what do you use for grammer?

[A home for their hearts]

I am currently using FLL 1/2 with ds7 and FLL 3 with dd9. Although I like the ease of it I seem to have a love hate relationship with it. So I'm looking to see if the grass is greener somewhere else. ;)

[Titus.Two.Five]

I don't do formal grammar until age 9 or 10.

 

My dd10 is using FLL 3, copywork, and dictation. She will use FLL 4 next school year and also what the olders are doing, which is:

 

My ds12 and dd13 are going to be doing English and The Bible, Diagramming and The Bible, and Punctuation and The Bible, all by Louise Ebner over the next few years and then on to a Greek program.

[Plaid Dad]

My dd is using Classical Writing plus Latin and Greek. I prefer to teach grammar in its "natural habitat" - English composition or a foreign language - rather than as an isolated subject.

[JudoMom]

We've landed on Rod & Staff.

 

I started with FLL 1/2 with my oldest and made it mostly through the First grade year. Then I read LCC and decided we'd learn grammar through Latin and writing. And then my oldest had to test and in looking at test prep books I realized the only thing he needed "cramming" for was grammar.

 

So this year my 2 oldest are doing Rod & Staff 3. I'm not sure how long we'll stick with it as a separate subject because I really do like the LCC idea, but I also can see the benefits of an English grammar course.

 

I have decided to do no formal grammar before 3rd. At least for now :lol:.

 

I really do like Rod & Staff, and my boys enjoy parts of it as well.

[Testimony]

This wonderful grammar program called Grammar-Land for my younger son!!!!

 

It is going soooo well. It is the story of a land that is found in the same place that you would find Fairyland. There is a king who is also the judge of the land. His name is Judge Grammar. He has divided his land amongst his noblemen called the parts of speech. However, they have been arguing and they must go before the judge. The entire book is around the different parts of speech explaining who they are to the judge.

 

I won't share anymore if you would like to get the story. I have a pdf file of the book.

 

It is such non-threatening way of teaching grammar. My younger son begs me to read the story. Between this and Writing Tales, my younger son actually is having fun with grammar. Every morning, he begs me to do Grammar-Land. My son is loving learning! Yeah!:D

 

My older son does Growing with Grammar 5 with Writing Tales 2. I am loving that I do not have to teach with GWG.

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey.

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[mrscopterdoc]

We've landed on Rod & Staff.

 

I really do like Rod & Staff, and my boys enjoy parts of it as well.

 

 

We started in 5th grade with Rod and Staff and will use it all the way to the end.

[5sweeties]

We use CLE. It encompasses more than just grammer. I can't imagine ever finding anything better. My children know their grammer well, due to its format. My 10yo dd doesn't always appreciate her lessons, as they are long at times...but wow, she knows her stuff. I can't see ever switching. Right now, I'm using the 5th grade level for my 10yo, 3rd for my 8yo and 1st for my 7 and 6yo's. I love every level of it, and so far we've used 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, to one extent or another, since we are just starting on some of those years.

[Melmc]

I use GWG3 along with WT1 for my 3rd grader and GWG5 along with WT2 for my 5th grader. I've been pleased with both programs for both kids.

[djkapp]

When my children were younger, I used the Easy Grammar books -- I started with the pink book (don't remember the number) and worked through Easy Grammar Plus. I supplemented this with Daily Grams and Editor in Chief. In general, it was quick, easy, and gave them adequate preparation for writing.

 

I have continue with the daily grams and Ed. in Chief into junior high, and now, in high school, I have each of my children complete a 1-2 year course in a thorough grammar program to make sure that all the little details are covered.

 

Good luck---Yvonne

[Heather in VA]

My 9 year old is using Junior Analytical Grammar and Latin.

 

Heather

[Matryoshka]

I didn't do much formal grammar when they were younger - I'd point out parts of speech, correct punctuation and capitalization in their writing, watched Grammar Rock, played with Mad Libs. They were learning foreign languages, but they weren't grammar-intensive yet either.

 

In third grade I started Editor in Chief. This year (5th), their foreign language programs are getting much more grammar intensive, and I decided to get them something more comprehensive for English grammar, but I wanted just grammar, no extras. We've started with Easy Grammar 6 and are really liking it so far. We're also still using Editor in Chief and added Punctuation Puzzlers for a little extra practice.

