Speaking of Grammer...what do you think of Clas. Conv. Essentials Program?

[Ginger]

We are in CC this year, but not doing Essentials. A few families who were doing Essentials dropped it by mid-year. I'm considering it for next year...I like that they use IEW. But I've heard the grammar portion is extremely tough. Any opinions on it?

[Ginger]

nt

[G5052]

It is a very rigorous program. I've used Shurley, Rod and Staff, and A Beka at various times and it covers more ground than any of those. That said, it's a phased program -- you are not expected to get all of it the first year. The grammar is designed to have students do six tasks. The first task involves review drills, then tasks 2-6 involve taking 1-6 sentences and doing various tasks on them starting with dictation and ending with full word analysis (tense, person, etc.).

 

This was my 10 y.o.'s first year and he only does tasks 1-5 this year, next year he'll be doing all 6. His most recent background was Shurley, and he was very ready. My 8 y.o. will be in my class next year, and I'm figuring she'll do tasks 1-3 only.

 

If you try to do it all the first year, even with an older child, you'll both be in tears, trust me. We have two levels in our group, and I teach the lower one so my expectations are carefully adjusted to newcomers and I am constantly telling the parents that they must stress what the child knows and then add more knowledge in little bits. Other than one family that dropped out of CC entirely, we haven't lost any families in our Essentials Program.

[Ginger]

...is it like Foundations, where it is just being tutored, so to speak. Reviewed and the parents are expected to teach it?

I've pretty much resolved myself to just doing Latin next year...but if she could get grammar from Essentials, that would be a bonus.

The other thing I'd like to ask you is about how they teach IEW in Essentials. I want to do IEW next year. Would Essentials be enough? Do they teach it or again, is the parent supposed to teach it?

If I'm having to the teaching, I think I'd prefer just to do it myself at home at our own pace and not do Essentials. But if they are getting the lesson/teaching there then by all means, I'd love someone to take that off my plate.

[G5052]

The first 45 minutes or so I teach the Essentials lesson which varies every time. I usually have a challenge for them to do when they come in for a treat (writing a punctuation rule from memory, writing a sentence from a diagram, etc.), then I lecture some, have them practice some, and sometimes we play a game -- all on the specific lesson content. The moms usually ask more questions than the kids (smile). The moms are responsible for working on the appropriate tasks at home.

 

Then the next 45 minutes is IEW. That varies too. Sometimes I have kids read what they wrote, sometimes I lecture on the specific model we're using, sometimes we practice an IEW unit with a short example, and sometimes we play a game on IEW concepts. The moms supervise the IEW assignment at home. I read and comment on anything that is turned in. Not every child turns in their assignments, which is fine.

 

Finallly the last 30 minutes are logic and math games.

[Ginger]

Thank you. So would you say it is sufficient (or even more than sufficient) for a 5th grader to cover grammar and writing? As in, would I still have to add to it at home--other than any assignments given in class?

[G5052]

I use SWO instead of their spelling. Because CC is only 24 weeks, I do use other language arts programs to fill the rest of the school year, but not everyone does that. My oldest (5th grade) has done BJUP English 5, one grammar and one writing lesson per day. It's mostly independent and it's easy for him. I haven't decided yet what I'll do for him after he finishes it because it will probably cover more than a year. My younger one is going to do CLE Language Arts with Writing Trails in between.