AlabamaGal Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Hi! I'm mostly a lurker :blush: but I need your expertise. :001_smile: This is our first year homeschooling our gifted 8-year-old daughter. Academically, things are going pretty well, although we are still finding our groove in terms of our daily work flow. A couple of weeks ago, we switched from Horizons Math to Math-U-See and are very happy with our math program now. (There's a reason I'm telling you this in a post asking for a grammar recommendation. ;)) We are currently using First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind Level 3, and it is does not seem to be a good fit for us. I would love your thoughts on what we might prefer. What we like about MUS is that the lessons are broken down into clearly differentiated topics, and you practice as much as necessary for mastery, then move on at your own pace. This allows us to practice in any way that works for us without worrying that we're missing something. For example, we can skip count or drill multiplication facts in the car, or calculate the area of a square of the sidewalk and have confidence that we are practicing the right things. We can skip repetitive worksheets once dd has demonstrated mastery. We have moved quickly through the lessons in this way and are working on lesson 12 of the 30 lessons in this level. I would love a Grammar equivalent to MUS, but if there is none available, I would like suggestions about things that might come close, or take a similar approach. When using FLL, we are not comfortable with the scripted lessons. We would prefer a simpler approach: a text or workbook that sets forth the rule and then has exercises allowing the student to practice for mastery. Also, something amenable to independent learning would be a plus. I am glad to present lessons, but we find that the scripted lessons in FLL move at a snail's pace, and the exercises in the workbook are not at all challenging. Any suggestions you experienced home educators have would be most appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) Hmmm.... my oldest son really likes MUS. He happened to have loved FLL 3. I always thought the things I liked about MUS were the same things I loved about FLL 3. Based on what you have shared, I would suggest looking at Growing With Grammar. I don't know if you'll find anything as focused on isolated topics as MUS is, but Growing With Grammar would be a good option for you, I think. We used it for a short while in 3rd grade and really liked it. It's straight-forward, simple to teach, easy to understand and very thorough. http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/ http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/3gwgProducts.html - Grade 3 page Edited September 11, 2009 by Donna T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I second Growing With Grammar. We loved it here. Most student can even do it independently. Workbook format. If you really, really want a formal grammar program at this age (seems like you do), I would check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 I third Growing with Grammar! We used FLL last year and switched to GWG this year and are really liking it so far. We use MUS and love it too:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) . Edited June 9 by SilverMoon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 My 4th grader is a hands-on learner and loves art so Sentence Family has been a good fit for us. Cozy Grammar is a DVD series which might be considered multi-sensory. I haven't used GWG, but we also like CLE and Easy Grammar/Daily Grams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) Something I plan to look into for logic stage grammar is MCT's grammar from Royal Fireworks Press. Since I don't own it, I can't comment on it all that much. I do know it's a workbook approach, but of a different approach. Not scripted like FLL, but also not simply a dry grammar textbook/workbook. There are different levels and all of Michael Clay Thompson's stuff (MCT) was written for gifted kids, though many use them at their own pace. The website to check it out and see samples is www . rfwp . com (spaces removed). You can also do a search here for "MCT" and a lot of threads should pop up. I hope you find the right fit for your dd! Edited September 12, 2009 by Annabel Lee removed quote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudreyTN Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I tried FLL and PLL... We've finally fell in love with Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlabamaGal Posted September 12, 2009 Author Share Posted September 12, 2009 Thank you all, ladies! I am so glad I asked. :) I will look into these suggestions right now. :auto: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I'd consider Rod & Staff English. Probably start with Grade 3. It works very well for my gifted dc. It is clearly laid out and is very easy to adapt for a quick learner. You can do much/most of a lesson orally and have the child just write a bit. . . You can have the child do just odds/evens/every 4th problem, etc. This way you can cover ground quickly without frustration of unneeded repetitions. I advise buying the whole set (teachers, students, worksheets, tests) as all parts come in handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 Chiming in with another recommendation for Growing With Grammar. :D B (who does well with MUS...well, he's stuck on long division at the moment, but MUS is generally a good fit for him) also does well with GWG. It's not exactly like MUS, but each lesson has a a front-and-back workbook page to go with it. The front focuses on the lesson just learned, and the back has review of previously learned topics. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted September 12, 2009 Share Posted September 12, 2009 I third Growing with Grammar! . :iagree: [insert appropriate ordinal number here] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 (edited) Analytical Grammar has been called the MUS of grammar. Your advanced 8 year old should be fine with Junior Analytical Grammar. I have not used this program, but I have read all I can on it, and seen a lot of recommendations. Growing with Grammar is very popular right now, it reminds me of All About Spelling. You don't see much about other programs for a while. It took a lot of searching for me to find that there are indeed other phonics based spelling programs. I got one of them and ended up wanting to try AAS anyway. lol. (I am not sure if I should have at this point, but it has only been a week.) Edited September 13, 2009 by Lovedtodeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 I've got an advanced/gifted student. For K, we did a heavily compacted version of FLL 1/2. In 1st, we tried the old Catholic version of Voyages in English 3 but that was too easy. For various reasons, I ended up shelving grammar and just doing WWE 1 with her. This year for 2nd, I'm doing Story Grammar for Elementary: A Sentence Composing Approach by Don Kilgallon for the fall semester. I highly recommend Story Grammar because it focuses on getting kids to learn sentence structure through imitating sentences from quality literature. For example, one recent exercise in the book asked my DD to imitate the following sentence by Mildred Taylor from Song of the Trees: "Little Man, a very small six year old and a most finicky dresser, brushed his hair." My DD wrote: "Cerberus, a three-headed dog and a most terrifying monster, guarded the entrance to the Underworld." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 http://www.rfwp.com/mct.php If she is advanced, she might like Michael Clay Thomas materials. There has been talk of these on these boards. They are designed for gifted children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in OK Posted September 13, 2009 Share Posted September 13, 2009 FLL wasn't for us either. We are *finally* happy (meaning it took me a while before finding something I was pleased with) with the Christian Light Education LA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbcatac7 Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 We also really like Growing With Grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie.Louise Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 We are a MUS family too. For grammar we use Rod & Staff. I love that the lessons are clearly laid out, well explained, review built in, and nice neat pages. I am weird about that. That is one of the things I love about MUS too. We do all of our R&S orally, unless they are diagramming or writing lessons. I know you mentioned doing work indep., which could be done, but then you still have to spend time correcting it. I love to just spend the 10-15 minutes orally and get it done. Then I know they are understanding it from the beg., not after they have done several incorrectly. Katie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Analytical Grammar has been called the MUS of grammar. Your advanced 8 year old should be fine with Junior Analytical Grammar. I have not used this program, but I have read all I can on it, and seen a lot of recommendations. Growing with Grammar is very popular right now, it reminds me of All About Spelling. You don't see much about other programs for a while. It took a lot of searching for me to find that there are indeed other phonics based spelling programs. I got one of them and ended up wanting to try AAS anyway. lol. (I am not sure if I should have at this point, but it has only been a week.) I will second JAG. I love he simple it is. When my oldest finished it (there are only 11 Units-lessons) she just diagrammed a sentence once a week to keep her skills fresh. No busy work on grammar. Now she is doing AG and again I love how streamlined it is. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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