Growing with Grammar? Yea or nay ?

[momgenet]

Hi there.

I have a 10 year old I am trying to get caught up on spelling/grammar/writing.

I wondered if you have heard of or used Growing with Grammar ?

How about the Soaring with Spelling and Winning with Writing ?

If I were to start at the beginning and hurry through the first two workbooks, do you think this would be a complete program ?

Is it pretty thorough ? Complete ?

It looked simple enough for me to do even with a child in the NICU right now !!!

And I NEED THAT ! :)

Thanks for your input . . . . .

[Roadrunner]

We had zero retention with GWG. If you decide to use the program, make sure you discuss concepts periodically to ensure comprehension/retention.

[momgenet]

Hmmmm ?
I'd be open with alternate/similar suggestions as well . . . . .

[Roadrunner]

We opted for MCT, which gives a big picture of grammar in the early levels. It's very teacher intensive though. If I were looking for a more similar, workbook-y, but more solid program, I would consider Hake grammar for secular homeschool or R&S, if you don't mind religion.

 

Of your 10 year old can spell on grade level, look into Megawords. I am so glad we opted for this program. Not very teacher intensive and systematic. I can see us working through all the books over the next several years.

[8filltheheart]

I am so sorry you are dealing with a child in the NICU.   

 

I don't know if it is what you are looking for or not, but I recently wrote a program that covers writing strong sentences via grammar instruction, developing paragraphs, and simple note-taking/report writing.   It is geared toward 3rd-5th graders.   It is all inclusive with daily plans.   Spelling and mechanics are not taught.

[RootAnn]

Treasured Conversations might be a great idea for grammar/writing, but it is not give-him-a-notebook type of program. It is you sitting next to him & engaging in a dialogue. It starts out really gentle and ramps up fairly quickly, IMO. You would just need to add spelling. There are lots of options for that.

 

Winning with Writing & Soaring With Spelling aren't anything I've seen anyone keep with very long. I wouldn't recommend either.

 

I have used Growing with Grammar every other year to work through grammar topics. I agree that you need to check for retention and understanding fairly often. If you go with it, just order whatever "grade level" your kid is at - seriously. They assume ZERO grammar knowledge & build everything from the ground up every year - which is one of the reasons we don't use it every year. It is "just okay" but doesn't cover spelling or writing in a complete way at all.

[8filltheheart]

Treasured Conversations might be a great idea for grammar/writing, but it is not give-him-a-notebook type of program. It is you sitting next to him & engaging in a dialogue. It starts out really gentle and ramps up fairly quickly, IMO. You would just need to add spelling. There are lots of options for that.

 

 

 

Definitely keep the bolded in mind.   It would require you to be fully engaged as teacher, so perhaps you shouldn't consider it at all.

[momgenet]

I wish I COULD "fully engage."

:(

I will look at it and I will keep it in mind.

Thanks

 

The thing about Growing with Grammar that I liked is that it emphasized diagramming. It DID have spelling and some elementary writing tasks but in separate books. But yes, they would need more writing than that. They do MFW and MOH for History so I think with everything else the writing at least would only be supplementary. . . . .

The spelling looked basic but okay. . . . . . .

 

I was hoping to find something more self instructed.

So thanks for all your input !

[SevenDaisies]

I wish I COULD "fully engage."

:(

I will look at it and I will keep it in mind.

Thanks

 

The thing about Growing with Grammar that I liked is that it emphasized diagramming. It DID have spelling and some elementary writing tasks but in separate books. But yes, they would need more writing than that. They do MFW and MOH for History so I think with everything else the writing at least would only be supplementary. . . . .

The spelling looked basic but okay. . . . . . .

 

I was hoping to find something more self instructed.

So thanks for all your input !

I responded on the duplicate thread, but after reading this I second my recommendation for JAG. There is even a video, although I will say that it is just the authors reading what is in the text and working through a couple if exercises. Video is not necessary, but it is fairly cheap.

[Guest]

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Edited July 14, 2016 by Guest

[EKS]

To catch up quickly (within a year or so, I mean), I'd recommend MCT followed by a Hake.  MCT is great at introducing the big picture and Hake fills in the details.

 

I don't know if this suggestion would be too teacher intensive though.  I've generally found that when I want to remediate a weakness quickly (or even not quickly), I need to be very involved as a teacher. 

[mom2jjka]

We were using GWG and SWS for awhile, but like many others my kids just were not retaining anything. 

I also need something that my kids can do fairly independently, so we switched to CLE.  It is gentle but thorough, and as long as the child is reading they can work independently after about grade 3 or 4.

[8filltheheart]

To catch up quickly (within a year or so, I mean), I'd recommend MCT followed by a Hake.  MCT is great at introducing the big picture and Hake fills in the details.

 

I don't know if this suggestion would be too teacher intensive though.  I've generally found that when I want to remediate a weakness quickly (or even not quickly), I need to be very involved as a teacher. 

