Anyone done Rodd and Staff English?

[lovemy9kids]

Do you like it? How does it compare with FLL and WWE?

 

Thanks for your help.....:001_smile:

[miracleone]

We are doing R & S Englishe for 2nd grade. We also have FLL 1+2. I like both. R & S is not scripted. It has many Bible quotes and the most sentences are from Bible stories. My dd7 prefers FLL though :)

[JessaMae]

We have been doing r&s this year for 3rd and 4th grade. I like it a lot. I like that the lessons are short, thorough, and easy to follow. I like that they combine both oral and written practice. I like that the stories/examples are generally good quality and/or Biblically based. We use a composition book for them to write their answers in.

 

However, my daughter's aren't thrilled with it. We were given an Abeka Language Arts book for 3rd grade and my dd likes that a lot better. I think it is easier to just write in the workbook and there are pictures and colors. Don't get me wrong, they don't complain about it, they just don't care for it.

 

We haven't used the other ones you asked about. We used ILL this year, but didn't care for it.

 

Hope this helps a bit :) ~Jessica

[lovemy9kids]

Thank you for your answers :) How is it different from A Beka and Fll?

Would you use WWE with it or just use their (R & S's ) writing assignments?

[miracleone]

I ordered FLL3 for 3rd grade and I will do WWE 2 in the Summer until we are finished and then go to WWE3. I also have R & S 3 (someone gave to me). I might end up using FLL3 though just because we both like it more :)

[ABQmom]

Well, FLL 3 and 4 as well as WWE did not go well at my house. I absolutely adore FLL 1 and 2--can't say enough good things about it. However, I think we were tired of all the endless repetition of 3 and 4. Actually, we liked FLL 3 okay. But I closed up FLL 4 and went back to Rod and Staff. I seriously thought I would run from the room screaming if I had to do that book anymore, and my ds, who was very patient with it, admitted that he really couldn't stand it either. I normally like scripted programs. Maybe FLL 1-3 taught us so well that we just didn't need number 4--don't know.

 

Anyway, I love Rod and Staff. Lessons are short, easy to accomplish, and we can do most of it orally. My older 2 dd's outdo themselves on the grammar portion of the IOWA test every time they take it, and I contribute that to Rod and Staff. Love it!

 

We use the writing assignments in Rod and Staff.

[Janasjots]

I did Rod and Staff grammar from 3rd grade through 8th grade. As kids, we hated it. We absolutely detested all the copying and diagramming, not to mention the memorizing lists of verbs and such. In 9th grade we switched to Bob Jones and it was such a happy day for us. Consumable, colorful books just waiting to be written in.

 

When I went to pick grammar for my kids, I wanted a grammar program that would go well with IEW for writing. I went with Easy Grammar because it was recommended as good for those with learning problems, which we deal with. However, after almost a whole year of Easy Grammar, I'm looking at Rod and Staff for my own kids for next year. I've come to realize that although we didn't enjoy it as kids, it did give us a thorough grasp of English grammar and I'm just not seeing such a well laid out foundation with Easy Grammar.

[2_girls_mommy]

We are in R&S 2 right now. We have had no problems w/it. We use a lot of R&S, so it is all dd7 has ever known. She has never had a choice of colorful workbooks, maybe that is why? The English takes her less than 10 min, and she copies it to a spiral notebook. She does all of the exercises in the book. It has not been too many. Yesterday in unit 5 of R&S english 2, she had to choose and write what she thought the title should be for 2 paragraphs that were in her text, plus copy 1 paragraph onto paper. I don't think that is too much writing.

 

No, I don't plan on using a writing program w/R&S at least for grammar stage. I haven't studied the WTM logic stage L.A. too much, so I am not sure there. But I do know for 3rd grade, WTM says if you are doing R&S english and doing narrations and dictations across the curriculum then there isn't a need for an additional writing program. If we weren't doing written narrations in other subjects, then I might add it.

[Jen S in Va]

R&S grammar has been one of the few constants in my homeschool journey with our 3 kids. Ds #1 and dd used it all the way through 8th grade and never scored below the 99th %tle on their Stanford achievement tests. I used the workbook for review and they took the tests once they were in 3rd grade. Much of the work we did orally--other than the diagramming and when they had to write original sentences. The daily reviews and oral quizzes in the TM are great for checking whether the kids are getting the information and retaining it. I'll do the same with ds #2 when we start 2nd grade R&S grammar with him next year.

[lovemy9kids]

Thank you very much! I am seriously considering it instead of A beka. I'm glad others have been happy with it. Do you think the 8th grade book would have adequate writing instruction?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Thank you very much! I am seriously considering it instead of A beka. I'm glad others have been happy with it. Do you think the 8th grade book would have adequate writing instruction?

If you're choosing b/t the two...RS wins hands down. There is a lot of writing in the 7th and 8th grade, although I can't remember if I found it to be enough...I used both for tutoring....

[lovemy9kids]

Thanks Tina,

 

Could you elaborate a little on why you liked R & S better?

[johnandtinagilbert]

Thanks Tina,

 

Could you elaborate a little on why you liked R & S better?

 

I'm no fan of Abeka, really. Each time we tried to use their materials it seemed like we were doing just fine daily, but the retention was less than with R&S. That's the key for me...retention. RS is super dull...but it sticks!

[lovemy9kids]

That's interesting....it's exactly what I have found. They do fine with the assignments but don't remember anything! Very frustrating! This year we have done Writing Tales I for my 3rd annd 4th grader without any extra grammar, and their retention is much much better. It was a good switch. My daughter will be in fifth grade next year and I'm not sure Writing Tales II will have enough grammar in it, so that is why I am looking at R & S. Also, I have an eighth grader who is very independent and wants a workbook type program for English. I cringe at the thought of A Beka. So much work and not much to show for it in the end. This year we are doing Classical Writing for Older Beginners. It is going very slowly. He has to wait for me to do it and I have found it a bit difficult at times with all the others. However, it has been good and is accomplishing my goal for him this year, that is, to learn how to write. Not just the correct formats. I have looked at the next book in the series though and I just don't think I could hack it :( As much as I would like to.....I've got to be realistic.

Well, thank you for your help; I really appreciate it!

 

Renee