With all its rules and conventions, grammar can be a difficult, yet critical, subject for homeschooling students to learn.
With its scripted lessons, a strong literature-based component, thorough and explicit approach to grammatical rules, practical in-lesson exercises and plenty of opportunity for revision and review, First Language Lessons can be a highly effective way for homeschooling students to develop a strong and lasting understanding of the foundations of English grammar.
What We Like
But watch out for…
What Is First Language Lessons?
Created by Jessie Wise of the Well Trained Mind, First Language Lessons is a homeschool grammar curriculum aimed at students in early elementary.
Blending elements of classical and Charlotte Mason homeschooling, the program introduces students to poetry, art and stories, using them as a base to teach grammar rules through explicit instruction, copywork, dictation, narration, repetition and memory work.
What Ages or Grades is First Language Lessons Appropriate For?
First Language Lessons is intended for students in grades 1-4, covering everything from common nouns to interrogative pronouns, prepositional phrases and more.
To do so, the program is divided into four levels- Levels 1 to 4.
While seemingly intuitive, it should be noted that these levels don’t all correspond to grade level and the structuring is a little different than many other language arts programs out there.
With First Language Lessons, Level 2 assumes and builds upon the knowledge of Level 1, while Levels 3 and 4 are self-contained and review all previously learned materials.
As a result, students in grades 1 and 2 are advised to begin the program at Level 1, while those entering 3 and 4 can start at those levels, which can be a bit confusing for some parents.
Unfortunately for parents who are unsure of where to start, such as those switching into the program from another, there is no real placement test for First Language Lessons and they will have to rely on their intuition and knowledge of their student’s abilities a bit more.
To help these parents out, we’ve put together a chart of many of the topics studied at each level of the program that we saw when we looked at the program.
| Level | Example of Topics Covered |
| 1 | Introducing common nouns, common nouns, proper nouns, first names, family names, middle names, full names, names of places, proper nouns, intro to pronouns, intro to action verbs, abbreviations, titles, initials, capitalizations, sentence types |
| 2 | Nouns, pronouns, action verbs, capitalizing I, state of being verbs, linking verbs, sentence types, seasons, comma use, dates and addresses, commas in a series, helping verbs, capitalization, propositions, contractions, conjunctions, synonyms/antonyms, interjections |
| 3 | Nouns, forming plurals, plurals of words ending with S/SH/CH/X/Z, plurals of nouns that end in Y, irregular plurals, common and proper nouns, pronouns, action verbs, definition of a sentence, sentence diagramming, adjectives, direct objects, conjunctions, direct/indirect quotations, adjectives, direct objects, compound subjects, compound verbs, simple/complete subject predicates, prepositional phrases, comparative and superlative verbs |
| 4 | Nouns, forming plural nouns, common and proper nouns, learning to proofread, lower and upper case, proper nouns, contractions, personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, action verbs, conjunctions, singular/plural verbs, comparative adverbs, superlatives, sentences and fragments, diagramming subjects and verbs, adjectives of what kind, which one and how many, possessive nouns and pronouns, indirect objects, helping nouns, simple vs complete subjects and predicates, predicate nominatives, prepositional phrases, interrogative pronouns |
What’s Required To Teach The Curriculum?
First Language Lessons is pretty compact as far as language arts curricula go, really only requiring a Teacher’s Manual and a consumable student workbook for Levels 3 and 4.
As a result, there’s not a lot of books and readers for parents to buy, organize and keep track of, which is always nice.
Teacher’s Manual
The Teacher’s Manual for First Language Lessons are softcover, black and white books that are about 188-551 pages long, depending on level.
They contain essentially everything a parent needs to start teaching grammar, including full lesson, copywork and dictation exercises, answer keys, teaching tips and differentiation ideas, enrichment activities, suggested schedules, diagramming charts, stories, poems, artwork and more.
From time to time they also may include URLs to full color copies of the included artwork, which can be useful as the books are black and white and often can’t really fully represent and do justice to the art used in exercises (at least in our opinion).
By and large, though, the manuals are very well laid out and are extremely clear and easy to follow.
