HappyGrace Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Dd9 has done FLL 1/2 in 1st grade and Shurley 3 in 2nd grade-just did Latin in third-she has a decent understanding of grammar (not really the formal names of things though.) This yr I'm taking the topics from GWG and some grammar references and putting them into our studied dictations, doing some diagramming, etc. I think it will help her in her Latin and writing to do this. Then I want to do NO grammar the next yr (5th grade), and AG over the next three, and be DONE with grammar except to discuss it in her writing. Is AG really enough to do and then be totally done? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekarl2 Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 The only thing AG would add to that are the high school reinforcement books for all four years of high school. You wouldn't want your dd to forget what she learned during the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted August 5, 2009 Share Posted August 5, 2009 Well, I am no expert, but here's my 2c. DH used LLATL 2,3,4 with ds, then I used Shurley 5 with ds before discovering AG. I searched for something after Shurley 5 because the amount of repetition from 5 to 6 was obscene, imo. There are things that were in Shurley that aren't in AG: changing present tense verbs to past tense (sail, sailed) irregular past verbs (buy, bought) changing present tense to future tense degrees of adjectives (fair, fairer, fairest) irregular adjectives (good, better, best) making nouns plural (ship->ships, boy->boys, city->cities) Perhaps this would not be considered strictly part of grammar. Certainly making nouns plural would be covered more in a spelling program (Shurley is intended to be English, not just grammar). Either way, the things that Shurley covers that AG does not I don't find necessary to cover other than through speaking in every day life or through our spelling program. After we finished Shurley 5, I pulled out a book we were reading and we tried to parse a random sentence. We couldn't do it. They had not taught any phrases or clauses. Every grammar concept (and more) that was taught in Shurley 5 was taught in the 1st season of AG. After we finished Season 2 of AG, I did the same test. Then, we were able to parse and diagram the sentence. I don't know if it's really enough. I can tell that it will need to be reinforced through the high school years. I would think that your study of Latin would help to reinforce it. I have read rave reviews on the high school board from parents whose students did extremely well on the SAT or in college composition and credited AG. The authors claim that you will be a grammar expert when you are finished. I haven't found any evidence to the contrary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 6, 2009 Author Share Posted August 6, 2009 Sue, that's what I'm finding with Shurley-that their sentences are so formulated that it doesn't carry over well into other sentences pulled from our reading. As for the other items you mentioned-very interesting. I guess that's why I think it will be profitable to do the topics from GWG this year because they do cover those things. We don't do a spelling program other than studied dictation (dd is a natural, visual speller) so we don't get those things much otherwise. I loved your example about the test sentence! And thanks for sharing what you've heard about AG being successful. I think I will do it and be sure to do some reinforcing in high school like ekarl2 mentioned. THanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Sue, that's what I'm finding with Shurley-that their sentences are so formulated that it doesn't carry over well into other sentences pulled from our reading. Yes. One thing I noticed was that the sentences in AG (even in Season 1) were more complicated than the ones in Shurley 5. Granted Shurley 5 is for 5th grade and AG is intended for 6th-7th-8th. Have you read my review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted August 6, 2009 Share Posted August 6, 2009 Dd9 has done FLL 1/2 in 1st grade and Shurley 3 in 2nd grade-just did Latin in third-she has a decent understanding of grammar (not really the formal names of things though.) This yr I'm taking the topics from GWG and some grammar references and putting them into our studied dictations, doing some diagramming, etc. I think it will help her in her Latin and writing to do this. Then I want to do NO grammar the next yr (5th grade), and AG over the next three, and be DONE with grammar except to discuss it in her writing. Is AG really enough to do and then be totally done? Happy Grace, Trying to remember what programs we have discussed and which you were using...the brain is dry today. :ack2: Anyway I suspect AG will be enough here. CW does tense work and will provide review, as will Latin. Between the three I don't see needing another formal grammar program. It might in part depend on what else you plan to use, or if you plan to use the AG review system. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 Sue, yes, I have read your wonderful review-thank you! Heather-thanks-I had wanted to do Homer but I'm not sure when/if I will get to it. I'm just trying to envision the middle school sequence so I'm mapping out a few possible routes. I have so many other things I want to spend time on that I just want our grammar to be simple/streamlined. The AG review is a great idea to keep it fresh after completing AG-thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Happy, I don't see how it's fair to compare SG5 and AG, since they're meant for two totally different age groups. Shurley 5 is admittedly basic, but 7 blows all that out of the water. It would be more interesting to compare Shurley 7 (which is obviously not the stopping point, just 7th gr stuff) to AG. That would be more instructive. Maybe you'd like to be the one to compare their scope & sequences, since I'm now curious? :) You've only done Shurley 3, so of COURSE you can't do the grammar in Homer, lol. But I will say, I started Homer last year with my dd, who had completed Shurley 4, and she did FINE. I don't think the issue is the coverage in Shurley so much as your presentation, sorry. If you walk into the grammar in Homer, get all scared, and communicate that to the kid, they'll think they don't know it or can't do it. But my dd flew with it because I walked her in, used the Shurley questions, and helped the lightbulbs click for her. The Shurley process is a FABULOUS way to think through grammar and conveys into harder material easily. Your dd still doesn't know basic terms and defs after a year of Shurley? Maybe you were skipping drilling the terms? You're supposed to do that, you know. :) I have no problem with GWG. Have you noticed SWB says to continue grammar all the way through high school? If you start AG too soon, you'd run out of options and exhaust those review levels they have. I've thought about that with my dd. She's doing SG6 now, a page at a time (3 lessons) because it is so easy. I have 7 to put her into for fall, and I like it a LOT. Thing is, I'm in no rush, recognizing that it gets really hairy after that, sort of the what now and what is age-appropriate thing. If your dc is not grammar intuitive, then I'd suggest going for repetition, repetition, repetition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nchser Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 I have 2 middle schoolers working through AG. I plan to have them work through the 2nd section for the first semester this year, and then do R&R the 2nd half. Same plan next year, and then after that, the High school Reinforcement should be sufficient. I have added Daily Grams this year, because I think it adds some practical application that AG may be missing. Also, you don't get to capitalization and punctuation until season 3 in AG, and I don't think they should go 2 years without any of that coming up in their grammar instruction. Daily Grams will be an easy way to fill in some blanks. They will do one Daily Gram per day. Just one more thing...I have a high schooler (beginning 11th grade now) who got a perfect score in the English portion of the ACT (36). She had just completed the full AG book. Now she will just do a couple of the R&R books to finish out the last 2 years. I mention that to tell you that as far as testing, she was well prepared thanks to AG. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chloe Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 "Just one more thing...I have a high schooler (beginning 11th grade now) who got a perfect score in the English portion of the ACT (36). She had just completed the full AG book. Now she will just do a couple of the R&R books to finish out the last 2 years. I mention that to tell you that as far as testing, she was well prepared thanks to AG." This is good to hear. What kind of grammar background did your highschooler have before doing AG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 (edited) OhE-I wasn't asking to COMPARE GWG5 and AG, I said I plan to do GWG5 this yr and then a year with no grammar and THEN AG. My question was if that would then be enough, as AG purports to be. Also I'm not planning Homer for sure, and certainly not for this year. I like Siloam's idea of AG/Homer at the same time. But I'm not sure if I'll ever do Homer or not. I know we can handle the grammar in it when/if we get to it; I'm just not sure Homer will be what I want to meet the goals I have. I telescoped through the last half of Shurley 3 because she HATED it. I loved it-thought the way they did the Q/A flow was brilliant. I couldn't stand the convoluted TM, hated and didn't do the writing, etc. so we just muddled our way through. I wish they could streamline that program! Anyway, telescoping was fine because I knew we'd hit these same topics again. She is grammar-intuitive almost to a fault-she gets it and doesn't care about the names of things! I'm trying to give her some of that "naming" w/out boring her on the topics themselves. I think she'll do best doing it in context with our dictation this year. I don't want to spend a lot of time on grammar anymore-I want to cover it in a streamlined way and move on! Thanks, ncher, love the idea of Daily Grams-quick and painless. Congrats on the test score! I keep hearing great things like this about AG! Edited August 7, 2009 by HappyGrace Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.