Grammar rec's for child who has not studied it?

[swainsonshawk]

My son has not studied grammar formally--only through copywork and mad libs mostly. We are transitioning to a more classical approach. Where should I start him now that we are well into his 6th grade year? (he's 12). I would like to use Rod and Staff, I think, but I'm open to suggestions.

 

Becky

[Jamee]

I am really impressed with Winston Grammar. I decided to give it a try after a recommendation from a friend and the fact that my Analytical Grammar order was taking FOREVER to arrive--that's what I get for going media mail though. I like the visual of Winston with the cards and it's really helped DS "see" it better. We'll be starting Jr. Analytical after the break and it looks like it will be good too. I'm hoping anyway!

[redsquirrel]

I would consider FLL 4. It is in no way babyish or written down to the child. It is not for independent work, it assumes that there is a teacher around to read the script.

 

I have had at least 5 friends with kids in ps who have used FLL4 to great effect with children older than grade 4.

 

And FLL is just grammar, nothing else. So, you aren't paying to only use half the program. So often, a grammar program is part of a whole language arts program.

[SilverMoon]

R&S 5 would lay a strong foundation. :)

[justamouse]

what's this person like? Are all of their other courses as ...cut and dried or do they learn more in the abstract?

[HSMom2One]

R&S 5 would lay a strong foundation. :)

 

My dd is in 6th this year, and because we had been lacking in the grammar department I started her on 5th grade R&S. It has been a great boost to her understanding of grammar, and I plan to stay with it for the long run. I know others use different programs, but I just don't think you can go wrong with R&S. It is thorough and complete and also very affordable. The TM is excellent, yet the textbooks are open and go if your student wants or needs to work independently.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[Stacy in NJ]

Both would be a good strong place to start.

[Sunshine State Sue]

what's this person like? Are all of their other courses as ...cut and dried or do they learn more in the abstract?

We used Analytical Grammar for 6th-7th-8th grade. You may read my review here. I liked it because it was clear, concise, efficient.

[swainsonshawk]

He's kind of unsure. I need to hold his hand a lot to get him through his assignments. But, I also need him to begin to work more independently because of his younger siblings who need my attention. A conundrum! I think I may look at Analytical Grammar again. Do you need to start with JAG, or can you just jump in to AG?

 

Becky

[Sunshine State Sue]

Do you need to start with JAG, or can you just jump in to AG?

 

The author of AG developed her program as a 1 year course for 8th graders who had no prior exposure to grammar. Eventually, for the homeschool market, it changed to be able to be broken up into 3 seasons for 6th-7th-8th.

 

I would just start with AG as long as your ds is reading at a 6th grade level.

 

For background information, watch the video here:

How Analytical Grammar Came To Be

[Hannah]

 

Kiss Grammar lays a strong foundation and can be started at any age.

[Negin]

We hated JAG. It was the worst homeschooling purchase we made last year. Boring, dull, and way too difficult ... the diagramming which would never end, was driving us out. of. our. minds. :glare:

I prefer some really engaging and effective workbooks. I don't like grammar overkill. There are many wonderful workbooks out there. These ones are made by the publishers of Highlights magazine and we really like them. I'm sure Rainbow Resource and possibly amazon have them also. Goes all the way up to 8th grade, I think.

 

[Tammyla]

:iagree: And he could almost definitely work through it on his own. Imo, fwiw...students do benefit from teacher lesson participation, but that doesn't mean you have to hold their hand. Go over the lesson directions together, ensure he understands them, and then he works through the lesson. Then you just have to answer any questions, and check or grade the work.:001_smile:

 

R&S 5 would lay a strong foundation. :)

[Guest Cheryl in SoCal]

We hated JAG. It was the worst homeschooling purchase we made last year. Boring, dull, and way too difficult ... the diagramming which would never end, was driving us out. of. our. minds. :glare:

 

This was our experience, only for us it as AG and my kids were in 9th/10th grades. In addition to the diagramming issue (which was only a deal breaker for one ds) I had issues with how the author labeled some words. The one that bothered me the most was labeling adjectives as adverbs because they were modifying a word that was acting as an adjective. For instance, in "Mary's mother's cabin was in the woods," Mary's would be labeled as an adverb. I am going to keep AG so I can learn more about diagramming but will never use it with any of my children. Oh yeah, it was also BORING. I was surprised how how big a bomb it was because my kid's had lots of grammar experience (Shurley English Levels 3 - 7). We used AG for 5 months.

 

We have switched to MCT, which is like a breath of fresh air. It parses similar to Shurley (which my boys enjoyed) but the 4 level analysis is more detailed than the one line parsing in Shurley, and they cover/label clauses from the beginning (my pet peeve with Shurley was that they weren't covered until Level 7). I was planning on using the Shurley labels with it but have found that the MCT way works better. AND, MCT doesn't label words that aren't adverbs as adverbs. I also love the vocabulary and poetry books. We are also using the writing but so far it's been more of an introduction to the method so I can't comment on the writing yet. We haven't been using it for very long (a couple of weeks) so feel free to take my observations with a grain of salt. This is just what I've noticed so far.

[Testimony]

R&S 5 would lay a strong foundation. :)

 

:iagree: No question your child would get a thorough exposure to grammar with this program.

 

I wanted to let you know that I put my oldest son right into Growing with Grammar 5. I started him with formal grammar at about 10 or 11 years old too. GWG is an easy program to do and it is self-teaching. All you have to do is check his work.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[athomemom]

My son has not studied grammar formally--only through copywork and mad libs mostly. We are transitioning to a more classical approach. Where should I start him now that we are well into his 6th grade year? (he's 12). I would like to use Rod and Staff, I think, but I'm open to suggestions.

 

Becky

 

My sons love and have done well with either Easy Grammar or BJU. Of course, BJU includes writing (which we love as well), EG is just grammar.

 

We tried R&S in 3rd and 4th grades, it was too much then for my sons, but might work well now that they've matured a bit.

 

I cannot say enough good things about BJU. I wish we had been with it all along.

[Hedgehog]

Another vote for R&S English here. We're very happy with it.

[mcconnellboys]

I might suggest the last level of FLL, as someone else did, or perhaps ILL; or perhaps Easy Grammar Plus.