Total Language Plus

Total Language Plus is a literature-based language arts program in which a single novel does every job, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, dictation, comprehension, and composition, over the course of a semester. For families who believe language is best learned through language rather than around it, this is a near-ideal architecture.

Last updated: 2026-04-24 · Every Homeschool Editorial Team

At a glance

Method	Literature-based, Charlotte Mason influence
Worldview	Christian-evangelical (light integration)
Grades	3-12 (organized by book title, roughly grade-banded)
Formats	Print study guides (family uses own copy of each novel)
Cost tier	Budget
Parent intensity	3
ESA-common	No
Accredited	No
Established	Not explicitly published by the publisher; the company has operated since the 1990s per Cathy Duffy Reviews
Website	totallanguageplus.com

Our scoreboard (1-5)

Criterion	Score	One-line reason
Academic rigor	4	Real grammar, real composition, real literature, not enrichment
Ease of teaching	4	Scripted weekly plan, parent reads and checks
Content quality	4	Guides are substantive; book selection well-curated
Flexibility	5	Buy one guide at a time, pace to your student
Value for money	5	Under twenty dollars per guide plus cost of a novel
Worldview scope	4	Light Christian references, books chosen from mainstream canon
Visual/design	2	Plain workbook presentation, no visual polish
Support resources	2	Guide and answer key only; no video or forum

Who the publisher is

Total Language Plus is a small independent publisher of literature-based language arts study guides, written from an evangelical Christian perspective. The company has operated since the 1990s, according to Cathy Duffy Reviews' published review, though the publisher's site does not prominently feature a founding date. The catalog of study guides has grown organically over the years as additional novels have been added, and now spans roughly thirty titles ranging from early-elementary chapter books to high school literature.

The company's commercial profile is modest. There is no corporate parent, no app, no subscription tier, no homeschool conference flagship presence. The publisher sells directly through its website, with guides also available through some homeschool retailers. Total Language Plus is not a household name, but it has a devoted following in Charlotte Mason and literature-based homeschool circles, and its guides have earned long-standing endorsement from Cathy Duffy Reviews.

Each Total Language Plus guide is a workbook, typically one hundred to one hundred fifty pages, tied to a single specific novel. Titles include Charlotte's Web, Sarah Plain and Tall, The Hobbit, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Bronze Bow, The Secret Garden, and others across the standard upper-elementary through high school literature canon. Families purchase the study guide; they source their own copy of the novel.

The core pedagogy

Total Language Plus uses a single novel as the spine for an entire semester's language arts work. A typical guide runs six to ten weeks and divides the novel into weekly chunks. Each week includes: a vocabulary list drawn from the week's reading, spelling words (usually overlapping with the vocabulary), grammar instruction tied to sentences from the book, a dictation passage taken from the text, comprehension questions on the week's reading, and a short composition assignment connected to the content. The novel is not an add-on; it is the source material for every exercise.

This architecture sits in the Charlotte Mason tradition of language learning, the assumption that good writing is learned by extended contact with good writing, and that grammar and mechanics are reinforced better through dictation and analysis of real sentences than through textbook drills on invented example sentences. The Total Language Plus guides are not strictly Charlotte Mason (they are more workbook-structured than a pure Mason program would be), but they share the same underlying conviction.

Signature mechanics: (1) Single-book integration. One novel supplies vocabulary, spelling, grammar examples, dictation passages, comprehension content, and composition prompts. (2) Weekly rhythm. Each guide organizes work into discrete weeks so families can assign by the week rather than by the day. (3) Grade-banding without grade-locking. A family with an advanced seventh-grader can use To Kill a Mockingbird; a family with a struggling ninth-grader can use The Bronze Bow. Book choice drives placement. (4) Supplement or spine. The guides work as a complete language arts spine or as a literature-based supplement paired with a separate grammar program.

A day in the life

A sixth-grader using the Where the Red Fern Grows Total Language Plus guide as their language arts spine starts the week by reading the assigned chapters of the novel (typically twenty to forty pages, read over one or two days). On day two the student works through the vocabulary list, definitions, sentence use, and a short exercise. On day three the student handles grammar, using sentences from the book as subject matter. On day four the student takes dictation from a selected passage. On day five the student works comprehension questions and begins a short composition assignment tied to the week's content. Daily language arts time: thirty to fifty minutes.

A high school student using the A Tale of Two Cities guide runs at a more intensive pace, more pages to read per day, longer composition assignments, and more analytical depth. The guide structure does not change, but the expectations for the composition component lift significantly. At this level the guide functions as a complete English literature plus composition plus grammar plus vocabulary course for that semester. Total time: forty-five to seventy-five minutes daily.

What they do exceptionally well

Integration without fragmentation. Most language arts programs separate vocabulary, spelling, grammar, literature, and composition into distinct workbooks or distinct subjects. Total Language Plus keeps them tied to a single book. Students do not have to context-switch between a grammar text, a separate literature text, a separate vocabulary workbook, and a composition program. The economy of attention is meaningful.

Reading real books. The novels selected are real novels, not abridged, not adapted, not bowdlerized. A student who completes three Total Language Plus guides in a year has read three complete novels as core academic work, and has engaged with them at multiple levels (vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, composition). This is unusual.

Price. Individual guides run approximately $18 to $25 per the Total Language Plus catalog as of April 2026. A family running three guides per year spends roughly $55 to $75 on curriculum, plus whatever they spend on the novels themselves (often free from the library or a few dollars used). This is the budget tier.

Flexibility. A family can mix Total Language Plus with any other program. The guides do not demand continuity, use one this semester, a different program next semester, come back later, swap titles around the student's interests. Most curricula punish this kind of flexibility; Total Language Plus rewards it.

What they do poorly

Plain visual presentation. The guides are workbooks in a straightforward sense: black-and-white pages, functional fonts, no illustrations beyond a modest cover. Students accustomed to full-color, richly designed workbook experiences will find the guides visually austere. This matters more for some students than others.

Minimal scope-and-sequence documentation. The publisher does not publish a comprehensive cross-guide grammar scope-and-sequence showing which topics are covered in which guides. Families who want a master plan mapping all grammar content across grades 3-12 will need to assemble it themselves or accept that the program treats grammar opportunistically rather than systematically.

Light Christian integration that might surface unexpectedly. The guides are written from an evangelical Christian perspective and occasionally include discussion questions or composition prompts that reflect that frame. Families substituting for a secular context will need to edit on the fly, the integration is light but present.

Grammar coverage uneven. Because grammar is taught through sentences in the specific novel, the grammar concepts covered depend on the novel's sentence structures. A student who reads three novels with relatively simple syntax will get less grammar exposure than a student who reads three syntactically complex novels. Families that need systematic grammar coverage often pair Total Language Plus with a conventional grammar text (Rod and Staff English or Analytical Grammar).

Who it fits / who it doesn't

• Pick Total Language Plus if: you want a literature-based language arts program; you value integration over segregation of language skills; you like the idea of one novel doing multiple academic jobs; you are Charlotte Mason influenced or literature-centered; your student enjoys reading and will engage with full-length novels; your budget is modest.

• Skip Total Language Plus if: you want a systematic grammar program with predictable scope-and-sequence; you prefer full-color, visually designed workbooks; your student resists extended reading; you want a completely secular language arts program with no religious framing; you want a single program carrying every student K-12 with continuous curriculum.

Cost honest assessment

Individual Total Language Plus guides run approximately $18 to $25 per the publisher's catalog as of April 2026. Novels can be sourced free from public libraries or purchased used for a few dollars. A family running three guides across a school year budgets roughly $55 to $75 for the guides plus $0 to $30 for the novels, for an annual language arts spend of $55 to $105.

Compared to Wordly Wise 3000 plus a grammar text plus a separate literature guide (approximately $100 to $160 combined), Rod and Staff English (approximately $25 to $45 per grade), and premium integrated programs like IEW's Structure and Style (approximately $150 to $250 per course), Total Language Plus is among the most economical complete language arts approaches. The cost advantage comes partly from the publisher's modest commercial profile and partly from relying on the family's own book-sourcing.

ESA eligibility notes

Total Language Plus is not commonly pre-listed on state ESA marketplaces as of April 2026, reflecting the publisher's small scale. Families using ESA funds should verify with their state administrator before purchase. Given the modest cost, many families simply order directly. The publisher sells through its own website and through some homeschool retailers; Amazon and used-book markets carry the novels themselves.

Alternatives

• Progeny Press, a family wanting similar literature-based study guides with more explicit Christian integration and a wider catalog of specifically Christian-framed guides would choose Progeny Press.
• Lightning Literature (Hewitt Homeschooling), a family wanting a more academically formal literature-based language arts program with more substantial composition coverage would choose Lightning Literature.
• Memoria Press Literature Guides, a classical-homeschool family wanting guides with classical-tradition framing (and pairing to a separate grammar program) would choose Memoria Press.

How we verified this

Our editorial team reviewed the Total Language Plus catalog, sample pages from several study guides including Charlotte's Web, The Hobbit, and To Kill a Mockingbird, and the publisher's product description. We cross-referenced against Cathy Duffy Reviews' published review and the HSLDA publisher directory. Prices and catalog details verified April 2026.