![Common Sense Press](/img/default-banner.jpg)
- 9
- 6 414
Common Sense Press
Приєднався 11 лип 2020
Common Sense Press publishes curricula designed for homeschoolers, traditional schools, and parents who want to enrich their children’s education. With Common Sense Press products, meaningful hands-on activities replace textbook methods that are often detached from the learning process. For example, our Learning Language Arts through Literature series incorporates spelling, reading, vocabulary, grammar, writing, penmanship, and phonics in the same lesson. Research shows that language arts taught in this way is much more effective than when taught in the traditional isolated and fragmented manner.
Before being published, all of our products must pass two tests. First, because we know just how busy a homeschool mom’s life can be, we publish materials that are complete and require a minimum of planning. Second, we believe that education is more than just getting the right answer on a multiple-choice test. Learning should be meaningful, comprehensive, and stimulating to the student.
Before being published, all of our products must pass two tests. First, because we know just how busy a homeschool mom’s life can be, we publish materials that are complete and require a minimum of planning. Second, we believe that education is more than just getting the right answer on a multiple-choice test. Learning should be meaningful, comprehensive, and stimulating to the student.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature [A Chat With the Creator]
Join us for an informal chat about Learning Language Arts Through Literature! We are (part of) the family behind Common Sense Press. In this video, we discuss the origins of LLATL, how to use it in a large family, what we love about it, and more.
Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a literature-based curriculum that teaches all of the parts of language arts together in a cohesive manner. It is open and go and written in a conversational tone, making it ideal to use with multiple kids at the same time.
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or thoughts!
Learning Language Arts Through Literature is a literature-based curriculum that teaches all of the parts of language arts together in a cohesive manner. It is open and go and written in a conversational tone, making it ideal to use with multiple kids at the same time.
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or thoughts!
Переглядів: 1 801
Відео
How to Write a Story [Where to Get Ideas]
Переглядів 893 роки тому
Writing a story is a huge undertaking! Where do you even begin? Wordsmith author Janie B. Cheaney uses Origami to show kids they have what it takes to write their own stories. You can find Janie's novels here: wordsmithseries.com/my-novels/ And the Wordsmith series here: www.commonsensepress.com/store/c18/Wordsmith.html
A Look Inside: the Great Editing Adventure Series
Переглядів 1403 роки тому
Take a look inside the Great Editing Adventure Series! Through exciting and entertaining stories, each level teaches grammar, writing mechanics, spelling, vocabulary, and thesaurus and dictionary use. There are 90 short, easy lessons in each level. You can find sample lessons here: www.commonsensepress.com/store/c20/The_Great_Editing_Adventure.html *Follow us on Facebook: commonsen...
A Look Inside: the Great Science Adventures Series
Переглядів 1,4 тис.3 роки тому
Great Science Adventures is a multi-grade level curriculum for teacher and students in one book. Take a look inside the books with the author! Each of the ten studies include 24 lessons with all the lab and review activities necessary to reinforce the content and all the graphics needed to complete the activities. In addition, the teacher will find an easy to follow format complete with concept...
Common Sense Press Introduction
Переглядів 3013 роки тому
Common Sense Press is a small, family run company. Meet our team and say hello down below!
A Look Inside the LLATL Gold Books [A High Schooler's Perspective]
Переглядів 1,4 тис.3 роки тому
The Learning Language Arts Through Literature Gold Books provide four complete high school courses. Each book earns one high school credit. Introduce your student to the best of classic literature and prepare them for college. The Gold Books are student directed, easy to use, and affordable. Watch as two high schoolers discuss their experience with the Gold Books. We recommend starting with Wor...
Dictation in Homeschooling [How and Why You Should Do It]
Переглядів 8123 роки тому
Have you looked at Learning Language Arts Through Literature and thought “Why would I need to dictate this passage to my child? That seems like a waste of time”? Have you wondered how the dictation lesson is supposed to be done? Maybe you’ve been using the curriculum and skipping over the dictation altogether. Don't skip it! Instead, watch this video to learn why dictation is important and how ...
How to Create Your Own Book Study (A Beginner's Guide)
Переглядів 3994 роки тому
Diane Welch, one of the creators of Learning Language Arts Through Literature, walks you through how to create a book study in this educational video. Using the examples of The Family Under the Bridge, Tuck Everlasting, and To Kill a Mockingbird, she shows you step by step how to foster learning while reading great literature. If you enjoy this style of learning, you may enjoy Learning Language...
