I had the opportunity to review two great language arts products this week, and I think you’ll enjoy both of them. If you homeschool, these are wonderful tools to add to your curriculum. If you don’t homeschool, these units provide entertaining and educational after-school activities. 

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Apples to Zebras is a new preschool and kindergarten language arts unit from Annette Breedlove  was easy to follow and extremely well organized. Each unit followed the same progression, gently building on skills and fueling the child’s confidence. The lessons were engaging and fun, and not overwhelming or intimidating at all.

Apples to Zebras is made up of 9 units, with 3 letters taught in each unit except the final unit (which has the two remaining letters of the alphabet). One letter is learned at a time, then three are reviewed at the end of the unit. The student is given rhymes to help remember the formation (upper and lower case) of each letter, handwriting pages, find-the-letter-activities, coloring pages, activities such as dab-a-dot and cut-and-paste to help learn the sounds, and practice associating the sound with words that begin with it.

Each unit review then goes back over the three letters learned with practice writing; identifying the first letter; beginning sounds; read, trace, build, and write mats; and a fun graph-and-roll game.

At the end of this incredible pack (did I mention it’s over 600 pages long!), there are extra activities including a poster, flashcards, alphabet puzzles, 3-part matching cards, and Q-tip cards.

The unit is a great balance of black-and-white pages and color pages so it will keep your kids engaged without draining color ink unnecessarily.

Battle Cry! by Jan May and New Millennium Girl Books is a fun creative writing curriculum designed with active boys in mind! First, it’s all about battles, which are a natural attraction for boys. Second, it’s interspersed with activities that will get boys up and moving (while still working on their writing project) so they can be ACTIVE the way God designed them to be!

Battle Cry!  takes students from the point of sketching out their characters and choosing their physical characteristics and personal qualities as well as their nicknames, skills, and more. It moves them through creating a strong setting, creating and building conflict, and helps them understand how to lead the character through an arc of growth and change.

There is also an opportunity to weave some history into this unit, as they boys can choose to set their character in an historic battle or create one entirely of their own imagining. Literary tools to enhance writing are incorporated like: onomatopoeia, show don’t tell, similes, and comic relief. This course can be used in one 60 minute lesson or two 30 minute lessons per week. It’s perfect for ages 8-12.

Take a look at these products and let us know what you like the best about them!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of these books in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.