During Grammar School, reading transitions from phonetic word attack skills taught prior

to reading. Help with challenging words is given as needed when individual students encounter difficulty. Selections should still be read orally as a whole class and be read several times to maintain the benefits mentioned in previous sections. With each subsequent reading, students should increase in speed, fluency, and expression. Literature selections should graduate in difficulty and include a broad range of challenging, high-quality texts.

This is the first of an in-depth, five-year poetry study in which selections are themed with the grade core curriculum. Reading, defining vocabulary, and memorizing all culminate with the student’s oral presentation of the poem.

As with literature, the reading of expository text should be oral and immediately followed by a teacher-led discussion to ascertain comprehension of the text and to aid in tying the information to what the student already knows. A variety of subject matter can be included here—from History to Social Studies and Science to Classical Studies or Christian Studies.

Composition of a complete sentence will have been mastered in the primary grades. This skill is further honed by adding the elevated vocabulary heard in reading and then mastered in spelling. Students are now ready for the challenge of writing. At this level, we teach how to take notes and keyword outlining of a text. This preparatory work is key to the later development of comprehensive writing.

Spelling will be the center of formal instruction in phonics. Students have working knowledge of all English phonograms from reading and from the introductory years of encoding instruction received in the primary grades. Lists should contain multisyllabic words and incorporate advanced phonograms. Mastery of basic spelling rules previously learned will begin to be automatically incorporated in students’ writing. Vocabulary will be increased through the use of context clues in reading text or from knowledge of Latin roots.

The expectation in penmanship is for students to use cursive exclusively from this point on in their educational career. Continued focus should be on correct grip and legible writing with proper formation, slant, size, and spacing of words.

A primarily oral memorization program is all that is needed to provide a complete, thorough study of English grammar, given that students have already learned their parts of speech in Latin. The formal study of English grammar begins in third grade. Capitalization and punctuation skills learned through copywork and daily activities within the literature study guides from the primary levels provide the knowledge base. Students gain a little written practice within their Latin exercises and from their English grammar study.

This year, Latin is still considered a new subject and should include a comprehensive review of what was learned the previous year. Students will be introduced to three verb tenses and declensions in the text. The introductory course will be covered over the span of two years, preparing students for an intensive study of the Latin grammar.