tmccann Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I could use some guidance in choosing a writing and grammar curriculum. My 9 yr. old daughter. This year we are doing R&S grammar grade 3 but she hates it. I know grammar can be boring so I may never find one she actually likes, but I'd like to hear some opinions on different grammar options to see if a switch might help. (We do a lot of the work orally, or on the white board, and I skip a lot if she's got it down and it's still not helping much.) We're also using Winning With Writing 3 for writing and it's okay... but a little dry. I'm not sure I really like it. She loves to write so something that requires a lot of actual writing is not a problem for her. What is your favorite writing and grammar curriculum and why? Oh, and I do want her to learn diagramming so the grammar needs to have that in it. It can also be one LA curriculum that has those components rather than 2 separate things. I appreciate any help any of you can give! Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduemeche Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Rod and Staff is certainly boring, but to be honest, that is ok. Not all currics need to be exciting. Rigorous grammar will almost always be boring, but in the classical tradition, we err on the side of drill in the grammar stage to ensure our children are intimate with the basics. Then, in later years, the creativity and fun flow because our children have mastered the basics and don't need to revisit them. For writing, I would suggest you use a separate curric. IEW is out choice but there are plenty. Again, at this age, focus on one that is mainly expository and teaches the fundamentals. Creative writing at nine is simply not needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 I would look at the Cottage Press primers and the Sentence Family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 My youngest turns off pretty fast with dry grammar curriculum and retains nothing from FLL or R&S. We switched to MCT. He is in love with it. He actually has been asking to do grammar even though there have been a couple challenging assignments from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschoolmom3 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 We did Shurley during Elementary grades but it does not have diagramming and so we switched later on. I personally like Rod and Staff and probably will use that for my youngest all the way through. R&S is thorough and doesn't have a lot of unneeded extra and you could alter it some to get her through it. We all have a period where we don't like something but if it is working, I would try to stick with it. Feel your pain...:) In regards to writing we use IEW which works well for those who have trouble getting starting in writing. HTH Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmccann Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thank you everyone! Dory, what is MCT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Thank you everyone! Dory, what is MCT? Michael Clay Thompson. My oldest two have done great with FLL and I do love that one too. R&S is what my oldest is using now after having tried out Easy Grammar (he's done FLL). But they just weren't a good fit for my youngest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I like Brave Writer, but it's sort of a different approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucylu0508 Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I'm doing CLE LA with both my first and third grader and it's going well. They are actually retaining what they are doing (vs when we used Growing with Grammar, my son remembers none of that). I wouldn't say they are ever really excited for grammar, but that's okay. If it gets done without argument and they understand and retain it, I call that a success and plan more exciting things for other subjects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 For grammar with diagramming, we used FLL4 and DD retained more from it than she had from any other curriculum we tried. I was really hesitant to use it at first because we had tried FLL1/2 a few years before and hated it. It turned out to be a good choice, though. For writing, I like Treasured Conversations, it has some grammar (labeling, not diagramming) in the early lessons, and the rest teach how to write a well-constructed paragraph and outline, and allows for some creativity. We'll probably switch back to CAP's Writing & Rhetoric once TC is completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmccann Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Great! I will check out some of these. I've actually never looked at CLE before. I agree that some things are just boring. That's life. I almost mentioned in my post that I'm not looking to make everything exciting but was hoping that would just be assumed. Hehe. ;) However, since R&S is the *only* thing I've tried thus far, I was thinking that maybe a change might help bit. I'm also interested in finding something that has everything in one. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Check out English Lessons through Literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Voyages in English by Loyola Press Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondeviolin Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm a WTM groupie for the younger ages so I'll say FLL and WWE. Your daughter should be able to transition to FLL fairly easily. You could also look into CAP W&R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather7 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Shurley English and IEW (fabulous for teaching writing and engaging kids' imagination). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather7 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Institute for Excellence in Writing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my3daughters Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 We used FLL for 1st and 2nd and feel it is a good strong curriculum. It wasn't the right match for us but still highly recommend it. We are using R&S this year and again a great curriculum but my DD1 needs a spiral approach so will be using CLE next year. We use CLE for math as well and she loves the feeling of success she gets from it. For writing we used WWE for 2 year and DD1 had enough. It was TOO structured for her. We moved to Writing Strands and that had too much freedom and was overwhelming. Now we use CAP W&R. It has had the perfect balance between structure and creative freedom. We will be adding it Treasured Conversations next year but then as of right now plan to return to CAP W&R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithful_Steward Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Abeka. It is the shiny, happy version of R&S. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maela Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 We are loving Treasured Conversations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 NM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 CLE works better for us than Rod and Staff because it is more independent (and more spiral). It's getting the job done here :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdventuresinHomeschooling Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 We have used Shurley and are making a switch to Michael Clay Thompson next year for 4th grade. There are a lot of fun things in Shurley if your child likes songs or chants to help memorize. Michael Clay Thompson is written to spark the imagination, especially for gifted students, and understand the connections of grammar, but if your child struggles with grammar concepts, you may need something more straight forward. Neither Shurley or MCT have diagramming, and I do feel that is important. I plan to supplement with a diagramming book in the dialectic years. They do show the relationships of sentence structure in other ways. A Beka is more colorful and very solid with grammar, but I don't know that it is any more fun than R&S. There can be a lot of busywork too. For writing, we are loving CAP's Writing and Rhetoric. It is a wonderful combination of classical writing and imagination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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