Over the last couple of days I've been looking into English resources to use with the boys next academic year, inshAllah. This year we used a WHSmith book called Challenge English. It did the job, so I decided to look for the next book in their series. It is currently out of stock on their website, which is not a good sign, as if the publisher of a book is out of stock of it then it may be about to become unavailable. Anyway, maybe its a good thing, as I started to look around at alternatives. The boys like something fresh to restart a new year with and probably the Challenge book would have been very similar to what they worked through last year.
Finding resources for this age is quite confusing. Using the Amazon look inside facility I previewed pages from various types of books being sold for use with secondary English. I didn't just look at books for the boys' own year group, but also at those for slightly older, so I could get a sense of comparison and direction.
The levels are very diverse, and it makes it clear that by this stage age is definately not the best guideline for suitability of resources, you must match up your child with the book, not your child's age. For example, I looked at GCSE course books which seemed easier in content than the Year 7 book we completed this year. I also looked at GCSE books that were much harder. I found a Year 9 (pre GCSE) book from Galore Park, which is also much more challenging than pretty much any of the GCSE course books I looked at. What about books for earlier in the 11-14 age range? Well, these seemed harder to find, unless I was interested in workbook style materials that don't seem that different to materials made for the end of primary school. Galore Park has its series, but I'm not sure if I just want more of the same from there.
Hmmm.
So, I thought, what sort of skills should we be covering for English? What are our gap areas? This year we've done lots of reading comprehension and writing tasks. We've also done some whole book studies and started working on essay writing skills. I feel that I can continue with whole book studies independently. I realised that I need to focus more on writing for different purposes. I can see why the boys have not developed those skills as much yet, as I think they find this the more boring side of writing. I know I always did. Writing to be persuasive, or to present an argument within the context of English study always seemed a bit empty to me. I think it can be more interesting to develop these skills within the context of another subject which you enjoy, rather than on random topics which may feel irrelevant.
So, bearing that in mind I think I will prefer to use other subjects as a vehicle for most of those skills, however I think we should do a little in English too. The other area I certainly need materials for is poetry. I always quite enjoyed poetry myself, but I think it is much more subjective and a matter of personal taste than prose. The boys really don't want to discuss poems in the same way that they are ready to discuss our whole book studies. I think they don't want to examine the details like that, they prefer wider themes and characterization gained from whole books. So, it would help to have a book to summarize key poetry points for them, so they get the picture without labouring over the thing too long.
Lastly I thought that maybe there are bits of grammar and usage they should tighten up on. Some terminology they do need to be able to use, which perhaps they have not bothered to retain up until now, as it isn't really necessary for reading comprehension or basic writing styles, which can both be gained through general wider reading.
So, those were the criteria with which I returned to the Amazon listings. Searching through I think I've found what I want. As I'm just looking for general skills and not working towards any particular syllabus I was able to go for a GCSE textbook which is out-of-date as far as the specifications are concerned, and so is very cheap. That book focuses on developing writing for different purposes. It also does reading skills. Although it is GCSE the sample pages show that it is no harder than the book we used last year, just laid out more colourfully!
Secondly I found an "essentials" type book, which was very cheap, so although I couldn't check inside I think is worth the risk. Hopefully this will cover the grammar and usage type bits for the 11-14 age group and will be quick about it.
Lastly I found a book just on poetry analysis. There are lots of poems in it and no doubt some will be harder than others, so I'll pick and choose between the materials as I try to introduce this topic. I have not ordered that yet.
So, the plan is to be more pick and mix with English next year, to focus on certain skills that need work, while developing other skills in the more enjoyable ways that we started using this year. There is nothing worse than dreary English. Who can be bothered to write about meaningless topics?
But this does feel like a very "in-between" stage. I know the boys are not ready to properly work towards an English GCSE, and there is no need for that at all, however they do need something a bit fresher and different from the style of work done at primary age. Maybe its just me, but it all feels a bit like I have to build the direction myself. I don't remember it being that way at primary level. It all seemed clearer then!
Edited to add: Still not all neatly resolved yet! On further examination the poetry book was not what I had hoped for, so I'm leaving that. I looked further at Galore Park books, but I don't like their choice of extracts at all. If the Challenge book becomes available I will get it inshAllah, as it is not necessary to work through all of it, and it will have its good points.