Lessons guide parents from task to task and lesson to lesson without much issue and there is very little to get confused about or lost with.
Parents should note that the Teacher’s Manuals are heavily scripted, providing very detailed lesson instructions and even providing a precise dialogue for parents to follow.
This level of scripting detail can be great for new homeschoolers and those uncertain about their ability to teach grammar, as they don’t really need any teaching experience or grammar knowledge.
Parents simply can pick up the Teacher’s Manual and start reading to provide a fairly comprehensive lesson in grammar.
On the other hand, this kind of heavy scripting can feel a bit constraining for homeschooling parents who enjoy teaching things their own way or who enjoy putting their own spin on things.
While the Teacher’s Manuals do point out that parents don’t have to necessarily stick to the provided script, they do make up the bulk of a lesson and can anchor a particular approach in a parent’s mind.
Ultimately, while it is possible to do so, it can be a bit of a hassle to re-state or rework the 80-100 or so lessons found in each book.
Another thing that some parents might have an issue with is the fact that these Teacher’s Manuals are, aside from the occasional painting or image provided as a prompt, largely text based and somewhat plain looking.
We should note, however, that this can also be seen as a positive.
While the Teacher’s Manuals aren’t particularly fascinating to look at, they do keep the lessons very simple and easy to follow with very few distractions.
Student Workbooks
When it comes to Levels 1 and 2 of First Language Lessons, the Teacher’s Manual is all that’s required to teach and most students should be able to do any writing work on looseleaf paper.
Starting in Level 3, however, the program does introduce considerably more writing, copywork and composition and so uses a specific workbook to keep things organized.
These student workbooks are black and white, perforated and holepunched softcovers that are about 345-380 pages long.
They are consumable and contain ruled lines and ample space for student responses, copywork and dictation exercises.
They also contain a variety of exercises in grammar, such as fill in the blanks, word connections, sentence analysis and pluralization activities.
Although the books are a bit hefty, they actually contain a fair amount of whitespace and so aren’t as intimidating as they might first appear.
Parents should also note that they also don’t contain any instruction or much information on their own, and are ultimately designed to accompany the Teacher’s Manual.
As a corollary, there really isn’t a lot of traditional student worksheets or independent work that students can do in the student workbook, which is something for busier parents to consider.
As with the Teacher’s Manual, the student books are mostly text and contain no real illustrations or pictures to speak of.
This can make them fairly plain and a little boring for students to look at for extended periods of time, but it also means that they can keep students focused on the learning, which is good for those who are easily distracted.
Optional: Audio Companion for Levels 1 and 2
As with some other programs we’ve seen, First Language Lessons also contains an audio component to the first two levels of its program.
These audio files contain about 48 tracks or 75 minutes of recordings, including read alouds of the stories, poems and rhymes that the lessons make use of.
These readings are professionally recorded and can be pretty nice to listen to.
Similar to programs such as Shurley English, they also contain a number of songs and jingles that demonstrate and teach parts of speech and sentences, mnemonics that can make remembering them a little easier and more fun.
The audio companion for First Language Lessons is offered on CD and MP3, which means that parents can choose to get a physical or digital copy of the files depending on their preference, a bit of flexibility and accommodation that we appreciate.
It should be stated that the audio companion is an optional component to First Language Lesson, and parents don’t strictly need to buy it.
However, as the program often asks parents to read its materials aloud several times in a row, we feel having a ready recording can actually be pretty useful and save some time and effort on the part of parents.
They can also be quite helpful for students who have reading or processing difficulties, which is nice and can make the program’s grammar instruction a little more accessible.
First Language Lessons Approach to Teaching Grammar
Spiral Curriculum
When we examined First Language Lessons, we found that it approached its grammar instruction using a spiral approach.
In other words, the program introduces concepts (proper nouns, pronouns, sentence types and so on) a little at a time, revisiting them in more depth and complexity as the program goes on.
For example, a student might be introduced to action verbs in level 1, but see them/touch on them again in greater depth in levels 2, 3 and 4.
This is as opposed to a mastery approach, which would teach a concept completely and move on only when a student can demonstrate a certain level of understanding of mastery of it.
