Shurley English

[tennismomkelly]

I'd love some feedback on Shurley English. I did a search on the forums but didn't find a whole lot of information. It seems that there aren't many people here using this program. Anyways, likes/dislikes or any other feedback would be greatly appreciated. :001_smile:

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

We LOVE Shurley English!!! I've used it from 3rd grade through 7th grade, then started Analytical Grammar. I ONLY do the grammar portions of Shurley, otherwise I wouldn't love it so much;) It is repetitive so many will skip a level (I think 4 or 5, can't remember which). I love the parsing and the question/answer flow really helps students identify what each word is. I moved them into AG for continued practice and to learn diagramming (no diagramming in Shurley). The only thing I don't care for in AG is they use basic labeling (labeling all nouns as a noun instead of subject noun/direct object/object of the preposition/object complement noun/etc) so we use our Shurley labels instead of AG's labels.

[simka2]

We use it here too! and love it! The jingles are great. We also use something different for writing and vocab...but love it for grammar.

 

I second skipping books and stretching one over 2 years. There is a lot of material!!!

 

Hope that helps :)

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

We use it here too! and love it! The jingles are great. We also use something different for writing and vocab...but love it for grammar.

 

I second skipping books and stretching one over 2 years. There is a lot of material!!!

 

Hope that helps :)

I didn't skip but did do Level 7 over 2 years because it adds a lot more than the other levels. I don't believe people who skip (say level 4) do level 5 over 2 years; I'm pretty sure they just move on to level 5 and do it over 1 year. Level 7 is the only one I think really should be done over 2 years.

[tennismomkelly]

Thank you both for your feedback!! :D It is extremely helpful.

 

I like the idea of moving into AG for the continued practice and diagramming. That's definitely something to think about.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Thank you both for your feedback!! :D It is extremely helpful.

 

I like the idea of moving into AG for the continued practice and diagramming. That's definitely something to think about.

You're welcome:001_smile: I really like the combination and will be doing the same (though probably doing levels 2/4/6/7 of Shurley) with my younger children.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Here is what Veritas Press says about Shurley and skipping:

 

Skipping level 5 is quite realistic for students who have had two or more years previously. Students just starting may want to begin with level 4 and skip to level 6.

[tennismomkelly]

Here is what Veritas Press says about Shurley and skipping:

That is very helpful!! My DS is a rising 4th grader so I was considering Level 4 for him. Grammar is not a new subject for him so I figured that would be a good place to start.

[Beth in SW WA]

My dds love Shurley grammar. We are doing level 3 grammar only over 2 years. We love the jingles, question-answer flow, short lessons. I appreciate the scripted TM. I can't imagine teaching grammar to young ones any other way. They pick it up quickly.

 

I also bought FLL for my dd6 but it doesn't stick the way Shurley does. The jingles are fun and catchy. She will listen in on lessons w/ dd 7. If she picks up bits & pieces here & there, great. If not, no worries. She will later. I direct our lessons to dd7.

 

We read MCT GI for fun but would not trade Shurley for anything.

 

I own Shurley 3 & 5.

[Georgia On My Mind]

Love the Shurley and also took two years to do Level 7 and switched composition after 6th to something else. The analyzing of the sentences is a great higher level thinking skill. The chief complaint with Shurley is that the students can't identify the parts of speech as easily as with other programs that focus on parts of speech rather than the job of the word in the sentence. A noun is a noun is a noun whether you use it as subject noun, do noun, op noun, etc. I add that questioning myself at the beginning of each year's instruction. No problem......................

[tennismomkelly]

I also bought FLL for my dd6 but it doesn't stick the way Shurley does. The jingles are fun and catchy. She will listen in on lessons w/ dd 7. If she picks up bits & pieces here & there, great. If not, no worries. She will later. I direct our lessons to dd7.

 

We read MCT GI for fun but would not trade Shurley for anything.

That's very good to hear. I wasn't thrilled with FLL (sorry! :blushing:) last year. I also own MCT GI but I'm really on the fence about it.

 

The chief complaint with Shurley is that the students can't identify the parts of speech as easily as with other programs that focus on parts of speech rather than the job of the word in the sentence. A noun is a noun is a noun whether you use it as subject noun, do noun, op noun, etc. I add that questioning myself at the beginning of each year's instruction. No problem......................

Excellent advice. Thank you! :)

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Love the Shurley and also took two years to do Level 7 and switched composition after 6th to something else. The analyzing of the sentences is a great higher level thinking skill. The chief complaint with Shurley is that the students can't identify the parts of speech as easily as with other programs that focus on parts of speech rather than the job of the word in the sentence. A noun is a noun is a noun whether you use it as subject noun, do noun, op noun, etc. I add that questioning myself at the beginning of each year's instruction. No problem......................

