MamaHappy Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 We're using the 6th grade book this year and while I do like it, I find the lessons can get quite wordy. But looking ahead to the 7th and 8th grade books.....Oh my!! Is there not a more concise way to explain concepts?? What is the deal??? I've really liked our years with Rod & Staff, but the length of explanations is getting ridiculous. I might jump ship.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) We used R&S for 2 years, but that was all we could handle. We use CLE now. I'm not sure we'll be able to handle CLE for more than 2 years either. They're both pretty intense grammar programs. We used Easy Grammar between our R&S years and our CLE years and that was too easy. The boys regressed that year and forgot a bunch of basic stuff. I feel l like Goldilocks. R&S and CLE are too complex, Easy Grammar was too easy...I need to find Just Right. Edited March 18, 2016 by Garga 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaHappy Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 We used R&S for 2 years, but that was all we could handle. We use CLE now. I'm not sure we'll be able to handle CLE for more than 2 years either. They're both pretty intense grammar programs. We used Easy Grammar between our R&S years and our CLE years and that was too easy. The boys regressed that year and forgot a bunch of basic stuff. I feel l like Goldilocks. R&S and CLE are too complex, Easy Grammar was too easy...I need to find Just Right. I feel the same way! I've looked at Easy Grammar and I agree, it looks too easy. There must be a happy medium out there somewhere... :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I feel the same way! I've looked at Easy Grammar and I agree, it looks too easy. There must be a happy medium out there somewhere... :) Hake ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Maybe a grammar-in-one-year program like Get Smart Grammar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Or Growing with Grammar- easier than CLE and R&S, but not as wordy. Not as easy as EG, but fairly 'rote.' Good fora review year, but not two years in a row. . . You should be pretty close to calling grammar done if you've made it through all those levels of R&S. Maybe just Analytical Grammar? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Or Growing with Grammar- easier than CLE and R&S, but not as wordy. Not as easy as EG, but fairly 'rote.' Good fora review year, but not two years in a row. . . You should be pretty close to calling grammar done if you've made it through all those levels of R&S. Maybe just Analytical Grammar? May I ask why you think it's not good for two years in a row? We used GWG this year. We also use ELTL but I am truly curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeriJ Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 We feel the same way. I love R&S! and then bought level 6. So many words!! We jumped ship halfway and switched to CLE using just the grammar portions. I don't know if it's the best option exactly, but it's worked fine for us so far. I'm leaning towards going half pace from here on out anyway, finishing level 8 sometime in high school. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaHappy Posted March 18, 2016 Author Share Posted March 18, 2016 (edited) We feel the same way. I love R&S! and then bought level 6. So many words!! We jumped ship halfway and switched to CLE using just the grammar portions. I don't know if it's the best option exactly, but it's worked fine for us so far. I'm leaning towards going half pace from here on out anyway, finishing level 8 sometime in high school. KeriJ- Would you mind tell me a little more about CLE? So you're *just* doing the grammar portion and skipping everything else? Do you feel like the grammar is solid like in R&S? How long do the lessons take each day? I've heard the main difference between CLE and R&S is that CLE is spiral while R&S is more mastery. I've heard they're very similar in terms of rigor and scope and sequence. Would you agree with a that? Thanks! :) I just got done looking at some samples of CLE grammar and I like what I see! Edited March 18, 2016 by MamaHappy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Apologies for the segueway, but perhaps my reply will be helpful to the OP. May I ask why you think it's not good for two years in a row? We used GWG this year. We also use ELTL but I am truly curious. Well, IMO, GWG makes it very easy for a kid to learn the format of what the authors are looking for & fill in the blanks mindlessly without really learning the material. The levels overlap a lot in what they teach, as most grammar does. However, the way GWG is put together & how easy it is to use independently combine to reinforce the lack-of-learning-but-still-filling-everything-out-correctly. I like grammar that makes the kid think rather than just look for a pattern. GWG is great for getting something done independently. It is great as a lighter year of grammar coverage - so you don't lose knowledge, but don't necessarily add a lot of analyzing ability or new grammar skills. We use it for our 'light' grammar year - when we focus more on writing. At our house, where we have average kids who need a lot of repetition & practice to solidify material, we don't want to lose the knowledge we have. I start giving them GWG in around 3rd grade. At that point, it might be their only semi-independent or independent subject, depending on the kid. They are working with me one-on-one with writing and we touch on grammar that way. Their reinforcement comes with their GWG lessons which take 15-20 minutes three times per week. On our grammar-heavy years, we've used KISS Grammar, FLL, and Zaner-Bloser's G.U.M. These all require more thought and more time from me to teach. I try to be 'done' with grammar-as-a-separate-subject by 8th grade, depending on each child's needs. (Note that I only have one kid past 8th & aren't anywhere near graduating her, so take that with a spoonful of salt!!) Hope that helps. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeriJ Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 KeriJ- Would you mind tell me a little more about CLE? So you're *just* doing the grammar portion and skipping everything else? Do you feel like the grammar is solid like in R&S? How long do the lessons take each day? I've heard the main difference between CLE and R&S is that CLE is spiral while R&S is more mastery. I've heard they're very similar in terms of rigor and scope and sequence. Would you agree with a that? Thanks! :) I just got done looking at some samples of CLE grammar and I like what I see! We are just doing the grammar and skipping everything else. I like the spiral review at this stage. It makes me feel like we don't have to do grammar every day, since I know every time she does it there will be some review. Regardless of what I have heard others say about R&S being independent, it hasn't worked that way for us. CLE works much better for independence in our family, which is important to me at this age. I think it is every bit as thorough and solid as R&S. We are using it a level behind since I only plan to use it through level 8 anyway, so the lessons only take my dd about 15 minutes tops. I am a little sad that it is consumable since I have 4 other kiddos coming behind, but it's still a pretty good price. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 AG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hands-on-mama Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 Apologies for the segueway, but perhaps my reply will be helpful to the OP. Well, IMO, GWG makes it very easy for a kid to learn the format of what the authors are looking for & fill in the blanks mindlessly without really learning the material. The levels overlap a lot in what they teach, as most grammar does. However, the way GWG is put together & how easy it is to use independently combine to reinforce the lack-of-learning-but-still-filling-everything-out-correctly. I like grammar that makes the kid think rather than just look for a pattern. GWG is great for getting something done independently. It is great as a lighter year of grammar coverage - so you don't lose knowledge, but don't necessarily add a lot of analyzing ability or new grammar skills. We use it for our 'light' grammar year - when we focus more on writing. At our house, where we have average kids who need a lot of repetition & practice to solidify material, we don't want to lose the knowledge we have. I start giving them GWG in around 3rd grade. At that point, it might be their only semi-independent or independent subject, depending on the kid. They are working with me one-on-one with writing and we touch on grammar that way. Their reinforcement comes with their GWG lessons which take 15-20 minutes three times per week. On our grammar-heavy years, we've used KISS Grammar, FLL, and Zaner-Bloser's G.U.M. These all require more thought and more time from me to teach. I try to be 'done' with grammar-as-a-separate-subject by 8th grade, depending on each child's needs. (Note that I only have one kid past 8th & aren't anywhere near graduating her, so take that with a spoonful of salt!!) Hope that helps. Thank you! It does! We also use ELTL, so I suppose I don't worry a lot about this. I have kept GWG around because it's so simple for her to do on her own. I guess we shall see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy to monkeys Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 We used R&S for 2 years, but that was all we could handle. We use CLE now. I'm not sure we'll be able to handle CLE for more than 2 years either. They're both pretty intense grammar programs. We used Easy Grammar between our R&S years and our CLE years and that was too easy. The boys regressed that year and forgot a bunch of basic stuff. I feel l like Goldilocks. R&S and CLE are too complex, Easy Grammar was too easy...I need to find Just Right. If you ever find that "Just Right" please share! Finding that perfect balance in grammar has been driving me bonkers for years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 I know what you mean about R&S English. We have been slogging through R&S 7, and it's a bear! However, I am also exceedingly thankful that we have persevered through it from the beginning. My 7th grader is taking a German class this year, and he is the only student in the class who understands grammar. Because of R&S, he knows grammar so well that he easily understands the grammar lessons in German. Thank you, R&S. :wub: 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hollyhock Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 We quit R&S English partway through 6 for the very same reasons. That was with my oldest 2 years ago. But I am still trying to find something I like for grammar in 6th-8th grades. I really did like R&S from 2nd-5th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 We feel the same way. I love R&S! and then bought level 6. So many words!! We jumped ship halfway and switched to CLE using just the grammar portions. I don't know if it's the best option exactly, but it's worked fine for us so far. I'm leaning towards going half pace from here on out anyway, finishing level 8 sometime in high school. My son will be in high school next year and we've decided not to teach grammar anymore, except for Analytical Grammar's High School Reinforcement, which is just one lone worksheet every two weeks. (Yes, you read that right, every two weeks!) He knows more about grammar right now than I ever learned in school, so I think he's just fine. I'm tempted to stop grammar right now, but we'll see it through for the next 3 months and then we're done. I've been told over and over that it's traditional to stop much formal teaching of grammar in high school if they have a solid grounding before then. My poor 5th grader still has a few years left of grammar before we stop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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