[mazakaal]

I used FLL for 1st & 2nd, but FLL3 wasn't available at the time, so we moved on to R&S. It's very thorough, but I found that it took too much of my time because I did so much orally. We used Easy Grammar 6 last year for oldest. It was good and I was going to switch ds#2 to EG this year also, but I gave Growing With Grammar instead and I love it. I'll hopefully stick with it.

[Wee Pip]

This year we're using BJU English, which teaches Grammar & Writing in alternate units. I like it, it does the job.

[Guest]

I am using FLL 1/2 and WWE 1 with my 7 & 8 year old and we are loving them!:)

[Jen the RD]

My dd used R & S in grades 2 & 3 but begged me to switch to something else. We skipped grammar in 4th and I used ILL. Now for 5th, we're using ILL combined with a unique program called Step-by-Step Grammar. You can find more info at www.summerbookcompany.com. It offers good review without the redundance of R&S. It teaches diagramming and one thing I like is that she not only has to label all the parts of speech, but she has to include the function in the sentence.

 

Jennifer

 

5th grade dd

1st grade ds

[laughing lioness]

We've been playing the Grammar Songs Cd a lot here lately. We've worked on memory stuff but it didn't seem to stick. The songs are goofy enough to keep the littles engaged.

I also like English for the Thoughtful Child and have been using a Hands of a Child lapbook (Grammar Detective). It's hands-on but not enough memory, so we are doing the grammar songs and the older kids (at co-op) are also diagramming with Our Mother Tongue.

[HollyDay]

7th grader: Winston Advanced with Language Lessons for Secondary Child and Punctuation Power

 

4th grader: GWG 4 plus Language Lessons for Elementary CHild vol 2

[momof165]

We are using Growing with Grammar 3 and Grammar Land. Both have been a great hit at our house. My ds 8 loves Grammar - can it get better than this? :D

 

Sonja

__________________________________________________

Homeschooling an "one and only" - ds 8

[siloam]

We are enjoying Junior Analytical Grammar. Ok I am enjoying it and dd is tolerating it. She is learning and it is fairly painless. This isn't a problem in format but just that dd doesn't like the topic, LOL!

 

Heather

[Chocolate Lover]

We tried FLL 1/2 and it never occurred to me to skip some of the repetition. DS was bored with it. I really love the poetry and picture narations and we still use some of those occasionally. We tried GWG and DS and I both loved it. He did the 1/2 book in 14 months, and is now well into level 3. I love that I can trust that curriculum to be safe for us, self teaching for the most part. DS loves his independance with it!;)

[mom2abcd]

I don't do formal grammar until age 9 or 10.

 

My dd10 is using FLL 3, copywork, and dictation. She will use FLL 4 next school year and also what the olders are doing, which is:

 

My ds12 and dd13 are going to be doing English and The Bible, Diagramming and The Bible, and Punctuation and The Bible, all by Louise Ebner over the next few years and then on to a Greek program.

 

 

Do you know someone who has used the Louise Ebner books? I saw samples at cbd.com. How many books do you complete in a year? I'm interested in hearing more about this program.

 

TIA

[lovemykids]

I am using LLATL with dd 7, but it's going a little slow so we are using Daily Grams which seems to fit the bill for grammar much better.

 

For dd 9, we use GWG 4. It's perfect! ;)

[BizyPenguin]

It's excellent! I've reviewed it on my blog. Click "Curriculum Reviews" to find it.

[Riverfront Headmistress]

After 3 years of Rod and Staff, I've switched to Essentials (ala Classical Conversations). Rod and Staff provided an excellent foundation for my oldest to ease into a more dialectic approach to grammar.

 

My youngest (7 years old) is doing a "home-grown" grammar program and will begin Essentials next year.

[smilesonly]

We started with Ruth Beechicks,then when my dc were in third grade,we went to FLL,for fourth gr. we used Rod & Staff 3,then for fifth and sixth grade, used Rod & Staff 5.( We skipped R&S 4,and stretched the books out.)

 

After my first dc, I learned to put off formal grammar until my dc reached 3rd gr. This is something that has worked for our family.:)

 

I love Rod & Staff!!:)

 

 

Smiles:)

[smilesonly]

We are just about finished with R & S 5. I am trying to get to 50 posts, to sell both the 3 and 5.;) :D

 

Smiles

[EKS]

I love Growing with Grammar.

