Aurelia Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I've been casting about, trying to figure out what to do for grammar for middle school, either later this year, or next, but I can't decide what would work best for DD. She's a visual-spatial/whole-to-parts learner, pretty quick on the uptake, good at learning in context, but terrible at rote memorization. Humor, pictures and color are good things. She's had some exposure - we've done Treasured Conversations, FLL4, Daily Grams 5, and Grammar Island, but nothing consistent from year to year. So far, the best thing has been Super Grammar, which is basically a comic book describing each part of speech or concept as either a hero of villain, but it's just a book, no practice. R&S and CLE are out of the question, as they cause tears and frustration on both our parts. The Language Mechanic, The Giggly Guide to Grammar and ELTL are on my short list, but I have zero experience with any of them, so I don't know which would best fit my needs. I'm sure there are others I'm not aware of. What would you recommend for this child? I'm planning to use Build Your Library next year, which does not include grammar or spelling, but covers all the other English areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 listening along.... I've had Image Grammar on my considering list. For now we are doing light grammar with Fix-It as ds has some punctuation issues that we are working on and I decided it was ok to lighten up after a couple of levels of MCT. I've thought as well about just doing this and that here and there, perhaps pulling out the Drawing Sentences book I have for diagramming as I think he would like it until he is a bit older and can do Barbarian Grammar from Lukieon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 We have the Giggly Guide and have started doing parts of it. I like it - it's a very practical grammar, not fussy or formal. If you're looking for something that's really focused on diagramming or labeling sentence parts or learning a lot of grammar vocab and minutiae, then it's not the right program for you. If you want something that's more about applying grammar to editing, using grammar to enhance writing a little, and practicing grammar rules then it may be right. The sentences are silly, which is the main source of humor. Some of them are pretty wacky. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clear Creek Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 I have a daughter who is very much like you describe (whole-to-parts learner, VSL) and she is doing really well this year with Grammar Revolution. She used R&S from grades 2-5, and it caused nothing but fights between us, despite the fact that she is very good at grammar. Direct questions make her freeze up even if she knows the material, which led to frustration and tears daily. She loves the video instructor with Grammar Revolution (though there aren't videos for all the lessons) and it takes the slow and steady approach...beginning with day one, there is one sentence to diagram and a chart with the parts of the sentence to label each day. Every week a new concept is introduced, but old ones are used daily in the sentence diagrams. It was expensive (I bought it through the HSBC, it was cheaper there), but definitely worth it. FWIW, I am using BYL with her this year and we *LOVE* it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 The most fun middle school grammar I did with my VSL was The Adventures of Genius Boy and Grammar Girl. I see that it is not available. The grammar book that was mastery and thorough and not too painful was Seton Grammar. But you have to be willing to do a super quick lesson (I do a quick example on the white board) and then possibly assist on the assignment. But it works really well with my VSL. It is very Catholic, too, so if that really bothers you, you may want to pass. You can find samples at Setonbooks.com We also have watched Schoolhouse Rock Grammar a million times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 We have the Giggly Guide and have started doing parts of it. I like it - it's a very practical grammar, not fussy or formal. If you're looking for something that's really focused on diagramming or labeling sentence parts or learning a lot of grammar vocab and minutiae, then it's not the right program for you. If you want something that's more about applying grammar to editing, using grammar to enhance writing a little, and practicing grammar rules then it may be right. The sentences are silly, which is the main source of humor. Some of them are pretty wacky. Definitely not looking for a bunch of vocab and minutiae, what I really want is something that gives DD a good grounding in grammar to help improve her writing. I've never agreed with studying grammar just for the sake of studying grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Definitely not looking for a bunch of vocab and minutiae, what I really want is something that gives DD a good grounding in grammar to help improve her writing. I've never agreed with studying grammar just for the sake of studying grammar. Then you might enjoy Giggly Guide... There's not a Look Inside on Amazon, but RR has TOC and a single sample page: https://www.rainbowresource.com/viewpict.php?pid=018497 That sample page is about as label this as it gets. The exercises start with identify, then they have things like replace or add or rewrite (and you get to be creative), and then they have things where you correct or practicing editing skills. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 My dad is really enjoying Grammar for Middle School from Killgallon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 We have the Giggly Guide and have started doing parts of it. I like it - it's a very practical grammar, not fussy or formal. If you're looking for something that's really focused on diagramming or labeling sentence parts or learning a lot of grammar vocab and minutiae, then it's not the right program for you. If you want something that's more about applying grammar to editing, using grammar to enhance writing a little, and practicing grammar rules then it may be right. The sentences are silly, which is the main source of humor. Some of them are pretty wacky. I think Farrar nails it no matter the subject. I'd like to try the Giggly Guide just b/c my boys love that sort of thing. Thanks Farrar! We also David Dye's Standard Based Grammar. I like it. and have learned a ton along w/ my kids. My grammar education was very holy which is why I roll my eyes when people worry about homeschool kids having holes. I'm like: hello?! Have you met people raised in the public school system?! This is a workbook so if you have multiple kids you'll need to buy one for each child. http://www.amazon.com/Standards-Based-Grammar-Student-Edition/dp/1478377593. My boys are in seventh grade right now. You might want to back your child up to the fifth grade workbook so she doesn't feel lost. Don't feel badly doing that -- there was tons in the fifth grade book that I didn't know!! I'm also finally buying English from the Roots Up rather than attempting to teach (and failing at) Latin. It looks very mom-friendly. Alley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Then you might enjoy Giggly Guide... There's not a Look Inside on Amazon, but RR has TOC and a single sample page: https://www.rainbowresource.com/viewpict.php?pid=018497 That sample page is about as label this as it gets. The exercises start with identify, then they have things like replace or add or rewrite (and you get to be creative), and then they have things where you correct or practicing editing skills. Hey Farrar: The Giggle Guide a workbook? I have two boys. . . do I need to buy two? Thanks! Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Hey Farrar: The Giggle Guide a workbook? I have two boys. . . do I need to buy two? Thanks! Alley No... It's not meant to be done as a workbook. There are clear ways to do everything in a notebook. But... I've been cheating for a number of the editing exercises by photocopying the page for both my boys. But not that often - it's also good for them to have to rewrite the sentence with corrections or the section of the sentence... Maybe once a chapter. And that's my choice. It seemed wrong to me to ruin the book over it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted November 2, 2015 Share Posted November 2, 2015 Hey Farrar: The Giggle Guide a workbook? I have two boys. . . do I need to buy two? Thanks! Alley You don't need two to do the work. However, if you like your children to have some reference books of their own, you might want two at some point. We are using this as a grammar handbook as well as doing the lessons, and I want my son to learn to annotate as he needs to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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