shurley grammar or R&S

[trisharog]

OK, this is my very first post to the board. I have been gathering facts for 6 months and now am ready to start asking questions. This will be my first year to HS . My son will be in 4th grade. I am trying to figure out the pro's and con's of the grammar curriculums. He has been in a classical school that used Ridgewood grammar but I dont think the school focused heavily on grammar. As a first time homeschooler, I am trying to find balance with all the curriculum. Someone said, use Shurley grammar because it is so user friendly. I briefly looked at R&S. It did not look user friendly. My son can do grammar well but is by far not his favorite subject. I really want this first year to be positive for him and I am concerned R&S will be too dry. Thanks for your imput.

 

Trisha

[keithfamily5]

We used Shurley 4 this year and my daughter really enjoyed it. She has learned so much. I haven't used R&S.

 

HTH,

 

Patty

[trisharog]

I also need to add we will use IEW and I dont know it is overkill to use R&S or Shurley with IEW

[kRenee]

I have used R&S 3, Shurley 4,5 & 6, and IEW.

 

R&S is organized in a way that it is easier to open the book and read/teach.

Shurley has a lot of scripted text that I don't use. So I have to wade through the text to find the meat of the lesson. But once you figure out what parts to ignore, Shurley becomes much more streamlined than R&S.

R&S teaches diagramming - Shurley teaches classifying.

R&S is religious - Shurley is secular.

 

If you are using IEW, I would not do the writing in R&S or Shurley. IEW teaches everything you need and I think doing both would end up in burnout.

[Linda...inOwasso]

I think IEW & Shurley would be an ideal pair! I've used both and they're exceptional programs.

[Unicorn.]

R&S. Trying to navigate through Shurley gave me headaches. Shurley doesn't have enough *meat* to it either- imnsho. With R&S, we can do as little or as much as we need each day. No searching, no flipping back and forth; it is well laid out.

 

I do agree that combing it w/ EIW, you could skip the written exercises, or not. :)

[trisharog]

I am brand new to this so I do not know what is necessary and what is not.

In my quick look at IEW, it does not seem to be a grammar program. I do not know how to diagram , but dont you need to do that in 4th grade. Doesnt there need to be specific teaching on parts of speech etc. Thanks for your help. I am wading through murky waters on this subject.

[PeterPan]

Trish, I've used both R&S and SG and agree with the others that R&S is actually easier to pick up and go. The tm for R&S is excellent, with a clear warm-up section, etc. That said, we went to Shurley because we wanted something that was different. With Shurley you use Q&A flows and you don't diagram. It does have a lot of clutter in the tm that you have to wade through. I finally realized I only cared about the sentence parsing, not the conventions (punctuation, etc.) and not their writing. That's a lot to skip through if you're wanting something pick up and go and it's a lot of expense to only use part of the program. Actually, I was going to suggest you look at FLL4. I haven't used it, but I think it would be a nice compromise (gentle but still covers what it needs to cover). And I think it has a workbook, where R&S has a student text that he'd have to write out the sentences from. Or look at Growing With Grammar or JAG (Junior Analytical Grammar). But like I said, FLL4 is the one I'd look at. Seems to me it would be gentle and comfortable.

 

Is there going to be a convention in your state that you could attend and see all these things in person? Might help. Just go by your gut and what you think will work well for him. If you pick up one of them and hate the tm, you're probably going to dislike using it. (btdt, lol!) Sometimes seeing it in person helps you decide.

[FloridaLisa]

In my quick look at IEW, it does not seem to be a grammar program.

 

Trisha,

 

IEW does not include any grammar; it is only a writing program. I've used Shurley for many years with my dc and I like it. However, we tweak it alot (but I do that with all my stuff it seems!). I love the parsing. I love the question and answer flow. That seemed to be the questions I was asking in my head and is so very logical for kids. I like that the kids are learning parts of speech in a whole-to-parts format (though I believe R&S is also w-to-p). I skip most of the script, but it sure is nice to have there to get you started the first year and as a form of teacher notes.

 

We chant the Jingles (sorta rhythmic rap) and use only those that need practice. We discuss the vocabulary (which can be challenging) orally, rather than look the words up. I may start having my dc make vocab cards with memory pictures for those words that are unfamiliar with.

 

I do not like Shurley writing. The library skills are actually obsolete ("what *is* a card catalog, Mom?") But you don't need it as you are using IEW, which is great program.

 

Finally, we only do every other year of Shurley -- Levels 3, 5 and 7 -- because of the review. Don't miss Level 7; it adds some new grammar concepts and has wonderful editing exercises. If you choose every other year, you could use R&S for the in between years.

 

One more thing: I don't think Shurley has enough practice on the mechanics in the early years so we supplement with Daily Grams.

 

Know that while it's great to research the options, the beaty of homeschooling is that you won't be stuck with something that turns out not to work. If you get it home, use it for a few weeks and find that it just doesn't meet your teaching style or your dc's need, sell it on the used board and find something that works! I've made a few mistakes over the years, but love it when I find something that really *gets done* in our home!

 

HTH --:001_smile:

Lisa

[Marie in Oh]

then switched to R&S for 3rd and by the end of the year we were all begging for SG again. We, my two oldest and I, hated R&S. It was too dry. We all love Shurley. We do Shurley and IEW together and Latin for Children which uses the Shurley system. Their LA program seems very integrated. We do not do the Shurley writing assignments. I really think that it is greatly dependent on the kids. I switched in 3rd because so many people here recommended R&S. It was the time I learned, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. I don't think you can go wrong either way. By the way, my kids did a lot better on the language parts this year than last year on their ITSB-- after changing back to Shurley.

[proudmamma]

I vote for shurley grammer myself.

[benjabber]

I may not have read you correctly, but it sounds like you yourself aren't that thrilled about the idea of R&S? So, I'd suggest going w/ Shurley as I've personally found that my excitement (or lack thereof!) spills over to my child! Also, since you will be doing IEW writing, you won't need the writing portion of R&S (or of Shurley, but you've lost nothing there IMO).

 

We have done Shurley for the last 3 years and loved it. I looked at R&S before we started Shurley, and it seemed dry for what I wanted at that point in time. We are switching to R&S this next year b/c we are ready for something else now, but I would still start w/ Shurley again if I had to do it over!

 

The scripted TM does seem overwhelming, but I just looked it over briefly to get to the core (IMO) of the program: the Q&A flow & practice sentences. It only took a little time for me to find my way around w/ Shurley. Like others, we did not do the Shurley writing.

 

I too agree that there isn't enough practice of mechanics. There is sooo much review in each level that it doesn't make sense to do each level - skipping levels is the way to go. Regarding expense of the program, I have always been able to find used TM's at a decent price, making it much more reasonable.

 

If Shurley doesn't end up working for you, then you can always switch to something else.

[Langhaven]

We use Shurley grammar all the way through. I have seen the dividends in the PSAT and in other outside classes that show that my children have retained the grammar and diagramming principles. Once the mom gets the hang of the flow of the lessons, it becomes very easy to move through, and the teaching script helps until that point. I don't use the script anymore.

 

I do not care for the writing part, though the "recipe" approach has been helpful for one son who has been paralyzed by writing initially. At some point soon, I will transition him away from Shurley and onto a different writing program.

 

Pam

[Lori]

I think it depends on the child. 1 of my Daughters loves shurley and the other really struggles