Greta Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My 13yo, 7th grader, has been using Growing with Grammar this year, but she informed me today that she really wants a more rigorous, complete, challenging curriculum. She aspires to be a writer, and feels that this program isn't adequately covering the things she needs to understand. So, what grammar program would you use for a future writer? (We are using Writing with Skill for composition, in case that matters.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 I would go through MCT's Grammar Voyage and then do Hake Grammar 7. Then I'd repeat with Magic Lens 1 and Hake Grammar 8. Or you could just do ML1 and Hake 8 if you only want one rotation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in IN Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Second vote for Hake! We love it here and there is PLENTY of Grammar to be had with it. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Thanks Kai! Once she's in high school, we'll be doing online or correspondence school or something, so I won't be chosing her curriculum any more. That means I've got one and a half school years ahead of us in which to do this (the rest of 7th and all of 8th). So what sequence would you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Thanks Kai! Once she's in high school, we'll be doing online or correspondence school or something, so I won't be chosing her curriculum any more. That means I've got one and a half school years ahead of us in which to do this (the rest of 7th and all of 8th). So what sequence would you recommend? Magic Lens 1 followed by Hake 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I hate recommending expensive things, but...have you looked at Cozy Grammar? I pulled this out recently for my own self-education and have used it in the past with ESL students with success. I haven't been using it much lately with LD students because...I don't know...video just puts them into a frame of mind that isn't conducive to grammar improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Have you considered Rod & Staff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 I hate recommending expensive things, but...have you looked at Cozy Grammar? I pulled this out recently for my own self-education and have used it in the past with ESL students with success. I haven't been using it much lately with LD students because...I don't know...video just puts them into a frame of mind that isn't conducive to grammar improvement. I haven't heard of this one before, so I will check it out! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Have you considered Rod & Staff? Yes, I wondered if it would get recommended! I've heard that its pretty advanced, and that I probably shouldn't start her at grade level. Would you agree? Or do they have a placement test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Yes, I wondered if it would get recommended! I've heard that its pretty advanced, and that I probably shouldn't start her at grade level. Would you agree? Or do they have a placement test? since your daughter already has a foundation grammar and diagramming then I would say go ahead and put her in at grade level otherwise you can start a year "behind". Milestoneministries.com has sample that you could check out and see. I do not believe they have a placement test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 Thank you, Kay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Magic Lens 1 followed by Hake 8. Kai, I'm wondering if you prefer Hake to the Kilgallon stuff? This may be apples and oranges, though; the Kilgallon is very writing-focused I think and not so straight-up grammar ... at any rate, Kilgallon comes to mind for me RE teaching a writer, but I haven't used it yet, just own it and have looked through it. Button's still too little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 I actually have been planning to use Killgallon with her, but I was thinking of it as more of a supplement rather than a complete program. Am I wrong, though? I've never seen it in person, just heard good things about it. It's on my Christmas wish list. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 I actually have been planning to use Killgallon with her, but I was thinking of it as more of a supplement rather than a complete program. Am I wrong, though? That's how I've used Killgallon, as a supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 Another vote for MCT. It is brilliant. Especially if she aspires to be writer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedgehogs4 Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Analytical Grammar is great. Extremely thorough. She will parse and diagram to her heart's content, as well as learn the entire body of Grammatical knowledge in a very efficient way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 AG looks wonderful! Thanks for reminding me about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HecticMama Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I'm a second vote for Rod and Staff. She will learn a lot about putting sentences together, and how they work. It is very specific, especially as you get into the higher grades. We are currently using R&S 7, and it definitely requires a lot of thought. We also use Kilgallon as a supplement, but that is really for children to get a feel for modeling excellent writing examples. It doesn't really teach the grammar behind it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeinfl Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 I would recommend Analytical Grammar or Rod and Staff for rigor. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Thank you both. The more people who chime in, the better! I asked Kay (above) about placement in R&S. Would either of you have anything to add on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 The Stewart English Program by Donald S. Stewart is a three book series that is very writer-friendly. Most of the exercises involve the creation of original sentences or parts of sentences that fit certain grammatical patterns. Book 3 Writing Plus is excellent in this respect. It has exercises such as: "Complete the following sentences by inserting adverb clauses where indicated, as either bound or free modifiers" and "For each of the following sets of sentences, use the first sentence as your base clause. Then develop one or more absolute phrases, incorporating the information given in the remaining sentences." Image Grammar 2nd Edition by Henry Noden is also good for a writer wishing to use advanced grammatical constructs in her writing. It is not a workbook like Stewart. I would introduce it after Stewart or Hake or Analytical Grammar. Rex Barks: Diagramming Sentences Made Easy by Phyllis Davenport is full of excellent diagramming exercises to supplement the more "writerly" curricula I've listed above. We also like Hake and what we've seen of Analytical Grammar. They don't have the creative component of Stewart or Image Grammar though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 Thank you Kalmia! That does sound like something that my creative-writer daughter would like. I'll take a look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I wouldn't use R&S or any multilevel program, when you are looking for something designed to be completed in 1 1/2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Learning English With the Bible is a possible option. I've used it on and off over the decades. It's not whoohoo great, but it's usable. It's pretty concise, but complete, IF mom knows the material. Some new Christians get a little frustrated with some of the open ended assignments that don't have a model answer in the TM. These series doesn't get high marks for retention, from families that have used it, as a quick open-and-go curriculum. It works better when mom continues to use it as a handbook and applies it to composition, inductive Bible study, and foreign language assignments. But with 1 1/2 years, anything designed to be completed in that period would of necessity not be something that would be rated as high for retention. Another idea would be to pick a grammar TOPIC to concentrate on, rather than looking at grammar as a whole. For example, punctuation is best studied AFTER a full understanding of parts of speech and sentence structure, but it CAN be tackled with noticeable student improvement with curricula that doesn't have a prerequisite of those topics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 12, 2012 Author Share Posted December 12, 2012 I was thinking that AG might fit well into our 1-1/2 years, but I also like the creative writing aspect of Stewart (or more to the point, daughter would like it), but Learning English with the Bible also looks good. My head is spinning so maybe I'll let daughter choose! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Have you looked at CLE? It is very similar to Rod and Staff but is in a workbook format. My oldest dd used Rod and Staff from 4th through 10th grades. But my other children found copying everything tedious. I love CLE! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satori Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 I was also considering Analytical Grammar, was hoping to hear more mention of that one. We're happily using GWG, starting GWG5 this month, but I feel the need for something more for my daughter is advanced in language arts. I've had Analytical Grammar in mind for awhile, or maybe Junior Analytical Grammar, as she's just eight yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 We have used CLE before, and returning to it is a definite possibility. The only thing we didn't like about it was that since it's an entirely workbook based format, when there was a topic that she needed to refer back to, it was kind of hard to find the specific material she was looking for. But I felt the program was really thorough, and she feels like she learned a lot from it. So maybe that's the most logical choice. It was the 500 level that we used, but she's in 7th now. Think we could jump in to the 700 level? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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