Comparison of Shurley vs Rod and Staff

[holdinon]

Can anyone give me their likes/dislikes on Shurley and Rod and Staff?

 

DD has completed (or will by the end of the week) Shurley 3. We did Shurley 2 also and are very "used to it". However, I don't know if I'm just getting tired of it (after only 2 years???) or what. But for some reason, over the last 3 months, I've thought it may be a good idea to change this upcoming year. DD is okay to use it again, but ok to change too...she has no preference.

 

I looked back in WTM and see they don't seem to the writing in Shurley isn't that great, especially in older grades, and that they recommend R&S.

 

So....what are your experiences?

[LisaNY]

I used Shurley years ago w/my younger dd. She really liked it, and greatly benefited from the sing-song/Q&A grammar memorization and sentence parsing. However, I moved away from it, because I wanted the structure of a more traditional grammar program that used diagramming and not sentence labeling, as is done in Shurley. Shurley was too "formulaic" for me - almost "gimmicky". It was fine for the younger grades, but not what I wanted for the upper levels.

 

Yes, the writing in Shurley is just so-so. The writing lessons in R&S are solid and well-organized.

[Jackie in NE]

I've used it for my oldest 2, and am planning on starting it with my 3rd child. I love the retention that my kids get from Shurley. They really know their parts of speech cold! I also like the way the reference "charts" are set up in the student workbook. We have looked at them again and again for many grammar topics. I don't use the writing portion. I use CW instead.

 

That said, I wish that my dc also knew how to diagram sentences. Diagramming seems to be the method of choice for more advanced grammar programs. I feel limited by our lack of training with diagramming, and will probably have to "bite the bullet" and teach that method also.

 

So, mixed feelings here. I have no experience with Rod and Staff, but have heard so many good things about it. I look forward to reading what other posters think.

 

Jackie

[Linda...inOwasso]

I love Shurley for the incredibly solid foundation it lays. We use it for 2nd & 3rd grade. My plan is to use JAG in 4th and then Analytical Grammar.

 

For our writing we use Imitations in Writing and IEW. I'm not familiar with R&S, though it certainly gets rave reviews on this board. I would check out JAG/AG as well though. Best of luck!!

[PeterPan]

We've done R&S and are now doing SG. R&S didn't go over well here. Did you know they'll send you terrific sample books by grade level? Definitely call and ask or pick them up at your convention. SG has been so-so. Took me a while to get comfy using it, and I do like the Q&A format. Thing is, I don't think my dd really UNDERSTANDS what she's doing, if that makes sense. Maybe by the end or after we do enough latin it would all come together, but they really do it by ROTE with SG. We're doing SG4, and I've pretty much been thinking to myself we wouldn't move on next year but would do something else with diagramming. I looked at JAG and the content doesn't go as far as SG4. On the other hand, dd is young, lol.

 

So I can see what you're saying and I agree with the others that some time spent diagramming or seeing it from a different perspective, not always the directed Q&A flow, would be a good thing. Have you looked at FLL3? I haven't been happy enough with SG4 to say I'd use it with the next one. If I were doing it again, I'd probably do FLL3 and then FLL4. Nuts, maybe that's what I ought to be doing now! ;)

[holdinon]

I'm not familiar with JAG. I will look into that.

 

I also haven't thought about doing FLL3. Does anyone know how it compares to SG3? Would dd feel like she was repeating if she's already completed SG3 or is it different enough that she wouldn't be bored? She does well with SG, but I can relate to the above post.

 

We have not used FLL, but I was already planning on using it with my upcoming 1st grader (and probably my upcoming 2nd grader too)...So to have everyone in the same program, even though at different levels, may be a real plus.

[Brindee]

I used Shurley years ago w/my younger dd. She really liked it, and greatly benefited from the sing-song/Q&A grammar memorization and sentence parsing. However, I moved away from it, because I wanted the structure of a more traditional grammar program that used diagramming and not sentence labeling, as is done in Shurley. Shurley was too "formulaic" for me - almost "gimmicky". It was fine for the younger grades, but not what I wanted for the upper levels.

 

Yes, the writing in Shurley is just so-so. The writing lessons in R&S are solid and well-organized.

Wow, this could've been written word for word by me!!! I used it with my boys for awhile, then we moved to A Beka, then we struggled, now we're using R&S!

 

We LOVE R&S, it's worked wonders for my ds14 and dd11 for the last 2 years! They REALLY like English now, and both love diagramming---from two who hated it!

 

The boys liked SG. In fact, they sometimes still say, "Period, statement, declarative sentence." :D But we are R&S fans now!

[Mamabyrd]

I used Shurley for three years (4th - 6th grades and 1st and 2nd grades for another child) and then switched last year to Rod & Staff. My 7th grader did great with Rod & Staff; my 3rd grader really preferred a workbook format so we switched successfully to Growing with Grammar.

 

I like both Shurley and Rod & Staff. I will say that I think that Rod and Staff goes deeper and teaches more. Last year my oldest was learning concepts that I didn't learn until high school. However, I think that Shurley is great in the younger years. The jingles and the Q&A flow really made it click. My oldest had no trouble transitioning from Shurley to Rod and Staff.

 

I HATED the writing component in Shurley. It was dreadful. It didn't matter, though, because I used a separate writing program even after we switched to Rod and Staff.

 

Another factor to consider is that Shurley is "scripted." It didn't bother me but it won't suit all teachers.

[CarynB]

You can also view free samples of Rod and Staff online:

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Building_Christian_English_Series/

 

You can actually view samples from all of their books online, but this link will take you directly to the English portions.

 

HTH,

Caryn

[HappyGrace]

In 1st grade she did both levels of the first FLL book, which gave her a perfect score on the CAT test and a great grasp of grammar. This yr (2nd grade) we're doing Shurley 3 as a prep for Latin for Children A next yr. I have mixed feelings.

I do feel she's getting a good grasp and the retention is wonderful, but it feels kind of "rote" to me. The way they present it helps even younger students understand higher level grammar concepts. I dislike the setup of the materials (but I'm used to it now) and I don't use the writing or vocab. It is rigorous grammar instruction, which I like. Next yr we'll definitely do something with diagramming, probably GWG4, and then go on to JAG/AG. I just think other programs rather than Shurley are better for the upper grades. I don't regret using it this year though, and would probably follow the same order (FLL, then Shurley 3) with ds5.