RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 I LOVED First Language Lessons! My problem is we finished FLL 4. Where do you go after that??? We currently use IEW for writing and All About Spelling for Spelling. We used WWE until 4th grade and then switched when she was ready for more. I looked at Hake Grammar (as recommended) but the 5th grade one seems WAY TOO EASY, but it's all inclusive LA. I hear good about R&S but I don't need all the extra LA components. I strictly want grammar. Thank you in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Thank you Ethel! I will look at that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Does anyone have experience with Growing with Grammar? Someone recommended it, but it too looks to be possible a bit too easy after FLL??? Is FLL4 just really that advanced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 We did not have a good experience with Growing With Grammar after FLL. I spent a year sort of floundering (5th grade) and trying GWG and tossing GWG, lol. In 6th grade I bit the bullet and switched to R&S and only use the grammar lessons. It was a great choice and the switch was simple, even after a 'wasted' 5th grade grammar year. With my younger boy I will just move from FLL in 4th to R&S in 5th. If you use R&S for grammar only and only do three or four lessons a week it works out really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Btw...I looked at Analytical Grammar...I LOVE everything I see on their website! I'm going to try and get my hands on a copy to look at more in-depthly. And I think you are right...you can jump right in to Analytical Grammar (skip Jr.) if you have done all 4 levels of FLL. And my daughter is VERY above grade level in reading, so I don't think that will be an issue at all! Stuff of Legend - What were some of the differences between GWG and R&S? They look very similar to me when I looked at samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 GWG would not be a good follow-up to FLL. It is very simplistic. I like Hake, but my dd didn't. She's now doing Rules of the Game from EPS, and we both like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I looked at Hake Grammar (as recommended) but the 5th grade one seems WAY TOO EASY, but it's all inclusive LA. I wouldn't label Hake as all-inclusive LA. It is a very thorough and complete grammar program, including more built-in review than most students will ever need, with a small amount of vocabulary (usually two words) included in each lesson, plus a separate writing workbook tacked on. We use Hake and really like it for *grammar*. The vocabulary in it isn't nearly enough for my word-loving DS so we use other programs specifically for vocabulary. We ignore the separate Hake writing "workbook" (which only costs a few bucks if someone wanted to try it) as the assignments are very simplistic, basic, and dry. There are much better writing programs out there. The main student textbook contains the grammar and vocab, but no writing lessons. The supplemental workbook is where the writing lessons are located. If you only used the grammar textbook you'd never know there was a writing workbook - it is never mentioned or referred to in the textbook. A strong student who successfully completed FLL4 could probably be appropriately placed into level 6 of Hake grammar. Levels 5 and 6 cover nearly identical topics, similar to most other grammar programs, which repeat a lot from one year to the next. The grammar exercises in level 6 use more advanced and complex sentences than level 5 though. We're using 2 of the upper 4 levels of Hake, each spread over more than a year, and then will be done with grammar. SWB recommends R&S for grammar, so that's the gold standard IMHO. Hake is often mentioned as a strong alternative if one doesn't mind/needs/prefers a secular program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 SWB recommends R&S for grammar, so that's the gold standard IMHO. :iagree: We switched to R&S English 6 after FLL 4, and I'm surprisingly impressed with it, despite my initial hesitation. R&S English gets my vote of approval! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 :iagree: We switched to R&S English 6 after FLL 4, and I'm surprisingly impressed with it, despite my initial hesitation. R&S English gets my vote of approval! We did the same thing! It is going well, and dd is actually completing many of the lessons independently and getting a lot out of it. I was hesitant to skip a level, but she had a good grasp of grammar after FLL 4 and level 6 of R&S feels just right. OP, it is very easy to skip the writing lessons in R&S if you only want to use it for grammar. That's what we do. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Thank you ladies for your help. I need to look at a hardcopy of R&S I guess because what I see online does not impress me much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I do R&S English mostly just for the grammar, skipping many of the composition lessons. After we are done with the grammar lessons in the book, I have my child do one of the "extra worksheets" per day. This makes the grammar program last for about the whole school year and provides a lot of review. Very happy R&S English user here. It is a solid grammar program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 We use Analytical Grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalmia Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I'd love it if there was a grammar curriculum that didn't start over at the beginning with the 8 parts of speech each time when the child is ready for phrases and clauses. To this end after we finish FLL 4, I am going to cobble something together that includes Practice Town from Michael Clay Thompson (we will diagram each sentence as well as do the 4-level analysis) and Sentence Composing for Elementary School (this focuses on phrases and clauses). I know this will leave out those little grammar lessons that are tucked into a regular curriculum: "like" vs. "as", punctuation of complex sentences, possessives, their, there, and they're, etc. If anyone knows of a resource that includes just these sorts of "little" grammar tips and hints, I'd love to add it to the other two to make sure we don't end up with a kid that can identify and diagram an absolute but keeps using the wrong "their/there/they're"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 Well, I'll be the dissenter in the group as I use GWG. We tried Hake and my ds hated it. Hated it with a fiery passion. He loved FLL and loved grammar. He prefers GWG over Hake. I chose GEG over R&S because I want secular. We skipped a level when switching to GWG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skimomma Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 We went straight into Analytical Grammar with my 5th grader. It was a very smooth transition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I have to share this interesting epiphany that my little man just had while working through Lesson 70 of R&S English 6—Using Relative Pronouns Correctly. As I was going over the material with him, before assigning the extra practice worksheet, he interrupted me in order to share an observation that he was most excited about. He walked to the white board and wrote the word "Which" and then proceeded to draw a 4-wheel drive vehicle around it, of which the word "Which" was the body. He then proclaimed that because the relative pronoun may be a predicate nominative, a direct object, an indirect object, the object of a preposition, or a modifier, it is like a grammatical all-terrain vehicle. "I never knew that grammar could be so much fun!" He shouted. Additionally, he also went on to say that he now realizes that he prefers this "new" grammar, which is R&S, over the "old" one, which was FLL, because it explains the why and not just the what of grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Well, I'll be the dissenter in the group as I use GWG. We tried Hake and my ds hated it. Hated it with a fiery passion. He loved FLL and loved grammar. He prefers GWG over Hake. I chose GEG over R&S because I want secular. We skipped a level when switching to GWG. I LOVE that you had positive feedback for something others are against! I have found over and over again that what works for one family does not always work for another! Thank you for sharing this! And thank you for saying you skipped a level. ;) That's what I was thinking I'd have to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 I have to share this interesting epiphany that my little man just had while working through Lesson 70 of R&S English 6—Using Relative Pronouns Correctly. As I was going over the material with him, before assigning the extra practice worksheet, he interrupted me in order to share an observation that he was most excited about. He walked to the white board and wrote the word "Which" and then proceeded to draw a 4-wheel drive vehicle around it, of which the word "Which" was the body. He then proclaimed that because the relative pronoun may be a predicate nominative, a direct object, an indirect object, the object of a preposition, or a modifier, it is like a grammatical all-terrain vehicle. "I never knew that grammar could be so much fun!" He shouted. Additionally, he also went on to say that he now realizes that he prefers this "new" grammar, which is R&S, over the "old" one, which was FLL, because it explains the why and not just the how of grammar. ABSOLUTELY love this! I love seeing the light bulb go on in my kids' heads! I just wish their light bulbs all turned on the same way! LOL! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 We went straight into Analytical Grammar with my 5th grader. It was a very smooth transition. THANKY YOU! This is the program I'm leaning towards, but was worried about going in to it with a 5th grader. She is pretty advanced in most everything so I think she could handle it...just wasn't sure if some of it would be above her head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 I just ordered Analytical Grammar as my girls just finished FLL4. I will keep you all posted on how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingGodsGirls Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 I will keep you all posted on how it goes. I would LOVE that! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Additionally, he also went on to say that he now realizes that he prefers this "new" grammar, which is R&S, over the "old" one, which was FLL, because it explains the why and not just the what of grammar. That is a beautiful example of a child moving on from grammar stage to logic stage thinking. And he is correct. I am glad he had such a solid grounding in the what he calls 'the what' so he could easily transition over to the why. My older boy also really enjoys grammar and he went from FLL to R&S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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