Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum

When your children were young, you taught them to speak as you spoke to them. In the same vein, children learn to write by learning from good models of writing—and trying out those models for themselves. We call this the natural approach to Language Arts.

Sonlight Language Arts programs flow from this principle. Each language arts curriculum program guides your children through well-paced writing activities based on the Readers they're already enjoying in their History / Bible / Literature program. As your children grow, these activities will guide them through writing their first sentences, simple paragraphs, and stories, until they're eventually writing gripping creative works and compelling scholarly papers.

With Sonlight, students learn by writing a little every day. Writing lessons come from the books your children read throughout the year. As a result, they remember and comprehend more and more.

Sonlight creative writing lessons apply Dr. Beechick's natural learning method where children learn by discovery. They observe, analyze, and seek to emulate what they have seen a master wordsmith do before them.

• Students practice copywork and dictation to absorb critical writing skills from excellent writers.
• Students learn grammar gradually, in the context of daily copywork. Sonlight also uses natural language-oriented student Activity Sheets to provide additional instruction in grammar.
• Students learn writing mechanics; from similes to diction to organization&emdas;as they build on each day's practice.
• Students explore creative writing with tools like story-starter pictures and journals.
• Students write about what they learn in history, science, and literature.
• An optional fifth day offers students a chance to play with the written word as they try fun exercises from puzzles to palindromes.

Watch your children's writing skills blossom as they encounter spelling words tied to phonics principles in Sonlight Language Arts up through 2nd grade. In the upper elementary grades of the language arts curriculum , they continue to build vocabulary with words from their books. Meanwhile, they reinforce correct spelling through your choice of highly effective spelling programs within the language arts curriculum.

In History / Bible / Literature D, your children make a smooth transition from the basic mechanics of writing to more in-depth independent writing.

In History / Bible / Literature E through J, young writers learn to do research, draft a wide variety of papers, and edit their work. Writing assignments range from personal letters and stories to advertisements and news items.

In every assignment, you'll find plenty of examples to follow from the books your students read. These are the "good models" your children learn to emulate. Over time, they grow from these examples.