TulaneMama Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I hear many ppl commending R&S, why? is this done daily? what else would you recommend? why? how often do you do it? what are the positives and the negatives? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 (edited) I haven't used R&S but have looked through the books and know several families who use it. I have no doubt of its rigor and effectiveness, but it always seems dry to me. Both of my girls are using CLE LA and we all love it! My girls are total opposites - they rarely like the same things. One loves workbooks, the other loves hands-on, but they are both doing very well. CLE is interesting to read, and I even enjoy learning along with them. It is spiral but stays on a topic long enough to grasp the concepts. It teaches diagramming and is also very rigorous. You can see what is covered in their Scope & Sequence. We are also using Sentence Family which is very fun for a child who likes to draw (tracing paper works well too). GrammarLand is a book about grammar as a story which is free on GoogleBooks. Cozy Grammar is a DVD series by a grandmotherly-type grammar teacher which looks very effective. We also like DailyGrams. It takes 5 minutes and keeps DD practicing her daily grammar lessons so she is daily applying what she's learned. Edited October 7, 2009 by amtmcm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 ann thank you. DS LOVES to draw so I will definately be checking out sentence family - and he also likes little reviews so DailyGrams sounds like it might be right up his alley. and then further investigate different programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I have purchased (and not used :tongue_smilie:) R&S twice now. (I have a 5th grade set for sale, btw. ;)) My 5th grader is using Growing With Grammar. I don't know that I'd call it "fun", but it is well-laid out, imo, and doesn't take a lot of time. B & T can do their grammar lessons independently, after which I check their work. It doesn't take them long, and they seem to be getting it. We use the program 3-4 days/week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Grammar Tales is a series of ten stories that "reinforce parts of speech, the proper use of commas and quotation marks, proofreading tips, and so much more." Some of the titles are: A Verb for Herb; When Comma Came to Town, The Bug Book (Adjectives); The Mega-Deluxe Capitalization Machine, The No-Good, Rotten, Run-On Sentence, Tillie's Tuba (Adverbs), Francine Fribble, Proofreading Policewoman, Chicken in the City (Nouns), The Planet Without Pronouns, The Mystery of the Missing Socks (Quotation Marks) A teaching guide comes with it...It saids Grades 3 & up on the cover. My 5th grade son loves them...he loves cartoon type drawings...maybe it's the artist in him... I think these books are a cute way to introduce or reinforce some concepts. I would prefer the thoroughness of R & S, though, while throwing these books in for the fun element. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Speaking of grammar stories, you might like to check out Grammar Land by E. Nesbit. It's on Google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=iXgSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=grammar+land#v=onepage&q=&f=false. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 Grammar Tales is a series of ten stories that "reinforce parts of speech, the proper use of commas and quotation marks, proofreading tips, and so much more." Some of the titles are: A Verb for Herb; When Comma Came to Town, The Bug Book (Adjectives); The Mega-Deluxe Capitalization Machine, The No-Good, Rotten, Run-On Sentence, Tillie's Tuba (Adverbs), Francine Fribble, Proofreading Policewoman, Chicken in the City (Nouns), The Planet Without Pronouns, The Mystery of the Missing Socks (Quotation Marks) A teaching guide comes with it...It saids Grades 3 & up on the cover. My 5th grade son loves them...he loves cartoon type drawings...maybe it's the artist in him... I think these books are a cute way to introduce or reinforce some concepts. I would prefer the thoroughness of R & S, though, while throwing these books in for the fun element. ;) My DS sounds a lot like yours! He is also an avid reader. Having a resource like the above would help ME to feel like at least there is something getting into his head if I happen to slip on our lessons. I also like the idea of DS being able to work independently as with Growing with Grammar. With 2 little girls to keep busy this is VERY helpful! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy7 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Your post prompted me to go through my R&S 5 that I am doing with my ds and put stickies with "Read a Verb for Herb", etc... when we do a new part of speech. That way I won't forget to incorporate it. I'm sure you could do the same with Growing with Grammar or whatever you decide on. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We are using 5th Grade R&S. I wouldnt' call it "fun" but it gets the job done. My son likes it better than the CLE that *I* love because some of it is done orally. I like it because writing is included and it is a very solid program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 We do R&S. It is thorough and gets the job done. It's not fun but my kids don't complain either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 13, 2009 Author Share Posted October 13, 2009 i AM SO TORN! I am definately going to incorporate the literature grammar works for DS but still do not feel strongly between either ofthe programs. And, FWIW, we are already using WWE3 and DS is not a writer :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 We also like DailyGrams. We like DailyGrams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMom2One Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 LOL! Actually, we are new to EG and Daily Grams this year and dd REALLY likes it. Its very simply put together so its easy to understand --- takes very little time so we have more time for other fun stuff. Blessings, Lucinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lauracolumbus Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I'm surprised at how much my kids love R&S (we're doing 5). I think it's b/c we do most of it orally, but they genuinely seem to like the material. I have AG, which I will probably try next year. I loved the look of Grammar Land and plan to have them go through that as well sometime. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Using The Sentence Family has been so much fun this year for my visual learner in 4th grade. But eventually you need to get down to sentence analysis as well. I recommend the Michael Clay Thompson series - Grammar Island and more importantly, Practice Island. I adore Practice Island. It can be done as soon as the parts of speech have been introduced. Be sure to get a teacher manual and student manual. You can buy these at Royal Fireworks Press. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 My ds 9 was looking over my shoulder and saw the qestion! His answer with a chuckle was: 'There are no fun grammar programs.' This is coming from ds who loves sentence diagramming. :glare: Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 My ds 9 was looking over my shoulder and saw the qestion! His answer with a chuckle was: 'There are no fun grammar programs.' This is coming from ds who loves sentence diagramming. :glare: Susie :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 LOL! Actually, we are new to EG and Daily Grams this year and dd REALLY likes it. Its very simply put together so its easy to understand --- takes very little time so we have more time for other fun stuff. Blessings, Lucinda eg? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeJM Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Wow, thanks for asking this question, lots of good ideas here, I've enjoyed finding out about all of them. I've used R&S 3rd grade level; much of it can be done orally. I loved it! My dd absolutely abhorred it! We switched. Used Winston last year, it's very hands-on with the cards and everything. If your child is a hands-on type of kid it would be worth it to look into; there are two levels, basic and advanced. Easy Grammar can be monotonous, even though it doesn't take very long each day. The Ruth Heller book series that covers parts of speech is a great one, but they are not a program, they are just books to read -- beautiful and very clever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 okay - so I am thinking (as of this moment :lol:) that I will get: DailyGrams Grammar Tales (boxed set) and Growing with Grammar and I am still trying to find Sentence Family. how do you incorporate all of these "fun" lessons with the daily grammar lessons? obviously, as we cross the parts of speech and so on, but do you do them all eachday or pick and choose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 and will add Grammar Land (when does he read this?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlovebaker Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 my three kids don't complain about it and even like it. It's on the computer so I don't have to do a thing except help them once in a while (which is enjoyable - I like the logic of grammar) ... and it's inexpensive ($10 per CD - we don't use the workbook which is essentially the same). Recommended by Cathy Duffy which is where I found it. We're using SWI B (from IEW) at the same time and they overlap. Makes a homeschooling mama happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 thanks I will check that one out. Ds enjoys doing some ofhis lessons on the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 If you're looking for something fun then check out the Michael Clay Thompson language arts materials. They're amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 My ds 9 was looking over my shoulder and saw the qestion! His answer with a chuckle was: 'There are no fun grammar programs.' This is coming from ds who loves sentence diagramming. :glare: Susie I fear your ds is right. My 10-year-old ds concurs. I called him over to read the post and comment. He thinks our grammar (JAG) is alright, but according to him, "Fun is not how I would describe it.":tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 okay - so I am thinking (as of this moment :lol:) that I will get: DailyGrams Grammar Tales (boxed set) and Growing with Grammar and I am still trying to find Sentence Family. how do you incorporate all of these "fun" lessons with the daily grammar lessons? obviously, as we cross the parts of speech and so on, but do you do them all eachday or pick and choose? We do Sentence Family once per week. It takes about 12 weeks to get through it. Here's a link to Sentence Family: http://www.stmichaelschool.us/sentencefamily.html Grammar Land is free on Google Books: http://books.google.com/books?id=iXgSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=grammar+land&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q=&f=false Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Well, I've been tempted to try Winston Grammar because I've heard others say their children really enjoy doing it. