Do you supplement ILL?

[GWOB]

I will be doing MFW ECC 2nd edition with my almost 9yo dd and ds6. I decided to follow MFW LA recommendations and use ILL with Writing Strands. Last school year dd completed EFTTC 2 and the last 30 lessons of PLL. I felt that was enough grammar for her at the time, considering she was removed from ps mid-year and had already filled out about a million grammar worksheets. Now I'm starting to wonder if that is really enough grammar. I love the approach and style of ILL, and I get the theory behind it, but I am still worried it won't be enough. Part of me wants to supplement ILL with something like Easy Grammar, Daily Grams, or GWG. The other part it telling me to just relax and everything will eventually fall into place. She's only a 4th grader. There's plenty of time. Still, I was just wondering of any other MFW users or ILL users used anything else to beef-up the grammar instrustion. Or, if anyone is willing to talk be down from the ledge, I'd listen. Thanks guys!

[Evergreen Academy]

I have worried every year about whether my ds 11 is getting "enough" using ILL and this year, going into 6th, I am finally ready to trust that what we're doing with him is working. I love ILL but out of concern regarding the lack of formal grammer, I've added in an Evan Moore grammar workbook for the past two years. This year ds scored in at least the 98th percentile in LA on his standardized tests so it seems to be working well. He also reads voraciously and we have always done narration/dictation/copywork when ILL seems light. It is partly his natural bent but I attribute his excellent writing skills in part to ILL. In 6th grade ILL begins formal grammar instruction so I don't plan to supplement.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling K, 2, 2 and 5

[GWOB]

I have worried every year about whether my ds 11 is getting "enough" using ILL and this year, going into 6th, I am finally ready to trust that what we're doing with him is working. I love ILL but out of concern regarding the lack of formal grammer, I've added in an Evan Moore grammar workbook for the past two years. This year ds scored in at least the 98th percentile in LA on his standardized tests so it seems to be working well. He also reads voraciously and we have always done narration/dictation/copywork when ILL seems light. It is partly his natural bent but I attribute his excellent writing skills in part to ILL. In 6th grade ILL begins formal grammar instruction so I don't plan to supplement.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling K, 2, 2 and 5

 

Thanks for the reply. I do feel like ILL is suited to her style. She loved the writing assignments in PLL and EFTTC 2. We will be doing copywork and dictation with MFW. I am also considering Queen's copywork books for her. Maybe I could just add in a workbook page occasionally for extra practice. Thanks again!

[Julie in MN]

Now I'm starting to wonder if that is really enough grammar. I love the approach and style of ILL, and I get the theory behind it, but I am still worried it won't be enough.

 

My son did only PLL/ILL/Writing Strands from 3rd to 6th. Well, he watched Grammar Rock once in a while, and I worked on his writing almost daily through notebooking & copywork & such with MFW. He didn't need spelling during those years. And truthfully, we did almost all of PLL/ILL orally.

 

He has always scored at or above grade level on the Iowa Basics every year. This year (7th, following MFW plans for language arts for 7th grade), his scores were exceptional & we had to figure out what PHS meant (post-high school).

 

I did find as far as testing was concerned that ds instinctively felt the printed word must be correct, so we did one story in The Great Editing Adventure (me writing a sentence on a marker board every day and telling him how many errors he must find). That did the trick and his "capitalization" score went back up :)

[GWOB]

Thanks Julie. She is a very bright girl and has always done well in grammar while in ps. Maybe an editing-type supplement would be fine occasionally. We do not have to test in my state, so that really isn't too much of a concern, though I am stuck in the mindset that test scores really do matter and are the ultimate test of learning. I am thinking I should just chill.

 

Oh, I forgot to say we are doing LFC A. I guess that would be enough grammar.