Once mastered, a concept would then not really be repeated in future lessons or levels.
In addition, First Language Lessons also incorporates a good deal of spiral review into its course structure, i.e. it deliberately incorporates regular review and practice of previously learned concepts throughout the year.
It also incorporates a good deal of cumulative review.
Levels 3 and 4 deliberately review the topics learned in Levels 1 and 2, and each book in the series contains a specific review section towards the end.
All this really gives students a good deal of opportunity to review and revise their learning as they go, something that can be particularly helpful for students who are prone to forgetting the many grammar rules and conventions of the English language.
That said, this spiral approach can sometimes seem a bit repetitive to students who tend to pick things up quickly and are good at retaining that information.
Parent-Led Lessons
First Language Lessons is a strongly parent-led grammar program.
Parents play a central role throughout the curriculum’s lessons, guiding students through lessons, introducing readings, leading recitations, issuing copywork and dictation exercises and more.
As a result, it is a program that offers parents the opportunity to experience a lot of good back and forth interaction and dialogue with their student, an experience that some homeschoolers really cherish.
As the teaching is very top down (and scripted), it also means that the program can introduce and teach complex subjects fairly efficiently and succinctly with little chance of either parent or student getting confused or off track.
On the downside, of course, this top-down approach does mean that there isn’t quite as much room in the program for student initiative or explorational learning as there can be in some other programs.
Where there is discussion of a concept, it is often quite structured and doesn’t really lend itself to the type of free-wheeling back-and-forth that some homeschools prefer.
It also means that the program can be fairly parent-intensive, requiring a good deal of time and effort on the part of parents, which might be an issue for really busy homeschools.
Blending Classical and Charlotte Mason – The Four Strand Approach
First Language Lessons does, in our opinion, contain a number of elements that blend classical and Charlotte Mason approaches to grammar and language learning.
In common with Charlotte Mason techniques for language learning, the program uses a good deal of art, poetry, stories and rhymes as prompts for learning and discussion, and narration, copywork and dictation exercises feature very strongly throughout.
At the same time, each lesson in First Language Lessons also features a lot of recitation and memory work, where students memorize rules, definitions and examples and recite them back to parents, strengthening their memory and recall.
Students are even encouraged to slowly memorize passages and poems, which act as examples of proper grammar usage.
First Language Lessons also explicitly teaches sentence diagramming, unlike programs such as Shurley English or Essentials in Writing, and this tends to feature more heavily in Levels 3 and 4.
The program, in fact, refers to this blend of classic and Charlotte Mason techniques as its Four Strand Approach – basing its lesson practice on memory work, copywork/dictation, narration exercises and direct grammar practice/sentence diagramming.
Overall, we feel that by teaching students using explicit grammar instruction backed up with exercises that incorporate writing, reading, diagramming, narration, listening and repetition, First Language Lessons is very thorough in its approach to language.
We feel that this sort of multisensory and multi-pronged approach can also be quite effective at strengthening student recall, really driving home key grammar rules and their usage.
Parents should note, however, that although there are some hands-on activities in First Language Lessons, by and large its lessons mainly revolve around listening, discussing, reading and writing.
There aren’t a huge amount of tactile or kinesthetic activities in its lessons, nor are there a ton of fun or colorful workbook activities for students to try out, so some homeschools may not find its approach an ideal fit for the way their student learns best.
How It Works
First Language Lessons is designed to be a full year’s curriculum.
There are about 100 or so lessons in Levels 1 and 2, and 80-90 core lessons in 3 and 4, ultimately providing 36 weeks of grammar instruction at 2-3 lessons per week.
As we’ve mentioned previously, it is a very parent-led program.
Parents directly guide each lesson using their Teacher’s Manual, typically by reading it like a script.
Students, meanwhile, generally sit and listen, responding to parents when prompted and occasionally turning to readings or doing work (in their student workbooks or on paper) as directed by their parents.
At the earlier levels, lessons are pretty short.
They generally cover about a page or so and, being scripted, tend to go fairly quickly.
Lessons do increase in length and complexity as the levels go on, however the program does recommend that parents spend no longer about 30 minutes or so a day on First Language Lessons, recommending that parents split longer lessons across the week.
The lessons themselves are pretty straightforward.
Most begin with a general review of a previously learned concept, with parents and students often repeating the rule or idea a couple times out loud.
As the program does emphasize the memorization of certain writings to demonstrate proper usage of grammar, conventions and mechanics, lessons may also begin with parents re-reading (or replaying if they have the audio companion) the poem or passage a couple of times to help the students encode it.
Lessons then move on to new learning.
New concepts in grammar and mechanics are introduced by the parent, with students frequently repeating them or their examples back to the parent a few times.
Parents are also often prompted to ask directed questions, which sets up a structured back and forth dialogue that continues throughout the lesson.
Following the introduction of new material, First Language Lesson offers some exercises from its Four Strands (copywork/dictation, narration, diagramming and memory work) that help students practice what they are learning.
With copywork, students copy selected passages of work, learning to model proper examples of sentence structure, mechanics, parts of speech and so on.
Dictation exercises, on the other hand, have students transcribe sentences that are read aloud by parents, which can help reinforce proper spelling, grammar and mechanics of writing.
With First Language Lessons narration exercises, parents (or students) read a passage aloud and students restate what they’ve heard in their own words with the goal of practicing active listening, reading comprehension, structure and organizational skills.
Sentence diagramming, of course, is used to analyze sentences by helping students visualize its key elements, breaking down elements such as clauses, modifiers and so on.
Finally, with memory work exercises, students rehearse and practice their passages, facts and rules, encoding a strong foundational base of grammar into their long term memory so that they can more easily draw upon them later on.
Which of these in-lesson exercises are included in a lesson can vary, and in upper levels its not uncommon for a lesson to have more than one.
At the end of a lesson, students and parents may encounter a follow-up, which is typically an exercise designed as a general review of concepts (connecting sentence fragments for example), or enrichment exercises, which takes the learning one step further.
Unlike the other exercises in First Language Lessons, these may also include hands-on activities, such as outdoor activities or crafts, which can add a little tactile fun to a lesson.
Our Thoughts
Overall, we feel that First Language Lessons can be a very effective way for homeschooling families to teach and learn grammar.
Thanks to its heavy use of scripted dialogue and very explicit, direct and straightforward instructions, the lessons are very easy to teach.
In order to introduce a particular concept, parents essentially only need to open a lesson and start reading.
Despite being very easy to teach, however, we feel that First Language Lessons also provides a very thorough and meticulous study of grammar.
Its lessons carefully and explicitly introduce and explain grammar rules, providing a solid formal foundation in English, and the program provides a number of examples (through stories, poetry, rhymes and more) of proper usage that students analyze and even memorize throughout the course.
The lessons also teach their material in a very step-by-step manner, carefully ensuring that students understand what they are hearing and having them review and orally repeat concepts frequently in order to ensure they remember it.
We particularly liked the integration of literature and art into the program’s lessons.
At any given point, the lessons may offer a painting, a poem or a passage of great literature that parents will use as a prompt for teaching or discussions.
Not only can this be a little more interesting than the standard workbook/textbook examples one might find in typical grammar programs, but they also help broaden a student’s exposure to works of art or classical literature, something that we think many homeschooling parents will appreciate.
Finally, we found the use of the program’s rather diverse forms of practice to be rather interesting.
With lessons possibly including narration, copywork, dictation, oral repetition or even sentence diagramming, they are not only a little more well-rounded than others, but tend to be a little less predictable and boring.
With all that said, we also feel that First Language Lessons’ approach may not be the best choice for every homeschool.
For one thing, its teaching style mainly consists of students sitting, listening and occasionally repeating back what they’ve learned.
While this might be fine for many students, others (particularly more squirmy, tactile/kinesthetic learners) may have a hard time with it or find it boring.
There aren’t, for example, a lot of drawing, coloring or hands-on/get-up-and-go activities (there are some, however) to keep students engaged and interested that parents might find with some other grammar and ELA programs out there.
In a similar vein, lessons in the program tend to include a lot of structured repetition, memorization and frequent review of concepts.
At times, for example, parents and students may be asked to repeat a sentence or concept multiple times in a row.
