Poll:Which do you perfer R&S English or FLL?

[Tabrett]

R&S

FLL

[Melanie]

I chose FLL. My daughter used FLL in first grade, and in second grade we went to R&S. I didn't have the 2nd grade R&S book, so I put her in my son's old 4th grade book, figuring I'd just go through the review lessons very slowly. She did great! FLL prepared her very well, though I'll admit it was sometimes difficult for me to sit through the lessons.

[Linda...inOwasso]

Neither. I tried FLL and wanted to bang my head on the table each day due to the repetitiveness. Ack! We went with Shurley and never looked back. :)

 

Granted, Shurley is repetitive with subsequent grade levels, but not within each lesson (such as: "repeat three times.")

[Tabrett]

I'm suprised how even the poll is:D.

[orangearrow]

We use R&S. I've found I just didn't do well with the scripted method of FLL - My daughter liked it okay, but *I* felt like banging my head against a wall (and did sometimes! LOL). :001_smile: When I started doing it "last" every day, and then on to skipping some days... I realized I needed to make a switch. So, we went to R&S and both of us have been very happy since. :)

[Shelly in IL]

I used FLL with both sons (that is 1st and 2nd grades) then move directly to R&S in 3rd. Worked great for my now 7th grader who is great in English. Moving this year with my 3rd grader.

[Crafty Mathy Mom]

We used FLL first and then transitioned into R&S 3. Works for us.

[Crissy]

I like the lessons in FLL, but the scripted style isn't comfortable for me.

We love Rod and Staff.

[JudyJudyJudy]

I chose FLL, but I'll admit that I don't always follow the script. Since FLL 4 isn't out yet, I was planning to go with Growing With Grammar this year. However, ds loves FLL and doesn't want to change (he tends to be a creature of habit anyway). I'm not sure if I'm patient enough to keep waiting for FLL 4, though.

[Krista in LA]

I voted FLL but we love them both. FLL for the earlier grades (only grades 1-2 were out when we needed them) and R&S after that. My kids even love them both. I wish I could find such good books for every subject.

[NevadaRabbit]

R&S

FLL

 

Another one here who uses both. Moose is an auditory/verbal learner. FLL is a great fit with him. Pie is a read/write learner. The out-loud repetition of FLL drove her batty. Transitioned to R&S and it fits her learning style better. Another difference I've noted is FLL is a spiral, isn't it? Round and round, back to nouns again, now adjectives, now a poem, back to nouns...while R&S sticks with one topic then moves along to the next. So I'd consider that difference if you are trying to decide between the two. I think they both succeed in teaching grammar, but the learning style of your students will dictate which one will be a better fit.

[MgoBlue]

I've only just begun homeschooling with my second grader and we're using fll. I've never looked at rod and staff so I don't know what i'm missing. I've heard that r&s for grades 3 & 4 is excellent (and tough). We'll see how it goes. I've got to stop buying for a bit as I've been/have purchased thru quite a few math texts/curriculums.

Paula

*just lazy with the caps*

[Alana in Canada]

I started my son, then eight and not yet reading, in FLL. That was our fist year hs'ing and it was terrific. I really got to know my boy through the interactions! About a third of the way through, we brought in my daughter. (Then 5). We could only do 100 lessons. It started getting much too babyish for him--especialy doing it with his younger sister.

 

I threw FLL against the wall and left it there for a long time.

 

I transitioned the boy to R&S3.

 

Finally, my daughter and I are finishing up FLL-- and I'll put her into R&S3.

[sweetbaby]

Another vote for R&S here. I love the thoroughness. The TM is easy to use. It incorporates writing. It has a gentle approach to learning grammar and yet very thorough. It's cheap too!:D

[Sherri in MI]

FLL was gentle, thorough & perfect for first and second grade. I love that poetry memorization is included. That's the only thing I miss about R&S - the poetry memorization. They do have poems, but I don't really like their poems. So I have to come up with our own poetry memorization. But aside from that I love R & S. It is very thorough and yet very gentle and incremental - it doesn't feel like drugery! And it include oral and written reviews. Very easy to use. Includes writing instructions as well!

 

Sherri

[Mari]

For those of you who want a little more help with assessments, R&S has additional/optional worksheets and tests. FLL does not have any of these aids.

 

--Mari

[TMarie]

We used FLL first and then transitioned into R&S 3. Works for us.

 

Me too.

[Parrothead]

I never tried R&S. We have done the first 3 years of FLL and hope to do the 4th this year. FLL worked very well for dd.

[FlockOfSillies]

I did FLL 1&2 with my oldest, then tried R&S because everyone said it was the best. What a washout. My dd was flailing with the diagramming -- too complex too fast, the pages were too cluttered, and the sequence seemed a little "off." We didn't get very far through the book. When FLL3 came out, I went back to it. Having the printed diagrams has been a godsend. I'm anxiously awaiting FLL4 to ship.

 

We really lost that year we were using R&S. We're still catching up in language mechanics because of it. I'll never go back to R&S.

[Erica in PA]

I prefer FLL for 1st/2nd grade, then Rod and Staff from 3rd grade onward.

 

Erica

[Tabrett]

bumping