This  300 page curriculum's aim is to take you and your child on an adventure into language arts! Though based strongly in the Waldorf curriculum, there are some differences throughout, based on Donna's experience as a homeschooler and Waldorf teacher. What is normally done in Waldorf schools is clearly explained and then various options are presented. As the homeschool situation is entirely different than the classroom and as children's abilities and needs vary enormously, this homeschool curriculum is flexible, easy to adapt and full of advice and strategies to empower you to create an individualized language arts experience for your child.

Both homeschoolers working closely with the Waldorf curriculum as well as eclectic homeschoolers and unschoolers will find plenty to work with and inspire them. Most lessons are based on particular main lessons (Writing a Report - 4th Grade Man and Animal; Word Families - 2nd Grade Saints and Heroes, Grammar Lessons - 3rd Grade Old Testament; and so on). However, these can be used as presented or adapted to be used with other subject matter. Please note that most of the books  recommended for use are readily available from the public library.

 Specific guidance is included to enable you to: tell stories, make summaries, teach spelling, give dictation, and much, much more. In addition we provide extensive guidance for choosing books, including fully annotated book lists; we have (removable) worksheets that your child can use; and we have also included several 'mini blocks' - short breaks based on different themes such as Snow, the Circus and Knights, most of which are suitable for all members of the family.

Living Language is an invaluable guide that covers not only language arts per se, but will aid you in teaching the bulk of your lessons in your Waldorf-inspired homeschool. A great deal of this book is also concerned with creating a learning environment which both supports and encourages a healthy relationship to language.

The content of this first volume of our language arts curriculum covers First through Fifth Grade. Lessons get more detailed as the children get older and we believe that parents of fourth or even fifth graders will find this book just as useful as parents of first graders just starting out.

Chapter Titles with Section Headings:

• My Basic Approach

• Language Arts in Waldorf Schools, Grades 1 - 5

• The Home Environment: What We Can Do at Home; Enhancing Learning: Listening, Immersion in Activities, Playing with Language, Rhythm, Mood, Creativity, Living Language and Electronic Media; Differences at Home: Group or Class Dynamics Authority of the Teacher, Recall/Revisit

• Speech, Movement and Poetry: Speech Exercises; Working with Speech; Memorizing and Teaching Poetry; A Selection of Poems

• Writing and Reading: The Story Curriculum, Grades 1-5; Telling Stories: A Word About Fairy Tales; Teaching Reading and Writing: An Overview, First Grade, Second Grade, Third Grade and On, How to Write Summaries, Written Work with 4th and 5th Graders: Writing Reports, A Report on Bears, Dictation, Writing a Business Letter, Distinguishing Between One's Own and Another's Opinion; Reluctant Readers and Writers

• Handwriting: How to Proceed; Stages in Writing

• Grammar: Grammar in the Lower Grades; Outline of Steps in Grammar; Third Grade; Fourth Grade: Parts of Speech, Collective Nouns, Tenses, Four Types of Sentence, Use of Apostrophes, Capitalization and Punctuation; Fifth Grade: Contractions, Parts of Speech, Active and Passive Voice, Prepositional Phrases, Metaphor and Simile, Homonyms, Synonyms, Using a Thesaurus, Antonyms

• Spelling: Progression of Spelling; Spelling Lessons: 2nd Grade, Word Families, 3rd Grade, Using Vowels, Using Blends, Spelling Lists, 4th and 5th Grade, Silent Consonants, Learning to Use a Dictionary, Vowel Pairs, Spelling Rules, Abbreviations, Spelling Games and Tips

• Main Lessons and Mini Blocks: specific lesson plans

• Books, Wonderful Books! How to Choose Books; Book Reviews; Our Favorite Authors; Books by Grade; Specially Recommended Books: Family Read-Alouds, First Readers, Stage 2 Readers and Chapter Books, Stage Three Books, Easy Books for Older Beginning or Struggling Readers

• Miscellany: Waldorf Education; Practical Considerations, Resources, Worksheets

Please note that as much of the books is general in terms of how to teach subjects and as language arts lessons become for specific and increase as the child gets older, this book will be helpful for parents of fourth and fifth graders as well.

I have worked with many children who are 'late' or 'delayed' readers (including both my sons) and this book has much to offer to parents of children who won't or can't read and/or write for much of the period covered by this book.

Remember - like the First Grade Syllabus, this language arts curriculum is not available from any booksellers. You can only purchase it directly from Christopherus Homeschool Resources (either by mail or online).

The following sample pages can be viewed with Adobe Reader:

p.26 from The Home Environment

p.47 from Speech, Movement and Poetry

p.53 from Grammar

p. 70 from Writing and Reading, and

p.99  from Writing and Reading