Common Sense Press - Affordable, Efficient, and Fun Curriculum for Busy Homeschool Parents
Переглядів 1264 роки тому
Common Sense Press publishes curricula for homeschoolers, traditional schools, and parents who want to enrich their children’s education. Our materials are complete and require a minimum of planning. Education is more than just getting the right answer on a multiple-choice test. We believe learning should be meaningful, comprehensive, and stimulating to the student. View our products here: www....
This might sound dumb, but im having trouble printing these out. Do i need to take the book apart to be able to print the minibooks out well?
This is not a dumb question! Printing the little books can be confusing. The Great Science Adventures were designed to cut out the pages from the back of the book. If you need more than one set, you do have permission to make additional copies for your family. If that proves to be too difficult, let us know, and I'll send you a .pdf to print from. Frankly, we felt printing the little books was often frustrating. That is one reason we have been working for the last couple of years converting the books into a much easier form. You can check out the new series, Common Sense Science, to see what I mean. It is the same material and graphic organizers but you don't have to cut your book up and everything is much clearer. Let us know what you think!
@@commonsensepress8763 ok. Thank you. I will check that out. I may take you up on the pdf.
How old is your grandson? Would you say that the grades are more advanced than the average school grade?
I’m so glad I found this video! Made my decision to purchase the gold book, world literature, for my twins for the next school year as they start high school!
That is wonderful! I hope that the World Literature book works well for your family. Please let us know if you have any questions along the way.
What a sweet, well mannered, handsome young man. He looks like such a good student. 👨🏻🎓 I wasn’t looking for this video, but am glad I came across it. Helpful info!
Thank you so much for your kind words! We're very glad that the video was helpful.
Im so excited to order this curriculum 😅
We are excited for you to try it! And we're available if you ever have any questions along the way.
I like the concept of the integrated approach. The built in assessment is great. However, my only concern is review and standards. Is review integrated throughout the book? What is included for extra review? Where is the scope and sequence being pulled from (the source) to make sure every skill is being taught within their education career? Thanks.
All of the LLATL books have reviews at the end of most weekly lessons. The skills are reviewed again in the assessments. The scope and sequence for each book lists the materials used and the skills covered in the individual book. These are basic skills that are appropriate for each grade level. You will notice that many of the skills are repeated year after year in order to build a strong foundation. We did not follow a particular source such as Common Core. I hope this is helpful!
I love this! ❤
Thank you! We enjoy sharing our story and our curriculum!
is there a resource to learn how to grade this curriculum for the H.S. transcript? Thanks!
Hello Geraldine! Whenever I teach any of the books, I usually divide the grade points into class participation, tests, and writing assignments. If you only have one student taking the course, class participation means that all homework assignments have been completed and that the student is able to discuss the works they are reading. Each book has answers in the back to aid the teacher in those discussions. Each lesson will have the student reading and critically analyzing the literature. This is through assignments that can be either written or discussed in class. I like to mix it up and have the students do some of both. We offer two resources to help with grading. The first is a class notes and test booklet for World, American, and British literature. The notes help the student to study for the tests. There are tests for each unit of the course, and an answer key is provided for you. This is optional. You can make up your own tests. The second service is a writing assessment for the major writing assignments for each course. Your student will send his or her essays to be evaluated. Someone will work with them providing instruction and guidance to help improve their writing skills. We don't provide a grade, but this will help you in assigning one. This is also optional. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
@Common Sense Press thank you for the reply this is just what I needed!
Adorable! I just love this company ❤
Thank you!! ❤❤
Very helpful and just what I needed to be confident while implementing the dictation section! Love this curriculum 🙂
Thank you for your kind words! I'm so glad we could help give you confidence.
I love the family feel of this video. I had glossed over LLATL before, but something brought me back when shopping for next year's curriculum this year. Reading quality literature is so important to me in our homeschool. I love this approach and can't wait to start. I also purchased Grocery Cart Math and didn't realize it was Common Sense Press as well until tonight. I guess we are a Common Sense family now!😄
I'm glad you got a family feel from us instead of how uncomfortable we all are in front of the camera! I hope that both LLATL and Grocery Cart Math work well for your family. You are definitely part of the Common Sense family now!
