Eclectic Foundations Language Arts- A Review

Recently we received a digital copy of Eclectic Foundations Language Arts Level B to review. I thought that it would be a great way to help Popper learn cursive, which he has been asking to do, and review basic phonics with him. I have always loved McGuffey Readers and was very excited to see that Eclectic Foundation used them with their Language Arts programs.

I received the pdf of the following: *Teacher's Guide *Student Workbook *Phonics Practice Sheets *McGuffey Word Cards There was also a link to the McGuffey Reader that I could print off. I started with the Kindle version, thinking that it would be easier, but quickly realized that Popper would do better if I printed out a physical copy for him.
Once I finished printing everything off and began to look through the Teacher's Guide, I was so thrilled to see that there was no prep work for me. This is all laid out for me and I just read through the Teacher's Guide for whichever lesson we are on. This is very helpful for a mom who is teaching multiple children!
The program is made to work through 4 lessons per week. The lessons are short and bite-sized, but I still feel like Popper is learning so much. It seems to be just enough to keep his interest and teach him, but not too much to overwhelm him.
Each day has the following: A McGuffey Lesson

Each McGuffey lesson is split into 2 different days. One day you read a new lesson and discuss the picture. The next you discuss parts of speech for the words from that lesson. On the 2nd day you colored each part of speech a different color to help you remember. This was really helpful for Popper, who is a visual learner. He picked up on which color was needed for each part of speech and by week 3-4 he was able to color some on his own without me telling him. 
Phonics

This was one of the many reasons that I wanted to try this program. Popper is reading independently, but struggles at times with phonics. I thought this would be a great way to reinforce those and build on them as the lessons became more difficult. 
The lessons have the child use a dry erase marker to practice these words on the Student Practice Pages. I had Popper work through those, especially the ones that he might have been struggling with.
Handwriting/ Copy Work

Popper has always hated doing handwriting/copy work, but was actually excited that he was going to learn cursive with this program! I was very surprised with how well he did. He does get frustrated sometimes with the letters that are more detailed, but overall he is still loving it. It is always a win for me when I find something that helps my kiddos enjoy something that they usually hate to do.
Poetry

I liked that they used poetry and had the kiddo go over it every day. It is broken down into stanzas, which again helped Popper to not become overwhelmed by the amount he had to read. 
There were a few times when we came across an unfamiliar word and it became a vocabulary lesson. I think this program helps break down to the poetry and teach how to understand poetry.

Grammar

This was another area that I wanted to work with Popper. He has some beginning knowledge of grammar, but had gaps in his learning, or so I thought. I was surprised at how much he had picked up through the years. This actually became more of a review for him. I am sure as we continue through this program, and it becomes more advanced, he will learn things that he didn't know.

Eclectic Foundations is a complete, open-and-go language arts program. It fit perfectly into our daily learning time. In fact, Daddy T and I are looking to purchase Level A for Brother Bear and Sister next year. 
You can connect with Eclectic Foundations on Facebook.
The Crew was given the opportunity to review Levels A, B, and C. (I am excited to read about Level A myself.)  You can read about the different levels used and how other's used them by clicking the link below: