FLL or R&S English? Help me decide

[pro31lady]

Both of these programs seem good. Tell me why you would choose one or the other.

 

Thanks!

[TheApprentice]

I can only speak for FLL3 and my ds enjoys this program. FLL3 is extremely scripted for the parent, it's teacher intensive, lots of interaction with the student, and a bit of worksheet work; but it isn't overmuch. I would think there would be less busy work with FLL3 considering R&S is meant for a classroom.

[miracleone]

We tried both and decided that FLL is gentle, more user friendly and not dry.

[boscopup]

I've used both at various levels and think both are good. You'll want to look at your teaching style and how well your kid learns grammar.

 

R&S:

 

 

• Thorough
  
• Repetitive
  
• Grade 2 is VERY simple - a lot of people skip it... it gets better in grade 3
  
• Repeats same info every year, so you can jump in at grade level up until about grade 5.
  
• A little light on grammar coverage in the younger years compared to FLL, though probably still more grammar than they might get at a public school.
  
• More writing involved. Some people do it completely orally, though I don't recommend that. I think it works best if you have the child do SOME writing to actually USE the grammar in the exercises.
  
• Hardback textbook written for a classroom (so you'll need to assign some of the exercises, not all of them).
  
• Not scripted for teacher, but very easy to teach from the TM. Review is built into the TM and some in the student text. The student text is usually thorough enough explanation to just teach from that, but you'll need the TM for the oral review.
  
• Teaching is done via short blurb in the beginning for you and your student to go over, some oral exercises, then written exercises that the child does on his/her own.
  
• Unabashedly Christian
  
• You will learn a lot about farming. :lol:
  

 

 

FLL:

 

 

• Thorough
  
• Repetitive in level 1 (R&S does not have a grade 1 to compare to)... 45 lessons on common vs. proper nouns.
  
• Includes poetry memorization and some basic narration practice.
  
• Repeats same info every year, so you can jump in at grade level.
  
• Has you "repeat 3 times" definitions of parts of speech - if your child doesn't need to repeat 3 times, don't. Repeating once was enough for us, since it gets reviewed often.
  
• When comparing the same level with R&S (2 through 4), FLL has more grammar concepts taught and moves a bit faster, yet it's still very gentle in how it does everything.
  
• Grades 1 and 2 are completely oral. Grades 3 and 4 have a workbook that the child fills in while you teach. The workbooks are still very little writing - filling in a word here or there, not writing sentences. My writing phobic child easily did FLL3 without complaint in grade 2.
  
• Paperback books... Grades 1 and 2 are just one book each, so not consumable. Grade 3 and 4 have a TM and a student worktext. The worktext is consumable (it's HUGE and on good quality thick paper, with perforated pages for easy tearing out).
  
• Scripted for parent.
  
• Review is built into the text. Each lesson often reviews previous material before introducing new material.
  
• Parent intensive - you are teaching the entire time. There is ZERO independent work with this.
  
• Sentences are on varied topics and are very interesting. She sometimes puts some humor in there. In FLL3, the child gets to stand up if a word is a proper noun and sit down if it's a common noun. My son LOVED that day and asked to do it again. Of course, in level 3, it's NOT 45 lessons... just 2 or 3 spread out. :D There are some other, occasional movement exercises or humor inserted in there, but it's not laughs and movement all day long, so it's nice when it comes up unexpected.
  
• Secular
  

 

 

Another thing to consider is that FLL only goes through level 4. You'll need to find something else for grade 5. That said, it's fine to switch grammar programs in the elementary years. Most of them repeat everything from the beginning. Some people do FLL 1-4, then switch over to R&S 5. Some do FLL 1-2 and switch to R&S 3. There are many options. I kind of swapped back and forth, looking for a good fit. So I've used FLL 1-3 and R&S 2-4, bits and pieces. I love R&S, but I would have a hard time teaching it day in and day out, year after year. DS1 gets grammar easily, so it's a bit TOO basic for him in the younger years (even R&S 4, I have to skip lessons for him as a 3rd grader). R&S gets more advanced around grade 5 or 6, I think. FLL was also easy for DS, but the slightly faster pace and more advanced topics (like predicate nominative and predicate adjective in grade 3) made it a better fit for him between the two. Now he's using KISS Grammar, which is even better, since it's much more difficult. I still use some R&S 4 for little fill-in lessons (like "raise" vs. "rise", "lay vs. lie", or just practice using the grammar by writing sentences).

 

So both are excellent and thorough. If your child is not an auditory learner, you'll want R&S. If your child is terrified of a pencil, FLL might be a better choice.

 

Oh, and R&S 2 is a bit heavy handed with using Bible verses (out of context) to scare children into using proper grammar. :lol: Grades 3 and 4 aren't like that.

[Mallory]

I do not require a lot of grammar (we don't do it every year), but I like using FLL for the younger years and R&S for the older years.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I do not require a lot of grammar (we don't do it every year), but I like using FLL for the younger years and R&S for the older years.

:iagree:

We are using FLL 2 because I didn't like the looks of R&S 2 and my oldest ist using R&S 4. We are loving both! Both are getting the job done well and my kids are actually enjoying it. Except for the writing assignments in R&S that is ;) My son hates to write for school, but could write you four pages in his journal happily if it's his idea :001_smile:

 

What grade were you thinking of?

[serinat]

...I like using FLL for the younger years and R&S for the older years.

:iagree:

[warneral]

I did fll3 last year and loved it. This year we are doing R&S4. I wanted the kids to have to draw their own diagrams. Overall I like it, but I think the kids preferred fll3 more

[Tess in the Burbs]

we did FLL for the younger years and are now doing R&S. I tried R&S after FLL 2 (back when 3 and 4 didn't exist) but my ds hated it. So after trying other things I finally got FLL 3 and it was a good fit. We are in R&S now with no issues. And I was surprised how well the writing instruction has been and haven't added to that yet.

[JESSICAinMD]

I have used both. I like FLL 1/2. FLL became too much writing for my kids. It started taking a long time. I switched to R&S. R&S is easier to some of it orally if you want. R&S goes all the way to 10th grade so I won't have to switch after elementary school. I miss the reading selections in FLL. I wish the upper levels were similar to FLL 1/2.