What are language arts anyway? Language arts usually include those communications arts necessary to speak, read, and write.
The Power of an Hour is incredibly simple and easy to use. What language arts tools are developed through the Power of an Hour?
Reading
Through daily reading and listening to others read Bible episodes and classic literature, children are exposed to a rich tradition of reading, listening, and vocabulary building. Each year the Power of an Hour teaches Spelling by the Rule each week. Younger children will be exposed to spelling rules. Older children can learn to apply the rule by finding that rule used in their Bible or classic reading of the day or can render examples of the rule. Vocabulary is built in year two when children learn Greek roots and in year three when they learn Latin roots.
Writing
Sundays have a character quote and Bible verse for both memorization and for copywork (which gives penmanship practice). We encourage children to keep a quote book and write down in a composition book, quotes they want to keep from the Bible episodes and classics they are exposed to. Also, Sunday has a theme. For older children, they can research the theme in the Bible, their quote book, and other resources available and that evening they can present to the family what they learned about the theme. This gives children an opportunity to practice and develop presentation skills and public speaking in a natural way and in a safe environment. We spotlight a document or classic excerpt on Sundays. We highlight vocabulary words to expand children's vocabulary and understanding. Some families have an evening recital where children can recite verses, quotes, or poems, and also share what they learned during the previous week about different individuals from history.
Monday through Friday children are exposed to Sowing Seeds of Greatness, which are individuals who were leaders in art, music, mathematics/science, statesmen, and poetry. As children are exposed to different individuals, they have an opportunity to write short biographies and create a page on the individual in their Book of Centuries. We have kept the information we provide about these people simple and have added links for further study. Simple content is designed to be easy for the youngest children to understand. We feel it is important for older children to be able to dig deeper and learn more, rather than just give them predigested information to memorize. Links afford older children opportunities for library skills, research skills, and composition skills while studying history. Children can use the link or go to the library to find information and create their own page for their Book of Centuries. This is also a great way to enhance computer skills through word processing and learning to import images.
Each week children learn about a country and a state. Similar to the individuals studied, the information about these geographic locations is kept simple for the youngest children and links are added for older children. We designed the Book of Nations to help older children to further develop their library skills, research skills, and composition skills as they learn geography. This too is also a great way to enhance computer skills through word processing and learning to import images.
Through Power of an Hour children also learn basic Grammar by the Rule each week. Younger children learn the rule and older children learn to apply the rule. Application comes in two forms:
1) Identification of the rule in the Bible story or in the classic.
2) Creating sentences that use the rule.
The Aspiring Scholar Portfolio affords children further opportunity for writing through list keeping, summaries, and essays. We encourage children to add a short summary of classics experienced and field trips taken.
In Part II, we will explore the Living Writing that can be used with the Power of an Hour.
