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Diagramming??


BlessedMom
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I teach it because I think it's super cool.  :-)  I learned diagramming in seventh grade, and as a mathematically-minded person, I found that diagramming made grammar real, tangible, and it really stuck!  

 

You might not be able to tell from my usage, but I'm pretty competent in grammar and I thank my seventh grade diagramming for that.  :-)

 

We use Drawing Sentences by Montaux.  

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I love it! I first learned how to use it in a linguistics class for elementary school teachers in college. (Let me tell you, the attitudes of the students in that class, who were getting degrees in education, were terrible.... they couldn't figure out how to use commas correctly and were blatantly obvious about their disdain for learning simple grammar concepts... if those are the kind of teachers in the schools today, I doubt there is little, if any, grammar imstruction -- let alone diagramming!) Anyway, I had used Winston Grammar as a homeschooled student myself, and their parsing methods never did much for me. Grammar started to click for me once I began diagramming instead. I liken it to using bar graphs for word problems in math. I use Rod and Staff English and Lively Latin, both of which include diagramming. SWB has some good thoughts about why we should teach diagramming, and I'd find the articles and post them here, but I have run out of time for this morning. :-) I personally have found it most valuable when teaching Greek and Latin.

 

My mom was one of those who fell for the idea that all students can learn to write well, if they just read good books. I am an example of someone who would have done much better with direct grammar instruction and diagramming.

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what is the best way (online options with Videos and Questions preferred )  to teach diagramming

 

I just googled "online sentence diagramming tutorial" and quite a few helpful links popped up. I'm not sure if you're looking for a full course, but there were several videos and such online at no cost that at least introduce diagramming at a conceptual level. 

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It was never taught in my schools growing up and neither I nor my husband had ever heard of it until I started reading material about homeschooling.

 

My mother, who is an English instructor at a local university and the department's acknowledged grammar maven, had never spoken to me about it, does not teach it or expect it, and in fact might not know how to do it.

 

It seems to be an area thing--some places do it, some don't!

We will probably do it because we're pretty happy with First Language Lessons and they do it, and since everybody else is doing it I wanna know how too!  LOL

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I <3 diagramming!  And I <3 Montaux's website.  (His book is on my wishlist).  I also enjoyed parsing sentences with Winston Grammar and thought it prepared me for diagramming afterwards.  I don't know if our local public schools teach diagramming, however.

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I was a high school English teacher; I don't teach diagramming to my dc.  Ime, I haven't found diagramming particularly helpful, and in many cases, it just makes grammar more confusing.

 

Maybe I just don't know how to teach it?

 

Maybe I'm burnt out because one of my college classes was -- literally -- nothing. but. diagramming.   :eek:

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Schools here do not teach it.

 

We did some diagramming last year - grade 4, because it was in the program we used.  I don't know that we will do much more in the future, though dd10 enjoyed it.

 

I think it is one tool students can use to look at grammar, and it might be most useful for very visual students.

 

I did not do grammar at all in school.  In university I learned to parse sentences a different way - a lot of my teachers were European and diagramming IIRC is a North American thing.

 

I don't consider it the be all - it was only invented in the 19th century, when people were interested in classifying everything.  It really isn't indispensable for learning to write well.

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http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-curriculum-language-arts-spell-vocab-grammar/

Have any one tried 

 
 Get Smart Digital Program - Learn Grammar Through Diagramming! For Grades 5 -Adult 

 

 

Yes, we used Grammar Revolution last year when DD was in 5th. She liked it a lot. The lessons were clear, and she learned a lot. I think the video quality is not quite professional, but DD didn't mind so I didn't either.

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I also love diagramming!  It's such a logical way to "organize" a sentence, and visualize all of its components and how they work together.  We don't do it every week, but definitely do it often.  We also use First Form Latin, which has some basic diagramming of Latin sentences and their English translations.  I think its a very useful tool for language learning (with any language).  When I was overseas, I realized that solid English grammar was one of the best preparations for learning local languages.  If you can diagram in English, learning another language will be that much easier!

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We are putting kids through one year of R&S so yes, we are learning diagramming this year. I teach it Because SWB things it's a must, and I am no expert on English grammar. While we prefer MCT four level analysis, we are committed to give diagramming a chance.

Our local schools don't teach diagramming.

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We are putting kids through one year of R&S so yes, we are learning diagramming this year. I teach it Because SWB things it's a must, and I am no expert on English grammar. While we prefer MCT four level analysis, we are committed to give diagramming a chance.

Our local schools don't teach diagramming.

DD uses MCT sentences for diagramming practice. I think it's the same basic skill set and just a matter of preference. Diagramming made grammar make complete sense to my girl, but we still used MCT!

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At the schools here you are lucky to learn the 8 parts of speech. I have looked at the common core standards and there is nothing about diagramming. Diagramming is taught in the classical school my friends daughter attends but that's the only school I personally know of that teaches it. I am teaching diagramming to my kids. I want them to understand grammar really well and I feel diagramming is a good tool to learn it. I think grammar now a days is not heavily emphasised at all. It's interesting that you constantly hear complaints about student's writing yet there seems to be a sentiment that grammar is useless.

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To the best of my knowledge, none of the school districts in our local area teach diagramming.

 

Do they teach diagramming in your local schools?

 

Do you teach diagramming? Why or why not?

 

Thanks.

 

To the best of my knowledge it is not taught in the schools, but then again, I never really checked or cared.

 

I teach it because it is the best way to define and understand grammar. If you can diagram a sentence, the meaning is bound to be clear. My son has gone all the way through Analytical grammar, except for the few usage units he is finishing this term, and he is a master! He absolutely gets grammar. I am so glad we stuck with it.

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None of them teach it around here. I love diagramming and teach it. I am very math minded and grammar was my weak area until I learned to diagram. Everything now makes sense when I can see it laid out in a diagram :)

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