kls126s Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Anyone have any experience with Shurley Grammar books? Background - planning first grade for my daughter (currently finishing SL K). She's reading on a 3rd grade level, by my best guess. I have looked at FLL, but we did OPGTR and all the repetition / scripting irritated her. In hind sight it was probably because she was past it in reading proficiency. I say that to say that after buying FLL and skimming through it I am concerned that she'll have the same reaction to FLL. I mention Shurley b/c I see that Veritas recommends it. I am looking for something fairly academic/rigorous. She thrives with that. TIA - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fulytymewyfe Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 We have used Shurley for 4 years and love it! You will either love it or hate, but my kids can classify every word in a sentence! If you got it, I would look at the Scope and Sequence and decide bt. Level 2 or 3. hth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kls126s Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 We have used Shurley for 4 years and love it! You will either love it or hate, but my kids can classify every word in a sentence! If you got it, I would look at the Scope and Sequence and decide bt. Level 2 or 3. hth. Decide b/t Level 2 or 3 even for a first exposure to formal grammar study? I don't mind to skip and work at her level rather than the label on the book (we're skipping to Saxon 2, for instance), but how would I know if it's appropriate for someone new to grammar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Keri, the repetition in FLL was the same way for us, so we just did the introductory lessons where each new term was introduced and memorized the defs. We skipped everything else. I'm VERY glad we took the time to do this, as it created a strong foundation for going forward. Since you already have FLL 1/2, I suggest you use it like that, breezing through the 1st grade portion and focusing on the lessons in the second half where each new topic is introduced. Memorize the defs of the grammatical terms. Then move on to SG. BTW, don't think of grammar only in terms of your grammar curriculum. You can hit it through a latin program (Prima Latina is great in 1st), your writing program (I suggest Writing Tales in 2nd if your dc is writing her own narrations), etc. We've tried various approaches, but for us the dab of grammar that gets reinforced with the other LA materials is just enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTMindy Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Keri, the repetition in FLL was the same way for us, so we just did the introductory lessons where each new term was introduced and memorized the defs. We skipped everything else. I'm VERY glad we took the time to do this, as it created a strong foundation for going forward. Since you already have FLL 1/2, I suggest you use it like that, breezing through the 1st grade portion and focusing on the lessons in the second half where each new topic is introduced. Memorize the defs of the grammatical terms. Then move on to SG. I agree with this. We sped through FLL, but I really liked the foundation it gave. We took the parts we liked out of it and left the rest. We did both grades in less than a year, but it is a great foundation. We also used Shurley, but as the kids got older I found I was ditching more and more parts of the program (don't like the writing, didn't like some of the way they did grammar, didn't like the vocab). The only thing I really liked was the question and answer flow. But, even that has its limitations. The sentences have to be in a certain pattern in order for it to work. But, to top it all off, my kids rebelled (they have never resisted any curriculum before) when I told them we had to start over again because each year they start at the beginning and each level moves a little faster, but not much. It was then that I switched to Rod and Staff. I have been very happy with that. I prefer the diagramming to the question/answer flow of Shurley. However, I don't regret doing Shurley for 1 year (I would do 3 or 4 if I had to choose). There were good things in it, but I wouldn't do it long term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kls126s Posted April 20, 2008 Author Share Posted April 20, 2008 I think we'll go ahead and finish the SL LA stuff we're doing now, even though she's essentially past it - just to finish what we start (and to at least tell my dh we finished it, since he paid for it ;)) and then whiz through FLL this summer and see how far we get. Once we do that then we'll transition into Shurley. Does that sound like a reasonable plan? I'm not usually the type looking for a handholder, but I'm really having a challenging time knowing how to get into "real" schoolwork with her (as opposed to Kindergarten work) since she's so quick on some things. I don't want to bore her or go over her head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 We are using Shurley Grammar right now with my first grade daughter. I bought the Level 2 book and plan to take 2 years to work through it. It's a hit here! Angela Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBP Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 I've used Shurley levels 2-4, and this year I taught level 4 in a co-op setting. I think it's a wonderful program and that you'd do fine starting your DD at level 2. I do agree with WTMindy that there's a LOT of repetition in Shurley once you get to the upper levels, and next year I plan to skip a level for that reason. But for just starting out, I think it's an excellent choice :). SBP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted April 20, 2008 Share Posted April 20, 2008 Shurley is strong in certain areas. I really, really like the parsing, the way it teaches parts of speech, the jingles (we chant them rather than sing). I really, really do not like the writing and have never used it. Some of the jingles are a bit silly and we skip or modify. Shurley does not give enough practice in mechanics in the younger years, so we've supplemented with Daily Grams for daily mechanics practice. Level 7 has wonderful editing exercises that I love. The vocabulary is great, and I love that it's paired with synonyms and antonyms, but we do it orally. Because Shurley has lots of review, we used every other Level -- we happened upon the odds because I wanted to end up with Level 7 (which I'd heard was well worth it. It even has decent lessons on writing the research paper). So, we've used Shurley 3, 5, and 7 (though I've owned and sold other years). I'd be careful about starting Level 3 in 1st because although it starts with basic nouns and verbs, it progresses rapidly. The vocabulary might also be challenging. HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie in MO Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I second the idea to skip levels. One day I had the opportunity to put the levels 1-4 next to each other and compare. There is very little new information added between 2-4, but lots of review and repitition. We used levels 1 and 2, then did Junior Analytical Grammar. My girls loved the question and answer flow of Shurley and the jingles. It is a teacher intensive program, I found. Blessings, Julie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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