 

Yes, those were my original thoughts.  I do believe that TC would be a solid method for getting a 10 yr old to an appropriate level within the span of a yr.  I was thinking in terms of being open and go with not requiring a lot of gathering of materials or outside prep.   But it does require a very involved teacher.

 

I have been trying to think of something that can remediate and be completed fairly independently and I am drawing a blank.   I am wondering if an online class or Skype tutor with individualized assignments might not be a better approach.  Remediation and independent don't really work together effectively..   An online support teacher might be able to fill in the gaps.

 

Having had a grandbaby in the NICU and our dil living with us at time, I know how stressful that scenario is.   It is going to be hard to juggle everyone's needs without support.  I'm sorry that the OP has so much to cope with.

[momgenet]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions and feedback !

You have all been so very helpful !

I do not understand come of your abbreviations though. . .

MCT ?

JAG ?

?

[RootAnn]

Michael Clay Thompson

Junior Analytical Grammar

[travelgirlut]

We use GWG.  It is light.  It's easy.  The kids do it by themselves.  We're using it in the early years to be able to check off a box for the charter school.  You wouldn't need to back up in the program, just get them grade level.  Everything repeats every year. It's a good program for when you need to put school in a holding pattern and just get things done.

 

That being said, after using GWG, I moved my dd10 into JAG, and it started at the beginning all over again.  It moves through the topics faster and does not have the variety of work that GWG does.  It's just labeling parts of speech, etc., in sentences and diagramming later on.  GWG has more fill in the blank, rewrite the sentence type stuff.  I think JAG would be more difficult for her if she hadn't done GWG (and a brief stint in MCT).  

 

And now that I've looked around some more I think next year instead of continuing on to AG (the program after JAG) I'm going to use Daily Grammar Practice.  It's one sentence per week analyzed four different ways.  They have all grade levels, so you could jump into this one right now.  I'd be using this right now if I'd found it sooner.  It looks quick, easy, and painless.  

 

Good luck with your choices!!

[shinyhappypeople]

To catch up quickly, I'd go with Essentials in Writing, hands down.  It includes grammar, composition, and is completely self-teaching.  If you email their customer service person she'll help you decide which level to use.  And it's relatively inexpensive ($50). For your situation, I'm not seeing a downside.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[kiwik]

To catch up quickly, I'd go with Essentials in Writing, hands down. It includes grammar, composition, and is completely self-teaching. If you email their customer service person she'll help you decide which level to use. And it's relatively inexpensive ($50). For your situation, I'm not seeing a downside.

 

Good luck with your decision.

And if you have a laptop or portable DVD player he could do it anywhere. I printed off the pdf work sheets but with more tech ability they could probably be done on screen.

[alisoncooks]

To catch up quickly, I'd go with Essentials in Writing, hands down.  It includes grammar, composition, and is completely self-teaching.  If you email their customer service person she'll help you decide which level to use.  And it's relatively inexpensive ($50). For your situation, I'm not seeing a downside.

 

Good luck with your decision.

 

Except that she liked GWG because it emphasized diagramming.

EiW doesn't diagram at all.

[Guest]

Essentials in Writing--you will not need anything else. Easy to use, clear, short.

[rjand6more]

Essentials in Writing--you will not need anything else. Easy to use, clear, short.

 

We only used it for a year.  I did not think it had enough grammar instruction?  We used Grade 5 and Grade 2.  It was extremely easy to use.

 

ETA:  We also used GWG for 2 years(2 different kids).  It was ok.  I did not really have a problem with retention, I just moved on to something else.(AG for the oldest)

[Guest]

We only used it for a year.  I did not think it had enough grammar instruction?  We used Grade 5 and Grade 2.  It was extremely easy to use.

 

ETA:  We also used GWG for 2 years(2 different kids).  It was ok.  I did not really have a problem with retention, I just moved on to something else.(AG for the oldest)

After years of R&S and other more intense grammars, I learned it doesn't matter so much. Knowing how to write well is more important to me than if my kids can diagram and label. 

[CyndiLJ]

We used GWG...and unlike others here, we LIKED it and retention was quite high, even for my ELL learners.  It was absolutely something I handed over to them and let them go at their own pace with the self-directed books there was little I needed to do.  Yes, we reviewed things together every couple of weeks (that's not unusual, is it?  Don't we review EVERYTHING every couple of weeks???). 

 

Like you, I really liked the diagramming.

 

For me, the proof was in the pudding...who cares of someone can recite grammar rules if those grammar rules are not applied in writing?  We saw strong growth in writing skills, even during the couple of years I struggled to find a good writing program and failed miserably.  GWG kept skills moving forward, and was an easy subject for me to have them do on their own.  

 

I will say, that as mentioned above, last year we moved to Essentials in Writing, an equally inexpensive curricula that does a terrific job.  However, we did all 8 years of GWG prior to moving to EIW, and I am glad we did...the grammar is not very focused in EIW versus GWG, though we started at grade 5.  The writing instruction is FAR better than anything else I have seen out there, including GWG's Winning with Writing (We hated it).