Would FLL 4 come before or after R&S 4? How about MCT Town?

[lamolina]

My third grader is currently working through R&S English 4. After we finish this I would like to move onto something different. Is FLL 4 at about the same level?

Or how about MCT Town, do you think that would be appropriate after R&S 4?

 

thanks!!

[greenmamato3]

my 2nd grade is finishing up R&S Eng 3, having worked through MCT Island with her big bro this year and having covered most everything that occurs in FLL3 without having gone through it (though her older bro did and she was around when we were working through it). i think FLL4 would be much of an overlap but would reinforce if you feel she's needing a little review but not so much busywork. MCT island is usually recommended as a starting place if you're going to go into MCT; we are starting MCT town this summer altogether after several months of break from MCT. we're not going to do anymore R&S right now, nor are we going to do FLL4.

while i know that doesn't address your question specifically, i hope it gives you a good feel for what others have done.

[lamolina]

Thanks, that does give me a good idea. We actually did MCT Island before we started R&S 4. So, maybe Town would be our best next step. She doesn't seem to need a lot of LA review.

Chime in if you have other ideas for me!

[greenmamato3]

I think Town will be nice for after R&S 4. Are you using/open to using WWE? I think it is a nice "structure" for the more amorphic approach of MCT, a balance I find perfectly suits our family. it allows us to continue to review grammar rules in context and i think that dictation is so key. To me, they are a great pair. My older child (10) will be dabbling in WWE4 a bit more before he goes on to try out WWS1. I've heard that some work on "paragraph writing" is really good to fit in before WWS, so we're going to take a little bit of a zoom through approach to Grammar Town and Paragraph Town almost simultaneously to prep him for that. my DD8 will be along for the ride and i'll later circle back and review if she needs it. my DS rarely needs review, while DD does better with spiral. oh, we found that DailyGrams 4 and Killgallon sentence composing for elementary are nice resources for weeks when mama can't get MCT out but kiddos need a to do a little grammar independently. and i just picked up a copy of Hajek's diagramming sentences books since neither of them will be garnering that instruction from a grammar text this coming year. i think the 4 level analysis is great, but i want them to also see the diagrams, we most of our family are visual learners, esp eldest son. we like to have a few things we can bounce around between as the years "wears on," to minimize the monotony of schooling from time to time. oh, fwiw, my DS worked during the latter part of 3rd grade on DG4, and then we set it aside for almost 10 months, while we went through Island and our IEW. he just picked it up last month and is finishing it off (with a breeze) at the end of 4th grade. he enjoys editing practice in the "gumdrops" book, and next year he's going to work in the editor in chief (during 5th). i've heard others use the evan moor daily paragraph editing before gumdrops. that might be a nice little "independent" tool you could use to supplement Town from time to time.

hope those options tell you more about our "experience" as avid users of both MCT and the WTM approach. :)

[lamolina]

Greenmama, thanks so much for all this input! We have dabbled in WWE a bit. My daughter really dislikes it but it may be good for her anyway. I am going to check out the other items you mentioned.

 

Thanks!

P:S: What is Gumdrops!?

[greenmamato3]

here it is, the link. there are other grades, but this is the one that my son began working through at the end of 3rd and is still working through now at the end of 4th, since we took such a long time off from doing it. ;)