R&S English users - when to stop and what next?

[Meredith]

Hi all,

 

If you did R&S English, through what grade level did you use it? What did you transition to next? Do you need grammar in high school? In retrospect, were you glad that you used it and did you feel the need to supplement it?

 

TIA!

[Colleen in NS]

Hi all,

 

If you did R&S English, through what grade level did you use it? What did you transition to next? Do you need grammar in high school? In retrospect, were you glad that you used it and did you feel the need to supplement it?

 

TIA!

 

My son has used R&S 3-8, and is almost done with 8. I plan for him to continue on with both 9/10 books, but do them in one year (grade 9). We will leave out about half the lessons, which are writing lessons (using other writing program). The 9/10 books are mostly review, with a few new concepts introduced. Therefore, I am pretty confident that grammar won't bog us down next year, lol! It will be mostly a review year; after that, he can refer to the R&S Handbook while he's doing writing assignments.

 

Yes, I am glad we used it - it's very thorough; and though the proselytizing is annoying to us, we manage to extract grammar learning (and use the proselytizing as fodder for discussing persuasive writing techniques). My son "blamed" me a few months ago for "teaching me to think too clearly - I can't read a book now without analyzing the sentences." :lol:

 

No, I felt no need to supplement. He just uses his grammar knowledge in his writing, and I use it to help him edit his writing.

 

I can't believe we are almost done with grammar study. I just started First Language Lessons with him...yesterday?....:)

[Kathy in Richmond]

We stopped with R&S 8 in middle school. That was enough for us, and it stuck pretty well. Looking back, we're glad that we used R&S.

 

For high school English, our emphasis changed to literature and composition, with grammar surfacing only where needed (corrections, mostly, or to point out an interesting construct). Once a year I had my kids read through The Elements of Style, though, to keep it all fresh.

 

If your kids are taking foreign languages, they'll continue to study lots of grammar in that context. No end of grammar via Latin around here!

[Colleen in NS]

Once a year I had my kids read through The Elements of Style, though, to keep it all fresh.

 

Oh yes, I plan to do this, too - probably grades 10-12. Ha, just this morning when ds was complaining again about feeling preached at through R&S, I told him about The Elements of Style and how it is much more interesting to read.

[Kathy in Richmond]

Oh yes, I plan to do this, too - probably grades 10-12. Ha, just this morning when ds was complaining again about feeling preached at through R&S, I told him about The Elements of Style and how it is much more interesting to read.

 

Laughing here...I told my dd that if she balked at re-reading The Elements of Style yet again, I'd break out the copy of R&S 9 that I had sitting on the shelf.:D

[bugs]

We completed 3 -8 (ds finishing up this year) of R&S and then read Elements of Style. I also have the kids use the Stewart English Program (less than 30 min per week) which is a good review. I am very glad we used R&S.

[Tattarrattat]

After reading so much about R&S English, I couldn't resiste and purchased a set last night after I saw the 10% discount on rodandstaffbooks website. :) I think it runs through April 13. I like the content myself. We'll see if the kids like it too. ;)

[Meredith]

OK, thanks everyone! My dd has done R&S English 3-7 and I was just mulling over doing R&S 8 (since there is a 10% discount now). Love the patterns in your responses. I will for sure go through 8. She is stronger in math/science than language arts. That being said, I think it is good to err on the side of being more thorough with grammar. Also, she scored very well this past year on the SAT multiple choice writing portion as a 7th grader, even though language arts is her weaker subject, and I credit that to R&S.

 

I can't believe we are almost done with grammar study. I just started First Language Lessons with him...yesterday?....:)

 

It goes so fast, doesn't it? One moment, you are a newbie homeschooling mom, and the next moment, you are a veteran! Very strange!

 

Once a year I had my kids read through The Elements of Style, though, to keep it all fresh.

 

OK! Seems like we all agree on The Element of Style. Thanks!

[Colleen in NS]

Laughing here...I told my dd that if she balked at re-reading The Elements of Style yet again, I'd break out the copy of R&S 9 that I had sitting on the shelf.:D

 

:lol::lol:

 

I will for sure go through 8.

 

:thumbup: It will help cement everything she has learned in Book 7! To me, 4 reinforces 3, 6 reinforces 5, and 8 reinforces 7.

[Kendall]

I stopped after 8 as well. I like Rhetorical Grammar by Kolln and plan to use it with my next child in 9th and apply it to writing. I used it some with my oldest and he liked it well enough to ask for a copy to take to college. The grammar section in Strunk and White is helpful, but I wouldn't want the style portions to be the only input on style that they had. I really like the look of Writing with Clarity and Style by Harris. It teaches figures of speech. It is kind of expensive even used, so I got it through ILL first and then decided I wanted it. Someone else mentioned it recently here on the high school board.