Were the exercises where a student has to list all the nouns in a sentence and then list their "jobs" not enough? We did the first few lessons of AG as directed (just labeling all nouns as nouns) and my kids had no problem naming the nouns but did feel "silly" or "babyish" labeling all nouns as just nouns (common or proper) when they knew the jobs so we started using Shurley's more specific abbreviations. However, like you said, something easily remedied if it's a problem:001_smile:

[HSMom2One]

We used SE during our first two years of hs'ing because it is used at the private classical school where I teach part time. I really did like SE, and my daughter did learn a lot by memorizing those cute little jingles, but I eventually chose to go to another program because I felt that SE was a bit more teacher intensive than I wanted at that time. We next tried EG, and I learned the hard way that although dd loved the ease of it, she did not retain what she had learned as she had previously done with SE. Now we are going back to the basics with 5th Grade R & S grammar because it is so highly recommended by TWTM.

 

If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have either stayed with SE and made it work -- OR -- I would have just taken TWTM recommendation to use R & S and stayed put!! They are both really good programs. So I guess my encouragement to you is to pick a solid grammar program (like SE truly is) and try to stay with it long term, even if you do take 2 years for a one year level or skip a level now and then. Hopping around with various curriculum choices really isn't the best way to get grammar facts instilled into our dc. :~p

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Mom0012]

I'm so glad to hear the positive posts about Shurley. I just started it with my kids this week and am looking forward to the change. I think they will both really like it as well.

 

Lisa

[DawnM]

I can't seem to find any placement tests and when I have clicked on samples for grades 3, 4, and 5 they are all the SAME SAMPLES. I don't know if it is because it is repetitive or because they just picked one sample for all levels????

 

So here are some questions:

 

If my kids are older and haven't done this program before, do the jingles all repeat or review so that my kids will learn them all, or will they miss some?

 

I have a 5th grader and 6th grader next year. They have done CLE and Easy Grammar. Easy Grammar just isn't doing what I want it to do. I feel like they are daily asking, "What is a pronoun again?" or whatever. I want something that will blaze it into their brains and I don't care how corny it is if it WORKS! So, what level would you suggest we start with?????

 

THANK YOU!,

 

Dawn

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I can't seem to find any placement tests and when I have clicked on samples for grades 3, 4, and 5 they are all the SAME SAMPLES. I don't know if it is because it is repetitive or because they just picked one sample for all levels????

 

So here are some questions:

 

If my kids are older and haven't done this program before, do the jingles all repeat or review so that my kids will learn them all, or will they miss some?

 

I have a 5th grader and 6th grader next year. They have done CLE and Easy Grammar. Easy Grammar just isn't doing what I want it to do. I feel like they are daily asking, "What is a pronoun again?" or whatever. I want something that will blaze it into their brains and I don't care how corny it is if it WORKS! So, what level would you suggest we start with?????

 

THANK YOU!,

 

Dawn

I would probably start them together in Level 5 unless they need some serious remediation. Everything in previous levels is reviewed but not as much time spent on it as things being introduced. Here are links to the scope and sequence:

 

Black & White

http://www.finders-keepers.net/acrobatpdf/Shurley%20Black%20and%20White%20Scope%20and%20Sequence.pdf

 

Color

http://www.finders-keepers.net/acrobatpdf/Shurley_Scope_and_Sequence.pdf

 

If you like it and it's working I'd then do Level 6 followed by Level 7 over 2 years.

[Crimson Wife]

:lurk5:

A lady in my support group with teens did a massive clearout & giveaway of materials on Friday and I got a copy of SE 1. I haven't had the chance to do anything more than just skim it but it looks good!

[tennismomkelly]

:lurk5:

A lady in my support group with teens did a massive clearout & giveaway of materials on Friday and I got a copy of SE 1. I haven't had the chance to do anything more than just skim it but it looks good!

That's awesome! I placed my order this weekend. I can't wait to get my hands on it. My DS is actually excited about it! :D

 

Thank you to everyone for helping me out. I really appreciate your input. :grouphug:

[DawnM]

Thank you.

 

What about the jingles? I notice each level sells a jingle CD.....do they have all the previous jingles on them as well?

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

 

I would probably start them together in Level 5 unless they need some serious remediation. Everything in previous levels is reviewed but not as much time spent on it as things being introduced. Here are links to the scope and sequence:

 

Black & White

http://www.finders-keepers.net/acrobatpdf/Shurley%20Black%20and%20White%20Scope%20and%20Sequence.pdf

 

Color

http://www.finders-keepers.net/acrobatpdf/Shurley_Scope_and_Sequence.pdf

 

If you like it and it's working I'd then do Level 6 followed by Level 7 over 2 years.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Thank you.

 

What about the jingles? I notice each level sells a jingle CD.....do they have all the previous jingles on them as well?

 

Thanks,

 

Dawn

I just got out my Shurley English Level 5 and the CD does have all the jingles. I was certain it did but want to be extra sure before posting.

[DawnM]

Thank you so much. That is very helpful.

 

Where would you suggest ordering from? Ok, I just ended the sentence with a preposition. :lol::lol::lol:

 

Dawn

 

I just got out my Shurley English Level 5 and the CD does have all the jingles. I was certain it did but want to be extra sure before posting.

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Thank you so much. That is very helpful.

