A Complete Guide To Language Arts Lesson Plans For Your Homeschool
Finding language arts lesson plans for your homeschool that actually fit your family and approach doesn’t have to be complicated. This complete guide has everything you need to find exactly what you’re looking for, school year after school year.
When my kids were young, it felt natural to curl up on the couch and read books together. So when we decided to homeschool, “language arts,” didn’t initially seem too intimidating.
But … language arts encompasses many topics. First, we have teaching kids to read, then handwriting, and then the mechanics of writing, like grammar and spelling.
For older kids, we need to teach more advanced skills to help them understand literature and poetry and how to write everything from emails to essays.
It can feel a little complicated and hard to figure out all the separate pieces.
Add that many of us feel a lot of pressure to raise kids who love reading, and so we want to approach language arts with care. Here’s the good news: It is definitely possible to create language arts lesson plans that will help your kids learn all aspects of language and still enjoy reading and writing.
It just takes a bit of research and planning.
Choosing A Homeschool Language Arts Curriculum
Language arts is a general heading that includes reading, writing and other elements of what is sometimes called English.
Because language arts involves helping our homeschoolers learn so many skills, there are a lot of curricula and programs available.
So how do you choose a language arts program? And do you need one curriculum that teaches all aspects of language arts, or is it ok to pick and choose?
The “best” language arts curriculum option is the one that your family will use.
So that may mean purchasing one program that teaches all aspects of language learning, or choosing separate resources for various skills like grammar, spelling and reading.
Keep in mind too, that many language arts programs will only offer options for one “branch” of language arts. It’s common to find curriculum providers that focus on handwriting, for instance, or spelling.
So some good questions to ask when exploring language arts curriculum include:
- Are my kids naturally drawn to books and reading or are they a little more hesitant?
- Would it work for our family to teach other subjects (like history, or science) through a literature-based curriculum?
- Do I want to do a lot of reading aloud, or would I prefer for my kids to read more independently?
- How confident do I feel about teaching subjects like grammar and spelling?
- Do we need a separate spelling curriculum, or would it work better to use a program that combines handwriting with grammar and spelling?
- Do I want to incorporate workbooks into language arts?
- Do I have a child who is drawn to writing? Or, with an older child, do they want to pursue a career that will require a lot of writing skills?
- What is manageable in this season? Do we need to emphasize resources like audiobooks, online classes or in-person or virtual book clubs?
- How comfortable do I feel with a child learning to read on their own timeline?
- Do any of my children have learning differences that impact reading or writing like dyslexia or dysgraphia, or do I suspect learning challenges?
Keep in mind that many families homeschool language arts effectively by reading together, and practicing handwriting and language mechanics through other subjects.
So choose resources that meet the needs of your unique family and each child.
Lesson Planning Options for Language Arts
Language arts learning can feel a bit ambiguous, because it encompasses lots of sub-topics, and it has a lot of cross-over with other subjects.
For instance, you may read a novel with your kids that is set during World War II, and so that covers language arts and history. Or, your child may write an essay about their favorite animal that naturally includes some science.
And so, it can feel hard sometimes to “plan” language arts.
So a good planning system that provides structure and flexibility is key. Using the online homeschool planner from Homeschool Planet allows parents to create individual profiles for each of their children, and integrate many language arts curriculum plans seamlessly.
Parents can add lessons directly to their child’s schedule through its homeschool lesson plan library. With just a few clicks, a language arts program of your choice can be added right to their individual schedule.
This process is easy and automatically integrates many of the most popular language arts programs available.
That means parents can schedule language arts easily, whether they choose one comprehensive language arts curriculum or make use of more than one program.
