Diagramming Sentences...Can you tell me the Pros and cons please...

[kimberannie]

and also tell me your favorite grammar curriculum for diagramming as well please?

 

Thanks

 

Kim

[Kelli in TN]

My favorite part of diagramming is that it makes grammar make sense to my kids. My favorite resources are Rod and Staff English, 2nd-8th grade, and Mary Daly's book; The First Whole Book of Diagrams.

[TracyR]

I like either Rod and Staff , or Ace School of tomorrow for teaching children how to diagram sentences .

[Gretchen in NJ]

I like First Language Lessons Level 3 since it already has the lines of the diagram drawn for the child.

 

Gretchen

[Mom2legomaniacs]

I have to say Rod & Staff as well.

 

Personally, I think diagramming is fun. To me, it is like working a puzzle. It helps to see how parts relate to one another and also what their functions are in the sentences. It also helps sharpen your analytical skills, IMO. Diagramming helps you to be able to structure your own sentences properly.

 

Cons: some think it is boring. But I think it is cool!

[Carol in Cal.]

It doesn't just show what each word is; it shows what each word does in relation to the other words.

 

Also, once you get to the advanced structures, I have heard that it makes it much easier to study complicated Bible passages like those in Romans.

 

(I have to wait until DD gets to that point before I will know this for sure, however. Blush.)

 

One more thing--I do know the basics of diagramming, and it helped me a lot with foreign language study in high school, since the forms of many words in other languages change depending on their function in sentences. (More so than in English.)

[Julie in GA]

the only one I can think of is the rather subjective nature of diagramming. Some say that diagramming is an art, not a science, because as sentences become more complex, they can be diagrammed, sometimes, in more than one way. This isn't really a "con," but can explain why some people get frustrated with diagramming.

 

As others have mentioned, I also like R&S English and Mary Daly's book, but the curriculum that brought diagramming to life for me was Classical Writing. Love it!

[Storm Bay]

As a convert to diagramming, I still only see the pros:). I never learned it growing up and wasn't going to do it at first. But one day I mentioned that if anyone could give some good reasons to switch, I would. Suffice to say they did and I wish I had the link. Mostly I like it because it is visual and make it easy to see the relationships of the words. Since the only diagramming method we've used and seen to date is R&S, I can only recommend that one based on experience (but there may be other fabulous ones around).

[Kathie in VA]

PROS:

 

I think it really helps to 'get' the grammar, to see how it is all working together.

 

It does help to write more complex sentences or to know how to re-arrange your thought so it flows better within your paper. With this skill, you can ensure your paper is filled with more interesting sentences by varying their type, order, etc.

 

I know it's not mentioned too often but knowing grammar & the diagramming skills can also help to read and follow a long, difficult passage.

 

It's challenging.

 

CONs:

Sometimes there is more then one correct diagram for a given sentence... thus it's called an art. This can be frustrating because we like to know if we are correct or not!

 

It can be timeconsuming... if you don't agree that it's worth it then it can be frustrating.... and maybe dropped.

 

----------------------

 

Resources:

I used Rod & Staff Eng 3 with my oldest dd and we got a great intro to diagramming.

 

My ds is using Mary Daly's First Book of Diagramming w/Classical Writing Aesop B and I'm finding it a great resource.

 

My oldest dd is now using Harvey's Grammar which teaches parsing and Classical Writing Homer which teaches diagramming. I really love CW for putting it all together so we can learn it and see how to make use of it.

 

hth

[KarenNC]

I'm fairly visual, as is my daughter, and diagramming has always helped me to get a better sense of how the parts of the sentence work in relation to each other. We are using Growing with Grammar, which is a secular curriculum. Rigorous, nice bite-sized pieces of instruction with a lot of built in review. We are currently in GWG 3 http://www.growingwithgrammar.com/. I find that I like it much better than FLL, which we tried for 1st and 2nd grade level work.

