thowell Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Dd11 is just finishing up Winston Grammar Basic. While I feel like she has learned alot, she doesn't seem to be making the connections outside of the worksheets. I see no carry over into her writing. I was looking at this http://userpages.umbc.edu/~killgall/ and wondered how it would do as sort of a refresher course and help bridge the grammar concepts that she has learned into her writing. What do you ladies think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I really like Killgallon. It's been a real hit around here. We've only used Sentence Composing for Elementary School. I'm debating whether I want to go into Story Grammar or straight into the middle school sentence composing book or wait for that until next year. I do think it's excellent for grammar review. You see lots of interesting examples, in good writing, and have a chance to write your own. And, at the same time, it's low stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 :iagree::iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 We've been using Grammar for Middle School and it has been very challenging for my two oldest. I've noticed an almost immediate transfer into their own writing and it's been great for reinforcing all types of phrases. We just finished up the phrase lessons and are doing review and application practice over the next 2 weeks. After Christmas we will finish up with the clause section. I feel it has been a wonderfully inexpensive, easy and effective reinforcement, and supplement to our regular grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I really like alternating more traditional grammar study with more applied grammar/sentence writing. The one thing I'd say about doing Killgallon after Winston Basic is I'm not sure Winston covers all the more advanced grammatical concepts. I see prepositional phrases and appositives listed, but I think the student would find Killgallon quite a bit easier if he/she had already learned about participles, gerunds, and so on. My younger students probably won't start Killgallon until after completing MCT's "town" level for that reason. Oldest DD did Killgallon Story Grammar prior to MCT "town" and in retrospect, I think the order would've been much better the other way around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I really like alternating more traditional grammar study with more applied grammar/sentence writing. The one thing I'd say about doing Killgallon after Winston Basic is I'm not sure Winston covers all the more advanced grammatical concepts. I see prepositional phrases and appositives listed, but I think the student would find Killgallon quite a bit easier if he/she had already learned about participles, gerunds, and so on. My younger students probably won't start Killgallon until after completing MCT's "town" level for that reason. Oldest DD did Killgallon Story Grammar prior to MCT "town" and in retrospect, I think the order would've been much better the other way around. Do you think Story Grammar is necessary or could have dd11 jump right into Sentence Composing for Middle School? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I really like alternating more traditional grammar study with more applied grammar/sentence writing. The one thing I'd say about doing Killgallon after Winston Basic is I'm not sure Winston covers all the more advanced grammatical concepts. I see prepositional phrases and appositives listed, but I think the student would find Killgallon quite a bit easier if he/she had already learned about participles, gerunds, and so on. My younger students probably won't start Killgallon until after completing MCT's "town" level for that reason. Oldest DD did Killgallon Story Grammar prior to MCT "town" and in retrospect, I think the order would've been much better the other way around. Hmmm, you may be right. So what could I use to bring her skills up to level? I don't want to start something heavy as we are halfway through the year. She has covered all basic parts of speech well in Winston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I think it's better for DC to have exposure to those grammar concepts prior to Killgallon. I don't see Killgallon so much as teaching those concepts but just reinforcing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I think it's better for DC to have exposure to those grammar concepts prior to Killgallon. I don't see Killgallon so much as teaching those concepts but just reinforcing them. Any suggestions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Do you think Story Grammar is necessary or could have dd11 jump right into Sentence Composing for Middle School? I haven't used any of the Killgallon books marked "sentence composing", only Story Grammar and Grammar for Middle School. On the whole, I'd say the difficulty level of the exercises in the two books are actually fairly similar. The big difference is in the sources used for the model sentences. SG uses fairy tales and books aimed at a late elementary audience. G4MS draws on books aimed at a more mature audience, including Stephen King and Michael Crichton. The sentences themselves are innocuous, but I haven't felt comfortable allowing my DD to use the list in G4MS as inspiration for her free reading without running the specific books by me first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 I haven't used any of the Killgallon books marked "sentence composing", only Story Grammar and Grammar for Middle School. On the whole, I'd say the difficulty level of the exercises in the two books are actually fairly similar. The big difference is in the sources used for the model sentences. SG uses fairy tales and books aimed at a late elementary audience. G4MS draws on books aimed at a more mature audience, including Stephen King and Michael Crichton. The sentences themselves are innocuous, but I haven't felt comfortable allowing my DD to use the list in G4MS as inspiration for her free reading without running the specific books by me first. How did you feel about the level of Grammar in them? Do you think a student needs a thorough grammar instruction first or does the program take them from a beginning level of grammar to something deeper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 How did you feel about the level of Grammar in them? Do you think a student needs a thorough grammar instruction first or does the program take them from a beginning level of grammar to something deeper? I think that for both books, it's really best for the student to have had an introduction to the various phrases and clauses prior to starting Killgallon. Is it do-able without that? Yes, but it'll be a lot harder and I don't think the student will probably get as much out of the Killgallon book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thowell Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 Starting another thread to maybe get some ideas of how to cover these gaps without a whole program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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