grammar woes: keep it or kill it?

[hsingscrapper]

I have CGE and am suddenly very disgusted with it. Fury is a little ticked, too.

 

The lack of teaching support is not for my scatterbrained self. There is no clues on how to explain things nor is the lesson written in such a way to explain the "why" and "how" of participles to Fury.

 

What would you do? I am loathe to even look forward to using this for Dragon who's even more hooked on having a reason for things than Fury is!!

 

I have gone back to FLL 3 for Dragon and wishing I had FLL 4 on hand as he was working in CGE 4.

 

Do I try to trade it for something else or struggle through? FLL 4 will be too easy for Fury and, if we get the hardship donation, I'm considering Saxon Grammar after looking over the sample.

 

I'm so confused and frustrated that I just want to cry.

Edited September 27, 2012 by hsingscrapper
ETA: or do I keep it for extra practice? I don't really have the funds to ship it anywhere. :(

[Susie in MS]

I can't help you with this particular program, but my general rule is if anything brings forth blood, sweat or tears then it is not worth my time. There are too many choices and life is short. Hope you can get the hardship donation.

[Hunter]

What level did you start with?

[hsingscrapper]

Dragon was working in 4 before digging out FLL.

 

Fury is working in 6 but language is *not* his strong suit.

[Hunter]

The series was NOT written to be jumped into midstream, without--at the very least--the teacher having access to the lower level books.

 

I have the entire series. Material presented in lower levels is not repeated in upper levels. This series is meant to be completed lesson by lesson. It is not meant to be a resource that the teacher CHOOSES lessons from.

 

The series was written to be easy for teenaged teachers to teach in a multigrade classroom. The teacher is meant to be working ahead in the workbooks, so that she has done all lessons before the students.

 

The series is also quite advanced in some of the topics.

 

I always do at least some of the lessons in book 2 (and sometimes book 1) with all my students. To jump straight into book 6 isn't a good idea.

 

Are you wanting to use the series for just composition, or for all of English? When I'm sick, I tend to just have students use the workbooks as is, if someone is raring to go, and I'm not prepared to teach. When I'm well enough, I only use the composition exercises and work our way slowly from book 1 or 2 on up, taking our time.

 

Book 6 is very similar to book 5 and that is where students bottom out if they rushed through the earlier levels. If they didn't do the earlier levels at all, I can't even imagine. :001_huh:

 

The strength of this series is that it prepares a student to do HANDWRITTEN compositions, letters and reports. Most other curricula are all assuming a student will be using a computer and no longer teach the small but essential tools needed to write a handwritten assignment.

 

The lessons appear scattered, because the material is broken up into even daily lessons, but there is a definite and logical plan in place.

 

I'm a whole to parts person. I can get frustrated with the haphazard LOOKING lessons. So I keep looking at other curriculum, but always continue using CGE. It's weedy, but the best there is for my needs, and when I stick with it, the plants grow among the weeds just fine, and there is a good harvest. It is essential that the student is placed low enough though, and that the teacher has access to the lower levels and is very familiar with them.

[SilverMoon]

It doesn't sound like a good fit for any of you. A bad fit for a kid can often be tweaked to suit them better, but a general bad fit for mom just isn't worth using in my experience.

 

You might look at Rod and Staff's English instead. The teacher editions are awesome, hold your hand, make it easy. There's an oral quiz in there, a scripted plan for teaching the new concept, comprehensive answers to every problem, which occasionally have extra notes. The student texts have clear explanations in the lessons, a "class practice" section and a "written drill" section, followed by a review section. If that sounds like way too much, R&S expects you to pick and choose what is right for your situation. You don't have to do all of it, but it's there if you need it.