 

Where would you suggest ordering from? Ok, I just ended the sentence with a preposition. :lol::lol::lol:

 

Dawn

:lol::lol::lol: I usually order from the site my links were from (http://www.efinders-keepers.com/). Their prices are the same or better than Rainbow Resource and you only have to make it to $50 to get free shipping.

 

You're very welcome:001_smile:

[AlisonK]

I am new to homeschooling and starting out with Shurley 3 this year as well. I picked it because my older son is at a wonderful classical school and they use it and suggested it to me for use at home.

 

I wanted to add that I spoke with the people at Shurley and they were so helpful. They told me that anyone using Shurley (whether they bought it from them or not) is welcome to call and get help from their counselors any time. They are happy to answer questions and help problem solve if anything comes up.

[Beth in SW WA]

I like the little practice books that you can purchase separately. Dd 7 likes to have her own book. We do sentences on the board also. Here's a few pics on my blog of the girls working on some simple sentences.

 

We make it like a game. Very light and fun.We sing the jingles, classify sentences and have fun with it. They will have grammar year after year after year...:)

[DawnM]

See, this is why I want to do this. My oldest particularly loves games and "gets it" much better when we do things that way instead of dry and boring. He has Asperger's and struggles with reading, writing, and grammar.

 

Thank you for posting this.

 

Dawn

 

I like the little practice books that you can purchase separately. Dd 7 likes to have her own book. We do sentences on the board also. Here's a few pics on my blog of the girls working on some simple sentences.

 

We make it like a game. Very light and fun.We sing the jingles, classify sentences and have fun with it. They will have grammar year after year after year...:)

[ilikemyhomeschool]

My kids love SE. We are doing level 6 this year. I only use it for grammar because we use IEW for everything else.

[DawnM]

Ok, more questions.

 

I am looking at the website and trying to figure out what things are.

 

I see there is a kit for each grade, but there is also a section with homeschool extras:

 

https://www.shurley.com/?3f9b06c8f52a14bd1250980aa5122

 

What extras did you get and what do I need to get?

 

Also, I will have two students at the same level, do I need two student workbooks?

 

Thank you!,

 

Dawn

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

Ok, more questions.

 

I am looking at the website and trying to figure out what things are.

 

I see there is a kit for each grade, but there is also a section with homeschool extras:

 

https://www.shurley.com/?3f9b06c8f52a14bd1250980aa5122

 

What extras did you get and what do I need to get?

 

Also, I will have two students at the same level, do I need two student workbooks?

 

Thank you!,

 

Dawn

You will need a workbook for each student. There are practice workbooks (they contain the sentences that the student classifies) you may wish to purchase depending on how you "do" SE. I would write the sentences up on the white board (there are usually 4 so each student would get 2) and my students would "be the teacher," going through the question answer flow for each sentence and classifying it. This worked great for us but if it won't work for you or you don't have a big white board then I would get the practice workbooks. There is also a Classifying Quigly (sp?) computer game for each level. My kids weren't into it so we never really used the level we bought, and I don't know if it's been updated or how it works with the current versions of Windows.

[DawnM]

I see. Hmmmm.......we do have a white board. I have to lay it out on the table as it isn't on the wall. This is mostly because we plan to sell our house next year and we don't want more holes in the finished room! :D But it can still work.

 

Thanks.

 

Also, would you get a 1st grade book for a 1st grader or would you hold off on formal grammar for now? I can't decide. :tongue_smilie:

 

Dawn

 

You will need a workbook for each student. There are practice workbooks (they contain the sentences that the student classifies) you may wish to purchase depending on how you "do" SE. I would write the sentences up on the white board (there are usually 4 so each student would get 2) and my students would "be the teacher," going through the question answer flow for each sentence and classifying it. This worked great for us but if it won't work for you or you don't have a big white board then I would get the practice workbooks. There is also a Classifying Quigly (sp?) computer game for each level. My kids weren't into it so we never really used the level we bought, and I don't know if it's been updated or how it works with the current versions of Windows.

[DawnM]

Has anyone tried the educational software? Is the game worth $50?

 

Dawn

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

I see. Hmmmm.......we do have a white board. I have to lay it out on the table as it isn't on the wall. This is mostly because we plan to sell our house next year and we don't want more holes in the finished room! :D But it can still work.

 

Thanks.

 

Also, would you get a 1st grade book for a 1st grader or would you hold off on formal grammar for now? I can't decide. :tongue_smilie:

 

Dawn

In that case I'd get the Practice Book. I don't start Shurley until 2nd or 3rd grade. I've read that their Level 1 is much more simplistic than the others and not worth buying, though I can't confirm with certainty because I've never bought it:lol:

[Beth in SW WA]

 

Also, would you get a 1st grade book for a 1st grader or would you hold off on formal grammar for now? I can't decide. :tongue_smilie:

 

Dawn

 

Don't buy Shurley 1. Buy level 3 to start the program. We have 3 and it's perfect for beginners. You will use that one book over a few years.

 

Have fun!