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Secular Grammar text for 6th grader: what do you love?


astrid
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Looking for a grammar text for dd, who will be in 6th grade. I haven't found a grammar text I love yet......so what do YOU use?

 

And for what grades is FFL 4 recommended? I couldn't really find much info about it on the Peace Hill Press site.

 

Thanks so much (I"m WAAAY behind on my curriculum ordering/planning!)

 

Astrid

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I don't know if I *love* it yet, but I looked at a LOT of grammar programs for my dd11 this year. I finally decided on Analytical Grammar. I didn't like shelling out the big bucks, but after looking at so many of them, this seemed to have what I needed. It really seems to cover everything -- and the way it is set up, it seems to be manageable and not overwhelming.

 

Sorry I was not more helpful!

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We used Hake Grammar (without the writing) for grades 5 and 6 (we used levels 6 and 8). It was good for getting the concepts into long term memory for my grammar-impared son. It wasn't overly inspiring in other ways.

 

I don’t know if I have ever though of any Grammar as inspiring...LOL Is that possible????:001_huh:

 

I actually was VERY relaxed (think, John Holt, Mary Hood) my early homeschool years with my older boys and did little to no grammar as I personally hate it..BUT I can see the gaps in older DC -which is why it has become more important to me with DS #3..

 

Edited to say- I USED to hate Grammar!

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We used AG last year, but dropped it as it seemed redundant to the grammar we were already covering in CW Homer. Mac also found it to be dry and not as

interesting as the grammar work in Homer.

 

I'm using GWG with Fi and wish I had used it with Mac. We love it! It's simple and clear w/o much fuss. It's also a lot cheaper than AG. Either way both are good solid programs.

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Here's my review:

 

Analytical Grammar website is http://www.analyticalgrammar.com. The videos at the website do a great job of explaining the program. We are using Analytical Grammar for 6th-7th-8th grade. AG breaks it up into 3 seasons. 6th grade has 10 weeks of daily grammar work, then review 1x every 2 weeks. 7th grade has 7 weeks of daily grammar work, then review 1x every month. 8th grade has 17 weeks of daily grammar work and then you are done. It can be completed in 1 or 2 years as well. We have completed Season 1 and have started Season 2.

 

Season 1 - basic grammar (parts of speech, parts of a sentence, basics of diagramming

Season 2 - advanced grammar (verbal phrases and subordinate clauses) (this completes the study of grammar)

Season 3 - application of grammatical knowledge to the rules of capitalization, punctuation and usage

 

Pros:

• Clear and concise

• Pick up and go (little to no preparation required from mom)

• Teach lesson on first day of week and student can work on their own for rest of week. Only checking/correcting required from mom.

• Each lesson has a theme (American flag, humorous Johnny Carson story, women & math, Mexican-Americans, Martin Luther King Jr., Jewish Americans, fairy tales, etc.) which makes the lessons more interesting.

• Sentences are much more complex than Shurley grammar. The review paragraphs are from real books (in other words, the sentences are not made up especially for grammar parsing).

• Novelty of getting a letter grade on test

• Comfort of letter grade for perfectionist mom (ds is missing some but still getting an A)

• Student book turns into a reference manual when you remove student exercises.

 

Cons:

• None that I have found

• Some say it’s expensive. I spent $120 but will use it over 3 years. It has been worth every penny in the TIME that it has saved me.

 

Disclaimer: I have a master’s degree in Operations Research, which is concerned with all things efficiency. Part of the reason I love AG is that it is the most efficient use of my time and my child’s time. This leaves time for other wonderful things like math, history, music, and sports! I imagine that if you are a good teacher, and you teach grammar year after year after year, you learn to make your lessons more and more efficient. That must be with the author, Robin Finley, did.

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