Customer Reviews

Language Arts, Grade 2 (Spectrum)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Each topic has a two-page spread. For instance, today my daughter is studying statement sentences that start with a capital letter and end with a period. There are two pages of practice for this; one is rewriting the sentence, and one is editing a paragraph that has no capital letters or periods, with two questions at the bottom of the page which kids can answer with their own written statements. Both pages are about flying kites, and there is a color picture of a kite.

While these exercises are fine and will give kids practice in punctuating statements, they are not interesting at all. In the past, Spectrum workbooks have had witty puns or silly poems or adventure stories that kids could punctuate or find nouns or whatever the assignment might be. What happened to the clever writer that used to make these workbooks? Learning language should not just be about mechanics, but also about appreciating the various uses of language: puns, poetry, narrative... These new workbooks communicate to kids that language is pretty much just boring preparation for standardized tests.

We homeschool and this is a good grammar review or intro. I did find that it is not an all inclusive "Language Arts" program. I also like more of a spiral method where the concepts are reviewed more, and this is not like that. The topic is introduced and then you move on with a review at the end of the unit. I found at this age they need the repetitiveness more. If you are using it with another curriculum or as a review it is great.

This is an excellent wkbk for a homeschooled child or just extra practice for others. I use it everyday and know that by using it I'm following 2nd grade standards like I need to be. Easy reading, easy directions, big type not all bunched up on a page. Many skills discussed.

I have really mixed feelings about this workbook. I used it for my homeschooling 3rd grader who had no previous grammar experience.

I actually enjoyed the pages, and overall the flow of lessons in this book is ok. But there isn't nearly enough work with each concept, and it takes much more than a super brief exercise to teach these concepts. Would probably be ok for review, but not as complete lessons. I found myself supplimenting every single lesson. I also find it unfortunate that LA seems to mean mostly parts of speech or capitals/punc instead of being true Language Arts, but I'm old fashioned that way.

I paired it with pages I printed off the internet and a wonderful madlibs book that both of my children just LOVE. Good book for the money, but use as only one part of a program (or as review).