Winston Grammar vs Analytical Grammar

[Chloe]

Can someone compare these for me please? Are they both strictly grammar? Which one is more thorough? Can either be done with little to no previous grammar experience? Which is more teacher-involved? What grade levels are they?

 

TIA!

[siloam]

Can someone compare these for me please? Are they both strictly grammar? Which one is more thorough? Can either be done with little to no previous grammar experience? Which is more teacher-involved? What grade levels are they?

 

TIA!

 

I am working through JAG with my 4th grader. It does have some writing assignments, but I am not far enough along to figure out how many. AJ can easily be done with no previous experience. My understanding is that JAG is the first 10 weeks of AG, but written at an easier reading level for younger kids. I am a math person, and we started out with SL LA (no grammar), JAG has been nice and gentle.

 

My dd can do the worksheets independently, but I do need to check her work daily. I don't find the time involvement too bad.

 

AJ is for about 6th grade on up.

 

Heather

 

[Lori D.]

Winston

Covers grammer instruction and the parsing of sentences (rather than diagramming). Instruction includes things like parts of speech, noun functions, word usage sentence types, modifiers, clauses, etc. No grammar mechanics (practice of punctuation, capitalization, etc.) in Winston, so you will need to find some other way to instruct and drill that aspect of grammar.

 

A more hands-on approach, using cards with key words/pictures to help the student remember the key concepts. Can be done orally, or the student can mark the workbook pages with arrows, underlines, and key words, etc. (We did it on the whiteboard.) The student is not expected to rewrite the sentences.

 

Comes in 3 levels; each level is designed for 1 school year. (We did each level of Winston for 2 years, with the first year getting about 2/3 into the program before the student hit a mental "roadblock", then doing the entire program the following year, with student having no problem.)

 

- Winston Basic (gr. 4-5) = 8 parts of speech; 2 parts of a sentence; 7 noun functions

- Winston Word Works (gr. 5-7) = instruction and practice in word usages (example: who vs. whom)

- Winston Advanced (gr. 7-8) = 4 sentence types; tricky modifiers (gerunds, participles, infinitives); clauses

 

 

 

Analytical Grammar

Covers grammar instruction and practice of:

- grammar concepts (parts of speech, types of sentences, modifiers, etc.)

- grammar mechanics (capitalization, punctuation, word usage)

- diagramming

 

Straight-up workbook approach, with the student expected to rewrite each sentence completely. One nice twist to the standard workbook approach: the sentences for each lesson work together to make a paragraph on a subject of interest.

 

Comes in 2 levels; the Analytical Grammar level (don't know about the JAG level) is designed to take either 1, 2 or 3 years to complete, depending on whether you need/want to work at a more rigorous or more gentle pace.

- Junior Analytical Grammar (JAG) -- (gr. 4-7) parts of speech; diagramming fundamentals

- Analytical Grammar (AG) -- (gr. 6-12) complete grammar concepts, mechanics, word uage, diagramming

 

 

 

Our experience: we've successfully, painlessly, gently used Winston (along with other grammar items to practice grammar mechanics) from 3rd-8th grade, usually doing it on the white board or orally in about 10 minutes, 3x a week. This year, we attempted Analytical Grammar with our 9th grader, thinking to use it as a final grammar review, but found it "workbooky" and dry, and it fizzled here.

 

Hope something here helps! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[HollyDay]

Thanks Lori D! That helped me and it is not even my thread. We also learned a great deal painlessly from Winston 1 and I have been trying to decide when to use Winston 2. The folks at Winston 2 told me not to use it before 9th grade. But, I think we will pick it up before that.

[Lori D.]

Hi Holly,

Just wanted to add a note about the levels of Winston:

 

While we did use all three levels -- and we really liked Winston Basic and Winston Advanced -- we just didn't connect as well with Winston Wordworks, or in the same way. I really can't put my finger on exactly why... It *is* laid out a little differently... But it may also be because it was focused on correct usage of various words, while the Advanced builds on and really seems like the next step on the Basic. I don't know what I would say to use in place of that (although Comic Strip Grammar published by Scholastic does have some of that in it).

 

Just wanted to give you a "heads up" if you were going to do the Wordworks. : )

 

Also with Advanced, with both my boys, same as with Basic, we got about 2/3rds through with it in one year, and then they weren't "getting" the concepts, so we stopped at that point. Then the following year we started from the beginning again, and it went just fine. I guess their brains just needed to mature into it! : )

 

Best of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

[Chloe]

I haven't had a chance to check back until now. Wow! This board moves quickly!

 

I really appreciate the feedback. I think I'm going to have to wait and look these over at the homeschool convention, but I think the main thing I need to figure out is if I want to do diagramming or parsing. Grammar is not my thing, so I'm not even sure what the difference is.

 

Thanks, again!

[Lori D.]

Here's a WTM thread on diagramming and parsing:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12619&highlight=parsing

 

And I was mistaken in saying Winston only teaches parsing -- Winston doesn't VISUALLY do diagramming (as in teaching you how to use lines and make the chart showing connections of words, phrases and clauses), but it does teach the functions of nouns and show the relationships of modifers, etc., which is overall the purpose of diagramming.

 

Probably just made it more confusing. (lol) But didn't want to leave you with a mistaken idea Winston. : ) Warmly, Lori D.

[siloam]

Here's a WTM thread on diagramming and parsing:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12619&highlight=parsing

 

And I was mistaken in saying Winston only teaches parsing -- Winston doesn't VISUALLY do diagramming (as in teaching you how to use lines and make the chart showing connections of words, phrases and clauses), but it does teach the functions of nouns and show the relationships of modifers, etc., which is overall the purpose of diagramming.

 

Probably just made it more confusing. (lol) But didn't want to leave you with a mistaken idea Winston. : ) Warmly, Lori D.

 

Well you lean something new every day! (I had no clue of the difference myself.)

 

LOL! Now I am going to muddy it a little more. JAG has the above the word parsing, but not the chart...that I have seen. You do the parsing then you do the diagram. :D

 

Sounds like both are good programs, just depends on what, "clicks."

 

Heather