If we mostly focused on Latin???

[bnwhitaker]

If we mostly focused on teaching latin/ latin grammar starting 2nd or 3rd grade would there still be a need for English grammar?

[arliemaria]

Following. 

My husband is teaching grammar at the moment (RS English 4) but we have long term Latin plans and hopes starting this fall—3rd grade.

[MDL]

I’m interested in this subject too. My 7th grader is doing Lukeion Latin, which is quite intense (level 2 for 8th). We have beed supplementing with Fix-it! (Through book 3 so far), but im hoping we can drop it next year due to time constraints. 

Why is it so difficult to feel like we're doing enough? 

[Bluegoat]

No, but you might find intense grammar at that age rather a difficult row to hoe.  Most kids at that age doing English "grammar" are really just learning mechanics and maybe words for nouns, verbs, and so on.  Latin programs at that age are often natural language and vocabulary based as well.

Real grammar, including in Latin, requires some ability to really abstract the form.  I think you can do almost all your grammar through teaching Latin, but it's not going to be more efficient at young ages like that.  With mechanics, you'd be better off to just use English.

[Holly]

MP goes this route, but they still include some English grammar.  They have their EGR program already mentioned, plus I saw they recently added some Core Skills language arts workbooks.  I imagine these are pretty light, but they wouldn't schedule it if they didn't see a need for more grammar/mechanics practice.  They also have a year of R&S Grade 8 English before beginning high school. 

We will be using MP Latin, which is grammar heavy along with FLL/Grammar for the Well Trained Mind.  I have learned more grammar as an adult by studying Latin, but I feel you need some English grammar to learn to apply it to our language.  There are a few grammar programs that teach English grammar in a year, like Our Mother Tongue or Analytical Grammar.

Mechanics would also be good since unedited Latin doesn't actually use periods to end sentences.  ?

[KrissiK]

10 hours ago, bnwhitaker said:

If we mostly focused on teaching latin/ latin grammar starting 2nd or 3rd grade would there still be a need for English grammar?

Latin grammar is not identical to English grammar. I definitely teach English grammar alongside Latin.

[TheAttachedMama]

We have moved towards more of a "Latin-Centered Curriculum" this year.   We have been SUPER happy about the change.   I keep saying, "YES!  This is how homeschooling should work!"    Our days are so much shorter, yet the education that my kids are receiving seems somehow better and more robust.   We have a lot more depth in study.     I know that seems like a paradox (less time, but learning more?), but that has been our experience.    We haven't completely eliminated English Grammar study, but we now spend a very short amount of time on it.  (We use English Grammar Recitation from MP with some added practice ONLY if needed, and to basically say, "Remember this concept you learned in Latin?  Well, here is how it works in English.")    English Grammar Recitation does include some sentence diagramming and mechanics rule memorization/application too.   However, the point of the program is to be short, sweet, and efficient so you have the time in your day to study Latin in depth.   :)  

I think, historically, this is how education used to be structured.   Here is a quote from the intro in the teacher's guide:

"The name grammar school comes from the early Renaissance, when the major subject of the elementary years was the Latin grammar.  The young grammar student memorized Latin grammar forms---declensions and conjugations---and gradually transitioned to the more abstract study of Latin syntax and translation in his upper grammar years.   This plan of work was consistent with the trivium stages of learning---memorization for the younger grammar student and logic-level translation skills for the older.

As the study of Latin declined over the centuries, the study of English gradually took its place.   English grammar, however, being irregular and lacking inflection, is in some ways more abstract and difficult for the young child than Latin.   Although the technique of diagramming was developed to make the invisible English grammar more concrete, the study of English grammar in the grammar school years has remained a frustrating and often fruitless experience for both teachers and students...."   (English Grammar Recitation Workbook One, Teacher Manual Introduction by Memoria Press.)     

My kids are dyslexic, and the study of grammar/spelling is not their strong suit.   However, I have found this approach to education works well even for kids with learning challenges.   Translating Latin is like breaking a code which can be sort of fun.  You can just look at the endings of the word to figure out what the word is doing in the sentence.   The spelling and phonics is amazingly regular and easy to figure out too.   English is so much more complicated IMHO. 

I would say that at your kid's ages, the primary focus should be on English phonics.   Make sure they are reading really well and learning to spell phonetically.   Work on the basics such as penmanship, proper pencil grip, and endurance with writing.   (Basically, you are learning how to learn in those early years.)     THEN, once you have those basics down (whenever that happens), you can replace English phonics with the study of Latin.   First, it is a just a memorization practice.  (See Prima Latina and then Latina Christiana for examples of how this looks).   Eventually, your kids will be ready developmentally for more abstract thinking, grammar, and translation.  (For example, the MP  "form series".  )