When do you start formal grammar?

[kristinannie]

I am struggling with when to tackle formal grammar with my kids. A part of me thinks it is good to start early and have them learn gently. Another part of me thinks I should wait until they are a little older when they can easily understand it. As a person who never had formal grammar (thank you PS), I would love to hear your responses.

[Barb_]

When they are reading fluently...3rd-4th grade reading level.

[chepyl]

I did not have a solid grammar education until 6th grade. I wish my teachers had done more in the early years. I do remember the few grammar lessons I did have in elementary school. Always oral, sitting around the teacher on the floor with a mini cardboard. We are starting now, In first grade and my son really likes it. It is not hard, but were are learning the terminology of English grammar. We are using R&S 2.

[chepyl]

My son does read at a 3rd-4th grade level and has been reading well for over a year, if that makes a difference to anyone. We did not do grammar before we were reading consistently.

[BigMamaBird]

We started in first grade using Growing with Grammar. It's a great fit for us!

[nansk]

We started in first grade because dd is strong in languages and because her school started grammar this year too. If she was fully homeschooled and was not as strong in languages, I would wait until third grade.

[Ellyndria]

I put 1st grade, but I started DS on grammar last year when he was technically kindergarten age. He was reading well, had completed OPGTR a few months earlier, and using FLL1 just seemed like the next logical step. If I had more children I would probably use FLL1 in 1st (unless they were ready in K). It was very gentle and easy. If FLL did not exist, I would probably wait until 3rd grade.

[Momling]

Learning to read is tricky enough... start grammar when your kids are reading pretty well and no longer need reading instruction. Of course, *talk* about language all the time... but doing a formal program? I'd wait.

[Mommyfaithe]

We begin in first grade. We learn nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and articles. We learn how to diagram nouns and verbs. We learn to speak and write in complete sentences.

 

I use CLE LA.

 

Faithe

[EKS]

I chose "other" because I do it when the child is reading well (or 1st grade, whichever comes second). So for the older one this meant 5th grade and for the younger one it was 1st grade.

[veggiegal]

My kids do some grammar starting from grade 1--mainly to expose them to it and get them comfy with the subject, but I don't get too fussed or serious about it until grade 4, when our focus turns to writing instead of reading. My 9 year old is loving GWG this year, something I only learned about recently from this board.

[OK Family]

This has been a big question for me too. My oldest is now in third. I haven't done any formal grammar because I was unsure of what to do. Last year I started my son on daily language review just to do

something. We would constantly come across something he couldn't do and I would teach a mini lesson. I haven't been real happy with this method so I've done some digging this year. We are just starting IEW's Student Writing Intensive A, which sounds advanced and difficult. I was able to view the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style videos in the fall and new I loved the system but was not very confident of myself. The IEW SWI-A DVDs do the teaching for you. Anyway, I have listened to the free audio downloads from IEW which does a good job explaining the inEffectivenes of grammar workbooks, and children learn correct language patterns in other ways. It was very helpful to me!

[momto2Cs]

I chose other because I am really getting into it this year with two children, ages 8 and 10. We're using a variety of resources: GrammarLand with the free printouts, The Sentence Family, and Ruth Heller's World of Language series. None of these would fill an entire year, so I am combining them in sort of units.