{PREP} The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Level K

This week I have been prepping language arts for our upcoming year. And this is a pretty easy one to do! Plus, I am adding some extras that I do for our little family.

I do want to add right up front – The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts is “OPEN AND GO”. This is a big thing that they promote and I stand by it. These are simply things I have found to be helpful, keeps things lasting longer {hello, multiple children!}, and just make things go a little smoother.

Step 1: Phonics Cards

It was really easy prepping for Sarah’s language arts because I had already done a LOT of it when I did if for Jacob a couple years ago. That is a horn I will be tooting in all of my prep posts – doing the work now, makes it easier down the road!

The Good and the Beautiful uses phonics cards for Levels K-2. These came printed on nice, heavier paper, and you don’t have to do anything else but cut them out. BUT I laminated them and they look great – even after three years of use with Jacob!

So this step was already checked off for me this year. All I had to do was get three new ziplock bags, divide up my cards, and CHECK!

Step 2: Mini Books

This was another step that I was able to skip all together. There are 30 mini books included in the course, and since I prepped them already with Jacob, I was GOOD TO GO!

I prepped these simply how they were outlined – cut them out and stapled down the middle. I know some people laminate and some people bind them into one large book. Do what works for you.

For us, doing it this way worked out fine because we really don’t use each book very often, only a couple of times, so they aren’t getting that much use.

Step 3: My Book of Stories and Writings

Easy peasy. Get a binder. Either make a cover OR wait and have your child make a cover on the first day of school.

Done.

***This is SUCH a treasure to have. Jacob {and I!} love looking through his binder at the things he has written over the years. It is worth it!***

Step 4: Reading Log

— Your prep can end here! The above three steps are ALL you need to do for Level K. I add the reading log for our family. So read on if you are interested, but it is not necessary. —

Each of my reading kiddos gets a reading log. I debated about whether or not to make one for Sarah since she is just starting to read. But she may just take off! And I think Sarah will really enjoy it since she knows about it with Jacob.

So here it goes.

Our reading log is really easy to put together. I make a chart {customize the colors – because it’s easy and my kids love things like that!} with the title, author, and ticket #. Every time they read a book, they write the information down.

Behind the reading log, I print off The Good and the Beautiful Book List {it’s FREE and amazing!} for their level. We found this list really early on in our homeschooling and it is definitely our first resource for our children. I honestly have not read a book on it that I haven’t loved or felt was “good and beautiful”. Most of the books also have a “point” system associated with it.

I tweak the book list to show tickets and fill in how many that child would get for reading the book and add ticket amounts for those that don’t have them.

Then I print it off and place it behind their reading log. I have loved doing it because it has given some ownership to my kids. When we go to the library, they will bring their list and they can go and find books on there that interest them.

Also, in their reading log is their TICKET REWARDS. I bought a big roll of tickets from Amazon and it’s going to last FOREVER. Okay, maybe not forever, but a good long while.

Friday, is usually our ticket day. We only do our language arts lessons Monday – Thursday and so on Fridays we do TICKET DAY. The kids each will pull out their reading log. They will go over their logs and what they have read that week.

I have also included in their logs, a page that prompts some questions about their book. I don’t plan on making this formal or anything. I will probably just pick and choose different questions – and probably only if they need prompting. Basically, I just want to get them talking about their book and how they felt about it.

Once they are done telling me about their book, I give them the tickets they earned. THEN, they can either save their tickets or trade them in for something off their reward sheet. I keep things real simple and keep it mostly about “experiences” and things we can do together.

I feel like this step sounds like a lot, but it really is quite easy to whip up. And it’s something that Jacob has really enjoyed and I am pretty sure Sarah will too.

And you are…DONE!

Honest and truly, so easy to prep for language arts. Sarah is begging to begin already {but we are still finishing her primer book – sorry, sis!}.

Once everything is done, I put it all in a nifty storage pouch and that way Sarah just grabs it from the shelf and EVERYTHING is in there ready to go!

—Search “Prep” in my search bar or press “PREP” below to find more resources for prepping —