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This is not a dumb question! Printing the little books can be confusing. The Great Science Adventures were designed to cut out the pages from the back of the book. If you need more than one set, you do have permission to make additional copies for your family. If that proves to be too difficult, let us know, and I'll send you a .pdf to print from. Frankly, we felt printing the little books was often frustrating. That is one reason we have been working for the last couple of years converting the books into a much easier form. You can check out the new series, Common Sense Science, to see what I mean. It is the same material and graphic organizers but you don't have to cut your book up and everything is much clearer. Let us know what you think!

@@commonsensepress8763 ok. Thank you. I will check that out. I may take you up on the pdf.

That is wonderful! I hope that the World Literature book works well for your family. Please let us know if you have any questions along the way.

Thank you so much for your kind words! We're very glad that the video was helpful.

We are excited for you to try it! And we're available if you ever have any questions along the way.

All of the LLATL books have reviews at the end of most weekly lessons. The skills are reviewed again in the assessments. The scope and sequence for each book lists the materials used and the skills covered in the individual book. These are basic skills that are appropriate for each grade level. You will notice that many of the skills are repeated year after year in order to build a strong foundation. We did not follow a particular source such as Common Core. I hope this is helpful!

Thank you! We enjoy sharing our story and our curriculum!

Hello Geraldine! Whenever I teach any of the books, I usually divide the grade points into class participation, tests, and writing assignments. If you only have one student taking the course, class participation means that all homework assignments have been completed and that the student is able to discuss the works they are reading. Each book has answers in the back to aid the teacher in those discussions. Each lesson will have the student reading and critically analyzing the literature. This is through assignments that can be either written or discussed in class. I like to mix it up and have the students do some of both. We offer two resources to help with grading. The first is a class notes and test booklet for World, American, and British literature. The notes help the student to study for the tests. There are tests for each unit of the course, and an answer key is provided for you. This is optional. You can make up your own tests. The second service is a writing assessment for the major writing assignments for each course. Your student will send his or her essays to be evaluated. Someone will work with them providing instruction and guidance to help improve their writing skills. We don't provide a grade, but this will help you in assigning one. This is also optional. Please let me know if you have any other questions!

@Common Sense Press thank you for the reply this is just what I needed!

Thank you!! ❤❤

Thank you for your kind words! I'm so glad we could help give you confidence.

I'm glad you got a family feel from us instead of how uncomfortable we all are in front of the camera! I hope that both LLATL and Grocery Cart Math work well for your family. You are definitely part of the Common Sense family now!

Thank you for sharing! It is really wonderful to hear that LLATL has been working well for you!

I hope that Learning Language Arts Through Literature works well for you and your family! Let us know if you have any questions along the way.

@Common Sense Press we did lesson one today (I purchased the digital) and it went quite smoothly! A new format for my son to learn, but so easy to move from step to step 👍

@@Ahomeontheprairies That is wonderful to hear!

You are very welcome! I'm so glad you found our curriculum and I hope it works well for you this year. We love Oikos!

I'm glad you found the video helpful and that LLATL is working well for your family. Many people are tempted to skip the dictation part of the lessons, not realizing what a powerful tool it can be. The problem with recording is that it is difficult to match the pace of your reading with their writing speed, plus you are not able to encourage and/or repeat where necessary. You might try recording a lesson and comparing it with what you are doing now. Let us know how that goes. Thanks again for your positive report about the curriculum!

@@dianewelch3352 Thank you Diane!! I totally agree with you, dictation is definitely a very important and power tool. I was thinking that if we have a recording, we could pause and repeat it, if necessary. I can read it, but I like when he can listen to native speakers, it definitely helps with his English language foundation. It's just an idea for your company...we would definitely buy it if available...he is still in 2nd grade and we are planning to use the curriculum while sailing around the world. He loves reading and writing, and we love LLATL selection of books. Also, thanks for the "Book studies" we are using it to supplement his curriculum, he is an advanced reader. Once again, thanks for creating this awesome curriculum!! All the best, Karina Claros

Thank you for watching! That is wonderful to hear!

