During my annual homeschool curriculum selection and planning session we were given the opportunity to review Eclectic Foundations to see if it might be a good fit for our home academy. This program is affordable and includes a comprehensive coverage of every part of language arts all from a biblical perspective. We used the Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level C program and I believe your 2nd grader will be challenged in a great way to pursue educational heights in all portions of Language Arts. Allow me to walk you through the program details, needed supplies, and how we used it in our home academy.
Eclectic Foundations has created a program that grows with the child based on their abilities rather than age or grade level which ensures they don’t get bored with the lessons. Each level progresses in difficulty beginning at Level A (1st grade) with a goal to achieve collegiate reading by Level I (8th – 9th grade). This program is available to consumers via physical copy by mail or instant digital download wherewith complete instructions are provided on which pages will need to be printed on card stock and/or laminated. Each level comes with 144 lessons, intended to be taught four per week during a thirty-six week school year; however, it can be catered to fit your family’s scholastic needs. This program has been written to coincide with the McGuffey’s Eclectic Readers which are available for FREE via their website or Amazon Kindle. A physical copy can be purchased as well or you can print out the reader pages at your convenience. The best part about the program is that is completely comprehensive and includes lessons covering Phonics, Grammar, Dictation, Reading Comprehension, Handwriting, Composition, Vocabulary, Scripture Memory, Spelling, and Poetry.
Our home academy used Level C which is geared towards advanced 2nd and 3rd grade students. The layout of the teacher’s manual is simple and easy to navigate with one lesson per sheet explaining how to navigate the student through the reader and daily assignments. I was happy that comprehension questions are provided to coincide with every reader lesson. There is also a phonics practice sheet (laminated) included for your student to pen the words as you dictate them. The McGuffey’s Word Cards are the phonics (vocabulary) review words and each type of word (i.e. adjective, noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection) has a specific color so your child can easily identify them. Scripture memory verses are provided weekly; however, none were labeled with the version of the Bible used and some weren’t worded according to any specific version at all. I love that memorization is encouraged, which can be great for children and adults, but I’d prefer a consistent version of the bible being used throughout the curriculum. Simply noting the version of the Bible next to the verse would also be an appropriate solution.
I think the Eclectic Foundations Level C would’ve been a good program for our oldest when he was in later 1st through early 2nd grade. Even though I enjoyed the layout and variety of subjects covered, our son would have benefited more from Level D (available this spring) or possibly Level E. A great way to narrow down your child’s level is to view the provided sample lessons on the website and look through the McGuffey Readers. If you feel your child is on the borderline or advanced I suggest moving them up to the next level. Bear is used to weekly spelling tests but that portion of the program isn’t available at Level C. All in all, this entire program is good and even though it wasn’t challenging enough for Bear we will be using it with Bam Bam in the near future. I will also look into Level D and Level E, once available, to see if one will work for our oldest.
Make today grand,
Ta’Neisha K.
Marriage, Motherhood, & Homeschool 