Be Honest! Why do you love R & S Grammar?

[Lux Et Veritas Academy]

Tell me why you love it- I have a soon to be 8th & 5th and want to do more grammar.....

[Lolly]

It requires no prep. We get it done pretty much everyday. It is logical and well put together. Everything flows nicely. All that is needed is included. It works for all learning types (at least all the different ones in my house). Last and most important of all, it works. Even my dd with lots of lds does well on the grammar portion of testing. Better than that, she actually gets it. Doesn't like it; but gets it.

[Sophia]

:iagree:

with everything Lolly said.

We have used it since my oldest was in third grade and it has been the best homeschooling curriculum I have used.

[Laura R (FL)]

It requires no prep, it can be done orally, and it is very thorough in the subject matter that it covers.

[mamato4]

To add to what Lolly said, it's easy to understand, straightforward, inexpensive, yet does great job of teaching grammar in short lessons. BUT some lessons do require the students to do too much copying of sentences (IMO), so you may want to pick and choose what you want your children to do. Enough to learn but not become a tedious chore.

 

Anna

[Beth in Central TX]

R&S presents a logical and systematic approach to grammar. In addition, their books are affordable and well-made so that I can use them with all 3 boys. However, the main reason why I stay with this program is that my boys are learning grammar, and I am too.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Well, I don't know if this is typical, but my dd has scored in the 99th percentile on the ITBS in all of her language arts categories for the past two years. Last year, finishing R&S 5, I gave her the 6th grade ITBS (a year ahead of her grade level) and she still scored 99th %ile. The only grammar she'd had was FLL 1/2, and R&S 3 through 5. That is enough reason for me to not change a thing. R&S all the way.

[Carol in Cal.]

It's also incremental.

 

The directions are very logical and the steps forward are small ones. It spirals nicely from one year to the next with plenty of review.

 

The writing assignments explain in short little steps how to progress, and although they are skeletal rather than fleshed out, they create a good skeleton for full-fledged writing. (Except the poetry. Their poetry stinks, no question about it.)

 

The curriculum is not flashy or colorful so it does not distract DD from the material.

 

DD knows grammar because of this program--more so than other kids she knows, and more than any other child in her German class. Although it took her a while to catch on, and we do this curriculum one year behind age level, I can truly say that it is resulting in superior knowlege. I don't completely understand this, but I can't deny it.

 

Also, doing the writing behind grade level means that I am teaching mechanics separately from style, which is a good fit for my particular child.

[Denisemomof4]

I used this through the 7th grade and switched to Jensens in 8th just to give my son a little variety. He went to public high school and when he took the PSAT in 10th grade and scored in the 99th percentile in English, the teachers pulled him aside to see where he learned his grammar! They KNEW it wasn't from their school system!

 

I love the simple approach. Going through the first portion of the lesson orally really shows you if the child has "gotten" it. It's thorough but simply laid out. Some curricula just wants to make things too technical and this one is easy to implement.

 

My kids have always scored highest in English and that makes me a fan of R & S and I plan to stick with it.

[Brindee]

I LOVE R&S Grammar!!! Why?

 

I found it before last school year, and started my ds, then 12/13 on it. It totally clicked! Within a couple of months he went from HATING English and writing, to loving grammar, and liking writing. When his score went up from 40 something to 89 in Lang. on the ITBS I knew it was a good thing! His scores this year were even better! He's doing books 2 years below his grade level.

 

I started dd this year at grade level--5th grade. It was too deep, since we have a poor background in it, so I got the 4th grade book and tried it--perfect fit! She enjoyed it too! She did very well, and we saw a huge difference in what she (and I) knew from when we started to when she finished a few days ago! Her ITBS scores also went up significantly.

 

They get it! It's layed out well---and all the other stuff the previous ladies were saying.

 

My favorite thing, aside from the fact that it's working so well, is my teacher's books! Oh my, they're the best teacher's books I think I've ever had! I get it when I see it in the teacher's book!

 

We do a lot of it orally. We do a lot of writing with other things, so I don't make them write out all the sentences! They just say it out loud. It works and doesn't cause so much frustration. I have them do the diagramming on our white board. That works better than having them do it on a paper. Somehow it's just better that way! :)

[April Showers]

Mostly what all the other posters have said. Logical, affordable, easy to implement, easy to understand, can be done orally (for that reason my daughter likes it even more). My daughter retains the information. It is the only curriculum that I've stuck with without second thoughts, and I have been through a good share of curricula.

 

Adrienne

[mktkcb]

It gets done. Lessons don't take forever. We can do much of it orally. Very thorough. Review exercise in every lesson. Open and go. It just works. Now, all this said, we did do some shurley early on, and I like it as well, but for now R&S is great.

[plansrme]

1. It taught my 2nd grader (first year hs) how to write a sentence, which she could not do at the end of first grade in a private school. She can write solid paragraphs now.

2. It teaches diagramming. This would be enough for me.

3. Both of my girls love it. My 2nd grader begged to start 3rd grade early, when we finished her second grade materials. Geez, twist my arm...

4. It is efficient--there's no beating around the bush, it's just straight-up learning. It is the English opposite of Everyday Math.

 

Terri

[Rhondabee]

nt

[Julie Herbster]

I was amazed that my second grade ds (as well as his fourth grade sister) were able to be mostly independent in English this year with R&S. I like its no-nonsense simplicity...You don't have to wade through overpowering graphics and overloaded pages to find the actual lesson content. Explanations are presented clearly and succinctly enough for a child to read them and understand.

 

I will say that, although the curriculum does not "require" a lot of memory, of word lists, I do require my kids to memorize (be able to recite) all of the definitions of the parts of speech, the be verbs, helping verbs, prepositions, pronouns, etc.

[sweetbaby]

:iagree:Ditto what everyone else has posted.;)

[ABQmom]

I love that it is not expensive. It's easy to use. I can have the kids write out what they need to practice, or we can do the exercises orally. Mostly I love it because my dc do fabulously on their standardized tests on the grammar portion. They KNOW grammar, and it's fairly painless.

[ThelmaLou]

Built-in review, thorough, inexpensive, rigorous, straightforward, no bells & whistles, can be used all the way through high school, can be done (for my kids at least) faily independently, non-consumable. I think that covers it.

[Chris in VA]

:iagree:

with everyone. I also really like the Christian aspect. I love that the examples are often from Scripture, and some of the explanations are also Godly--

 

For example, a few weeks ago, we were learning about using two people in a sentence (such as My brother and I were going to the pool, or, My mom gave cookies to him and me.). Rod and Staff says to put others before yourself in these kind of sentences, relating that to Scripture. Isn't that a nice reason?

[orangearrow]

I really love the sweet little illustrations. :001_smile: I also like that the curriculum is non consummable, so I can buy one set of books and it will work for all 3 of my kiddos. I like all the review. If I feel my kid has "gotten it", then we skip that review. But, it's nice to have it there for the topics that seem to be giving that child a bit of trouble. :)

 

We do a lot of the work orally. The explanations are very thorough and my kids (who really don't enjoy grammar - they'd rather be doing science, history or math) never have to ask me for more explanation. My 2nd grader can do most of the work on her own, which is super nice.

 

And the price is fantastic, especially since one book set will be passed down through all my kids, then on to someone else after us! :D lol

[Bells]

It requires no prep. We get it done pretty much everyday. It is logical and well put together. Everything flows nicely. All that is needed is included. It works for all learning types (at least all the different ones in my house). Last and most important of all, it works. .

 

This sums it up for me. R&S is dry as toast but it gets the job done!

Bells