Easy Grammar Prepositions HELP!

[sweetsouthern]

please :)

 

ok.. i got EG 4th and 5th for my girls and we are just starting it out a little for the summer.

 

learning these prepositions is TOUGH tough! lol! i put them all on flash cards and have them doing that, and also the bingo game idea that was included in the ideas.

 

i guess my questions are:

 

1. do they REALLY have to memorize them all?

 

2. if so... any other cool ideas that u guys have tried?

 

thanks for the help!

Edited May 28, 2009 by sweetsouthern

[Ellie]

please :)

 

ok.. i got EG 4th and 5th for my girls and we are just starting it out a little for the summer.

 

learning these prepositions is TOUGH tough! lol! i put them all on flash cards and have them doing that, and also the bingo game idea that was included in the ideas.

 

i guess my questions are:

 

1. do they REALLY have to memorize them all?

 

2. if so... any other cool ideas that u guys have tried?

 

thanks for the help!

 

Eh ::shrugs:: Your dc should *mostly* memorize them, but it's ok if they don't know them completely. Print out the list and use it as a cheat sheet...UNLESS you see that they keep getting them wrong (i.e., not marking out the prepositional phrases because they don't recognize the prepositions). Then go back and drill until everyone is sick of them, lol.

[mommyrooch]

Eh ::shrugs:: Your dc should *mostly* memorize them, but it's ok if they don't know them completely. Print out the list and use it as a cheat sheet...UNLESS you see that they keep getting them wrong (i.e., not marking out the prepositional phrases because they don't recognize the prepositions). Then go back and drill until everyone is sick of them, lol.

 

:iagree:We went ahead and moved on before my son had all of the prepositions memorized and he has done great! In fact, I think that actually applying them in his lessons has helped him to learn them quicker than just memorizing them would have.

 

I also made a copy of the preposition list in the front of the book and would just let my son use that when he was doing his assignment. He would just cross check his work with the preposition list and make sure that he didn't miss anything. This approach has worked very well for him. He did not specifically try to memorize the list but has learned them by defalt because of using them everyday and learning when to identify them in his work. He now doesn't need the "cheat sheet". He knows them all from memory and very rarely misses any.

[Liza Q]

:iagree:We went ahead and moved on before my son had all of the prepositions memorized and he has done great! In fact, I think that actually applying them in his lessons has helped him to learn them quicker than just memorizing them would have.

 

I also made a copy of the preposition list in the front of the book and would just let my son use that when he was doing his assignment. He would just cross check his work with the preposition list and make sure that he didn't miss anything. This approach has worked very well for him. He did not specifically try to memorize the list but has learned them by defalt because of using them everyday and learning when to identify them in his work. He now doesn't need the "cheat sheet". He knows them all from memory and very rarely misses any.

 

Another thumbs up for this approach!

[TEACHFROMTHEHEART]

You won't have any regrets if you have your kiddos memorize them. It is a tool that will assist them in locating all the other parts of speech. What worked well for us, was to make a song out of the list. We used "Jingle Bells" and it worked out great. Remember, a preposition is a word used to show the relationship between two nouns. The words standing alone are not prepositions, unless it's a prepositional phrase. Every prepositional phrase must end in a noun or pronoun. Some people have used the "Box" method. If the word can fit into the following sentence than it's a preposition. "The mouse goes ------------ the box (or boxes)." May I also suggest that you have them memorize all the helping verbs and the linking verbs. If you use the song method, memorizing them will be a breeze. Start each morning with your prep song and your daily lessons will be met with enthusiasm and joy.

 

Good Luck,

Consuelo :001_smile:

[specialmama]

:iagree: Memorizing will be helpful! Try giving them the first 5, and if you say it with them during surprise moments throughout the day, they'll have those 5 memorized by bedtime. Tomorrow, repeat those 5 randomly throughout the day... but also introduce the next 5, and by bedtime they'll have those 5 down, and so on.

 

This approach worked well with my dd. Bite size pieces. :001_smile:

[Terabith]

I used Easy Grammar when I taught in a pseudo-classical school. I taught third grade, the first year it was used. What I did to teach the kids the prepositions was to create an obstacle course.

