Do you ever stop formal grammar?

[Mom in High Heels]

I had thought to teach formal grammar through at least 8th grade, but Indy totally gets grammar and is a bit of a nitpicker about it, like me. His spelling is still pretty bad, but I'm putting that down to dyslexia and we are working on it. If his grammar is excellent and he knows how to properly use it, does he need to keep diagraming and underlining parts of a sentence? It's starting to seem incredibly redundant and pointless. If he had poor grammar, I would not hesitate to keep him on a grammar program, but I think we could get more things done in other subjects without it. Thoughts?

[Luckymama]

We're not doing any formal grammar this year (7th grade). Last year dd used MCT's Magic Lens and the 4Practice book. She begged to not do any grammar this year after that strong program.

 

Every day she does one page of a practice test in the College Board's The Official SAT Study Guide (aka the Blue Book because it's blue) from the writing sections-----vocabulary, pick the best choice of a sentence, spot-the-error. We talk about why the incorrect choices are incorrect (s-v agreement especially after a preposition, either/or, adverb instead of adjective, etc). It takes 5-10 minutes maximum.

 

Of course I also make her correct any grammatical errors in writing or speech :)

[dbmamaz]

iir, bravewriter suggests only doing formal grammar 3 times during the 12 years of school .. . why not spend that time learning something new instead of reviewing?

[my2boysteacher]

You are using GWG? Have you looked ahead at samples from their higher level books?

My 5th and 6th grader are also very good at diagramming, (we use R&S) but looking ahead at the 7th and 8th grade books, there is a lot of new content.

I just listened to SWB's lecture on getting ready for high school, and she recommends grammar through 8th grade, at which time you change the focus to writing, thus applying all the grammar they have learned.

[AimeeM]

I'm considering dropping it next year in favor of more concentrated writing. I might use IEW's "Fix It" grammar a couple times a week to reinforce what she already knows. My dd, like your child, is dyslexic and, frankly, that she can or can't diagram a sentence isn't high on my list of priorities with her - we have bigger fish to fry, lol.

[Penguin]

I would make sure that he knows enough grammar terminology to study foreign languages.

 

My son likes learning grammar and he really enjoys learning foreign languages, so we will certainly continue through 8th. But I might feel differently if I had a kid with a good ear for usage who felt tortured by grammar instruction.

[8filltheheart]

We don't. I have been teaching grammar to my kids non-stop now for probably 16 yrs and I still am constantly learning new stuff. Maybe I am just a very slow learner!!

 

Today my grammar conversation with my 8th and 11th grader was about why this sentence is incorrect:

 

"Earlier the committee could have, and ultimately did, avoid the issue." (Oops, Who's/Whose Grammar Book is This Anyway?" pg 374)

 

We are always discussing grammar, especially in context of quality writing.