Language Arts Lesson Plans For Your Homeschool Planet Planner
Take a look at all of the language arts lesson plans available to integrate directly into your homeschool planner:
General Language Arts Lesson Plans
- BJU Press English
- Daily Language Review by Evan-Moor
- DK Workbooks- Language Arts
- Horizons Language Arts
- IXL Language Arts
- Language Fundamentals by Evan-Moor
- Language Lessons for a Living Education
- Language Lessons for Today
- Language Smarts
- Learning Language Arts through Literature
- Lifepac Language Arts
- Lightning Literature
- Master Books Language Arts
- PAL: Primary Arts of Language from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Poetry Memorization from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Read & Understand Poetry by Evan-Moor
- Shurley English
- Spectrum Language Arts
- Touch-type Read and Spell
- Voyages in English
- Young Scholar’s Guide to Poetry
Reading and Literature Lesson Plans
- Adventures in Phonics from Christian Liberty Press
- All About Reading
- BJU Press Reading & Literature
- Essentials in Literature
- Explode the Code
- Foundations Phonics
- Jim Hodges Audiobooks
- Literary Adventures for Kids
- Modern Curriculum Press: Comprehension Plus
- Novel Thinking by Critical Thinking Company
- Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading
- Phonics & Reading Series from Evan-Moor
- Plaid Phonics
- Reading Detective by Critical Thinking Company
- Reading Eggs
- Rod and Staff Phonics
- Rod and Staff Reading
- Spectrum Reading Workbooks
- Spectrum Phonics & Word Study
- Tapestry of Grace: Literature
- Why Shakespeare…Indeed
Composition and Grammar Lesson Plans
- Analytical Grammar
- Applications of Grammar
- BJU Press Writing & Grammar
- Building Writers
- Daily Editing and 6-Trait Writing Series by Evan-Moor
- Fix-It Grammar from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Easy Grammar
- Essentials in Writing
- Expository Writing by The Well Trained Mind
- First Language Lessons
- Fitting Words
- Grammar for the Well Trained Mind
- Grammar for Writers
- Grammar Galaxy
- Growing with Grammar
- G.U.M. drops
- Jensen’s Format Writing & Grammar
- Life of Fred Grammar
- Rod and Staff English
- Saxon Grammar & Writing
- Skill Sharpeners by Evan-Moor
- Spectrum Writing
- Structure & Style from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Theme Based Writing from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Well Ordered Language and Rhetoric
- Winning with Writing
- Winston Grammar
- Write by Number
- Write Shop
- Writing & Rhetoric
- Zaner-Bloser GUM: Grammar, Usage, & Mechanics
Spelling and Vocabulary Lesson Plans
- ACSI Spelling
- All About Spelling
- BJU Press Spelling
- BJU Press Vocabulary
- Building Spelling Skills
- DK Workbooks: Spelling
- Daily Skill Building: Spelling
- Daily Skill Building: Vocabulary
- Horizons Spell & Vocab
- Jensen’s Vocabulary
- Phonetic Zoo from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- A Reason for Spelling
- Rod and Staff Spelling
- Soaring with Spelling
- Spectrum Spelling
- Spelling You See
- Spelling & Vocab Series by Evan-Moor
- Spelling Workout
- Spellwell
- Vocabulary from Classical Roots
- Vocabulary Virtuoso from Critical Thinking Company
- WordUp!
- Word Build Online
- Word Roots from Critical Thinking Company
- Wordly Wise 3000 Book Series
Handwriting Lesson Plans
- BJU Press Penmanship
- Catch on to Cursive from Master Books
- Cursive Knowledge from the Institute for Excellence in Writing
- Daily Handwriting by Evan-Moor
- D’Nealian Handwriting
- DrawWriteNow
- Getty-Dubay Handwriting
- Handwriting by Christian Liberty Press
- Handwriting Without Tears
- Horizons Penmanship
- New American Cursive by Memoria Press
- A Reason for Handwriting
- Rod and Staff Penmanship
- Spectrum Handwriting
- Universal Handwriting
- Zaner-Bloser Handwriting
As you can see, we have lesson plans for every aspect of language arts learning!
Lesson Planning With Homeschool Planet
Teaching language arts is an opportunity to embrace the freedom of homeschooling, and enjoy language learning with your kids.
And scheduling language arts lessons doesn’t have to feel complicated. Homeschool Planet provides free resources to help you get started.
Families can quickly add favorite language arts resources right to their schedule, and can even receive a language arts lesson plan for free.
To get started, head here for a free 30-day trial of Homeschool Planet’s online planning system.
Setup is quick and easy and allows parents to schedule everything in one place – lessons, family events, to-do lists, work schedules, online classes and even shopping lists.
Homeschool Planet’s free trial also allows families to choose one free lesson plan that can be added directly to your children’s individual profiles. Just choose from the drop-down menu.
Language arts is an expansive and beautiful subject and provides children with many building blocks they will need throughout their education.
So head over now to try Homeschool Planet’s online homeschool planner for 30-day days AND integrate a language arts program of your choice for free.