[Julie in GA]

I do love diagramming, and had to stretch to think of a "con." :)

[frogpond1]

that parsing is a faster way to break the sentence up without having to rewrite it out. Where this came to really help was in Latin. I kept having to diagram the sentences, but after a year of Shurley parsing them - translation came much quicker and easier. Diagramming didn't really help me with the inflected language.

[Jean in Wisc]

My 3rd child is mildly dyslexic. He really struggles to tell me the names of the parts of speech, but he can diagram a sentence correctly every time! I know he understands.

 

Sometimes we diagram sentences when we are trying to punctuate them correctly. If my son puts a comma in the wrong place, we sometimes write out a diagram of it, and then he can see that he, perhaps, just separated the subject and the verb. Etc.

 

Grammar is very cerebral and very visual. Diagramming is a way to give it more spacial, hands-on properties.

 

Sometimes we diagram sentences in other languages to see their sentence structure.

 

If a child diagrams a sentence correctly, you can tell that he understands its structure--just another way of testing him.

 

Need more?

[Guest Lorna]

I think I am being converted....We have done a little diagramming in the past but I think we would need to start from scratch. Both my children are excellent writers and have the foundations in punctuation, some grammar and are well-read. Can anyone suggest a good level of 'Rod and Staff' or 'Classical Writing' for them to begin with. I wouldn't want to land them with too much busywork but I am becoming convinced by the arguments for it here and in 'The Well Trained Mind'. I am a little confused by the suggestions of where to begin with an older beginner in 'The Well Trained Mind'.

I don't suppose if anyone knows somewhere I could get Rod and Staff books in Europe.

[kalanamak]

I have to say Rod & Staff as well.

 

/quote]

 

Which level has the intro to for kids? Or is it quietly sprinkled through grade after grade. Thanks.

[LisaKinVA]

Grade 3 grammar usually introduces diagramming (subject/verb... and direct objects)

Grade 4 continues by adding articles, adjectives and adverbs.

Grade 5 adds compound sentences, and prepositional phrases

 

This is what I've seen in Abeka and K12...

[Mom2legomaniacs]

I have to say Rod & Staff as well.

 

/quote]

 

Which level has the intro to for kids? Or is it quietly sprinkled through grade after grade. Thanks.

 

It seems to begin with level 3 (but I have not seen level 2). Then it becomes interspersed and increased upon with each section and level.

 

R&S 3 : Diagramming simple subject, simple predicate, direct objects, adjectives, adverbs (may have left off something here) It was quite simple for the introduction as I recall.

 

R&S 4: Diagramming sentence skeletons, compound subjects and predicates, statements, commands, questions, and moving further with what was done in level 3. Also (we haven't gotten this far yet but will) will do prepositional phrases.

 

R&S 5: We haven't done this one yet so I can't give an answer on this. I can assume it goes further with what has already been studied and also will add to that the new parts that will be learned.

[Storm Bay]

 

It seems to begin with level 3 (but I have not seen level 2). Then it becomes interspersed and increased upon with each section and level.

 

R&S 3 : Diagramming simple subject, simple predicate, direct objects, adjectives, adverbs (may have left off something here) It was quite simple for the introduction as I recall.

 

R&S 4: Diagramming sentence skeletons, compound subjects and predicates, statements, commands, questions, and moving further with what was done in level 3. Also (we haven't gotten this far yet but will) will do prepositional phrases.

 

R&S 5: We haven't done this one yet so I can't give an answer on this. I can assume it goes further with what has already been studied and also will add to that the new parts that will be learned.

 

 

We started with R&S 5 and I know that it includes diagramming predicate adjectives (aka predicate nominatives etc in later levels). My eldest did this, 6 & is doing 7 and each one gets more complex. I can't list the differences per grade, though, off the top of my head. My second just covered diagramming predicate adectives in R&S 5 recently, and I didn't see that in the R&S4 list.