How much grammar is enough?

[TrixieB]

My 7th grade dd has completed R&S 3-6 and is using R&S 7 this year. She doesn't complain about it. She does well on the exercises and has good retention of the material.

 

I am not looking forward to R&S 8 next year, never mind the 9/10 book.

 

Is there a point where you decide that the child has had "enough" grammar, and you focus on literature and writing with perhaps some periodic grammar review? If yes, when do you do this? How do you know when you've reached that "enough" point? And what do you use for review, and how often?

[cheryl h]

I just listened to SWB's writing for the middle school years and her recommendation is to not stop too soon. Even though the high school years are supposed to focus on writing rather than grammar, grammar must be reviewed as writing skills mature. That was what I got from it anyway. I wished I could say that our time with R&S English 7 has been that fun. Dd12 just finished the first chapter and it's almost like she has never done grammar before, and she's done Abeka for years. I also got MCT, which goes at grammar from a slightly different angle, in hopes that she will have a light bulb moment. Unfortunately, our English time tomorrow will be very remedial...I do not look forward to it. It is a good program, we just have to get through our struggles. UUgggh.

[Colleen in NS]

My 7th grade dd has completed R&S 3-6 and is using R&S 7 this year. She doesn't complain about it. She does well on the exercises and has good retention of the material.

 

I am not looking forward to R&S 8 next year, never mind the 9/10 book.

 

Is there a point where you decide that the child has had "enough" grammar, and you focus on literature and writing with perhaps some periodic grammar review? If yes, when do you do this? How do you know when you've reached that "enough" point? And what do you use for review, and how often?

 

We're doing R&S 7 this year, and it's all new material for me! Actually, the new stuff for me started in level 5. But 7 is a whole new ball game. I'm now trying to absorb verbals and substantives. :lol: Anyway, as frustrating as it is sometimes for me to have to learn these new skills, I am still determined to plow through and finish the R&S series. I tell myself that it's about 3-4 lessons per week, R&S reviews and reviews, and it will sink in over time. Thankfully, my kids absorb these skills much faster than I do, and that's what really matters to me. Right now I have a foggy idea that these skills will continue to come in handy over the years, for my children's writing skills practice (I use WTM/SWB lecture ideas). I figure the more complex their grammar knowledge and the more reading they do, the more easily they will be able to express their ideas as they grow. So, I plan to finish the series, and then have the R&S Handbook on hand for review as they write in high school.

[Melissa in Australia]

I really struggled with R&S 7. I found it really hard.

I switched to Abeka after R&S 7. . Just to review all the grammar etc.

I also found that the R&S had a lot more doctrine in their higher levels. In the earlier levels it was just bible, which I had no trouble with.

[Kates]

Honestly, I do one year of English grammar about every three years...and then practice and expand that grammar wth writing, literature, and languages (currently Latin & Greek). Grammar is a tool, it's meant to be used - not to be a subject in and of itself. What I've seen, more often than not, is that kids tend to think of grammar as its own checkbox - not as something that should be integrated into most other subjects.

 

I work on it until ds has a firm grasp of it, and then transfer it to other language-related subjects. When we come across something new in our Latin or Greek, I just relate it to what he already knows in English, use it, and move on. I've found that he retains it much longer if he learns and uses it outside his grammar book. That's just my 2 cents, though :)

[Night Elf]

I dropped grammar for my ds14 when he was in 7th grade. When the majority of exercises resulted in eye rolling and answering the questions without even looking at the lessons, I knew it was time to just let it go. He's in high school now and the grammar is a non-issue at the moment. I'm using BJU 9th grade Grammar & Writing as part of his 9th grade LA and he is doing the tests only. If he encounters a concept he can't remember, we google it and move on. His knowledge of grammar is reflected in his writing which is where I think it needs to show, not in some drill program that shows he can demonstrate the concept in 10 sentences at a time. Just MHO.