Colleen in NS Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 I was homeschooled and my mother greatly emphasized the importance of grammar in my education, but I have never been much of a writer. My narrative voice tends towards the dry and academic, which the majority of people do not find engaging. Did you have consistent training in writing skills? Do *you* think your narrative voice is dry? Because I'm thinking that a person's writing voice can be improved by knowledge of grammar. Not changed, but improved so that it reflects *you* more accurately. I think that grammar learned by itself is not so useful, but if it's consistently applied to progressing writing instruction, the usefulness of it will become obvious. The NEA -- National Experimental Association Well, I loved your whole post, but this part really cracked me up! :lol: My teacher-mother-who-totally-supports-homeschooling would love to hear this version of the words for the NEA! ETA: Warning. Adding a shameless brag here .......... she got an 800 on the Critical Reading section of the SAT. (You all are the first ones I've told - and the few who might understand how excited we were - about a 'number.' lol) :svengo: WOW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sahamamama Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Well, I loved your whole post, but this part really cracked me up! :lol: My teacher-mother-who-totally-supports-homeschooling would love to hear this version of the words for the NEA! I hope you know I'm saying it tongue-in-cheek, and I don't mean to offend or insult any dedicated, hard-working teachers. Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I hope you know I'm saying it tongue-in-cheek, and I don't mean to offend or insult any dedicated, hard-working teachers. Peace. Most of the dedicated, hard-working teachers will agree with you. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Most of the dedicated, hard-working teachers will agree with you. :D Yes, that's why I was laughing - my mother was one of the dedicated hard-working teachers. And she ranted and raved about the NEA all while I was growing up. She would think your cheekiness was hilarious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 When she began with the Russian tutor, she said her Latin was the most help there. But, the ABeka grammar helped with the Latin when she was learning that. :D I took Russian in college and found it difficult to learn all the grammar. But I've had no trouble teaching Latin grammar to my kids, because I learned it in Russian class 15 years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewpeaceful Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Writing is even worse. My sig line has only mildly affected apostrophe abuse on this forum. ;) Can you play an instrument without learning to read music? Yes, you can even be wildly successful. Paul McCartney never learned to read music. Is that the norm? No. Most people are better off learning to read music. I see grammar the same way. Well said, Mrs.Mungo. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I too picked up correct grammar from extensive good quality reading, however I don't believe everyone can or does. Also..if everyone gave up studying grammar and left it to a few elite academics....we lose a valuable resource and knowledge that benefits us all in stopping our language degenerate to a pretty poor one. It is possible to teach grammar using for example JAG and Analytical Grammar, in a couple of years, though. Some people actually enjoy it, too :) Another point i have seen here is that when you read something and it clangs- but you don't really know why, you just know it does- a good knowledge of grammar will tell you exactly why and help you correct it. Since learning grammar to the extent I have while homeschooling, i am amazed at the poor grammar all over the place- the run on sentences in particular, even in supposedly edited pieces of writing. So..considering poor grammar is used widely....and a classical education is all about having a very high standard of education-learning the language of grammar helps us not only raise our own level of writing but also be able to understand why a piece of writing is written well. It is the tool of having another language, the language of the language behind language. And no, I don't think it is necessary to know grammar to write well, but for the above reasons- and I am sure others will come up with plenty more- I think it is very valuable. Poor grammar abounds- and it is getting worse- therefore I think it is a worthy part of a good education. :iagree: Not everyone whose native language is English speaks grammatically correct English. Plus, knowing the grammar of your own language helps in studying and acquiring foreign languages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdwinglips Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 Writing is even worse. My sig line has only mildly affected apostrophe abuse on this forum. ;) So just last night I looked at the link from your signature line.... and then this morning forgot to use an apostrophe, only to correct myself incorrectly. Sigh. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeaCookiesBears Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) I am teaching grammar for two reasons: 1) My son wants to be a published scientist. I realize they have editors at those journals, but I suspect it would be easier to hand in a coherent work than try to ask someone else to correctly rework a sentence containing a dangling participle. DS also wants to learn various languages, and obviously he'll need grammar to master them. 2) Whenever my husband writes reports for work, he asks me to edit them. This evening I was flipping through the writing book my son has asked to work through this summer, and my husband could not identify a sentence fragment or define a compound sentence. He knows his shortcomings and has asked if I will (gently) work with him this summer as well. If that's not a hard sell for grammar, I don't know what is! Well Put!!! They are very good reasons for teaching grammar. And to everyone who took foreign language in school and said that learning grammar has help them immensely, I have learned something new. I never knew that learning grammar could help in learn foreign language. Well I am sold!! Edited August 2, 2011 by dyana17 To Add something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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