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Just got my copy of the Sentence Family...


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We walked over and bought it in person from the author, who gave us a tour of their little school, church, and lovely grounds. A very friendly and gracious man, and a great book! I thumbed through it already, and highly recommend it for grammar study to anyone whose children like art and story.

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We walked over and bought it in person from the author, who gave us a tour of their little school, church, and lovely grounds. A very friendly and gracious man, and a great book! I thumbed through it already, and highly recommend it for grammar study to anyone whose children like art and story.

 

Lucky!

 

Yes, we loved the Sentence Family.

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We walked over and bought it in person from the author, who gave us a tour of their little school, church, and lovely grounds. A very friendly and gracious man, and a great book! I thumbed through it already, and highly recommend it for grammar study to anyone whose children like art and story.

 

This looks very good! However, I'm wondering....is this to be used as a supplement to another grammar program, or is it a stand-alone product?

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It looks gorgeous, but I'm wondering how it would work if I'm not very good at drawing.....

 

Shhhhhhhh....I didn't draw at all and my dd only drew for the first couple lessons.

 

We still loved it (and retained it). I told the story and held the book so she could look at the picture in it while I talked. We then discussed and practiced sentences on the whiteboard. The story aspect is what we really loved. We did skip the diagramming but *I* finally get diagramming after reading their explanation.

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Shhhhhhhh....I didn't draw at all and my dd only drew for the first couple lessons.

 

We still loved it (and retained it). I told the story and held the book so she could look at the picture in it while I talked. We then discussed and practiced sentences on the whiteboard. The story aspect is what we really loved. We did skip the diagramming but *I* finally get diagramming after reading their explanation.

 

Is there real diagramming with lines and slashes? I didn't know about this and will need to re-consider it again. I hesitated buying because I thought it was just a story of the parts of speech, but if it goes beyond just an explanation of the "characters," I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have just one more grammar supplement.

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Is there real diagramming with lines and slashes? I didn't know about this and will need to re-consider it again. I hesitated buying because I thought it was just a story of the parts of speech, but if it goes beyond just an explanation of the "characters," I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have just one more grammar supplement.

 

 

I am curious to know what the diagramming looks like as well. Can anyone give us a sample. There is not a sample of that on the website that I have seen.

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I am curious to know what the diagramming looks like as well. Can anyone give us a sample. There is not a sample of that on the website that I have seen.

 

Not totally helpful since there aren't samples of the diagramming, but this sample on currclick has 20 pages of the book so it's a bit more than the st. michael's school website. I just purchased this last night (downloaded) and I'll see if I can find a way to show the diagramming after I look through it.

 

At first glance I wrote it off months ago because it looked too easy or not well thought out (thinking that stick figures art equals not worth my time when we can do MCT with much more stimulating art). But when I realized the point is to have the child do their own art to internalize the characters and to write their own stories about the characters, I saw something we would enjoy. My dd needs to know grammar can be fun, since she really didn't care for FLL.

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Not totally helpful since there aren't samples of the diagramming, but this sample on currclick has 20 pages of the book so it's a bit more than the st. michael's school website. I just purchased this last night (downloaded) and I'll see if I can find a way to show the diagramming after I look through it.

 

 

 

Thank you very much. Looking forward to what you can share. :001_smile:

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Can you skip the diagramming parts without any issues? Is there a lot on diagramming? I will start JAG with my son in 4th, and I really don't want to keep hopping around with different diagramming approaches. But I really like the gentle introduction that this seems to give, not to mention the drawing aspect. My son LOVES to draw.

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Is there real diagramming with lines and slashes? I didn't know about this and will need to re-consider it again. I hesitated buying because I thought it was just a story of the parts of speech, but if it goes beyond just an explanation of the "characters," I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have just one more grammar supplement.

 

Yep, it is real diagramming. In some ways it is more of a "how to" book. There are not assignments or answer keys. So after you meet verb, 16 example sentences are given where the student can identify the verb in each sentence. After noun the directions suggest using the same sentences to find nouns. Adjective, adverb, conjunction, and interjection each have ten more sentences to parse. Instructions for diagramming are given about 3/4 of the way through the book. Now you can go back and diagram these sentences. HTH.

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Question: if I have twins, would I buy two books or one?

 

The book says "verb" at the bottom. Is there a "noun" book, a "pronoun" book etc.???

 

Thanks!

 

Alley

 

All the work is done outside the book, so you only need one. And yes, it says Verb at the bottom of the cover, but it covers everything in the one book.

 

I think for the diagramming, we might use a whiteboard.

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Question: if I have twins, would I buy two books or one?

 

The book says "verb" at the bottom. Is there a "noun" book, a "pronoun" book etc.???

 

Thanks!

 

Alley

 

If i remember correctly, the reason it says VERB on the front is that the picture on the front is of the character Verb. On each picture, you write the name of the character that you are illustrating.

 

We really enjoyed this book a lot - So glad to hear that it is available on Currclick now!

 

Oh, and for those who were wondering about the diagramming, it has a nice, clear introduction to diagramming the parts of speech. But it can be skipped entirely, if you wish, and you'll miss nothing except the diagramming.

 

We did do the art with it. I'm no artist, that's for sure! But I drew the pictures while the girls watched, and they had such great fun trying to figure out what I was drawing and what was going on.

 

For those of you who might be considering moving on to MCT after using Sentence Family, MCT uses the same colors for Noun and Verb as Sentence Family, which is great! The only different color, if I remember correctly, was pronoun, which he made an aqua-ish color to show it's relationship with the blue Noun. Color isn't a huge part of MCT, but it was nice that at least those lined up. If they'd all been different it might have been confusing, but my girls easily accepted that pronoun was different in MCT.

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I just purchased this last night (downloaded) and I'll see if I can find a way to show the diagramming after I look through it.

 

Okay. Now I've had a chance to go through it. This program gives each part of speech a role in a family, with stories to tell how they interact. My belief is it will complement most other grammar programs. (I say most only because there are obviously programs I've never seen.) I believe the only way to truly cement comprehension in teaching is to go at a subject from several angles, and this is another angle a teacher can use to help students understand grammar, the foundation for writing. This program seems especially suited to kinesthetic students who need something to do during lessons, but since you tell stories and see pictures you've drawn I would say this is a multi-sensory program, although I am not expert. Based on my experience, my dd just finishing 2nd grade could have done this program the latter part of this year and understood it, although I think the author suggested it for 4th grade. I'm not completely sure on that, though.

 

Here is an excerpt from the intro to the teacher about how to go through the program.

The general plan is to

1) tell the story with the description of the character,

2) Draw the picture, and

3) practice identifying the words each character would say.

 

 

Teachers are supposed to learn the stories well enough that they can tell them in their own words. You can read them as is, but this can take away from the discussion if your student doesn't respond well to just listening. You can get into some "socratic discussions" as Michael Clay Thompson talks about, if you really know the stories and relationships ahead of time. So, this program may be a bit more prep work if you're used to scripted programs.

 

One interesting thing I realized is if I am hesitant in teaching the drawing of the character (i.e. saying I'm not a good drawer, it looks dumb, or show frustration) then the student thinks he needs to have perfect drawings too and might be too stressed to do it himself. So if he sees me comfortable with my stick figures, then he may in turn realize he can have fun without having to be perfect. That is one benefit to NOT having beautiful professional art work for this particular program. There are specific tips for how to draw, so it's not so intimidating when you break it down.

 

The program stresses using large pieces of paper so the students have enough room to draw different characters together in the same scene to show how the parts of grammar interact with each other.

 

The book has this to say about diagramming:

The Sentence Family also includes instruction for diagraming sentences. Once the children get into the pattern of learning about the character, drawing the picture, giving examples of what each Sentence child would say, and underlining the words in the Sentence children's favorite colors, they are given sentences to diagram. As they learn more of the parts of speech, the sentences given for diagramming become more complex. For the underlining, the students will need red, blue, green, orange, yellow, purple, brown and a dark rose or maroon colored pencils.

Diagramming is very helpful for it shows in a clear, visual way, the relationships of the words in the sentence. Every word has a rightful place in our written and oral language. Learning to write clearly actually helps the child to think clearly. Clear thinking and clear writing take discipline and learning the art of diagraming helps in the achievement of that discipline and clarity.

 

The diagramming looks very similar to what I've seen in FLL samples. (I've only done FLL through level 2.) On paper it's the same diagramming, but you go about explaining it differently. The vertical line is the "bed" to put the main characters on, the "headboard" divides the noun and verb, "slanted beds" for adjectives and adverbs. Direct objects, predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives, and prepositional phrases are given some attention as well. Linking verbs are not explained well in this curriculum, but students are taught how to diagram them so this program may make more sense for a student who has studied basic grammar first (like in 2nd grade). The four types of sentences are given a lot of attention in the beginning of the book. I also appreciate that articles are given their own place in speech, so there are 9 parts of speech studied (not just lumped in with adjectives).

 

I would say this program, like MCT, is front-loaded, meaning you teach the grammar and relationships in a month or two (depending on how many days you do grammar a week and how much your student is interested), and then apply it in practice throughout the rest of the year. It is not as thorough as FLL or other things, and it doesn't hold your hand as a teacher as much, but if your student is struggling with feeling like grammar is boring and likes stories and drawing this is a wonderful solution to spring-board into something else that delves deeper in the second semester, or even the second month if you do grammar every day.

 

For me, I plan to use it just before starting MCT Grammar Island since it looks like it will fit well with our situation and will be fun. I think the different perspective Sentence Family brings will make comprehension come even faster so we won't be slowed down at all for finishing 3rd grade on time.