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Grammar is as fun as you make it. You can play games with your grammar, talk the grammar, joke about the grammar, or you can just do it. People tend to put more energy into stuff like history and just let the grammar drag. Shurley has more interesting sentences, which help. Since you have a boy, you might also look into programs that have good track records with boys. There's something about the boy personality, with the way they work, wanting efficiency (but plenty of review), checklists, etc. Winston and IEW (writing) are popular boy options. Definitely check them out. The MCT stuff might be interesting, but it's aimed at gifted kids and doesn't have the more traditional review and spread of subjects you might be looking for. They teach everything upfront then apply it over the rest of the year. That might work for some kids and not others. My dd, a confirmed grammar hater (ironic since I like it, eh?), does just fine with Shurley. Short, sweet, to the point with interesting sentences. But like I said, for a boy I'd start looking at programs reputed to be especially good with boys. And did you know you can call R&S and get extensive samples? They'll send you sample books for different grades that will have all the subjects they produce. It's very helpful and will give you a better feel for the materials and whether they might work for you. Besides doing R&S orally, you also have the inexpensive ($2.50) workbook that goes with the R&S grammar to make it even less taxing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) Just to throw something else in the mix, I'd like to mention Kiss Grammar. There are now 3 downloadable workbooks available (for Gr2-4) and the best part is that they're free!! Even though your son is in Gr5, I'd start with the Gr2 book as the levels build on each other. Edited October 17, 2009 by Hannah Originally said 4 workbooks, but there are 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyrooch Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 eg? EG is Easy Grammar. This is what we use. My son is in the 5th grade and we use Easy Grammar Plus. We used to use CLE but my son hated it. When I switched him to Easy Grammar he actually started liking grammar. He is now accelerated in grammar which I never thought would be possible. Easy Grammar and Daily Grams are part of the same program. Easy Grammar is supposed to be the main component with the Daily Grams used as a supplement. Many people use the Daily Grams with other programs but they were created to go with Easy Grammar. Easy Grammar only covers grammar but in my opinion (and my sons who used to hate grammar) it covers it well. There isn't any writing added in the program. We use Just Write for our writing. I encourage you to look at Easy Grammar. It completly changed the way my son looks at doing grammar. He is now above a 6th grade level in grammar. He jumped approx. 2 grade levels in his grammar when we switched. EG just presented things in such a way that it was like the light came on for my son. It is also a very easy program to use. My son works independantly on it. It explains things very well to him so he is able to pretty much do it on his own. He only has the occasional question for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Easy Grammar only covers grammar but in my opinion (and my sons who used to hate grammar) it covers it well. There isn't any writing added in the program. We use Just Write for our writing. We are also using Just Write for my DD4th and it's excellent! Love it! Does Easy Grammar cover sentence diagramming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyrooch Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 We are also using Just Write for my DD4th and it's excellent! Love it! Does Easy Grammar cover sentence diagramming? We do love Just Write. My son does very well with it. We have tried several things for writing and Just Write seemed to be the best fit. Easy Grammar does not cover diagramming. However, it would be very easy to add that if you wanted to because Easy Grammar does such an excellent job of teaching all of the topics that it could be easily translated into diagramming. My son did do regular diagramming when we used CLE. The diagramming did not make much sense to him back then because he didn't "truly" understand how those things worked in sentences. Now that he "truly understands how the parts of speech work he is able to easily transfer that to diagramming. IMHO Easy Grammar breaks down the parts of speech in an understandable manner much better than diagramming does. At least this was the case with my son. Diagramming is now easy for my son by default because Easy Grammar enabled him to understand what he was diagramming. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdeveson Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 Who sells Easy Grammar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyrooch Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 Who sells Easy Grammar? http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php www.easygrammar.com http://www.mardel.com/ You can order new EG materials online from all three of these or you can pick them up at Mardel. Mardel carries EG materials in their stores. I have picked mine up used from both here on the WTM boards and at the following used curriculum sites. http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/ http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com/ I have usually been able to find the teachers books (which include the student pages) for a fraction of the cost of new at one of the three used curriculum sites I listed. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TulaneMama Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 mommyrooch - thanks! I think that your post might have swayed me towards EG. Just have another question....will post about diagramming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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