Grammar/Writing Help Needed

[Roxy Roller]

I am new here, and new to WTM, but not new to homeschooling. I have fumbled through many years, trying to school with young children close in age and a set of twins thrown in the mix.

 

I have lurked on this board for a week or so, and I am amazed at the knowledge that is here.

 

I have many questions to ask, and I will start with grammar/writing.

 

Note: Next year will be our first year doing TOG.

 

My 10.5YO has completed a couple of years of grammar with a workbook, but I don't feel that she has a good grasp of the mechanics. She is doing IEW Grade 4/5 Level A right now and will finish by September. So I am wondering what would be the best course of action for her. What would be a good grammar program? Should I just work with TOG's WA for writing in the fall? She is finally a fairly fluent reader, but not a great speller.

 

I have not done any formal grammar/writing with the 7.5YO's and the 9YO, beyond the basics. What would be the best course of action for them? Grammar program? TOG's WA? They are all slow readers.

 

I am unsure as to all of the abbreviations for Grammar programs that are on this board.

 

The rest of my plans for next year are in my signature.

 

Any help and guidance would be appreciated.

[ChrissySC]

For the older child, to strengthen the grammar style and use, I always suggest some type of copywork/edit - Editor and Cheif are my favorites for my own dc's. For the younger, I would go straight to SWB's suggestions, First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease. We use this in our home. I am very pleased with WWE. I have the book, and I tailor the writing curriculum to our history, science, and literature investigations and experiences. We cannot simply read in our house! LOL Spelling - Megawords or All About Spelling.

Edited May 18, 2010 by ChrissySC

[Roxy Roller]

:bigear:

[MIch elle]

We used it for many years but are now using Christian Light Education Lang. Arts. We use CLE LA and IEW.

 

http://www.rodandstaff.info/

http://www.clp.org/store/browse/31_curriculum

[Leanna Tomlinson]

 

My 10.5YO has completed a couple of years of grammar with a workbook, but I don't feel that she has a good grasp of the mechanics. She is doing IEW Grade 4/5 Level A right now and will finish by September. So I am wondering what would be the best course of action for her. What would be a good grammar program? Should I just work with TOG's WA for writing in the fall? She is finally a fairly fluent reader, but not a great speller.

TOG's WA will be fine for writing, but will not provide enough grammar. My personal favorite it First Language Lessons (3 or 4 depending on her level). It's scripted, so you need to decide if that will appeal to you. I think FLL is very thorough and covers diagramming in a gentle but effective manner.FLL is currently only available in 1st -4th grade levels. You can easily start an older child in any level. I am using CLE 500 (Christian Light Education) with my 5th grader, but I think CLE would be hard to jump into in 4th or 5th grade without much grammar background.

 

have not done any formal grammar/writing with the 7.5YO's and the 9YO, beyond the basics. What would be the best course of action for them? Grammar program? TOG's WA? They are all slow readers.

.

For grammar: If you have slow readers, I would highly recommend First Language Lessons. These lessons are short and can be done three days per week which will allow time for you to concentrate on reading and spelling skills.

 

For writing: I would concentrate on copywork and dictation while reading fluency builds. Another way to enforce writing skills is to allow them to dictate narrations to you while you write them down. Oral narrations allow the students to express themselves while not having to worry about writing, spelling, and punctuation. Writing Aids can also be helpful, but you may need to stay with levels 1 & 2 for your younger two dc. IMHO, Writing Aids starts gently at the beginning of the year, but the pace is almost too fast as the year progresses.

[siloam]

TOG follows a more traditional path of writing, vs. WTM dictation, copywork and narration. I don't know if you are sold on either method. I used some TOG writing and will yet use more, but when I did I used a couple levels below grade level, because I wanted to work on paragraph writing and TOG teaches that in 2nd and 3rd grade, I think. (Trying hard to remember.) I prefer WTM philosophy so I just took what I needed from the lower level.

 

Long term I hope to work TOG topics into the WTM type writing that we are doing (via Classical Writing because there are not WTM easy peasy books for me to use).

 

If you prefer the WTM writing approach then I would suggest the Writing With Ease books and maybe Writing Tales for your oldest, or Classical Writing.

 

For grammar I don't care for workbooks, so I would also second using First Language Lessons, which is oral. After that I use Junior Analytical Grammar starting in 4th grade because it is streamlined without a bunch of busy work. It is a 10 week program, though we prefer smaller pieces so we do it over 20 weeks. That I followed up with Analytical Grammar, which is best used for 6th grade and up and is designed to be done over 3 years. Each year has round 12 weeks worth of work (again we do half a lesson a day for 24 weeks).

 

There are a ton of good options out there, depending on your long term goals.

 

Heather

[Sunshine State Sue]

I have no knowledge of TOG, but have been very happy with:

Analytical Grammar for 6th-7th-8th - read my review here

Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th - read my review here

Megawords for spelling 5th-8th (it's intended for 4th grade and up) - read my review here