Analytical Grammar

[maptime]

Can anyone share their experience with Analytical Grammar?  My ds11 went through Hake 5 last year and it was fine, but level 6 has become a bit of a drudgery.  I’m intrigued by Analytical Grammar’s premise that formal grammar study can be completed  in three 10-week “seasons”, opening up more time for us to spend on writing, etc. 

Do you find Analytical Grammar to be “enough”?  I don’t want to forgo rigor in the name of convenience, but I do love the idea of knocking out our formal grammar study at the beginning of the year and then spending the rest of the year applying it In the context of writing/editing.  Is this too good to be true?😜  If we used AG through 8th grade, would he enter high school good to go, or would we need to follow up with another program?

[Frances]

It was definitely enough for my son and it was the only formal grammar program we ever did. I was determined to do grammar differently than it had been done at my public schools where I felt a poor job was done every year for 12 years. He actually disliked the program, so we did it orally together. His honors college program required extensive writing, and during college he thanked me many times for making him do the program despite his protests. He felt he had a much better handle on grammar than the majority if his peers. Although I’m not sure this is the best measure of success, he also aced both language arts sections on the old SAT.

[Miss Tick]

AG has review books that you can work through occasionally during high school to keep the concepts fresh.

My older 2 did AG. Perhaps it was a result of my poor scheduling, but we found the program to be a LOT, and it wasn't fitting in to the 1/2 hour I allowed for it. They did pretty well with the program, so I pared down the assignments and eliminated some altogether. As long as they did well on the tests we kept moving forward. I think the program days a B is good enough to move on, but if they didn't get an A I would add in a review exercise or two. Even with my cutting out of bits, season 2 is a long one, so be forewarned that they are not divided evenly. 

I also remember there being one or two occasions in the program where the information provided was not enough for me to understand the concept and teach it. In one case I was already familiar with the material from previous grammar. In the other case I asked here and poked around on the internet.

Tldr: I thought it was more than enough and edited it down to suit our needs. I've just started it again with ydd.

[Momto6inIN]

I've used AG for all 3 of my oldest kids and #4 Is in the middle of season 2 right now. I love it and it's worked well for all of them even though they are all radically different learners. I like that it's thorough and easy to implement and includes plenty of practice (and therefore also many ways to streamline if needed). I also like that it only takes a few weeks per year and the rest of the year can be spent on composition. As a PP mentioned, we find it takes about 45-60 min/day. The 3rd season is 17 weeks, I believe, which is quite a bit longer than the first 2 but still leaves an entire semester for comp.

It is definitely enough. I do have them do an AG review book in 9th and 10th (1 exercise a week) to keep their skills sharp, but none of them have needed anything more than that.

[Mbelle]

I used this in late middle school - 9th for my older two.  We spent 2 or 3 years on it.  We did it together and for diagramming I would write the sentences on the white board and they would take turns diagramming and checking each others work.  It seems to have worked and they liked it well enough.

[maptime]

Thanks everyone.  I was gifted a copy earlier this year, so we’re starting this week.  So far so good!

[fourisenough]

My DD3, age 15, did AG in 6-7th and then a couple of the high school review books in 8th. She hasn’t had any formal grammar since. She just scored a 35 (out of 36, 99th percentile) on the English section of the ACT. 
 

AG is absolutely enough.