Next year we're throwing away grammar...

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

I have decided that next year we are throwing away grammar...well not really, but at least the approach we have used this year. It's driving me nuts.

 

Initially, I had planned to use the Brave Writer, which I understand is kind of a classical approach? Then at the last minute I chickened out and ended up ordering an automated program which is horrible, and filling in with Worldly Wise (not bad), and Hot Fudge Monday's (also not bad).

 

I just hate the entire concept of making my daughter sit down to "DO" grammar work.

 

How does the classical approach work, is copy work always included? Can it primarily focus on reading and discussion? How much required writing must a child do?

 

Honestly, right now we are doing "okay", but grammar always feels like an interruption to our day. We love math and science...could we just use Story of Science next year and pay attention to the commas? lol...:001_huh:

 

Thoughts?

[stripe]

Initially, I had planned to use the Brave Writer, which I understand is kind of a classical approach? Then at the last minute I chickened out and ended up ordering an automated program which is horrible, and filling in with Worldly Wise (not bad), and Hot Fudge Monday's (also not bad).

 

I just hate the entire concept of making my daughter sit down to "DO" grammar work.

 

How does the classical approach work, is copy work always included? Can it primarily focus on reading and discussion? How much required writing must a child do?

Why not go back to Bravewriter?

 

I don't think it's typically classical, whatever that means, though.

 

I think it would help you incorporate grammatical discussions into your study of language minus the workbooks you're not liking.

[5LittleMonkeys]

My 4th grader does not do a separate formal grammar, nor will my two younger dc. I used formal grammar with my two oldest and hated it. Every year going over the same concepts again and again...ugh...it made me want to rip my eyeballs out.

 

I am using Analytical Grammar with my 7th grader right now. I'm using it as a tool to shore up all the ineffective formal programs she's used in the past and to improve her writing. After each new concept is covered she focuses on that concept in her writing, as well as previous concepts, for the next week. She is purposefully using what she learns in her own writing and so retains it so much better.

 

However, I don't think I will even need AG with my younger dc after teaching grammar the way I have been this year. I haven't started grammar in depth with ds6 yet, but my 4th, dd9, is doing exceptionally well with grammar concepts taught within the context of Latin and composition. Each day when we do composition we go over parts of speech, phrases, clauses, sentence structure, and punctuation. It's just a natural extension of learning how to write well. For that matter, we also cover spelling and vocabulary during composition. It's all inclusive.

 

I love teaching this way. We are able to spend so much more time on her actually writing instead of on separate grammar, spelling, vocabulary and writing. Last year we spent so much time on those separate components that she never had time to actually write so never was able to practice using what she was trying to learn.

 

Ds6, 1st grade, is learning about the basic parts of speech and punctuation when we do copywork. I use WWE in addition to well written, interesting sentences out of books we are reading. He uses colored pencils to circle the nouns, verbs and adjectives right now as well as tell me why the ending punctuation is what it is.

 

I don't know how purely classical our approach is. It was mostly born of my experience with Classical Writing, IEW, Classical Composition, reading about LCC, and listening to Peduwa speak about teaching grammar out of context. I wish I had started teaching this way earlier as it would have saved me and my two oldest dc a lot of frustration.

[Momling]

Study grammar in the context of writing mechanics... Or study it in the context of learning a foreign language or study it to learn about linguistics... But there is no need to make grammar it's own subject.

[Farrar]

I like Bravewriter's approach to grammar - teaching it through the copywork and dictations. Basically what we've done in that vein is to do a weekly dictation or copywork from a book we're reading currently and choose a passage that covers something we need to work on then go over the things in that passage as we do the copywork/dictation. That's it.

 

And I'll second that Grammar with a Giggle is good, though I don't use the book anymore (I had it ages ago when I taught middle school) but rather the method of having an ongoing story that you slowly correct works nicely.

 

We do a little of this and that for grammar and I like not having a single big program and just spiraling around the topics. We are reading Grammarland, which is fun. I have some worksheets on hand to practice some things here and there - I got Grammar Cop from Scholastic on one of the dollar days sales and it's simple and fine for really basic practice. I had never seen Hot Fudge Monday though. I like the look of that.