Loving Literature Grammar Packs is actually a 119-page e-book written for students in grades three through five. Using a Charlotte Mason, literature-based approach to language arts, it works through 15 fiction, non-fiction and historical-fiction books with week-long lessons. Children study each book, and within the context of the book study, they also work on reading skills, grammar, critical thinking, composition (including poetry), and spelling.
The selected books are picture books rather than chapter books, so they can be read rather quickly. Some of the books studied are Alejandro’s Gift, Harry the Dirty Dog, Papa Piccolo, Spiders, The Hickory Chair, and The Raft.
Study of each book should take about one week, so this comprises about one semester’s worth of study. There are worksheets for each book study with many questions similar to those found in other language arts programs. For example, some worksheets ask students to identify words in a sentence that should be possessive and need apostrophes. However, these questions all relate to the story in some way. Students should have a three-ring binder for their work. The e-book includes an answer key.
Loving Literature Grammar Packs contains a list of skills covered in the entire study with brief explanations. It does not directly teach students. Many of the skills might have been taught previously. But if not, you will need to stop and provide more instruction when something new arises. This aspect might make it difficult for the inexperienced homeschooling parent who has a weak background in language arts, since they might not realize when something should be taught.
On the other hand, the value of this approach is that language arts are taught within a context rather than in the teach-and-drill fashion that is most common. If students have already been exposed to some language arts instruction in earlier grades, this is a great approach since it avoids much needless repetition. While it provides brief review, it helps parents teach new skills without overkill.