Wow! What an incredible video getting to know who is behind this curriculum. This is our 3rd year homeschooling. 5th and 2nd grade boys! We finally found something that works for both kids using LLATL. I love how open and go it is and the simplicity of it. We are on week 23 and can’t wait to use it next year. 🎉
Thank you for sharing! It is really wonderful to hear that LLATL has been working well for you!
This sounds amazing! I have recently been trying to figure out how to pull LA all together, with our current spelling and grammar not transferring to real life, wondering if I should try put something along these lines together myself (but I don't have the time bc I have 7 kiddos to be caring for and schooling). Off to order! :)
I hope that Learning Language Arts Through Literature works well for you and your family! Let us know if you have any questions along the way.
@Common Sense Press we did lesson one today (I purchased the digital) and it went quite smoothly! A new format for my son to learn, but so easy to move from step to step 👍
@@Ahomeontheprairies That is wonderful to hear!
thank you for sharing!!! 19 years in homeschooling and i'd not tried this yet.. >>> crazy.. this year we will be using blue yellow orange and tan... i enjoyed learning that you had pre read all the books :) i learned about llatl from oikos :)
You are very welcome! I'm so glad you found our curriculum and I hope it works well for you this year. We love Oikos!
Thank you for the video!! We love LLATL!! It’s our son’s favorite curriculum!! Would be great if we could buy a CD/audio with the dictations/spelling… This would be very helpful for people like me that don’t have English as their first language. Just an idea, we could buy it separately. 😊
I'm glad you found the video helpful and that LLATL is working well for your family. Many people are tempted to skip the dictation part of the lessons, not realizing what a powerful tool it can be. The problem with recording is that it is difficult to match the pace of your reading with their writing speed, plus you are not able to encourage and/or repeat where necessary. You might try recording a lesson and comparing it with what you are doing now. Let us know how that goes. Thanks again for your positive report about the curriculum!
@@dianewelch3352 Thank you Diane!! I totally agree with you, dictation is definitely a very important and power tool. I was thinking that if we have a recording, we could pause and repeat it, if necessary. I can read it, but I like when he can listen to native speakers, it definitely helps with his English language foundation. It's just an idea for your company...we would definitely buy it if available...he is still in 2nd grade and we are planning to use the curriculum while sailing around the world. He loves reading and writing, and we love LLATL selection of books. Also, thanks for the "Book studies" we are using it to supplement his curriculum, he is an advanced reader. Once again, thanks for creating this awesome curriculum!! All the best, Karina Claros
Thank you very much for this chat!! We love LLATL!!
Thank you for watching! That is wonderful to hear!
I'm considering the Tan book for my grand daughter next year. Would you say that the book studies are comprehensive, or might it be a good idea to use another full study guide with the book? I'm thinking of adding Progeny Press study guides as all the reviews I've read aren't clear on how thorough a book study is, but I don't want to make a study too long or difficult. I know with the elementary LLATL I occasionally used another book that my child enjoyed more and simply adjusted the questions. I also thought if I knew a different book would be a better choice for a child, then getting a study guide would allow for a thorough study and literature review. It's not really made clear how necessary the suggested books are for the middle school and high school years. Are they only used with a short book study or are they necessary for completing the entire LLATL workbook throughout the year?
LLATL approaches book studies as opportunities to enhance the student’s enjoyment of reading. Our studies, for the most part, are not intended to be comprehensive. Most follow the pattern of introducing the book, focusing on some vocabulary, discussing the book, and ending with suggested activities that take learning beyond the pages of the book. For example, after reading Big Red, students can choose to sign up for or observe a dog training class, study different types of dog breeds, research the pros and cons of hunting, and look for ways to save money by doing things themselves as the characters in the book did. The book studies stand alone, so you can substitute another book and follow the guidelines above. To help you with this, you can find free book studies on our website here www.commonsensepress.com/bookstudies.html. Please let us know if you have any other questions.
This was an excellent walk through of this program. My children love doing lapbooks, so this curriculum looks perfect. Thank you for sharing! This was very helpful!
I'm so glad to hear that it was helpful!
Just bought the Yellow and Red books for my boys. So excited! I’m a second generation homeschooler and I remember loving your language arts as a student. ✨
Thank you for sharing!! I'm so glad you get to share the joys of homeschooling with your children!
Does this include intensive or basic phonics? Thank you.
Hi! LLATL includes basic phonics.
@@commonsensepress8763 Thanks!
@@Dreblueskies You are welcome! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with!
