Did you stick with Easy Grammar?

[ChrissySC]

I wanted something that really worked with the POS as a whole to parts, whereas parts to whole seem to be more of the approach in R&S. I am not so sure that this is working as well this time for "little fish".

 

Have you stuck with this? Do your children have a good grasp of the parts of speech? I do not mean can they diagram, but do they know what a prep, noun, adjective, or any clause is?

 

I want to know what you thought good or bad. If it was tedious and boring or not comprehensive enough please let me know and explain why. It may still work for what I feel we need. :)

 

God bless our kids ... they are all so different!:lol:

[laughing lioness]

My oldest dd used it years ago.Went through the whole thing. Knew very little about actual grammar at the end. It's a good overview if you have the time and inclination to just kinda go over stuff without acutally learning it. As in the kid knows what they know learning.

My dd knew what a noun and verb were but did not know what all of the preps were because they can always refer to the list. She did not know all 8 parts of speech, she did not know a clause.

I attribute this to the program. It's Easy Grammar cause it's so easy and does not demand enough from the student.

[Ellie]

Younger dd completed all of the red book, which was the first one published. :-) The grammar stuck with her, but then we tend to talk good in our home. :lol: If I were hsing again today, we would be using Easy Grammar. It was my favorite.

[mcconnellboys]

My older son used Abeka grammar all the way through. He was a natural writer and grammarian, however. He never had any problems.

 

My younger son has many problems with writing/grammar, and while he plugged through three years of Abeka, he just wasn't getting it. It was too much information and he just was not internalizing it. I felt that I needed something a lot simpler, more focused on one thing at a time, more remedial, even.

 

I did initially switch from Abeka to Rod and Staff in seventh, thinking that I would go through the lesson orally with him and then let him do the extra written work, and that might help him. The lessons were so extremely long and drawn out, however, that pulling out the book made us both want to cry every day. After a few weeks, I simply put it away (first time ever doing that in all my years of hsing).

 

I ordered Easy Grammar and actually divided up the book to use for both the remainder of seventh and again for eighth grade with the last half of the exercises. I thought that the review the following year would help him, too. We are using it that way this year, for eighth, and I also later bought the new Ultimate series book that came out for eighth grade. It provides a variety of daily review topics in a short, painless lesson. I believe this method is actually working for him!

[MerryAtHope]

I didn't try it until my kids were 6th & 8th. My son did about half of it, but I wanted to move on to a writing focus this year, so he's doing that instead of grammar. Not sure if I'll hit grammar again for him.

 

My dd did half of it in 6th & is working through it this year also (Easy Grammar Plus is what I got for both kids). I like it a lot. My kids know the prepositions because I made them memorize them--that's the first thing in the book & we didn't go on until they could recite them all. (I memorized them too!). I think she's learning from it.

 

Merry :-)

[Ellie]

Has been used off and on in this house for 3 years with satisfying results. Clearly my standards are lower than some people's.

:confused: Why would you say that? :confused:

[Guest]

I am another naysayer. Mine didn't learn a thing, and it actually confused them. FLL taught them more.

[PentecostalMom]

We used BJU & Abeka for grammar. We did use EG's Daily Grams and liked them. I tried EG, but it was not enough review for ds to "get it".

[ChrissySC]

Hmmm ....

 

I do not subscribe to the whole language approach so I directly isolate and teach grammar. However, looking for a subject in a sentence full of clauses has become a problem.

 

Keeping in mind that we are entering the fifth book of R&S's English series, would the methods used in EG prove to enhance the grammatical instruction? be an asset to identification and isolation of the parts of the sentence for diagramming?

 

Do you think perhaps Winston Grammar would prove to be a better resource for working with the whole sentence?

 

I know that this is in contradiction to how we approach writing here - parts to whole - but I see where the weakness is and feel that choosing to approach from the back is better than the front. Perhaps maybe I am looking for something that is not so isolated or confined for the lesson?

 

Need input. Help me think this through.

[Ellie]

Hmmm ....

 

I do not subscribe to the whole language approach so I directly isolate and teach grammar. However, looking for a subject in a sentence full of clauses has become a problem.

 

Keeping in mind that we are entering the fifth book of R&S's English series, would the methods used in EG prove to enhance the grammatical instruction? be an asset to identification and isolation of the parts of the sentence for diagramming?

 

Do you think perhaps Winston Grammar would prove to be a better resource for working with the whole sentence?

 

I know that this is in contradiction to how we approach writing here - parts to whole - but I see where the weakness is and feel that choosing to approach from the back is better than the front. Perhaps maybe I am looking for something that is not so isolated or confined for the lesson?

 

Need input. Help me think this through.

I have used Easy Grammar and R&S simultaneously for children in my little school, who *desperately* needed as much grammar as they could get. It seemed to work well for us. Don't underestimate the value of learning to recognize prepositional phrases and marking them out first!

 

I also think that perhaps some have given up on EG too soon. I could be wrong, but if we are going to do grammar for as many years as SWB says we should, then why would we expect our dc to be grammar whizzes after just one year of EG? (although for some dc, one year is enough).

 

Winston Grammar was an epic fail in our house. :ack2:

[JudoMom]

I wanted something that really worked with the POS as a whole to parts, whereas parts to whole seem to be more of the approach in R&S. I am not so sure that this is working as well this time for "little fish".

