Homeschooling Language Arts Through Extensive Reading {Week 12 Interest-led lesson plans and recap}

This is Week Twelve in a year long series, all about lesson planning in an interest-led homeschool. Each week, I share a recap of last week’s plan vs. reality and then our new easy homeschool lesson plans for the upcoming week. This week I am answering a question that comes up quite a bit around language arts and this type of learning plan.

How Do I Homeschool Language Arts?

As you look over the last 12 weeks worth of lesson plans, you can see that much of what we do in the way of language arts is incredibly organic. We don’t have grammar lessons and worksheets. There is no set scope and sequence for learning poetry or diagramming sentences.

A question that comes up every week in one respect or another is, “Is this really enough for language arts?”

How Do I Homeschool Language Arts?

One constant in our homeschool lesson plan is the use of audio books. This is intentional on my part for a variety of reasons. The first is obvious. My son is profoundly dyslexic. Audiobooks allow him to access grade level material despite his reading ability.

The second, and more far reaching benefit of having audiobooks play such a large role in our learning is that they create a language rich environment for my son. This impacts his overall ability to communicate, in both verbal and written formats.

Research has shown, time and time again, that extensive reading is actually one of the most effective ways to master the mechanics of a language.

Extensive reading has a significant role in extending language proficiency. Extensive reading is effective, in that, it leads to sufficient knowledge of vocabulary and grammar. Learners encounter new words and sentence structures very often during extensive reading; thus, they build familiarity, and multiple exposures to them facilitates learning. Extensive reading will allow learners to engage in the target language constantly that will lead them to master the patterns of the language.

ResearchGate, The Role of Extensive Reading in Fostering the Development of Vocabulary and Grammar

How do you homeschool language arts without grammar worksheets and sentence diagrams? Research shows extensive reading is the key.

Language Arts Through Extensive Reading

Here is how this research plays out in our homeschool.

Most of the audiobooks that we listen to are ones that would be included in any high school level curriculum. My son picks the books off a list that I create, thus maintaining an interest-led approach.

These books expose my son to higher level vocabulary, cultural references and overall experiences that elevate his overall understanding.

For example, you’ll see below that we listened to audiobooks several times last week. On Thursday, we were in the car for more than three hours round trip. We played The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, by Edgar Allan Poe on Audible for most of the trip.

As we listened, I would call out any words that I thought might be new. We paused the book and my son looked up the definitions on google. Then, we both took turns using the word in sentences that were applicable to our life (as opposed to the 1800’s setting of the book.)

We call these “SAT Words” in our family and he is motivated to learn them. I feel comfortable saying that this child will never take the SAT, but he loves the feeling of accomplishment that comes from using this type of language.

On Thursday alone, we defined and practiced the following vocabulary words:

  • pernicious
  • countenance
  • pestilence
  • squall
  • stutterous
  • voracious

Using this more advanced vocabulary in sentences, requires a level of practice and mastery of grammar for my son.

But please hear me when I say, even if we never discussed the vocabulary words at all, the exposure to them through reading is enough to impact his overall competence in language arts. Again, research shows that extensive reading is often the best approach to language arts.

Now, here’s what the rest of our week looked like.

How Do I Homeschool Language Arts?

Last Week’s Homeschool Lesson Plans vs. Reality

Monday

THE PLAN

  • YouTube Video – His choice
  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Infusion – 4 hours

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Tuesday

THE PLAN

  • Drivers Ed Online
  • Everyday Math Word Problems
  • Ancient American History
  • YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
  • Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

  • YouTube Video – Today I Found Out
  • Drivers Ed Online
  • YouTube Video – Dr. Mike Human Body Study
  • Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
  • CTCMath

Wednesday

THE PLAN

  • Physical Therapy – 2 hours
  • Driver’s Ed Module
  • CTCMath
  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Science: Human Body Study
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

  • Rock Climbing – 2 hours
  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • YouTube – Fish Biologist
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
How Do I Homeschool Language Arts?

Thursday

THE PLAN

  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Social Time with friends – 1 hour
  • Art class – 1 hour
  • Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

  • Audiobook and Discussion – Lesser Known Works Of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Social Time with friends – 1 hour
  • Art class – 1 hour
  • Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours

Friday

THE PLAN

  • CTCMath
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
  • Creative Writing Activity
  • YouTube Video – his choice and educational
  • Science: Human Body Study

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED (an afternoon Rabbit trail!)

  • A passage of the book we listened to on Thursday was all about a ship sailing in the Southern Hemisphere. It was fascinating (there’s a reason my son loves Edgar Allan Poe) and we decided to map out the shipping route described in the book.
  • The book also mentioned 4 different types of penguins, one of which my son had never heard of. This began an in-depth google search and read through of various penguin resources.
  • Finally, much of the book described the latitude and longitude where the events occur. We watched this YouTube video to learn more about using latitude and longitude.
language arts

Our Homeschool Lesson Plans For This Week

Monday

  • YouTube Video – His choice
  • Finish last Friday’s shipping routes map
  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Infusion – 4 hours

Reference Notes: Every Monday, my son has subcutaneous immunoglobin infusions. Because of this, our Monday routine is very light. We do the minimum and prepare for his medical treatment in the afternoon.

Tuesday

  • Drivers Ed Online
  • Everyday Math Word Problems
  • Ancient American History
  • YouTube Video – His choice, something educational
  • Online Voice/Music Lesson – one hour
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

Reference Notes: Tuesdays are our first full school day of the week. Because my son always feels better post-Monday’s infusion, we typically do a large percentage of our more traditional homeschool work on this day.

Wednesday

  • Physical Therapy – 2 hours
  • Driver’s Ed Module
  • CTCMath
  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Science: Human Body Study
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports

Thursday

  • Audiobook and Discussion
  • Social Time with friends – 1 hour
  • Art class – 1 hour
  • Rock Climbing with friends – 3 hours

Reference Notes: We spend Thursdays in lessons mostly outside our home.  My son attends a program on Thursday afternoons through a local private school.

Friday

  • CTCMath
  • Current Events Discussion – read and discuss various news reports
  • Creative Writing Activity
  • YouTube Video – his choice and educational
  • Science: Human Body Study

A note for next week: Because this is our 12th week of homeschooling so far this year, I will be taking some time to compile all of my notes into a summary of the first term by subject. This will also serve as a part of his high school transcript. (I will share this summary with you next week so stay tuned!)

How Do I Homeschool Language Arts?

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    3 Comments

    1. Jeni Barbas says:

      I would love to see your high school book/audiobook list!

      1. You’ll see part of it in the record keeping post I’m sharing later this week. I will work on putting together an overall list for high school so that you get an idea of how we pick and choose our books. Thanks for the suggestion!

    2. I continue to thoroughly appreciate all you share. Thank you.

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