Hi, I’ve seen reviews where it says a lot of typos in the books. Has this been revised?
Yes, unfortunately the first run of the new 3rd editions had some problems. The update of the series had been languishing for years when the company changed hands. We were very new at this and only had two people trying to proof 16 books. All the books needed to be released at the same time. We, of course, were distressed by the mistakes that slipped through and have since worked hard (with the gracious help of people who love the program and took the time to point out errors) to make the needed corrections. At the time, we offered free curriculum to those who sent in corrections and posted the changes on our website. The newly run copies reflect the changes. Thank you for the opportunity to address this issue. If you have any other questions, please give us a call!
@@commonsensepress8763 thank you so much for your genuine response. I’ll be getting a copy for my 11 year old.
@@laurarivero3328 I'm glad to hear that! Please feel free to let us know if you have any questions or comments along the way.
Thank you for this chat and encouragement! We will be starting our first year with LLATL purple book soon.
That is very exciting! If you have any questions or have anything you need to talk through while using the Purple Book, please give us a call!
Wouldb one book be enough for the school year or should we use 2 topics?
It depends on how deeply you dive into the information and how old your students are! For the most part, though, it should be very easy to get through 2 books in a school year.
@@commonsensepress8763 thank you for your response. We look forward to using the curriculum this year. I love the layout!
@@andreagarcia3934 I hope that the curriculum works well for you and your family! Feel free to give us a call if you have any questions while working through the books!
can these books be used for just 1 child? I have an only child
@@jenniferharley8987 Hi Jennifer! Yes, they can absolutely be used with just one child! I recommend taking a look at the sample lessons on our website to get an idea of how the lessons are structured.
Just what I needed. Thank you very much!
You are very welcome! I'm glad we could help!
This was helpful. Thank you! We are using the green and purple books this year and I wasn't sure why the dictation is important.
I'm so glad the video helped! And I hope the Green and Purple books work well for you and your family. Please let us know if you ever have any questions!
Thank you this helped a lot! I’m curios how the graduation organizers are made. I’m not a crafty Mamma so definitely concerned about that!
We're so glad to hear that this video helped! May I ask you what you mean by graduation organizers?
I think she meant to write graphic organiser
@@Nar3lle You are probably right! I know other programs use graphic organizers as well, and I thought maybe she had seen one for a student's graduation. Every book has a section at the beginning about how to use the graphic organizers, but it still may be a challenge for those of us who are not extremely crafty (including myself!). You can browse that section of the book here: www.commonsensepress.com/uploads/9/5/0/7/95072726/gsa_using_graphic_organizers.pdf. Take a look at let me know if you still have questions!
Great video! If only UA-cam had been around when I was a kid. This is perfect for encouraging kids to find their story!
UA-cam can be so helpful! We're glad you enjoyed the video, and we hope it encourages many kids to find their story!
@@commonsensepress8763 I think it will! I tried to watch it through the eyes of my childhood writing self and Janie took me back to my Reading Rainbow days. Loved the touch with the origami.
This did help quite a bit but I need an explanation of the Investigative Loop and how that works. I’m not really fully understanding the concept of this and how to implement it into the lessons.
The Investigative Loop is a procedure we use for the labs. It is designed to teach students that there are steps to follow in such a process. Have you had a chance to look at how the books describe the process? You can find that starting on page 4 here: www.commonsensepress.com/uploads/9/5/0/7/95072726/gsa_space_how_to_use_the_book.pdf. Does that help?
Thank you so much for this video! It really helps to see all the visuals and benefits of the program! :)
You are very welcome! We're so glad that it helped!
Very helpful video thank you. I'd like to veer away from workbooks for our Language Arts and think this way sounds fun and natural. How often would you say to attempt copywork with a 10yo boy that melts at any writing?
Book studies should first of all be interesting and fun. For a reluctant student especially, choose books of high interest. As they get pulled into the story, look for activities to explore further. You can then add dictation or copywork as a way to teach language arts skills and as a model for your student's own writing. This should not be overwhelming. Before reading the book or as you read the book, look for passages that illustrate skills you want to teach. This can be just a sentence or two to begin with. Our program usually begins the week with a dictation passage on Monday which acts as a springboard for the rest of the week's lessons. If you would like to see some samples that illustrate this method of teaching, contact us at info@commonsensepress.com and we would be happy to send you four or five lessons. Just let us know which grades you are interested in.