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Somebody make me stick with MCT Island


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I really want to like it. The kids think it is fine. We are only a bit into Grammar Island, so not really enough to tell. But I kind of dread getting it out.

 

When I'm reading it, I feel like it isn't in order somehow. Like it is too meandering? It is hard to put words to how I feel about it. Why are we learning articles when we haven't learned about verbs yet? Why so many tangents along the way?

 

I know the illustrations shouldn't bother me, but I don't like them at all. I don't want to say they are ugly, but to me they are.

 

Is this going to get better? I know many people just love MCT. Make me love it! :D

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Well, it's obviously not a grammar workbook. It's more like an Immersion Experience. You just have to enjoy the ebbs and flows and let the illustrations wash over you. I'm kinda workbooky myself, so I had to view it as a different sort of experience in order to get comfortable with it. My son loved it, and so did I!

 

But if I wanted it to be a misshapen grammar workbook I probably would've hated it.

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Um...you already paid for it, so use it! :tongue_smilie: I actually have Ariel read the book instead of me doing it, for some reason that makes it less of a chore for me, because I just interject some discussion and she retains the information better than listening to me read it. We're only part of the way through Grammar Island, too, but she really likes it, plus it was expensive! (For comparison, I paid all of $5 for ILL which I'm planning to alternate with MCT to stretch both out to more than a year.) I'll feel like a failure if we don't use this curriculum that I spent literally months trying to decide whether to buy.

 

I'm not sure that helps in any way, but that's as motivating as I can be at nearly 11PM. :lol:

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Um...you already paid for it, so use it! :tongue_smilie:

 

Ha ha! That is exactly why I want someone to make me love it - so I won't feel bad about spending so much money on it. :lol:

 

Crimson Wife, I completely know what you mean! I'm glad to hear it is still worth it, though.

 

Trish, I really wasn't looking for a grammar workbook. But I was hoping it would build in a more logical order, I guess. Maybe it will make more sense as we keep going.

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I was hoping it would build in a more logical order, I guess. Maybe it will make more sense as we keep going.

 

Not that I've seen, but I haven't yet done "voyage" except for CE2 so there is a remote possibility :tongue_smilie:

 

I think the problem is that MCT's brain works in a different way than mine. I *LOVE* the organization of something like FLL or Warriner's where the student studies one topic thoroughly, then moves on to the next one in a systematic, logical fashion. The problem is that FLL and Warriner's don't have the engaging "story" format of MCT. :(

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See, I don't even agree that the story is engaging. It's boring. My ds thinks it's boring. OP, I don't know what to tell you except that loads of people told me to get into Sentence Island and then re-evaluate. So I would at least suggest the same for you. (and to be honest, we're halfway through Sentence Island now and we've decided to ditch MCT).

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Why are we learning articles when we haven't learned about verbs yet? Why so many tangents along the way? :D

 

I don't feel that part is out of order or that there are tangents. I think it is organized differently than you may be used to, but there is definitely a consistent organizational theme throughout the grammar books. He uses that picture with the circles as his organizational theme. Most grammar books I've seen introduce topics in order of importance, so nouns and verbs are studied first. With MCT, he organizes it by relationships. MCT has it divided so that he covers nouns and all their modifiers first, then verbs and all of their modifiers second. Articles and other adjectives always go with nouns, so that's why they are taught before going to verbs. Later, he will cover prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections, according to their relationships with nouns and verbs.

 

I don't know if you will love it or not, but it's an easy and quick read. If your child likes it, then you can just say to yourself that it will all be over in a couple weeks and then you can move on. The practice part is easy and the vocab and poetry are nothing like the grammar part. You probably won't like the writing portion as it is very similar to Grammar Island, but it is also organized by relationships and is a quick read.

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I admit to not liking MCT Island at first. I just didn't quite get it or something. I stuck with it and I ended up loving it.

 

:iagree: Same story here.

 

It was actually my little man who got it first and then I began to see, dare I say, the beauty of it... through him. There are things I don't like about MCT's language arts, but for us... the good outweigh the bad at this point. Now that being said, I only use MCT as a supplement, and would never use it as a stand alone grammar program.

 

Well, it's obviously not a grammar workbook. It's more like an Immersion Experience. You just have to enjoy the ebbs and flows and let the illustrations wash over you. I'm kinda workbooky myself, so I had to view it as a different sort of experience in order to get comfortable with it. My son loved it, and so did I!

 

:iagree: What she said, an Immersion Experience. This is exactly why we like it, but as a supplement.

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