Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Anyone use(d) Logic of English curriculum?

Dd4.75 will be skipping k and entering first grade in fall per her teacher's recommendation. She is very strong in math and first grade will still be very easy for her. However, she just started reading a few months ago and while her teacher assures me she is above where a kid entering first grade would be, I am losing sleep over it. So I started researching language arts curriculum that I might be able to use in the homeschool with her over the summer. English is my third language and I have no background in teaching, so I want something that is easy. Dd learned to read on her own and is an excellent speller, but I am worried she may suffer later if she is not taught formally about phonics, spelling rules and grammar.
So, here are my questions. Has anyone used Logic of English? Please share your opinions. I am open to any other curriculum you may have used and liked. And lastly, am I worrying for nothing? Should I just let it go and will dd continue to learn what she needs by herself? Thanks.

It's on my list of future curriculum possibilities for DD. The way I understand it, it aims to make sense out of this:

http://www.spelling.org/free/instructional/phonogramtosound_chart.htm

Reading Reflex is a parent-friendly program that also teaches English written codes explicitly. While RR helps children get unstuck initially, it definitely is not a complete reading program.

With most emergent/beginning readers, I find that the best support I can provide is finding appropriate reading materials so they can gain fluency and accuracy without too much frustration. If your DD is doing okay on her own, if I were in your shoes, I'd take her to the library as often as you can but not do much else.

Portia, you addressed my concern! I have no idea what is taught in k in language arts and did not want dd entering first grade without the foundation that is laid in k. But it looks like not much is taught in k anyway. Dd definitely knows all the stuff you mention is covered in k. She can read even big words like handsome and everywhere, intuitively knows some of the funny spelling rules (spells with silent e, proper use of c, k or ck, etc.) She can read books upto level E fluently with no help and full comprehension. She has read books upto level H but with stops to figure out some of the more difficult words. With math, when she figures out things by herself, I know if her logic is correct or not and I am able to correct her if it is not. With English, I don't know the rules myself and I don't want to mislead her when she asks me questions like does y sometimes act like silent e- where and why? I thought having a book that explains all this would save me from trying to google all the time.
I checked the mct curriculum and it does sound awesome! It is pricey at nearly $200 for the level 1 set. But I may still go ahead as I might learn from it as well.
Thanks again for your reply. I relieved some of my stress over the skip.

Mana, thank you for the link. I am going to print it out for dd and me. We go to the library at least once a week. Dd has read all of Mo Willems books and now into Pete the Cat and Pinkalicious. I am keeping a list of all the books she has read to date. She has completed 55 books! I realize that this is no biggie for many of the kids here including your dd, who has been reading for more than a year now. But I am so proud of dd for setting a goal the beginning of this year (i am going to learn to read so i can read 1000 page books) and making such good progress. I continue to read to her as well and have a long list of books to read over the summer break.

I found another version that is a bit more child-friendly:

http://ivocabmatters.blogspot.com/2013/04/vowel-phono-graphix.html

I won't be surprised if your DD figures it out all on her own.

If she is comfortably reading Pinkalicious, I really, really wouldn't be losing any sleep over her reading abilities. Those books are labeled as Level 1 but they are not easy to decode, at all. She'd be considered a strong reader at most schools.

Thanks Mana for the new link. I couldn't access it properly from my iPhone so will try later on a computer.
Anyway, I would not use the word comfortably when dd reads pinkalicious. Each book has 5-10 words that give her trouble and I help her break the word down or just furnish it so she can move on. She went to a school play on pinkalicious and picked up interest in the books- they are definitely above her reading level. But I think she will continue to make progress over summer if she sticks to her reading habits. Thanks again for your help.

Portia, thanks for the tip. I may go ahead and buy the manuals now even if I don't use it with dd for a year or two. The whole language method does appeal to me and I will continue to google when dd asks those pesky questions. Thanks again!

I agree not to worry, especially in a multilingual environment. I used Logic of English with my dd this last school year (7-8 y.o), and it worked to solidify grammar for a straight-forward box checking math kid (my dd.)

We did MCT grammar island book before that, and will do Town and Voyage levels next year through an online class. DD's learned quite a bit of grammar in her Latin studies.

I'd recommend the free videos. http://www.logicofenglish.com/video/training

HTH
Bean

Thank you bean both for sharing your experience with mct and loe as well as the wonderful link to free videos. I love it!