Questions for Rod and Staff English users

[LisaD]

1- have any of you started your child in Rod and Staff English 2 in first grade? I used first language lessons for 2 years with my oldest and have been doing FLL 1 with my first grader, but she is bored with the repetitive nature and slow progression. After looking at the table of contents for R&S 2 I am considering switching to it for the second half of the year.

 

2-my 3rd grader successfully completed FLL 1&2, and is currently using the first year of Classical Writing Aesop- which he is doing well with and we like. However, I feel like he doesn't have a very wide base of grammar knowledge, (although he has mastered all concepts learned, it just doesn't seem like a lot). I am considering starting R&S English 3 with him in Jan and just using it in place of the grammar portion of his writing curriculum (classical writing).

 

Any thoughts or experiences? I'd appreciate any input you all might have. Thanks in advance!

[ALB]

I agree about the repetitive nature of FLL 1.  I went that route with my dd and started R&S 2 in second grade.  For my ds, we just skipped FLL altogether and began grammar in 2nd grade with R&S, which is what I'll also do with next ds.  

There really isn't a need to do grammar in first since all the concepts will be introduced again from the beginning.  Personally, I like to just work on cementing reading skills and beginning narration and copywork.  We also memorize poems, which was probably my favorite part of FLL.

I haven't done CW, but I can say that R&S grammar is very thorough and excellent.  IMO, you can't go wrong with it.

[Mrs Twain]

You can start R&S 2 in first grade. The issue is that the higher levels of R&S English are quite difficult. I am glad my 6th grader is doing R&S 6 and not 7 this year. So if you start early, think of some way to slow it down to get to grade level.

 

I think a better plan would be to do something else in first grade. With my youngest I used Growing with Grammar (2nd grade level) and had her write journals, where she would draw a picture to go with a sentence she made up. Then I would correct the sentence, making sure it was complete and it started with a capital letter and ended with a period. That worked well for first grade grammar. Then I started R&S in second grade.

 

Starting R&S 3 with your third grader would work fine. Just cut out the composition lessons and anything else you think is unnecessary to get it finished by the end of the year.

[2_girls_mommy]

I don't see any issues. It gives you leeway for moving slowly through it. I started one of mine in R&S 1st grade math in K. She still finished the 8th grade at the end of 8th grade. The same with the spelling. I think I started her in the 4th grade R&S spelling in 3rd grade. Now, in 9th grade, she just finished the end of the 8th grade spelling. In English, both of mine started 2nd grade in the 2nd grade R&S English book, and both are about a half year behind to a full year behind "grade level" in the R&S English books. It's not that the work is too hard or that we don't do school every day, it is just that our school takes many forms. Our writing may be a speech class for a co-op class for the year, meaning, we spend less time on R&S that semester.  It may be that we did a few weeks of Kahn Academy or math review games at some point instead of going straight through R&S every day.

 

Over the years, with other classes, ongoing projects, Latin study, etc we actually only do a few English lessons a week in R&S. So we move slowly through the books. But they (all of our R&S subjects actually) are worth completing, so we just keep moving through them not caring about what the grade level says. Starting early can give you some leeway and freedom for taking time off for unit studies or co-op classes or what have you through the years.

[bethben]

I don't even start grammar until 2nd grade with Rod and Staff.  Just wait.  They'll be fine if you take a year off.  

[2_girls_mommy]

I don't even start grammar until 2nd grade with Rod and Staff.  Just wait.  They'll be fine if you take a year off.  

 

Agree with this sentiment as well though!

[KrissiK]

You can start R&S 2 in first grade. The issue is that the higher levels of R&S English are quite difficult. I am glad my 6th grader is doing R&S 6 and not 7 this year. So if you start early, think of some way to slow it down to get to grade level.

.

This is what I was going to say. It gets challenging in the upper grades. My two older kids did BJU last year instead of R&S because I wanted a write-in workbook. I don't feel like they learned a thing, so we went back to R&S this year, but they are repeating the grade they did with BJU. R&S is that thorough of a program. Don't rush things with grammar.

[LisaD]

Thank you everyone for your tips and perspectives. 😊 I've decided to have my 3rd grader start the Rod and Staff English 3 after the break. I'm getting the workbook and tests. I may speed up or skip anything he already shows mastery in and hopefully we can get thru most if not all of it this year. For my 1st grader I decided to just reinforce the concepts she's already learned (which is built into writing with ease), put our current grammar on hold and start with Rod and Staff 2 in the fall. 😊

 

Thanks again! 😊

[EthylPie]

I have a similar experience. With my DS9 I started FLL1 in 1st and we just couldn't do it everyday.....way to boring and repetitive,but the lessons are incredibly short. We only finished about 1/3-1/2 of the book. However, he was well prepared for R&S 2 in 2nd grade. If you want for 1st grade, just focus on what nouns are. Then verbs, gently. In 2nd grade R&S and now in 3rd, we do most if not all the lesson orally and he completes the worksheets. We also did WWE 2 for the 1st semester of 3rd (2lessons/day) and began W&R Fable the second semester.  The mental development needs to be there before starting W&R. The child has to begin thinking beyond the words for W&R to be effective. I'm glad I didn't rush anything....I'm learning that just because they are smart for their age doesn't mean their minds are mature yet..... My son wasn't ready for W&R until the last half of 3rd, but I am loving the discussions we are having....and again we do most of the lessons orally. I don't want him to hate language arts the way I did just because of busy work and excessive writing.....maybe next year we'll increase the amount of writing he does.

[8Arrows4theLord]

My oldest used the R&S 2nd gr. book at 6 yrs. old. She had no problems with it, but we did a lot of it orally and she was reading at a 4-5th gr. level. We had not done any grammar before starting it.

Yes, R&S gets harder as the books advance, but you can always slow down when it gets hard. 5th grade is one of the hardest books, lots of new material. One nice thing about starting the series early: she has scored perfect or near perfect scores in grammar on all of her standardized tests since 3rd grade.

Just to clarify, she was my only one (so far) who was advanced enough to use the books this early. My others weren't ready till 2nd or 3rd grade to start R&S grammar.

 

Didn't realize this was an older thread. Hope things are going well!   :001_smile:

Edited March 25, 2017 by 8Arrows4theLord