beautiful Feet Books
If you’re looking for a wonderful way to bring social studies and science into your child’s literature studies, consider the literature-based courses offered by Beautiful Feet Books. This curriculum aims to make history, geography, and science come alive for students by using engaging literature and biographies to teach about various places, time periods, cultures, and the natural world. It is designed to foster a love for reading, develop critical thinking skills, and make social studies and science come alive for students. Each course is engaging and flexible, incorporating lots of hands-on activities like journaling, art, and cooking. The teacher’s guide that accompanies each course provides easy lesson plans, beautiful illustrations, and plenty of extension activity ideas.
Beautiful Feet currently offers 16 different courses for elementary students, ranging from the popular early American history packs to various geography, ecology, and elective courses. Each literature package includes a beautifully-illustrated teacher’s guide and all required books, as well as extra materials such as blank journals and maps.
Moving Beyond the Page
If you’re looking for an excellent curriculum that teaches a variety of subjects with an interdisciplinary, literature-based approach, consider Moving Beyond the Page. While some programs isolate literature as its own subject of study, this curriculum incorporates literature study into the other core subjects of language arts, social studies, and science. Thus, this program can actually be used as a complete curriculum. However, if you’re already using other curriculums for these core subject areas, you can purchase Moving Beyond the Page units individually to supplement your child’s existing studies or provide a unit-study approach to literature study.
Moving Beyond the Page is an excellent program for creative, independent learners who enjoy hands-on projects and critical thinking exercises. The program’s units are theme-based and cross disciplinary boundaries, allowing students to consider language arts, science, and social studies from a broader perspective. The age 6-8 curriculum (generally used by second graders), for example, explores the following four topical themes: “Community”, “Matter and Movement”, “Culture”, and “Relationships”. They’ll read 46 different books addressing these themes, from picture and chapter books to math, science, history, and poetry volumes. Their literature studies will include various writing assignments, science experiments, and numerous creative hands-on projects.
Moving Beyond the Page can be purchased in traditional text or online format, and units can be purchased individually or as complete age-level packages. For more information, check out Moving Beyond the Page here!
Conclusion
There are many wonderful homeschool curriculums that can help children develop a love of high-quality literature that will last a lifetime. If you’re homeschooling an older child, don’t forget to check out our other articles in this series: Best Homeschool Literature Curriculum for Middle School and Best Homeschool Literature Curriculum for High School.