Rod & Staff LA question??

[halfacoke]

For those of you familiar with Rod & Staff, I have a question.

 

My current 3rd grader is finishing R&S 3 right now.

 

My current 5th grader is doing a more Charlotte Mason approach this year with Total Language Plus literature studies and the Daily Grams from Easy Grammar. The year before he did Shurley Grammar (after which we needed a break!).

 

What I'm wondering is if I should do R&S 4 for rising 4th grader and R&S 6 for rising 6th grader, or would there possibly be a way to combine them? Afterall, grammar is grammar, no matter the "grade", right?

 

Maybe I could do 4 with both of them? Or 5 with both of them?

 

Or possibly I should just do 4 with the younger, and 5 with the older, since he hasn't done much formal grammar this year (no diagramming, just light review stuff).

 

Could you help me decide?

 

Tami:bigear:

[Leila]

Well, my son finished RS grammar grade 3 too. And I already bought the Grade 4 level. There is really not a lot of things that were added and not really very different except for the Preposition topic in the last Chapters. Grade 4 is like a review of the Grade 3 level. I was thinking of buying the grade 5 and compare them.

My advice would be to do Grade 5 level for both of them. I have read that you don't try to skip any level in RS Grammar starting Grade 5, each level is very important. I hope this helps you.:001_smile:

 

Leila

[Sue G in PA]

I can only say that I have a 6th grader doing R&S 5 and she sailed through the first 1/2 or so. Then, it got challenging. I don't know that a rising 4th grader could do R&S 5 w/out having done 4, but that's must my experience. Not being familiar w/ the books you've used w/ your rising 6th grader, it would be hard to say which level of R&S to put him in (5 or 6). I'm inclined to say 5, just b/c there is a big jump in difficulty from 5 to 6, but I just don't know! As for skipping 4...I'm not sure I would do it but that's just me. For the record...many people use R&S a grade level behind due to the difficulty esp. in higher levels.

[halfacoke]

Thank you for the responses!

 

If 4 really is a lot of review of 3 (can anyone who has used them verify this??), then I'm afraid my rising 4th grader would get frustrated. He has been diligent the whole year and gets frustrated when his math assignments beat something to death. I can only imagine he would have the same reaction with grammar.

 

I guess I'm wondering if there is any concern of combining 4th and 6th graders for grammar. Their other language and reading lessons would still be separate and level-apporopriate.

 

Uggh, this planning! Sometimes don't you just wish someone could TELL you what to do?!:lol:

 

Tami

[sweetbaby]

Well, I actually combined our dc this year and will do the same next year by having my 4th grader and both 5th graders in R&S' 4th grade English. Works out great for us. Since it's very thorough, it really works out well for my twins.

[Lolly]

I wouldn't recommend skipping 4th for the now 3rd grader. You would be creating probably problems the next year. A bright 4th grader could probably handle the 5th grade book. A bright 5th grader is going to have trouble working through the 6th grade book; it is a challenging book. So, while you may be okay for next year, the following years will be increasingly difficult. I know a few people who have used R&S a year ahead for their young children. They were fine until they hit the 6th grade book. At that point, they have dropped R&S for something easier.

 

The 6th grader I would start with the 5th grade book. Everyone I know who has put a 6th grader straight into the 6th grade book has had a difficult year of grammar. Another option would be to wait a year to start your 6th grader and put them both in the 5th grade book as 5th and 7th graders.

[OnEaglesWings]

For those of you familiar with Rod & Staff, I have a question.

 

My current 3rd grader is finishing R&S 3 right now.

 

My current 5th grader is doing a more Charlotte Mason approach this year with Total Language Plus literature studies and the Daily Grams from Easy Grammar. The year before he did Shurley Grammar (after which we needed a break!).

 

What I'm wondering is if I should do R&S 4 for rising 4th grader and R&S 6 for rising 6th grader, or would there possibly be a way to combine them? Afterall, grammar is grammar, no matter the "grade", right?

 

Maybe I could do 4 with both of them? Or 5 with both of them?

 

Or possibly I should just do 4 with the younger, and 5 with the older, since he hasn't done much formal grammar this year (no diagramming, just light review stuff).

 

Could you help me decide?

 

Tami:bigear:

 

I found that when I was switching TO R&S with an older student, I needed to go down a grade. R&S tends to be advanced. My daughter was in 7th when she started. Because of the diagramming, she needed to be in R&S 6. However, my son was in fourth grade when we started R&S. He was able to start with 4 and stick with the grade levels from there.

 

So...

 

I'd stick with 4 for your rising 4th grader, and I wouldn't go any higher than 5 for your rising 6th grader. I'm not sure your 4th grader would be ready for some of the diagramming in 5. Depends on how strong s/he is in grammar. Depending on how strong your older child is in grammar and depending on how important it is for you to have them in the same level, you could put him in 4 too. My gut feeling, however, is that 5 would be the best fit.

 

Hope this helps.

[halfacoke]

nt