 

Obviously, others might disagree. These are only my thoughts and impressions. Hope this helps.

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Okay. Now I've had a chance to go through it. This program gives each part of speech a role in a family, with stories to tell how they interact. My belief is it will complement most other grammar programs. (I say most only because there are obviously programs I've never seen.) I believe the only way to truly cement comprehension in teaching is to go at a subject from several angles, and this is another angle a teacher can use to help students understand grammar, the foundation for writing. This program seems especially suited to kinesthetic students who need something to do during lessons, but since you tell stories and see pictures you've drawn I would say this is a multi-sensory program, although I am not expert. Based on my experience, my dd just finishing 2nd grade could have done this program the latter part of this year and understood it, although I think the author suggested it for 4th grade. I'm not completely sure on that, though.

 

Here is an excerpt from the intro to the teacher about how to go through the program.

 

 

Teachers are supposed to learn the stories well enough that they can tell them in their own words. You can read them as is, but this can take away from the discussion if your student doesn't respond well to just listening. You can get into some "socratic discussions" as Michael Clay Thompson talks about, if you really know the stories and relationships ahead of time. So, this program may be a bit more prep work if you're used to scripted programs.

 

One interesting thing I realized is if I am hesitant in teaching the drawing of the character (i.e. saying I'm not a good drawer, it looks dumb, or show frustration) then the student thinks he needs to have perfect drawings too and might be too stressed to do it himself. So if he sees me comfortable with my stick figures, then he may in turn realize he can have fun without having to be perfect. That is one benefit to NOT having beautiful professional art work for this particular program. There are specific tips for how to draw, so it's not so intimidating when you break it down.

 

The program stresses using large pieces of paper so the students have enough room to draw different characters together in the same scene to show how the parts of grammar interact with each other.

 

The book has this to say about diagramming:

 

 

The diagramming looks very similar to what I've seen in FLL samples. (I've only done FLL through level 2.) On paper it's the same diagramming, but you go about explaining it differently. The vertical line is the "bed" to put the main characters on, the "headboard" divides the noun and verb, "slanted beds" for adjectives and adverbs. Direct objects, predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives, and prepositional phrases are given some attention as well. Linking verbs are not explained well in this curriculum, but students are taught how to diagram them so this program may make more sense for a student who has studied basic grammar first (like in 2nd grade). The four types of sentences are given a lot of attention in the beginning of the book. I also appreciate that articles are given their own place in speech, so there are 9 parts of speech studied (not just lumped in with adjectives).

 

I would say this program, like MCT, is front-loaded, meaning you teach the grammar and relationships in a month or two (depending on how many days you do grammar a week and how much your student is interested), and then apply it in practice throughout the rest of the year. It is not as thorough as FLL or other things, and it doesn't hold your hand as a teacher as much, but if your student is struggling with feeling like grammar is boring and likes stories and drawing this is a wonderful solution to spring-board into something else that delves deeper in the second semester, or even the second month if you do grammar every day.

 

For me, I plan to use it just before starting MCT Grammar Island since it looks like it will fit well with our situation and will be fun. I think the different perspective Sentence Family brings will make comprehension come even faster so we won't be slowed down at all for finishing 3rd grade on time.

 

Obviously, others might disagree. These are only my thoughts and impressions. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to type out such a detailed explanation! :001_smile: I will definitely be getting this. I think my son will enjoy it. I think I will go ahead and get the download from CurrClick and only print the black & white pages.

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  • 1 month later...

This looks like fun! I have never used CurrClick before and am wondering if someone could explain how the product would work on PDF vs the actual book? I assume the book is color pages? Do you print every page and bind it, and if so, does that save any cost over just buying the book?

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This book does looks costly to print. Previously it had pretty high shipping and wasn't widely available, so ended out being more expensive than a costly printing job, from what I hear.

 

I've almost bought this so many times, but it always seems to get pushed back on the list. If I were teaching a little one instead of self-educating, I think it would have moved ahead of other things. I don't NEED it though. I still need some reinforcement to really cement these topics, but I have superficially covered these topics several times over my lifetime, and have other resources available to me right now.

 

nmbdoug, I didn't see your review of the diagramming till today. Thanks! That is new infromation for me, that I haven't seen anyone else post about.

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This looks like fun! I have never used CurrClick before and am wondering if someone could explain how the product would work on PDF vs the actual book? I assume the book is color pages? Do you print every page and bind it, and if so, does that save any cost over just buying the book?

 

I only printed the black and white pages and drew/colored the color pages myself. I put the colored pages in sheet protectors then put the whole book together in a three ring notebook. It worked really well and my son likes that the drawings were done by me. It makes him laugh because mom's aren't as good as the original, which also will make him feel better when drawing his own.

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