Grammar Question (8th grade)

[tmstranger]

My oldest son has used Rod & Staff for grammar for 2 years now.  Just this year, he told me that he "doesn't mind it" and he "thinks he good at it."  LOL!  I think he finally started to enjoy analyzing sentences and diagramming.  He's a very mathy kid, so maybe the cut and dry grammar rules appeal to him...I don't know.

 

Anyway, for next year, I was looking to lessen his grammar load a bit and was considering Fix It Grammar.   As mentioned, one reason is to lighten his overall schedule for the year.  The other consideration is that all of the grammar knowledge doesn't really transfer to his writing.  I was hoping that Fix It may help in getting the grammar to show up in his writing.

 

What do you think?  Is that a good way to work through this weakness? Or keep plugging along in R&S since he likes it??  Other suggestions?

[Ellie]

My oldest son has used Rod & Staff for grammar for 2 years now.  Just this year, he told me that he "doesn't mind it" and he "thinks he good at it."  LOL!  I think he finally started to enjoy analyzing sentences and diagramming.  He's a very mathy kid, so maybe the cut and dry grammar rules appeal to him...I don't know.

 

Anyway, for next year, I was looking to lessen his grammar load a bit and was considering Fix It Grammar.   As mentioned, one reason is to lighten his overall schedule for the year.  The other consideration is that all of the grammar knowledge doesn't really transfer to his writing.  I was hoping that Fix It may help in getting the grammar to show up in his writing.

 

What do you think?  Is that a good way to work through this weakness? Or keep plugging along in R&S since he likes it??  Other suggestions?

 

Are you using the R&S English for *only* grammar? If so, then I'd look for something else. If you're doing all of it--writing instruction and whatnot--then I'd continue with it.

 

When he writes, and he uses incorrect grammar, do you correct it? and give him a lower grade because of it?

[tmstranger]

Are you using the R&S English for *only* grammar? If so, then I'd look for something else. If you're doing all of it--writing instruction and whatnot--then I'd continue with it.

 

When he writes, and he uses incorrect grammar, do you correct it? and give him a lower grade because of it?

 

Yes, we use it only for grammar.  We've done a few of the writing assignments, but I usually have something else for writing, so I don't want to overtax him. 

 

Yes, I correct it and give him a lower score. And if I point it out in a rough draft, he will make the corrections, but I keep waiting for them to stop showing up in the draft at all!

 

Is it a 13yo boy thing?  Like they get stupid with puberty and can't think?  :)

 

He also does Second Form Latin, so he gets a lot of grammar. 

[2_girls_mommy]

I have always done the MP latin and R&S english combination for grammar. So if he likes it, I would just keep working at it. One thing I have done in recent years is to buy the worksheets for R&S grammar. That does cut back on some of the writing things out. I will have mine do only the worksheet on the days that there is one. Other times, ala WTM, we do the whole R&S lesson orally when we can. We do do the writing assignments in it through middle school, but we do other writing programs too. So if you are doing something else you could skip the writing assignments. I always think they are valuable though, so we have stuck it out. Next year in 10th grade is the first year dd will not do any R&S writing. We are still going to read through the English 9/10, but she will be doing the writing only from other WTM suggestions. 

 

As for is this normal? Who knows, lol. Some things are easier for some people. Everyone is different. 

[Ellie]

Yes, we use it only for grammar.  We've done a few of the writing assignments, but I usually have something else for writing, so I don't want to overtax him. 

 

Yes, I correct it and give him a lower score. And if I point it out in a rough draft, he will make the corrections, but I keep waiting for them to stop showing up in the draft at all!

 

Is it a 13yo boy thing?  Like they get stupid with puberty and can't think?  :)

 

He also does Second Form Latin, so he gets a lot of grammar. 

 

No. Never blame poor academic achievement (or, well, any bad behavior, really) on puberty or gender. :-)

 

I'm not convinced that studying more grammar will necessarily make better writers. More writing makes better writers. :-)

[HollyDay]

Have you considered editing books like Find the Errors or Editor in Chief?

 

Growing with Grammar might be another option

[serendipitous journey]

Memoria Press' grammar program is very streamlined and will take advantage of what he's learning in Latin.  I've found that my child's grammar knowledge is transferring well with this program, though I'm sort of hoping that Advanced Language Lessons will come out in time for us to use ... your child would be in their level IV, I think, or the level V that comes out this school year. 

 

Their customer service is great with placement and will let you know if it isn't likely to be a good fit -- no hard sell! 

 

Also, the folks at Rainbow Resource are often very knowledgeable about these things; you could ring one of their curriculum consultants next week or use their LiveChat feature. 

 

ETA: MP's English Grammar Recitation IV is keyed to Third Form; you can get lesson plans that give the teaching, recitation and work assignments for each day.  I think this is probably the simplest, least-time alternative if he's going into Third Form. 

Edited July 2, 2017 by serendipitous journey

[Mrs Twain]

I was frustrated because my 7th grader understood grammar very well and could do the R&S excerices, but he was continually making grammar errors in his compositions. I always pointed them out and made him correct them, but he still kept doing the same things wrong. He had even been doing Fix It for about three years, but that hadn't helped at all.

 

For 8th grade, I quit Fix It and added in Daily Paragraph Editing. I think this workbook greatly helped my son to finally apply a lot of his grammar knowledge to his own writing. There was something about correcting someone else's paragraphs that made things stick for him. It was quick and mostly painless, and it really helped!

 

...or else maybe he just turned 14 and his mushy brain began to get smarter. LOL