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Dd is a senior. She has done BJU since 7th grade for grammar. Last year we did the 12th grade one. I was going to skip grammar altogether, but she wants to do it. One thing she wants is a punctuation review, and how to use colons, semi-colons, etc.

 

Ideas that are not thought through all the way:

 

1) Do A Beka 11th grade (own it) for a different perspective. Dd likes the looks of it.

2) Do more writing and get a style manual (MLA, Chicago, ...).

3) We can also use ds's Eng. 101 manual from college.

 

I would love to move her beyond workbooks, and just have her use grammar in her writing. She does well already. I might need to either put her papers in the writing section for input, or get someone to mark them up. Wouldn't she learn more at this point just using the grammar and looking at some sort of reference as she goes?

 

Thanks!

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I would love to move her beyond workbooks, and just have her use grammar in her writing. She does well already. I might need to either put her papers in the writing section for input, or get someone to mark them up. Wouldn't she learn more at this point just using the grammar and looking at some sort of reference as she goes?

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

I really think of grammar workbooks as a vocabulary program, and grammar in actual writing as actually teaching grammar.

 

Julie

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I just got this book because I wanted to move DD beyond traditional grammar books, and I wanted to enhance her K12 studies.

 

Image Grammar

 

This book will not review grammar and mechanics such as how to use a semi-colon but takes grammar and applies it to writing well. It uses examples from "great" writers to illustrate using grammar to write well.

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How about The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. A couple of topics are: "Use the proper case of pronouns" and "Do not join independent clauses with a comma". Or the Traditional English Sentence Style http://www.classiclanguagearts.net/workbook.htm. It is a workbook but it's free and looks rigorous.

 

I second both of these, especially Prof. Einarsson's workbook--it's one of my all-time favorite language arts resources. If you bought the BJUP English Handbook to use with your graded curriculum, there are exercises at the end of each section with answers at the back of the book.

 

ETA: Prof. Einarsson's Traditional English Sentence Style includes excerpts of Hugh Blair's lectures on the rhetorical canon of style. The exercises themselves are literature based and are based on analysis of phrases and clauses as well as proper punctuation. I've used it in a co-op and individually with my son and think it's well-suited to a student finishing high school. FWIW, the workbook started as a series of exercises the author wrote for first term English students who needed to bridge a gap between high school and college work.

Edited by Martha in NM
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Former editor/proofreader here . . .

 

If she's done a lot of grammar workbooks, I would say that the very best thing for her is a different approach. How about reading a simple grammar review book? Do just a little bit per day--she'll remember the principles better that way. My favorite by far for sheer wittiness combined with solid instruction is Eats Shoots and Leaves. Another straightforward option that's not nearly as entertaining but still just as solid is Strunk and White's Elements of Style.

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WOW!! Thanks everyone. I've been on a LONG day trip, and just got back. Lots to take in! Does it matter which edition of Elements of Style (I have an older one)?

 

I think it's fine to do the one you've got.

 

I'll just recommend Eats Shoots and Leaves one more time though--it's really funny! I have Strunk and White and like it a great deal, but would veer towards Eats Shoots and Leaves because the wittiness makes the concepts that much more memorable. Having said that, either book is good.

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Thanks Strider! Would you mind linking the one you are talking about, there are a lot of options on Amazon.

 

Is the type really small (I do like the spacing between lines on the sample). Dd is going to vision therapy for focusing issues and I don't want to make her do something hard to see right now. I have The Lively Art of Writing, the print is so small though, is the content similar or different than Eat Shoots and Leaves and Elements of Style? (With the vision issue recently diagnosed, now I know why she won't do anything with small print....) I do know she will appreciate witty! Silly thing also LOVED the Chicago Manual of Style, but I have visions of her looking at it all day...... maybe a future editor or writer???

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Thanks Strider! Would you mind linking the one you are talking about, there are a lot of options on Amazon.

 

Is the type really small (I do like the spacing between lines on the sample). Dd is going to vision therapy for focusing issues and I don't want to make her do something hard to see right now. I have The Lively Art of Writing, the print is so small though, is the content similar or different than Eat Shoots and Leaves and Elements of Style? (With the vision issue recently diagnosed, now I know why she won't do anything with small print....) I do know she will appreciate witty! Silly thing also LOVED the Chicago Manual of Style, but I have visions of her looking at it all day...... maybe a future editor or writer???

 

The author is Lynn Truss. There is an illustrated edition which is nice, but you can get a non-illustrated for less.

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There is:

 

Eats, Shoots and Leaves calendar

Eats, Shoots and Leaves illustrated edition (hardback)

Eats, Shoots and Leaves Illustrated Edition, The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (paperback) **this one??

Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Why, commas really do make a difference

Eats, Shoots and Leaves:The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (this is probably the non-illustrated one).

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