These are my French picks for my fourth grader (whom I will call M2), who has dyslexia and therefore her work is often below her actual grade level, and she has trouble working independently because she is not an independent reader.
Find part 1 of this series here.
(None of these links are affiliate.)
Grade 4:
In Français:
Programme canadien complet 2. This is a really fun book and it’s quite big, so I am hoping it will last the whole year. If she finishes it early, there are also levels 1 and 3. M2 really likes this book, and the level is just about right for her, who is still a beginner French reader. It has math, French, social studies, and science. Here are some shots of the inside:
For French writing (expression écrite):
Graphilettre CE1/CE2 by Magnard. My fourth grader really likes this book, with its fun writing ideas. You can preview it here.
Cursive:
Championnat en cursive by Learning Without Tears. This book is not bad, but I want to switch all my kids to learning the France-French method of cursive, with the “lignes Seyès“. This will happen slowly over the course of the year as I figure it out child by child, but I will update on how that goes at the end of the year.
Grammar:
M2 is doing Étude de la Langue CP by La librairie des écoles, same as M1.
French Phonics:
Apprentissage de la lecture CP from La Librairie des écoles. I have been very impressed with this book so far. M2 has minor dyslexia, and she really needed to go back to basics and start from the ground up with learning to read French. This book goes through French phonics step-by-step and even has spelling and a dictée at the end of each chapter. I really like the idea of learning to write what you are learning to read. I did not do it that way with my eldest children, but I think it would’ve benefited them. Instead I focused on reading skills first, and when they were eventually asked to compose sentences from their own minds…well, it was pretty stressful!
I ordered the workbook as well, but I think it got lost in the mail! I ordered it from a 3rd party seller on Amazon but it never did make it to this house. That’s ok, though, because I am not sure I would have time to add that in. The dictée at the end of each chapter seems like enough for now.
French Spelling:
En route pour la dictée CE1: les animaux du monde by Hatier. I bought this book on a whim last year in order to change things up and it has turned out to be a great French spelling program. Apparently it is very popular in France, because there is an entire Facebook group dedicated to it, as well as extra resources tied to it from Bout de Gomme. Each unit has two worksheets, and there is an optional slideshow you can download from the publisher to introduce the concepts. The idea is to make the children learn a dictée each week, but I have just been making my kids learn the spelling words. You actually have to buy the expensive teacher’s manuel to get access to the dictées for each chapter. So far I have really liked the logical procession of this book. Each chapter focuses on a specific French phoneme. Here is how I teach from this book:
- On Monday we do the slideshow (I actually print it out because I’m old-fashioned like that) and I pin up the poster (also from the publisher) on our bulletin board, and we do page 1 from the workbook.
- On Tuesday we do page 2 from the workbook and I make sure the child can actually read the spelling words.
- On Wednesday we have less time to do school because of homeschool group, so on this day they simply practice the spelling words.
- On Thursday we do the pas-à-pas from Bout de Gomme.
- On Friday they practice the spelling words again and we have a spelling quiz. If they fail the quiz, we re-do the chapter again the following week!
There are also extra resources to be found on the Facebook group. Parts of this book are in cursive.
Extra reading practice:
M2 is improving her French reading with the help of some old Paul et Suzanne easy readers from our library. Last year she used the “Petites BD” series by Scholastic.
She also goes on Bayam and Boukili to improve her reading and listening, which I talked about in part 1.
Geography:
She is doing Canada Map Book 2 in English, but it does come in French.
And then for science, history, Bible, and catechism, she is doing the same things as M1, which can be found in part 1.
Leave a Reply