 

We started out saying, "We are learning ABOUT prepositions." Then we would climb on top of the desk and say, "We go above the floor, across the balance beam, jump AFTER the teacher, lean against the wall..." Etc. We spent a month doing that. It pays to get those prepositions solidly memorized. Gradually we would go from acting them out, to reciting the sequence (including what we did), to writing them down in a list.

 

The Shurley grammar jingles has one for prepositions too. If you do a google search for "Shurley english preposition jingle" one comes up in a .doc (Word) file that might work too.

 

You can start the program without having them totally memorized, but I'd say it helps to have them at least mostly memorized.

[MamaT]

When my kids used EG, I had them "mostly" memorize them like Ellie mentioned. Then, if they were not sure if a word was a preposition, I would have them mentally put it in this blank:

 

_______ a mouse in a box.

 

If it fit, it was a preposition.

[Staci in MO]

I didn't make them memorize them when we came across it in FLL in 2nd grade, but now that they're older, I can see how it would be helpful.

 

I wouldn't hold them back, but I would continually review them until they do have them down.

[daisychics]

please :)

1. do they REALLY have to memorize them all?

 

2. if so... any other cool ideas that u guys have tried?

 

thanks for the help!

 

It's easier for my son to spot prepositions and prepositional phrases because he memorized them from FLL 1/2.

There's a chant on the FLL CD from Peace Hill Press. It's not hard. Just memorize them in sections. For example in FLL it's in alphabetical order:

aboard (clap)

about (clap)

across (clap)

after (clap),

against, along, among, around, at (clap)

***memorize this until they both have it and then add on the second section****

before (clap)

behind (clap)

below (clap)

etc.....

 

Even my 4 year old dd memorized them by listening to ds saying it over and over again. :001_smile:

HTH

[Matryoshka]

I didn't bother having my kids memorize them, as what makes a word a certain part of speech in English is what it's *doing* in the sentence. There is nothing inherent about any word that makes it a a preposition vs. say, an adverb. Most words that function as prepositions can also function as adverbs. Some can be conjunctions (but). I'd much rather my kids be able to identify words based on how they work in the sentence rather than "hey, I memorized that word on a list so it must be an X".

 

Example: What are you talking about? About is an adverb here.

 

We are using Easy Grammar this year and my kids have had absolutely not one whit of trouble finding all the prepositional phrases without memorizing the list. I did copy the list and give it to them for reference, but I don't think I've ever even seen them looking at it. (I have to say I love the "eliminate the prep. phrases" method Easy Grammar uses).

 

Now, my kids have memorized the whole list of helping verbs, but I didn't have anything to do with it. They have a friend a couple of years older who came over for a playdate and played "school" with them, and gave them the list to memorize, which they cheerfully did. Even my then 7yo! :smilielol5: I need to have her over more often... :tongue_smilie:

[Granny_Weatherwax]

:iagree:

I also made a copy of the preposition list in the front of the book and would just let my son use that when he was doing his assignment. He would just cross check his work with the preposition list and make sure that he didn't miss anything. This approach has worked very well for him. He did not specifically try to memorize the list but has learned them by defalt because of using them everyday and learning when to identify them in his work. He now doesn't need the "cheat sheet". He knows them all from memory and very rarely misses any.

 

This is what I did as well. DS had them all memorized with a week or two and had all all them memorized for the review and the test.

 

DS was so well conditioned to locate prepositions he would find them when he was reading for pleasure and would go to cross out the prep. phrase.:)

[LadyAberlin]

I just memorized them myself and I just memorized about 10 at a time and when i got those I moved on to the next ten. I just tried to remember them in alphabetical order too and that helped I knew when something was missing. Someone recently mentioned a song that they had that help remember the prepositions.

[Caroline4kids]

Shurley Jingles really helped my kids get them in their memory. We just use a fourth grade Shurley workbook to review them.

[Kathleen in VA]

We used Easy Grammar and I, too, found that keeping a list in the book for them to refer to when actually doing the lessons helped a lot. We also played the bingo game a LOT.:) They get tired of having to look at the list so just naturally commit them to memory.

 

Another idea is to make a little poster and hang it in some conspicuous place in the house (or more than one place if you like). I use the hallway wall across from the bathroom (a room they go in and out of frequently) to post things like this for incidental learning.