Stacey in MD Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hi, We have been using Rod & Staff English for a couple of years. My 4th grader is just not getting it. I think it might be too dry and redundant for him and I think he just tunes it out. Can anyone recommend another curriculum that we should consider? I would love something computer or dvd-based, but it's not a requirement. Thank you so much, Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenlaw31 Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 We use Easy Grammar and it works out well. The lessons are short and there are no frills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MD Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 You might look at Growing with Grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 If you haven't already used it, you might try FLL. It feels a little lighter-hearted than R&S at 4th gr. level, but is still traditional. If you want to go w/ a whole different approach, JAG might be something to look at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicurn Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I second Growing with Grammar. We are in the same boat, but mine is 3rd grade and we have been using Rod and Staff since the beginning. He just was not retaining it. We switched to Growing with Grammar about 3 weeks ago. It is traditional. He is doing well with it and loves it. (So does Mommy. :D ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Easy Grammar and Writing Strands (you need at least two things to replace a R&S English text: grammar and composition). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 CLE LA is as rigorous as R&S but easier for the teacher to implement and for the student to retain info imo. CLE is spiral based (R&S is mastery with continuous review in the teacher's manuals). CLE is also in lightunits (workbooks) with a quiz and/or test every 5 lessons. We quiz/test every Friday. It is written directly to the student, and my children have excellent retention with the spiral method. For the teacher, CLE LA is easy to grade lessons and quizzes/tests and to average semester and end of the year grades. HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenninMN Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Calvert has a grammar course on CD for 4th grade. I'm considering Merit Software's grammar course also, or Grammar Key online. Right now I'm using Destination Reading online with my son, but it's not strictly grammar. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsnapper Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 What area of LA his ds not getting precisely? Or is it just the entire program? My son resisted writing. So this year for the first 6 months I just allowed him some "time off" from writing sentences, beyond the one or two each lesson in LA. Then I gradually brought journaling back in. I had him journal a few lines about this favorite topics: Legos, Lego Star Wars video games, Star Wars characters, the Super Bowl, etc. He wrote a whole page without any issues or problems! Now of course I need to address his writing skills, but at least he's no longer resisting writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 MCT. My daughter just tolerated grammar until we switched to MCT, now she enjoys it and sometimes begs me to do a few extra pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 You might consider Saxon Grammar for 5th. My son switched to that this year and it is going so well for him. The explanations are great and there is lots of practice and review. I let ds write in the book because otherwise it would take forever. It has been a real confidence-booster for him because grammar has been an area of weakness, yet he is doing so well and has learned so much with Saxon this year. I've already bought the 6th and 8th grade levels and will pick up the 7th grade one as soon as I see a good deal on it. For the rest of 4th grade, I might try CLE to see if it's a good fit. It is certainly a lot less work than Saxon, but there is also a lot less practice and review, so whether it works for your child or not might depend on how much of that they need. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyinND Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We love Easy Grammar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Once Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 My daughter struggled with Grade 4 R&S as well, at about the half way mark. I switched to FFL 3and 4 and we loved it. I am currently trying to go back to R&S 5 and it is OK but not as enjoyable or effective as FFL. Carrie at Heart of Dakota recommends that the student works at a slower pace through R&S as it is fairly advanced and I think dry. R&S stops at Grade 10 and you would still have space to finish in a typical eduation if you just slowed down until the student was ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 (R&S is mastery with continuous review in the teacher's manuals). There's continuous review in the student text, too, even if it doesn't look like it. :001_smile: R&S's textbooks were specifically written to contain everything the children need to be successful, including review. The TMs, while being very good, are completely optional and unnecessary to the course. Not trying to talk you out of anything, just pointing out the fact that the review is there. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey in MD Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 Thank you so much to everyone for all of the advice. To answer redsnapper - my son just doesn't seem to be retaining the information. He seems to get it while we are going over the lesson, but once he goes to do the work he has forgotten it all. This seems to be an issue in several subjects, but language arts is definitely the worst. I'm hoping that trying something new and not just using what worked for my older son will help things to go better. I really appreciate all of the help everyone has given and I am now off to do some research into these recommended options. :) One other question - what is JAG? I know a lot of the abbreviations used here, but not that one!! Thank you again so much! Stacey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Thank you so much to everyone for all of the advice. To answer redsnapper - my son just doesn't seem to be retaining the information. He seems to get it while we are going over the lesson, but once he goes to do the work he has forgotten it all. This seems to be an issue in several subjects, but language arts is definitely the worst. I'm hoping that trying something new and not just using what worked for my older son will help things to go better. I really appreciate all of the help everyone has given and I am now off to do some research into these recommended options. :) One other question - what is JAG? I know a lot of the abbreviations used here, but not that one!! Thank you again so much! Stacey You know, this could simply be a maturity issue. My son really struggled with grammar in the early elementary years and now it seems like some switch has come on for him in 5th grade. I attribute much of his success to Saxon, but he also may have just finally been ready for the material. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallorie Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 We started the year in R&S, and it's solid, there's no doubt about it. But we switched to CLE for the format, and my son is doing much better. I need to add in more composition, but we still getting used to homeschooling, so i've slowed way down and am working on adding one thing in at a time that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMom Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 This may sound weird, but my kids learned more about the parts of speech from Mad Libs and School House Rock dvds than anywhere else! Of course, that doesn't help with the other aspects of grammar, but maybe a writing program that incorporates those (like CW Aesop) would fill in the gaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootsnwings Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 You know, this could simply be a maturity issue. My son really struggled with grammar in the early elementary years and now it seems like some switch has come on for him in 5th grade. I attribute much of his success to Saxon, but he also may have just finally been ready for the material. Lisa I completely agree. I don't think I will do grammar in the super early years with my littles. There's too much other stuff to learn, and PLENTY of time to understand/use proper grammar in the middler years. We did FLL1/2 with my DS(10) last year when he was in 3rd grade and while it was repetitive, dry & boring, he really did learn all the basics: parts of speech, sentence structure, etc. This year I wanted something a bit more so we bought the K12 materials and have been using them independently (no online access, I just use the teacher and student books). He has LOVED K12 this year, especially the grammar and Lit. We're using the same grammar workbook next year, in addition to the Caught'ya books for middle schoolers. I'm also buying the boxed set of K12 readers for grades 1-8 so I'll have them for DS(10) as well as the littles! :D These are just a few things that we have really enjoyed and I thought you might like some other suggestions! HTH!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Winston Grammar gets my vote. Mine retained zero with GWG. I agree, though, that a child's mind needs to mature to a certain point to truly grasp the abstractness of grammar. Sometimes it is better to just hold off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisabeth Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 We were using Daily Grams and Abeka Language and he just wasn't getting it. We switched to SOS Language Arts and he repeated 4th grade. I made it so that he had unlimited attempts to answer correctly and I took out all the lessons for spelling since I have a different spelling program for him. It also can read the lesson and instructions to him if he needs it to, since that is a struggle for him. He is doing sooo much better since we found this and because he can't go on until he gets the lesson right - the program won't let him, he is forced to actually re-read the lesson until he understands it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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