Roadrunner Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Are MCT Mud novels for grammar or for vocabulary? I can't figure out if I should get them. Also is it possible to go from grammar Island to LOE grammar and then straight to grammar Voyage? Would I be missing a lot if I skipped Grammar Town? (but still used vocab and paragraph town book?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I think the Mud novels are really about seeing how the vocabulary is used in literature. Definitely not so much about grammar. I went back and forth about getting them too, and ended up going for it. My dd10 really enjoyed them, but each one only took her about half an hour to read, then we discussed for half an hour - so it was only about 3 hours of "school time" altogether! I think a year ago (right after finishing SI, before doing CE) they would have been much more challenging/stretching. They kind of turned out to be fun candy at this stage. Actually, I wouldn't skip Grammar Town, because that is where he introduces verbal phrases and multi-clause sentences. Maybe you can skip/skim over the first two chapters, but I wouldn't skip those second two. It's funny, I've got a thread going asking if it's ok to skip Grammar Voyage (having done Grammar Town). I can't see anything new that gets introduced in GV that wasn't in GT. So, I guess you could skip GT and do all of GV, but definitely do one of them, or you'll miss verbals. I think I've decided to do just section 3 and 4 of GV - less than half the book, but since I own it anyway, I guess it's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 I am going to think about Mud then. Rose can I ask you one more thing? In the Island levels the content in the grammar book and Sentence island was really identical. Is that the case in the town level? If I get Paragraph Town, would it include everything that's in the Grammar Town? and then I can move on to the Voyage (I will be done with LOE by then). I am facing an uprising at home over repetitious material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I am going to think about Mud then. Rose can I ask you one more thing? In the Island levels the content in the grammar book and Sentence island was really identical. Is that the case in the town level? If I get Paragraph Town, would it include everything that's in the Grammar Town? and then I can move on to the Voyage (I will be done with LOE by then). I am facing an uprising at home over repetitious material. I hear you! That is exactly why I was asking about GV - my dd will rebel if she has to read about parts of speech or parts of the sentence again (though she loved both SI and PT). Paragraph Town - which we just finished today - is pretty great. It is story-form, with characters, just like SI was. It does repeat the parts of speech/parts of sentence stuff in the first chapter (out of 6 chapters) but then quickly moves on to talk about paragraph construction/organization, which is not govered in GT at all. What GT has that PT doesn't is the discussion of verbals and clauses. But it does seem like that is all repeated in GV. So, yeah, I think that if your kid deeply gets all the grammar that was in GI/SI, you could maybe do Paragraph Town, and then do Grammar again in Grammar Voyage, picking up clauses and verbals then. But, you should be aware that they won't be able to do the last 50 sentences in Practice Town without knowing verbal phrases & clauses, and they won't get as much out of the grammar/punctuation practice in Paragraph Town and Caesar's English. I think what I would do is go ahead and do Grammar Town, skip the first two sections but cover the phrase and clause sections. Then do Paragraph Town, and then you can decide at that point if you need to do Grammar Voyage. Otherwise you are waiting a long time to introduce them to the verbal phrases and the more interesting complex/compound sentences. We did all of Town, but like I said, we are going to skip the first half of Voyage. By this stage, it's overkill. But, she hasn't completely mastered/memorized the verbal phrases yet, so that she can consistently recall which is which when confronted with new sentences, so we are going to keep doing the Practice Town sentences, and review those chapters of Grammar Voyage. Clear as Mud? (hee hee). Obviously, I'm still figuring this out in my own head, so sorry if it is kind of incoherent as a response! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Clear as Mud? (hee hee). Oh yes. No chortcut for me :(. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyMama Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 We are using the Mud trilogy as read alouds - my 9yo sits next to me and we talk about the vocab notes and end of chapter notes together as we go. I'm stretching it out - we read a few chapters every other day or so. He's hooked and it's a nice way to spend time together. I think he could happily be my Charlote Mason kid - although he is good with workbooks too, he really loves to learn this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 I think the Mud novels are really about seeing how the vocabulary is used in literature. Definitely not so much about grammar. I went back and forth about getting them too, and ended up going for it. My dd10 really enjoyed them, but each one only took her about half an hour to read, then we discussed for half an hour - so it was only about 3 hours of "school time" altogether! I think a year ago (right after finishing SI, before doing CE) they would have been much more challenging/stretching. They kind of turned out to be fun candy at this stage. Actually, I wouldn't skip Grammar Town, because that is where he introduces verbal phrases and multi-clause sentences. Maybe you can skip/skim over the first two chapters, but I wouldn't skip those second two. It's funny, I've got a thread going asking if it's ok to skip Grammar Voyage (having done Grammar Town). I can't see anything new that gets introduced in GV that wasn't in GT. So, I guess you could skip GT and do all of GV, but definitely do one of them, or you'll miss verbals. I think I've decided to do just section 3 and 4 of GV - less than half the book, but since I own it anyway, I guess it's fine. Three hours for $40 - I need to think about it some more. I know DD would enjoy the series, but at that price, I'm still wavering, and just from the sample, this would have been better last year. What I'm waiting for are the iPad e-books, which I read would be released soon. I'm hoping that the price will be more affordable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted January 25, 2013 Author Share Posted January 25, 2013 Three hours for $40 - I need to think about it some more. I know DD would enjoy the series, but at that price, I'm still wavering, and just from the sample, this would have been better last year. What I'm waiting for are the iPad e-books, which I read would be released soon. I'm hoping that the price will be more affordable. Yes, that's giving me the pause as well. I want new versions of CE vocab and the total cost of the package + Mud is getting my heartrate up a bit. Maybe if I wasn't splurging on LOE, but together, this is going to be one expensive LA year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 Yes, I think they are overpriced. If you can get ibooks or kindles or something for less, they might be great. I bought them when they first came out, and were discounted, and I still feel like I spent too much. DD loved them, but I can't afford to pay that much for a book it takes her half an hour to read. That's what the library is for!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyMama Posted January 25, 2013 Share Posted January 25, 2013 We bought the 'extra set' - it was less $$ - I'd need to check but I think the difference is the teacher guide? I did get a small teacher book though, so I'm not sure what my 'extra set' is missing for the lower price? I was already buying Building Language so maybe it's an 'add on' price? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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