homeschoolmommaof4 Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 SOme of you may have read some of my previous threads about choosing curriculum for my 8th grade dd. This is her first year hsing, and she has struggled in ps for the past 3-4 years. We bought the first round of 8th grade Paces for Science, English, and Math. Her I and I both can't stand the English. It's overly confusing, and EVERYTHING is Bible verses and references, which I usually owuldn't mind, but it uses KJV and is nearly impossible to figure out with an NIV. ANyhow... I am definitely ordering new grammar for her VERY soon, I really don't wish to purchase the next level Pace for English. I can't decide if I want to do: Rod & Staff: IF I choose this, should I place her in 7th or 8th grade? I have looked over a few sample pages and the 8th grade text seems very rigorous. I am thinking it may be too difficult for her. I am also wondering, IF I start her in 7th, what we should do the following year? Growing With Grammar: I really, REALLY like how this program is set up. But again, it only goes thru 8th grade and what level to start with... I am thinking that it might be possible, regardless of which program I choose, to do 7th this year, 8th for freshman year, and then focus on writing (we do the writing from TOG) from 10th thru 12th, with a few sentences daily (from literature or history readings) to digram. Would this be sufficient? How exactly would I show this on a hs transcript? Would writing and grammar go together into one class for required english credits maybe? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, I need to decide on this soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmommaof4 Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 I also heard that the new ed of WTM suggests starting a student who is new to rod & staff with grade 5? Has anyone done this with a 13yo? I don't think she would be very happy with me giving her a 5th grade level book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted July 28, 2010 Share Posted July 28, 2010 Rod & Staff: IF I choose this, should I place her in 7th or 8th grade? I have looked over a few sample pages and the 8th grade text seems very rigorous. I am thinking it may be too difficult for her. I am also wondering, IF I start her in 7th, what we should do the following year? R&S English 7 & 8 are very difficult without having done R&S E. 6 OR formal grammar. Keep your sanity and do 6. Level 7 & 8 can be done in high school and still be considered high school grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmommaof4 Posted July 28, 2010 Author Share Posted July 28, 2010 Ok, what exactly qualifies as "formal grammar", I read that also in my WTM copy. She has studied grammar throughout her ps career, does that qualify? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmommaof4 Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 Bump :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdhomeschool Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 The difficult part of R&S if you haven't done it before is diagramming sentences, in my opinion. R&S builds on this concept over the years, starting with easy diagramming and then getting more complex. In 7, Rod & Staff gets into trickier grammar topics too, such as verbals and emphatic verbs. You can see a list of the table of contents here: http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/item/1-127--/ One of the great things in the program is that certain elements recycle every year (such as the correct use of lay-lie). With that repetition built in, she may be okay in 7. Grammar in ps usually doesn't go much beyond parts of speech, though, so she might be more comfortable with the earlier level. My only testimony to offer is that my friend picked up R&S 8 for her eighth grader (a bright girl all around) and couldn't do it. As we've done R&S all along, it was hard to see what was hard for her. Kirsten Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearnpurple Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 My ds in 8th is using 7th grade R&S for English. We switched from Paces to R&S last year and went a year behind. He loves the lessons and I like the fact that it is more than fill in the blank and memorize the answers. When I started homeschooling him in the 3rd grade - we stayed with Paces because he came from a Christian school that used them but we have slowly went away from them because I have found other things that stretch his mind and are more "fun" to work on everyday. Not saying PACES can't be good because he is an excellent reader/phonic/speller and I thank PACES for that. My dd7 also went through the Learning to Read program and did well. I am also getting my dd5 ready to start the Learning to Read program. I just felt their PACES in the older grades need to be more intense. (Although I do like their Algebra series). On a side note, my friends son is in 8th is using R&S 6th grade English this year. They are switching from Abeka/BJU so they are backing up a little.... Also, we are planning on doing the 8th grade R&S for next year (9th) and then we will probably focus on writing with Easy Grammar for review. I don't have all the answers but hope this helps you....:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted July 30, 2010 Share Posted July 30, 2010 This will be my first year homeschooling, and i'm backing up my 7th grader to R&S English 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmommaof4 Posted July 30, 2010 Author Share Posted July 30, 2010 Ok all, ty so much for sharing. SOunds like I either need to do 6 or 7 then. If we do 6 now, then she can finish 10 her senior year so that might work out ok too. Gonna take a closer look at the materials and make a choice one way or the other soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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