LLATL approaches book studies as opportunities to enhance the student’s enjoyment of reading. Our studies, for the most part, are not intended to be comprehensive. Most follow the pattern of introducing the book, focusing on some vocabulary, discussing the book, and ending with suggested activities that take learning beyond the pages of the book. For example, after reading Big Red, students can choose to sign up for or observe a dog training class, study different types of dog breeds, research the pros and cons of hunting, and look for ways to save money by doing things themselves as the characters in the book did. The book studies stand alone, so you can substitute another book and follow the guidelines above. To help you with this, you can find free book studies on our website here www.commonsensepress.com/bookstudies.html. Please let us know if you have any other questions.

I'm so glad to hear that it was helpful!

Thank you for sharing!! I'm so glad you get to share the joys of homeschooling with your children!

Hi! LLATL includes basic phonics.

@@commonsensepress8763 Thanks!

@@Dreblueskies You are welcome! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with!

Yes, unfortunately the first run of the new 3rd editions had some problems. The update of the series had been languishing for years when the company changed hands. We were very new at this and only had two people trying to proof 16 books. All the books needed to be released at the same time. We, of course, were distressed by the mistakes that slipped through and have since worked hard (with the gracious help of people who love the program and took the time to point out errors) to make the needed corrections. At the time, we offered free curriculum to those who sent in corrections and posted the changes on our website. The newly run copies reflect the changes. Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. If you have any other questions, please give us a call!

@@commonsensepress8763 thank you so much for your genuine response. I’ll be getting a copy for my 11 year old.

@@laurarivero3328 I'm glad to hear that! Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or comments along the way.

That is very exciting! If you have any questions or have anything you need to talk through while using the Purple Book, please give us a call!

It depends on how deeply you dive into the information and how old your students are! For the most part, though, it should be very easy to get through 2 books in a school year.

@@commonsensepress8763 thank you for your response. We look forward to using the curriculum this year. I love the layout!

@@andreagarcia3934 I hope that the curriculum works well for you and your family! Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions while working through the books!

can these books be used for just 1 child? I have an only child

@@jenniferharley8987 Hi Jennifer! Yes, they can absolutely be used with just one child! I recommend taking a look at the sample lessons on our website to get an idea of how the lessons are structured.

You are very welcome! I'm glad we could help!

I'm so glad the video helped! And I hope the Green and Purple books work well for you and your family. Please let us know if you ever have any questions!

We're so glad to hear that this video helped! May I ask you what you mean by graduation organizers?

I think she meant to write graphic organiser

@@Nar3lle You are probably right! I know other programs use graphic organizers as well, and I thought maybe she had seen one for a student's graduation. Every book has a section at the beginning about how to use the graphic organizers, but it still may be a challenge for those of us who are not extremely crafty (including myself!). You can browse that section of the book here: www.commonsensepress.com/uploads/9/5/0/7/95072726/gsa_using_graphic_organizers.pdf. Take a look at let me know if you still have questions!

TH-cam can be so helpful! We're glad you enjoyed the video, and we hope it encourages many kids to find their story!

@@commonsensepress8763 I think it will! I tried to watch it through the eyes of my childhood writing self and Janie took me back to my Reading Rainbow days. Loved the touch with the origami.

The Investigative Loop is a procedure we use for the labs. It is designed to teach students that there are steps to follow in such a process. Have you had a chance to look at how the books describe the process? You can find that starting on page 4 here: www.commonsensepress.com/uploads/9/5/0/7/95072726/gsa_space_how_to_use_the_book.pdf. Does that help?

You are very welcome! We're so glad that it helped!

Book studies should first of all be interesting and fun. For a reluctant student especially, choose books of high interest. As they get pulled into the story, look for activities to explore further. You can then add dictation or copywork as a way to teach language arts skills and as a model for your student's own writing. This should not be overwhelming. Before reading the book or as you read the book, look for passages that illustrate skills you want to teach. This can be just a sentence or two to begin with. Our program usually begins the week with a dictation passage on Monday which acts as a springboard for the rest of the week's lessons. If you would like to see some samples that illustrate this method of teaching, contact us at info@commonsensepress.com and we would be happy to send you four or five lessons. Just let us know which grades you are interested in.