Memorization assignments, oral composition, written composition and practice exercises are all covered in English for the Thoughtful Child.

I had a long list of things I wanted to find in a first grammar/composition text. I wanted to apply what Charlotte Mason called narration. I wanted material that would concentrate on the writing process and yet not burden the young child. I wanted a text that would draw the child into writing. I wanted a text that would lay the foundation for good composition skills that could be applied in all learning situations. With eleven children to care for, I wanted something SIMPLE and fun to work with - both for me and my children.

Format: soft cover
Author: by Mary Hyde (revised by Cyndy Shearer)
Publisher: Greenleaf Press
Recommended: Elementary

When I found English for the Thoughtful Child, I knew I had found the book I wanted to use. Originally published in 1903, the book uses wonderful pictures to stimulate the child's imagination and lead him or her into writing (see the cover of the book for a sample). The grammar that is introduced includes those things necessary to the writing task. There are memorization assignments, oral composition, written composition and practice exercises. I use this book for our second grade English text, but it is also very useful as a first course for older, reluctant writers. No teacher's edition necessary. Everything you need is in the student text.

ABOUT GREENLEAF PRESS: Greenleaf Press is a small family-owned and operated publisher and supplier of quality books for children. Greenleaf Press was founded in 1989 by Rob and Cyndy Shearer from their experiences looking for good material for their children's study of history. While looking for a satisfactory history program, the Shearers did find some quality books that they began selling. They received great response from their customers, but many of them were looking for answers on how to use the history books. Greenleaf Press then began publishing study guides on how to integrate their books into a history curriculum for children. Their first two books were Famous Men of Greece and Famous Men of Rome.

Greenleaf Press has two basic principles for teaching young children about history: biography and chronology. The first principle, biography, is an effective way to present history to children because it uses stories of real life people whom children can better relate. Children therefore enjoy the material rather than feel they are just reading for required memorization. Greenleaf Press offers a variety of books on famous people in history that they feel children will be interested by and can learn from. One example they use is the Bible and how God would teach his people about history using people's lives as specific examples. Children then begin to question actions and behaviors and can then relate it to their own lives.

While searching for history curriculums for their children, the Shearers found that most history books were disappointing to them, covering mainly American history and not devoting enough time to world history. Thus, their second principle, chronology, came about. They felt that it was important for children to spend equal amounts of time studying history from the beginning of time to present day, rather than studying American history for several years of school and the remainder for only one or two. They suggest spreading the study of world history throughout the elementary grades, rather than only 1 year, which allows students to then study American and Western history more in depth at a high school level.

Greenleaf Press offers a wide variety of history biographies, reference books and cultural guides for each of the major historical periods as well as offering Greenleaf Study Guides and Greenleaf Study Packages for Israel, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance and Reformation.

Click here to see the complete line of Greenleaf Press items.