While this certainly can help hammer a point home, some students and parents may find it a bit much.
Finally, some parents may just not be huge fans of highly structured lessons and may feel constrained a bit by the dialogue options and lesson flow.
How Easy Is First Language Lessons To Teach?
For the most part, First Language Lessons is a very easy program to teach.
As we’ve mentioned, its lessons are highly scripted and do an excellent job at providing parents with specific and actionable instructions to carry out a lesson.
As a result, the Teacher’s Manual can essentially be read to the student like a book or script, making it extremely open and go.
Further, with everything laid out neatly in the Teacher’s Manual and with no outside components to speak of, the program is very compact and requires virtually no preparation on the part of parents.
All this makes First Language Lessons an ideal curriculum for new homeschooling families and those who are uncertain about their own ability to teach grammar.
Is First Language Lessons A Secular Curriculum?
First Language Lessons is a completely secular homeschool grammar program.
It makes no mention of God and does not make use of any religious texts or passages, which makes a good curriculum choice for secular homeschools.
At the same time, however, First Language Lessons can also be considered friendly to faith-based and neutral homeschools, as it contains a variety of classical texts and nothing that could really be considered offensive or off-putting.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Affordable
With the core of a year’s grammar learning, the Teacher’s Manual, typically costing less than $30, First Language Lessons is a very inexpensive grammar curriculum that should be able to fit most homeschool budgets.
Easy to use, open and go
First Language Lessons’ Teacher’s Manuals are highly scripted and offer parents clear and understandable directions that make teaching a lesson simply a matter of reading a lesson to the student.
Thorough grammar instruction
While easy to teach, First Language Lessons also makes sure to explicitly and thoroughly teach students critical grammar rules and provides them with a good deal of practice and opportunities for revision and review to make sure they remember it.
Fun, literature-based and art components
First Language Lessons also uses a variety of classic poems, stories and even artwork that can serve as prompts for grammatical analysis, memory work or for interesting and educational back and forth dialogues between parent and student.
Lots of review and repetition
Throughout the year, First Language Lessons offers students plenty of opportunity to review concepts in English grammar and language to help ensure that students will remember and make use of their learning.
Lessons often begin with a review, students and parents frequently spend time repeating what they’re learning aloud, there are review lessons and cumulative reviews in each book, and the program itself often reviews past learning as it progresses in level.
Diversity of exercises and practice in lessons
First Language Lessons helps students practice what they’re learning through a variety of exercises that dot the lessons.
Students may, for example, be asked to do copywork, memory work, dictation, narration and even analysis and sentence diagramming – a multipronged, multisensory approach that can help make lessons a little less boring and that can really help ensure students encode the information they are given.
Lessons are usually kept pretty short
By and large, students and parents are only expected to spend about 30 minutes a day working on First Language Lessons.
As a result, although the learning can be quite thorough and rigorous, it never really gets that hard or intimidating for the student to sit through.
Cons
Not a huge amount of hands-on learning
First Language Lessons involves a lot of listening, repetition, writing and reading on the part of students.
Although there are some, by and large, it is not a program that includes a lot of fun tactile or kinesthetic learning activities, which can be disappointing for some students.
Parent intensive
First Language Lessons is a very parent-led program and parents are expected to read lessons aloud, guide students, introduce exercises, read and repeat texts, go through the exercises, conduct back and forth dialogues with students and more.
It can, therefore, be somewhat demanding on parents in terms of time and effort, which can be an issue for some busier homeschools.
Who Is It Ideal For?
Those looking for an open and go grammar curriculum
As it is quite scripted and requires no prep work, First Language Lessons can be an ideal grammar curriculum for parents who just want something they can open up and start teaching with, such as those new to homeschooling, busy parents and those who are unsure about their own language arts skills and knowledge.
Those looking for a program with explicit grammar instruction
First Language Lessons directly and explicitly teaches grammar rules and conventions to students throughout its lessons, with the Teacher’s Manual explaining concepts thoroughly, carefully and in a step-by-step manner, with lots of examples and practice, making sure that students really understand and remember what they are learning.