[Titus.Two.Five]

Do you know someone who has used the Louise Ebner books? I saw samples at cbd.com. How many books do you complete in a year? I'm interested in hearing more about this program.

 

TIA

 

No, I do not know anyone personally who has used this. I wish I could give you answers, however, since we are just starting out.... :tongue_smilie:

[JenniferB]

Stacy,

 

I also felt a love hate relationship with FLL3, which I used with dd9 from summer time until about 3 weeks ago. I really loved the poems and the chants, and the open/go format. But, we were about 1/3 into the book when both my daughter and I were getting really bored with the long oral lesson. The written lesson was so short, it wasn't helping to cement in the ideas learned orally. What my dd really needed was something that focused more on the "mechanics" of language. (She showed a weakness in language mechanics on her last standardized test.) She was already doing poetry and memorization in other places, so she didn't really need more of that from her language lessons.

 

My friend said that her children's language mechanics skills really improved after switching from Sonlight LA to Rod & Staff. So, I bought level 4 for my dd. It covers all the bases: oral review, oral drill for new material, written practice for the new material, and written review. It is very thorough, and it has the open/go format. Because there is so much written practice, I take the opportunity to require careful attention to detail and spelling and neat writing. The lessons take about 1 hour to complete. I've been tempted to skip over work to lessen the load, but I've resisted that temptation so far because I think it's all the written work that has helped her to progress. I really like it so far, though it is hard work and I'm tempted to skip or skim. I am pleased overall. If it works, don't fix it, right?

 

After switching to R&S English I also switched to R&S Math. I like their Math program too, because it is very thorough and open/go. I noticed you use R&S Math. If you like it, I think you will really like the R&S English. It's just as thorough and rigorous.

 

-Jennifer

(sorry I don't have a signature yet - I started typing one, and the forum suddenly turned off, so it got erased).

[Ummto4]

For grammar, we use the enrichment activities from SWR. SWR also teaches simple diagramming somewhere (not there yet). So I'm planning to use SWR for grammar till 4th grade.

 

After that, for fifth grade and sixth grade, my plan is to use diagramming book (may be by Montoux), editing book (editor in chief or fix it or something like that) and Winston Word Works for word usage.

 

For seven thru 12th, I'll follow a formal grammar program plus editing book, but I'm not sure which yet. May be whatever trendy in 6 years time !!

[Linda...inOwasso]

No offense whatsoever to Jessie & Susan, but we couldn't stand FLL in our family. We're Growing with Grammar fans.

Edited October 25, 2008 by Linda...inOwasso
typo

[Kissy]

We are using Latin Road to English. We love it.

[Veritaserum]

We use Growing with Grammar. I like it and so does DD. It's methodical and has built-in review. It's also "open and go" which is a must for me. :)

[AnointedHsMom]

We use BJU for Grammar and Writing at this point. I will be looking at Bridge to Latin Road for next year though. We are happy with BJU but I really like Barbara Beers stuff.

[Guest]

We have used R&S 2/3/4, ABeka, BJU, GWG 4 and will start 5 as soon as it arrives.

[Another Lynn]

I was not a huge fan of FLL 1/2 so we did not use it consistently. But I'm now halfway through FLL3 with my 4th grades ds and we're really enjoying it. We can do it very quickly, open and go. He is learning and it is gentl teaching diagramming, etc. It has also given me a new appreciation for the foundation that FLL 1/2 was building when we dropped it. I'm trying it again with 2nd ds.

 

I used daily grams with oldest last year and I thought it was great for mechanics and for sentence combining which is a good writing exercise, but I did not use the entire Easy Grammar program.

 

I'll probably stick with FLL 4 next - but not sure what after that - GWG? R&S? JAG?

[fractalgal]

I am currently using FLL 1/2 with ds7 and FLL 3 with dd9. Although I like the ease of it I seem to have a love hate relationship with it. So I'm looking to see if the grass is greener somewhere else. ;)

 

For my daughter (8) we are using R&S 3 and PLL (Davidson). There are things I really like in PLL, however, I think the R&S is more thorough. For now, we use both.

 

I like R&S better than she does. I may get her FLL4 (and also R&S 4) for next year. I'm not sure yet. I'm still researching it.