Rod & Staff 5 English ease of teaching?

[Cz mama]

I am not very good with grammar. I tend to like 'fill in' type text books like Spelling Workout. I am leaning towards having my 11 year old who actually enjoys grammar and sentence diagraming (he did it regularly at the private school he used to be at 2 years ago) use Rod and Staff English 5.

 

Is there a systematic review of the parts of speech?

 

I have looked at the Rod and Staff grammar books in the past and they seem daunting (and dry?) to someone like me. But it was recommended in the Well Trained Mind book, and I tend to get overwhelmed with the amount of curriculum to choose from, so I just thought I would go with that.

 

Is there another 'fill in the blank' kind of solid grammar curriculum out there?

Sorry for being all over the place. 5 weeks postpartum and fighting the flu... :(

 

 

[KSinNS]

Other then that you have to write in a notebook, R+S is really very do the next thing, do the exercise, fill in the blanks. I believe R+S 5 does a pretty significant review of parts of speech and such. It's pretty thorough and easy to use. My oldest kid did it completely independently, though I am finding I need to teach it to my second kiddo. 

[Ellie]

We don't use notebooks; we use loose-leaf notebook paper,  a single sheet of which can be laid directly on a flat surface to write on. :-) Kids have to wrestle down the spiral on notebooks, and it can be tricky writing on the last line of the page because of the thickness of the notebook. :-)

 

Rod and Staff's English series does a great job of teaching both grammar *and* writing. Some people don't like it because it can be dry, but if you can stick with it, it will do the job, and do it well.

[Cz mama]

Thanks for the replys

[redsquirrel]

I do R&S almost 100% orally.  I read or have ds read the questions and he tells me the answers.  It's quite religious for our family, so I will often adjust on the fly, changing the wording of the sentences to be about Star Wars or Doctor Who or Lord of the Rings, that keeps the kids amused and makes it seem less dry.

 

I do have them diagram a couple of sentences, they are generally at the end of the lesson. I have them do it on white board.

 

I also skip the writing assignments because other writing programs work better for us.

 

But R&S is pretty straight forward. I have the teacher's book with all the answers, and  DS2 has the student book.  We can do a lesson in about 15 mins.

[hollyhock]

The other option is to buy the booklet of worksheets that goes with it. That way there is sort of a notebook for them to work in. Last year, I had my 6th grader work through the book independently. If there was a worksheet that corresponded to the lesson, he did that. If there wasn't, he did the oral drill with me (there isn't a worksheet for every lesson, but most). He did well this way and it was almost hands-off for me. And we did diagramming on scrap paper (or on the worksheet if it was required).

[ALB]

We use and really like R&S 5.  But, if I wanted more of a workbook approach I would consider Climbing to English, also available from Milestone Books (sellers of Rod and Staff).  I've heard good things about it and have friends who have used it with success.  Grade 5 does cover parts of speech and diagramming.