Hake Grammar Retention Question

[Bloggermom]

Even though I have ready MOSTLY good things about Hake grammar, I have read a few reviews that say their kids didn't retain it. If you child has done at least a full year or more of Hake grammar, what has the retention been like? Is this something I should be concerned about?

[EKS]

My older son used Hake for two years. His retention was good over the summer between the books, but then we took a year off of grammar after the second year, and when we started up again, he didn't remember anything.

 

I should mention that he has dyslexia, so that tends to wreak havoc with his memory.

 

I do think that the continual review can mask a lack of real understanding. I think my son learned tricks to get him through the tests (which are just like the review sets), but he never really understood most of it, and thus, didn't retain it.

 

That said, I'm using Hake this year with his younger brother, so it can't be all bad. We'll see how it goes.

[pooh bear]

My ds is part way through Hake 6, after using Hake 5 and I have to say, it's not working.

 

He pass the tests no problem, but it is not passing over into his other work. And he still can not diagram a simple sentence.

 

Ds loves Saxon math, and was excited when he found out that the had a grammar book. Now he dreads grammar every day.

[cjbeach]

I wonder how much of it is just the subject itself? Grammar is just.so.dry.

 

I have often wanted to have a conversation with a long-term Shurley user to see if all of the jingles made a difference in retention. I have never tried Shurley but have wondered.

[Bloggermom]

I wonder how the retention is for Hake vs Analytical Grammar.

[EKS]

I wonder how the retention is for Hake vs Analytical Grammar.

 

Me too. I think we're going to try AG next year. I can't imagine doing Hake (or any one grammar program) for four years!

 

I do think there's something to be said for getting a bolus of information and following it with a trickle review (for lack of a better term). MCT does this also, and that approach was very successful with both of my children.

[JudyJudyJudy]

In my experience, grammar is like math in that you have to keep using it, or you lose it. I prefer to do a little grammar every year, reviewing what was learned the previous year, and adding on more and more each year. This is the way we were taught when I was in school (I graduated from high school in 1984), and the majority of us remembered it. You can't pack it all into a couple of years and expect most kids to remember it and apply it to their writing.

[Deniseibase]

I think it depends on the kid and their learning style. We are halfway through our second year of using Hake and I am THRILLED with the retention. She is not a 'word person' and retaining the rules of grammar was always, well, impossible for her before Hake. She remembers most things much better now - she still has a few 'blind spots', for instance, right now she does not seem to be able to remember what an appositive is to save her life :-) But I know she'll get it eventually because of the repetition with Hake.

 

Most importantly, she now applies grammar to her writing & it is much improved from before we started using Hake. She understands punctuation and rarely misuses it, and if she does make a mistake, if I point to it and say something like, "What happened here?", she can now look straight at it and immediately know what she did and how to correct it. The daily diagramming review has also helped her with her sentence structure tremendously.

 

It may not be for everyone - my DD VERY much has 'engineering brain' - rules and checklists and step-by-step is the way to go for her, especially with a subject she struggles with. Hake is very much in that category and it works great for her because of it. YMMV! :-)

[ChiMomNP]

Hake has been a lifesaver here! I'm thrilled to bits with his retention this year. He still struggles a little on prepositions, but he has so many other things down perfectly. His writing has really improved too.

[HSMom2One]

I'm not fully qualified to anwer since we haven't used Hake yet, but I'll tell you why we are going to use it next year FWIW...It's the spiral method. I can't imagine that it wouldn't help students retain what they've learned with the regular review that the spiral approach uses. But, like someone else said, it probably depends on the student. Grammar is dry and it's hard for kids to understand why they need it. I honestly think that the lack of desire to learn the subject leads to lower retention.

 

We've used Shurley, R&S and Easy Grammar over the years and now we are using the ALL samples. Out of these, I'd have to say that the year we spent with EG was the worst -- she didn't retain a thing that year! Now that ALL will not be available, I'm choosing Hake because of it's spiral method. I have been greatly impressed with the way this method has helped my dd in math this year, so I am going to go that direction with grammar too.

 

Again, FWIW...

 

Lucinda

[Ellie]

I hear (read :D ) that same comment all.the.time about every publisher there is for almost every subject.

 

I think some dc might "retain" information more than others right off the bat. I think sometimes dc are given stuff to learn that they are not yet ready to learn, and so they don't seem to "retain" it until they are older and by then are using something different, and so that particular method or product gets the credit for the children's retention. I think sometimes "retention" is cumulative, and that if people stick with one product or method, their dc will eventually get it anyway but without the muss and fuss along the way.

 

:D

 

If Hake looks good to you, use it. If not, don't. It will be fine either way. :)