TheBugs Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 I know this has probably come up in a number of threads, but I don't really have a clear sense of what would work best for my kids after we complete First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind Level 4. We are more than half way through level 4. This curriculum has worked very well for my kids (twins age 9). They actually enjoy diagramming sentences, repeating grammar rules and the poetry selections. I know I can find the recommendations in the Well Trained Mind, but I am wondering what curriculum is the most similar to what we have been doing. I have been using First Language Lessons since we began homeschooling, so I am sad to leave it behind. Additionally, I don't know how to select the right range of poems for memorization. I like that the work was done for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bocky Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 We loved FLL too. After a brief flirtation with MCT, we moved on to Rod and Staff for Grammar, and Andrew Campbell's book Living Memory for poetry selections. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 For those who really clicked with FLL, the top choices seem to be either Rod and Staff or Hake grammar. I tried 5th grade with GWG and it was a disaster. I heard it was a "secular answer to R&S", umm... nope, not even close. I went to Rod and Staff in 6th grade and it was great. I think I would have been fine with Hake though. At the time I didn't know about it. With ds2 we are transitioning right from FLL into R&S in 5th grade. I already own the books for 6-8 so it makes sense to stick with R&S. I only use the grammar in R&S. I use WWS 1-3 for our middle school writing. If you buy Hake you can just buy the grammar part of the LA program. It has a separate writing program. ETA: R&S is very, very religious. I cannot stress enough how pervasive it is. My family is as secular as they come but we manage to make it work. If you have any concerns about that (and it can be overwhelming if you aren't used to such heavy handedness) as here. There are a quite a few secular users of R&S grammar. Some of us have some interesting coping mechanisms :001_smile: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfABunch Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 DS1 did Road and Staff. We are not Christian and the most I ever really said about the religious content was that "Christians believe _____, we believe _________. The grammatical point of this lesson is ________." It wasn't nearly as big a deal as I thought it would be. I chose this program because academically, it's excellent and I couldn't find an equal one that was secular. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TinaBlue Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I had considered both Hake and MCT (and could see her doing well with either), but in the end I showed her samples of both and let her choose. She chose Hake 6. We're two weeks in, and she seems to like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I'm moving back to MCT for the middle grades. I'm doing this because my kids are spending a lot more time on composition and many of the grammar programs just take too much time. I felt that my children who had been through FLL4 mostly needed less time on grammar than the other programs we had been using (Abeka/CLE) were really taking us to accomplish. My 6th grader will be doing MCT grammar with me 2x a week. We'll continue breaking down sentences (and diagramming as well), but will be switching our focus to Vocab, Writing with Skill and Killgallon's Sentence Composing series. I'm moving from practicing grammar with drills to applying grammar through composition. I plan to do the same with my younger two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaNZ Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 We loved FLL too. After a brief flirtation with MCT, we moved on to Rod and Staff for Grammar, and Andrew Campbell's book Living Memory for poetry selections. We did exactly this too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBugs Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Thank you all for your advice. It has been very helpful. I think I am going to look into R&S. We're not Christian, but I don't think it will be a problem for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 My oldest did Hake Grammar 5 before going on to brick & mortar school. It worked out well and the teacher was very impressed with his grammar knowledge. My youngest has gone straight into Analytical Grammar (we use it at co-op). It has only been 2 weeks so the jury is still out. My son can do the work without problem, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 We went to Rod and Staff 5 after FLL. Very happy with that choice. Thorough amd clear. We just do the grammar, not the writing exercises. Get some good poetry books from the library and explore. No right and wrong or scope and sequence to poetry. Enjoy some recordings, have a poetry tea or let your kids dramatize. Loads of threads here on poetry!! Don't let it intimidate you. ;) Andrew Pudewa has a great video lecture Nurturing Competent Communicators about poetry memorization if you need some inspiration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.