We recently had the opportunity to review Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B from Eclectic Foundations and I’m very pleased we had this opportunity. I do believe we have found our language arts program!
As a classical educator, for the most part, I had been a fan of the McGuffey Eclectic reader for some time but then I was “wooed” by fancy and new programs. I was probably swayed because I really didn’t know how to make the McGuffey Readers work for us other than as a reader. ENTER Eclectic Foundations!
I can’t believe the amazing progress my son has made in a short amount of time by using Eclectic Foundations!
WHAT IS IT?
Eclectic Foundations is a complete language arts program to include phonics, grammar, spelling, reading, comprehension, handwriting, composition, and poetry. It utilizes the age-old McGuffey Eclectic Readers as the source text/reader and a teacher guide and student workbook for the complete program.
Does the McGuffey Eclectic Reader sound families? That’s because it has been around and helping kids learn to read since 1836. It was widely used in schools until the 1960s. However, upon the secularization of the school system, the McGuffey Eclectic reader were replaced due to their presentation of a Biblical Worldview.
Eclectic Foundations has not changed the program as written by Mr. McGuffey all those years ago, but they have modernized it and made it teacher-friendly. The program currently has 3 levels:
Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level A
Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B
Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level C
However, there are plans to develop additional levels. Each level is meant to last one year. It includes 144 lessons meant to cover 36 4-day weeks. The answers are directly printed in the Teacher’s Guide lesson pages. One student workbook and a teacher’s guide includes all that is needed for the lessons. The McGuffey Reader is required but can be downloaded for free from many online sources including the Eclectic Foundations website.
WHAT WE DID
Since we received the downloadable product, we used the workbook on the computer and downloaded the corresponding McGuffey Reader Level 1 on the computer as well. Then I printed the word cards on card stock and the workbook practice pages as needed. We used the computer together with the digital McGuffey Reader up on one side and the e-workbook on the other side. After going through the lesson, which includes grammar, reading, phonics, picture study, poetry and reading comprehension, we would work on the writing portion.
The early lessons of Level B introduce cursive. Though we have been studying cursive all year, we went ahead and worked through the lessons to reinforce our my son’s cursive learning.
The word list provided on each workbook page contains approximately 12 words. Level B begins studying silent “e” words. Then we colored the corresponding word cards as directed and completed the lesson. Each lesson generally took no longer than 30 minutes and really is jam-packed with learning.
I really could not be more impressed with the lessons, the progress and how my 7-year old son has responded. I could not be happier. I intend to purchase the workbook because we don’t do well with e-products but that’s just us. But if you do well with digital products, it is a great buy!
What a great program! I sure hope more levels will be available so we can move through them as he progresses. I would dive in with my 6th grader if the program was available. I’m THAT impressed!
I’m telling you, if you have a reader, beginning to about age 8-10, check out this program. It’s complete, easy to use, fun, and totally economical. There is a great explanation on where to begin on the website here and visit the store to get your own program.
Check out what the rest of the Homeschool Review Crew has to say about Eclectic Foundations Levels A, B, and C by clicking the banner below. And visit Eclectic Foundations on Facebook too to see how other families are using the program.
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