Those looking for something compact without a lot of moving parts
There isn’t a whole lot for parents to buy, manage and keep track of with First Language Lessons.
For the most part its levels are taught through a single Teacher’s Manual, with a workbook only required in levels 3 and 4.
Students who do well with lots of review and repetition
Some students pick things up and retain them easily. Others, however, may require a bit more review and repetition to really absorb the material they are exposed to.
Most lessons in First Language Lesson involve a dedicated review and quite a bit of focused repetition. More broadly, the program itself contains dedicated review lessons and cumulative reviews towards the end of each course.
As a result, it can be very effective at helping students retain the myriad of rules and conventions that the English language involves.
Auditory learners
A good deal of First Language Lessons involves students listening to and repeating information throughout a lesson, which can make it a great choice for auditory learners.
Those looking to teach sentence diagramming and analysis
Not every curriculum these days includes sentence analysis and diagramming as part of the learning.
First Language Lessons explicitly teaches students how to diagram sentences and, in fact, makes it a core part of the learning at certain levels, which makes the program useful for parents interested in this approach.
Who Is It Not Ideal For?
Students who have a hard time sitting and listening through lessons
A good part of First Language Lessons’ approach involves students listening to and responding to information and prompts provided by their parents.
It therefore may not be the most ideal approach for students who have a hard time sitting still or who prefer a more kinesthetic or hands-on approach to learning.
Parents and students who hate lots of repetition and review
There is quite a bit of repetition and review of concepts with First Language Lessons, at both the lesson and curricular level.
Students will spend a good deal of time repeating what their parent has to say, memorizing and reciting poetry, reciting rules and doing general reviews of concepts.
Some students, especially those who pick up and retain information quickly may find this a bit excessive and become bored.
Parents looking to teach their own way
Although the lesson scripting makes teaching First Language Lessons quite easy, it can feel a bit restrictive for some more experienced homeschooling parents, particularly those who like to teach and interact with their students in their own way.
Price
Note: All prices are correct at time of writing. All prices in USD.
As we’ve mentioned, there isn’t a whole lot that parents have to buy with First Language Lessons.
Essentially, parents only need to purchase the Teacher’s Manual and student workbook if they are starting levels 3 or 4.
These cost:
Teacher’s Manual
Level 1 – $16.95
Level 2 – $17.95
Levels 3 and 4 – $29.95
Student Workbooks – $21.95 each
Audio Companion – from $9.99
As always, we recommend that parents check the latest prices for this program, as well as for any deals or offers that may apply.
Or
Is First Language Lessons Worth The Price?
We believe that, although relatively inexpensive as a language arts program, First Language Lessons can provide a lot of value to the right homeschooling families.
For the most part, First Language Lessons makes teaching grammar and language extremely easy.
Its scripted lessons and ample, clearly written guidance mean that parents don’t have to have any real teaching experience or knowledge of grammar to use the program or teach its materials.
More than that, the books are open and go, meaning that parents don’t have to do any prep work before lessons.
At the same time, First Language Lessons also delivers very thorough and comprehensive grammar lessons, explicitly teaching, reinforcing and reviewing critical grammar rules and providing a lot of revision and a variety of classical and Charlotte Mason-inspired exercises to help students remember and be able to recall them quickly.
Finally, First Language Lessons eschews the usual boring textbook samples and passages and provides students with a good deal of exposure to classic poems, texts and even artwork to use as prompts.
Not only can this make lessons more interesting for both student and parent, but also can help broaden a student’s understanding and knowledge of great works.
Bottom Line
With all its rules and conventions, grammar can be a difficult, yet critical, subject for homeschooling students to learn.
With its scripted lessons, a strong literature-based component, thorough and explicit approach to grammatical rules, practical in-lesson exercises and plenty of opportunity for revision and review, First Language Lessons can be a highly effective way for homeschooling students to develop a strong and lasting understanding of the foundations of English grammar.
About the Author
Anne Miller is the editor of The Smarter Learning Guide and is a passionate advocate for education and educational technology. A mom of two, she majored in English Language and Literature and worked as a substitute teacher and tutor for several years. When not writing she continues to root for the Yankees and the Giants.