Paige Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 I have a child (4th grade) who I cannot get to understand grammar. We have been going over the parts of speech for 2, maybe 3 years and each day is like it is the first. I think she is not an abstract thinker and it simply is meaningless to her because she can't see and touch grammar. Similarly, she does not understand time and calendars. I think the difficulties are related. So. I am frustrated. She is frustrated. We've tried 3 very different programs: Climbing to Good English, KISS, and MCT. Most of these we've overlapped so it's not like we were curriculum hopping the whole time. She also does some grammar when she does Reading Eggs. I'm trying to decide how to move on. So far, I've thought of 3 options. 1- Continue what we're doing and hope that eventually she will get it. Right now, we are just doing MCT; 1 sentence a day. It is quick and relatively painless for her. I think she just sits and waits for it to be over while I go over what everything means for the millionth time and then help her label stuff. 2- Switch her to something else. Suggestions? Her twin likes MCT and is doing well, but I could switch this DD to something completely different if I thought it would help. 3- Just say screw it all for now. Maybe forever. Maybe this is not worth our time and energy and I should accept that DD is just not going to be an English scholar and who cares if she can identify the parts of speech as long as she can write and use them. I would have to accept that her future test scores may be lower than we'd like, but not everyone is going to be in the 1st percentile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 4. Easy Grammar. And after that, just let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 5. Winston Grammar--hands-on so she can see and touch grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TX Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 I think you need something that is systematic and has lots of review. Try Rod and Staff. Start in the 3rd grade book. Susan in TX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 For grammar, colors using color pencils or highlighters can help visualize the parts of speech. Something like this example from Scholastic. For time, we had to get my 7 year old an analog pocket watch before he could visualize time. He gets his a.m. and p.m. mixed up occasionally. For calendar, he has a small calendar planner ($1 Target kind) and we have wall calendar in the kitchen. It took him very long to learn days of the week and months of the year but once he learn that he could do that in German too. My 8 year old learn his Grammar intuitively from reading. He is a bookworm and the library has to kick him out at closing time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted September 19, 2013 Share Posted September 19, 2013 Honestly, I would dump it for now. Taking a year off. Give her a chance to just read and write and then pick up grammar slowly next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Honestly, I would dump it for now. Taking a year off. Give her a chance to just read and write and then pick up grammar slowly next year. Yes, I would too. Read, write, maybe do a poetry unit, or a unit on some literary terms, play with language...come back to grammar in a year or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raristy Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Shurley Grammar is wonderful. The jingles stick to their brains. Level 3 is a good one to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwg Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 We started Sentence Family (currclick) this year and really love it. It brings the abstract down to a concrete level for the kids. My ds was able to answer the questions in the curriculum but if we played a mad lib game he messed it all up. SF has been fun and I have seen improvement. Not sure where we will go after this- it is an introduction only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 We started Sentence Family (currclick) this year and really love it. It brings the abstract down to a concrete level for the kids. My ds was able to answer the questions in the curriculum but if we played a mad lib game he messed it all up. SF has been fun and I have seen improvement. Not sure where we will go after this- it is an introduction only. As I was reading your post, Paige, I thought of the Sentence Family. It will help cement those parts of speech in your dd's head. Then, you can move onto something else. (I like Writing Tales 1's grammar that is built into the program. I hadn't heard of SF then, and that was the year that dd#1 really got her parts of speech down. There are games, examples, and then you specifically work with that part of speech or other grammar concept in your writing for that week's assignment.) Seriously - just click on the SF link above & check it out. You can buy the PDF from Currclick if you like it (or use the original link for a hard copy). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 FLL was a bust for my DS but he picked up the parts of speech from watching Schoolhouse Rock, reading books by Brian P. Cleary & Ruth Heller, and playing Mad Libs. The Montessori grammar materials look super-cool but I've never run across a scripted curriculum for using them: http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Elementary_Grammar_Boxes.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I was stuck with my 4th grader too. I think she just did not care about it in the least. I decided to try Grammar-land http://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Land-Yesterdays-Classics-M-Nesbitt/dp/1599153327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379685708&sr=8-1&keywords=Grammar+land. There are free worksheets to go with it http://dontneednoeducation.blogspot.com/2010/01/grammar-land-worksheets.html . I think putting things to the frame work of a story and giving the parts of speech personality, helped my artsy girl. I actually have her draw of each of the characters. Then we write some of their words around them. We also have made flash cards with the parts of speech that we review each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellalarella Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Just go for exposure, not mastery. We are studying grammar so that the kids will be better writers, not for the sake of grammar itself, KWIM? There is plenty of time ahead to nail down the parts of speech. I had kids that didn't master parts of speech in their public school education and were later able to learn grammar in the upper grades. For younger kids, the biggie for me is whether or not the child can correctly identify a sentence vs. a fragment. My ds8 really isn't getting it, but I am happy to teach him the definitions. (I'm a fan of the clear, concise definitions in FLL.) We don't spend a ton of time on it. In future years, he will grasp the concept I am sure. Now that I have kid in 9th grade and a kid in 7th grade, the panic I felt over the kids "getting grammar" in the early years has faded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I think I would read Grammar-land by E.B. Nesbitt with her. Grammar-land is in the "public domain" and downloadable for free. It is a very funny story, written a surprisingly long time ago, that goes over parts-of-speech in a way that was meant at the time to be an antidote to the very serious, dour, and boring grammar study then prevalent.. Read it. Have some laughs. Let it rest. Maybe read it again later. And revisit grammar as a more formalized subject when you feel she's ready. The Sentance Family book might be another good read of the same type (I have not read it, but have heard good things. My bias is towards early grammar education (if that matter and I love MCT), but above that one needs to respect individual child development. There is probably far less harm in trying fun "story based" approaches (and rest) than trying to force something that isn't happening. My 2 cents. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in MS Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I was gonna recommend Grammar Land,but I see coralloyd already has. I am thinking it is possible that the story form my help to break that barrier for your child. The worksheets are only 1 per chapter so it is not overwhelming or dreadful to someone who may already be *gun-shy* of the subject. Other than that I agree with the poster who said take the year off. Your child just may not be ready for grammar and it can be learned very quicky when she is older. No worries. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 The Sentence Family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted September 27, 2013 Author Share Posted September 27, 2013 Oh wow! I think my "new posts" button isn't working. It kept saying there was nothing new. I appreciate all of the suggestions. I think I'll keep doing one sentence a day, put Grammarland on her kindle, and quit worrying about it. She is progressing and I'll try to give up my ideas of where she should be. It's weird she can give me the definition of the parts of speech, and then correct examples, but when it comes to identifying them in the sentence, it falls apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Year Round Mom Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I've only done some FLL and Rod and Staff, so I don't know if your other curriculum choices did it, but diagramming is really helpful, I think, in finding different parts of speech in sentences. My 4th grader is doing the 3rd grade R&S (after doing FLL 1 waaay back in 1st grade and then we had a little grammar in Latin and writing in 2nd and 3rd). It's a gentle, easy introduction to diagramming. We're only in the 7th or 8th lesson, but it assumes the student already knows what a noun and verb are and jumps into how to identify them in different kinds of sentences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stayathomelibrarian Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 I'd say dump it. I have degree in English, and I didn't start doing grammar until the 6th grade. I do like the idea of doing Grammar Land. You may even listen to the audio version on Libravox. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsmm Posted September 28, 2013 Share Posted September 28, 2013 My kids are enjoying The sentence family. We do it "for fun" mostly since they are young still, but they ask for it regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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