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Languaguage Skills Instruction for homeschoolers

The amazing innate facility children have for learning is so frequently wasted, suppressed, and bypassed, as our society imposes its rigid curriculum upon them, bending their minds unnaturally into the tightly proscribed forms and structures that are, however temporarily, the current standard in a one-size-fits-all educational system. The spectacular gift for language acquisition that children enjoy is a particularly poignant loss when used primarily to assimilate the trendy and transient vernacular of popular culture - an inevitable result of most public schooling.

Different in every child, when given support and freedom to develop, the spirit of language may manifest itself in remarkable ways. That a three-year-old in a nurturing environment should use vocabulary and expression that stun or at least baffle adults about her and and then go on to do enthusiastic cold readings of Shakespeare at five, need not evoke surprise simply because that would be surprising in a public school. Children already have the learning skills; we homeschooling parents need only present the material, figure out where they are going, and then try to catch up with them.

Still enamored of her Shakespeare, it was a distinct loss to the EIE English class when Fiona, now 15, went off to college to major in theater. The class continues, however, in the same homeschool spirit. English grammar, vocabulary, creative wordsmithing -- the "Improve Spoken and Written English" class at EIE teaches students to wield the language with confidence and imagination. This open enrollment class for homeschoolers ages 8-14 may now also be taken online, for the benefit of students unable to attend in person.

Taught by Professor Titchenell, homeschooling parent of Fiona and Heather and the author of SAT Practice: The New Verbal Section, whose experience also includes teaching in a number of environments including 15 years of college, this class concentrates on acquiring standard English usage skills, while appreciating the beauty of the English language at its best and encourages students to work at their own pace and to develop their own styles while gaining mastery of established forms without stifling creativity.

This is an ongoing, open enrollment course. Students are welcome to join at any time. Just call (U.S.A.) (626) 797-7201 or email eclass@abacus-es.com

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The Titchenells have created an extensive collection of homeschooling resources which may be found at: http://www.abacus-es.com/sat/homeschool.html

Acquiring an intuitive feel for well used English is best done by reading extensively and exposing oneself and one's children to language used well. Particularly during the childhood years of peak language acquisition, it is critical to acquaint children with good vocabulary and language usage -- language which, when assimilated, will benefit them in school, college, and throughout their lives. To this end, we have compiled a collection of excerpts, downloads, commentary, and book recommendations. Many of these are in the public domain and downloadable for free, in which cases a link to the online text will be given as well as links to inexpensive and more durable editions. Our children were consulted throughout and their opinions weigh heavily in the choices and critiques. We hope yours find these works similarly absorbing.

Abacus-es has been providing educational resources for many years (see About Us).