 

Have you stuck with this? Do your children have a good grasp of the parts of speech? I do not mean can they diagram, but do they know what a prep, noun, adjective, or any clause is?

 

I want to know what you thought good or bad. If it was tedious and boring or not comprehensive enough please let me know and explain why. It may still work for what I feel we need. :)

 

God bless our kids ... they are all so different!:lol:

 

I tried using it last year with my boys. It was a complete and total flop. The older 3 asked to go back to Rod & Staff, and told me they weren't learning a thing.

 

What about adding Daily Grams to Rod & Staff?

[JessReplanted]

We used it for 2nd grade (last year) and I also supplemented with MCT's Grammar Island (occasionally).

 

I did not stick with it.

 

I liked Easy Grammar b/c my son could just open it up and do the next lesson. But, I didn't feel like he retained much.

 

I honestly think that the only things my son remembers from last year's Grammar lessons were the things we read about and discussed from Grammar Island.

 

This year we are using R&S. Although it feels more tedious, I think it is much more thorough.

[Walking-Iris]

My ds finished Easy Grammar 3 before Christmas break. I love it! It is clear and concise with just enough review and repetition. We're really looking forward to taking what he's learned and applying it this next term in his writing.

 

I'm super pleased with this grammar program and will use it again. It was his favorite part of the school day. I personally see no point in making grammar more complex or pedantic than it needs to be.

 

I did not like the Daily Grams. I found those to be distracting and too much busywork. I've switched to using an Evan Moor Daily Language Review book instead. It's perfect to keep skills sharp throughout the remainder of the year.

 

I would say that I personally don't believe a program can contribute to a child not learning---it's how it's used or not used. Easy Grammar does have lists of prepositions, auxiliary verbs, etc. to refer to, but the teacher's book clearly states that they need to memorize them and I would suggest a child not look back when they do a cumulative review or test.

 

If you want something really flashy and colorful, with some sort of gimmicks involved. Or something that would give your family the appearance of having a child genius, maybe Easy Grammar isn't for you. :lol:

[Ellie]

We used it for 2nd grade (last year) and I also supplemented with MCT's Grammar Island (occasionally).

 

I did not stick with it.

 

I liked Easy Grammar b/c my son could just open it up and do the next lesson. But, I didn't feel like he retained much.

 

I honestly think that the only things my son remembers from last year's Grammar lessons were the things we read about and discussed from Grammar Island.

 

This year we are using R&S. Although it feels more tedious, I think it is much more thorough.

I wonder how much grammar any 7yo child would retain. :-)

[Walking-Iris]

I have used Easy Grammar and R&S simultaneously for children in my little school, who *desperately* needed as much grammar as they could get. It seemed to work well for us. Don't underestimate the value of learning to recognize prepositional phrases and marking them out first!

 

I also think that perhaps some have given up on EG too soon. I could be wrong, but if we are going to do grammar for as many years as SWB says we should, then why would we expect our dc to be grammar whizzes after just one year of EG? (although for some dc, one year is enough).

 

 

:iagree::iagree:

 

Also I don't think children need to be left alone to do Easy Grammar independently. I sat down with my ds every lesson and we talked it out and I answered his questions, and reviewed where needed etc.

 

I looked at MCT and I knew right away it wouldn't work for my ds. I didn't even feel like it was a very good "story" and lacked hands on writing.

 

I also like how quickly children can move through EG and then get to the point---start writing and using what they've learned. There are so many cumulative reviews in EG that it should become apparent quickly where a child needs more work---so go back to that lesson/unit and work on it.

[Mallorie]

A little tongue in cheek.;)

 

 

But a little truthful. I can probably imagine a life in which my children can not define gerund. Tho I can not imagine a life in which my children will not outgrow childish misusage of some words and phrases.

 

My middle has grown out of one silly one and I cant remember it and it sort of hurts my heart. It wasnt putted. (Like I putted that away) but something similar. I will miss it.

 

:iagree: My ds#2 didn't talk until he was 4, so major speech delay. I remember being very anxious through those years of speech therapy. Now, in 5th grade, he speaks clearly and you wouldn't guess what his early years were like. But, he has one mis-use that I just find endearing. Instead of "mine" he will say "mines". I know he will outgrow it, and we do correct his language when necessary. But that one, I will admit, I don't correct nearly as often as the rest. It reminds me how far he's come.

 

Grammar, well, i'm currently stressing out about it, so I am listening to this thread with interest. I want them to speak and write well, I want them to have a foundation. But I know that the minute they pass necessary tests on it, they will kick it out of their brainspace to make room for something more interesting. ;)

[ChrissySC]

Precisely.

 

I also like how quickly children can move through EG and then get to the point---start writing and using what they've learned.

 

 

 

This is why I thought that the EG in combination with the R&S instruction might prove better. I don't see proof of grammar instruciton in her writing.

[Bloggermom]

If you are looking for something that is independent, yet is through and rigorous try CLE Language Arts http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/3

[ChrissySC]

If you are looking for something that is independent, yet is through and rigorous try CLE Language Arts http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/3

 

 

Looking for something that helps with clause and pos identification for diagramming and sentence contstruction.

 

TY for the link. :001_smile: