grammar/diagramming - necessary?

[Denisemomof4]

I questioned this with my boys, and here I am in the thick of it with oldest dd and am questioning it again. If our kids are writing sentences well, have good content to their writing, why is grammar necessary? Why is diagramming necessary?

 

I never had grammar instruction as a kid, and never, EVER heard of diagramming sentences. Most schools never diagram. I am following through with it for now but again, with dd entering the 5th grade, I am wondering if she's truly benefiting from it. I always excelled in writing, both in high school and college. I did fine without grammar/diagramming.

 

Please share your opinions!

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I was taught to diagram sentences in my little Christian middle school, almost 30 years ago, and I still remember everything. It was invaluable as a foreign language major in college to understand parts of speech and their relationship to each other. I plan to teach diagramming to my kids so that they have that same understanding of words and how they function in a sentence.

[simka2]

I was taught to diagram first in private school by 3rd grade...we did not start diagraming in public school until I was in 6th grade. I did very well in college english, but many of my PS counterparts did not.

 

One of the main complaints a CEO friend of mine has, is that very few of their new hire's can draft an appropriate and proffesional memo.

 

I have forgotten much of what I learned, but thankfully it is all coming back as I teach my own children :)

 

It doesn't help that dh had a really good private school education and sometimes I hate that he can just hear a sentence and tell me all the parts of speech, why, and what needs to be fixed :)

 

I on the other hand love to run on......:lol:

[spradlin02]

I'm wondering that myself. At what age is it recommended to begin diagramming? I wonder if it's not more beneficial to hold off until they're a bit older. I remember doing it pretty young.

[MyBlueLobsters]

Mh DH was never taught diagramming sentences and he turned out okay. :001_smile: My boys are diagramming this year, however. They are in 3rd and 4th grades.

[forty-two]

I, too, did "fine" without any grammar instruction, for certain values of fine. I have an intuitive sense of what sounds right/wrong, honed by years of reading, and I usually can write grammatically correct sentences because of it.

 

But I can't tell you *why* a given sentence is correct/incorrect for the life of me. If it sounds wrong, my only recourse is the grammatical equivalent of guess and check - play around with the sentence 'till it finally sounds right. And I can just forget whole swaths of literary analysis; my English AP teachers basically told us all that we should never, ever attempt to analyze syntax because we just couldn't do it - they had too much else to teach us to take the time to remediate our lack of formal grammar knowledge.

 

Good intuitive understanding only gets you so far, as I am finding out in all sorts of areas (spelling, grammar, math, writing - everything I ever *thought* I had learned, basically :glare:). Grammar knowledge truly is foundational to logic and rhetoric, which are themselves foundational to good writing. If I want my kids (or me!) to have any chance at conscious mastery of those skills - not just an intuitive understanding - then I need to ensure that they (and I) have a conscious mastery of grammar, or we are sunk before we even begin.

 

(I do differentiate between formal grammar study - a necessity in this house - and diagramming - a useful, but not mandatory, tool in formal grammar study.)

[Chris in VA]

Logic stage is a great time to start breaking things down and putting them back together, to get a sense of how they tick--language is one of these things. Diagramming gives you a picture of the relationships in a sentence. Whether you like Obama or not, you might want to take a look at his speech exerpt that was diagrammed, so you can see how beautifully constructed it is. (Be aware this page and this site has some rough language.)

 

Like the PP, I'm an intuitive writer, largely because of lots of reading. It is great to know the whys behind the "feeling that something isn't right." Diagramming is just a tool to help with this. You don't NEED it, but it's a good tool to have.

[Mrs Mungo]

One of SWB's lectures on the PHP website talks about sentence diagramming, grammar and why they are important. It's a great lecture; I highly recommend it.

 

I once heard Andrew Pudewa pooh-poohing grammar and sentence diagramming. He compared it to making a kid read about how to ride a bike when they already know how to ride a bike. I found this to be astounding, especially coming from a music teacher.

 

 

and never had singing lessons. He's a hugely successful musician and songwriter. I doubt Andrew Pudewa recommends that path for his music students.

 

In my opinion, knowing about grammar and sentence construction is just like knowing how to read music. It makes it easier to put words together, it makes you sound like you know what you are talking about, it enables you to see where a sentence has gone wrong.

Edited May 6, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[Mejane]

Imo, a basic knowlege of the rules of grammar is desirable; teaching it ad nauseum is not.

[katemary63]

The English language is the tool you use to communicate with others. Knowing your communication tool inside and out will simply make you a better communicator and a better learner. Grammar and diagramming are very important (IMHO) to that end. You just don't know the myriad of nuances in our language you can become intuitively familiar with if you have a good understanding of word usage and function. Grammar and diagramming are like the drills you do at basketball practice. You do them over and over again to make the muscle memory. Then, during a game, your body just does what it’s supposed to do and you don’t have to think about it. It becomes like an instinct. It’s the same with language. Building the brain’s pathways to language usage through grammar and diagramming helps you to be a better user of your language tool, and you don’t even have to think about it. You just do it. We don’t skimp on these here!

[newlifemom]

To even question if Grammar/diagramming is necessary . . . :svengo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

[lllll]

..

[Rosy]

No, it isn't necessary, IMO. But I think it is important for giving my kids the best possible foundation in English.