Grammar

[Clarita]

My 5 year old wants to learn grammar. I'm not very good at grammar. What are my options? What do I do? 

Issues:

1. I don't know how to explain grammar, because I'm not sure if what I'm doing is right either.
2. He isn't ready for copy work. He can probably churn out 5 written words a day and he's really still learning how to write his letters.

We have been doing more "Jot It Down" stuff. He talks about something we are studying during school time or he wants to tell me about and I write it down. I'm not certain how to make these grammatically correct. 

If it were up to me I wouldn't be teaching him grammar until later. 

I guess what might work is either a resource for me to figure out general grammar stuff as an adult or some super gentle non-rigorous thing that tells him about grammar.

[desertflower]

I used First Language Lessons.  We did it orally.  We also skipped some lessons that were repetitive.  We also didn't do any copywork at that age. 

I did FLL for all three of my kids.  My oldest was 5 when he did it.  My younger two children probably started around 6. 

Hope this helps.

[Garga]

I loved CLE for my kids. We discovered it when my kids were in 3rd grade, so I can’t personally attest to the 1st grade curric, but we loved it from 3rd grade on.

Here’s a link to a sample of some of what they teach in first grade. There is very little (doesn’t look like any) sentence writing.

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-clp-files/public/documents/3360/original/Language_Arts_101.pdf

Here’s a link to the curric for purchase: https://christianlight.org/curriculum/by-grade/grade-1/language-arts

For the later years, the teacher’s guide is very helpful when checking work. Not sure you need it for 1st grade. If you don’t know anything about it, CLE (Christian Light Education) is set up so that there are 10 workbooks that the student uses throughout the year. My kids liked it because they didn’t have a giant book to work through, and they got a sense of accomplishment 10 times throughout the year. 

My oldest is 19 and the youngest is 17 and they have excellent grammar now. 🙂

Edited May 20, 2022 by Garga

[alisha]

Word Fun by Michael Dahl

Or any other picture book about the parts of speech for this age: noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc. Check your library if you have that available to you. 

[Garga]

2 minutes ago, Garga said:

I loved CLE for my kids. We discovered it when my kids were in 3rd grade, so I can’t personally attest to the 1st grade curric, but we loved it from 3rd grade on.

Here’s a link to a sample of some of what they teach in first grade. There is very little (doesn’t look like any) sentence writing.

https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-clp-files/public/documents/3360/original/Language_Arts_101.pdf

Here’s a link to the curric for purchase: https://christianlight.org/curriculum/by-grade/grade-1/language-arts

For the later years, the teacher’s guide is very helpful when checking work. Not sure you need it for 1st grade. If you don’t know anything about it, CLE (Christian Light Education) is set up so that there are 10 workbooks that the student uses throughout the year. My kids liked it because they didn’t have a giant book to work through, and they got a sense of accomplishment 10 times throughout the year. 

My oldest is 19 and the youngest is 17 and they have excellent grammar now. 🙂

Oh, and to add to my own post:

After 19 years out of the workforce, I got a job as a technical writer at a health insurance company, and the lessons I learned along with my kids using CLE grammar have been critical to my success at writing on the job. 

[Green Bean]

First Language Lesson 1 would be perfect.

Grammarland is a fun read.

https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Land-M-L-Nesbitt/dp/1230411534/ref=nodl_

I know other Charlotte Mason options exist. I have no experience with them nor can I remember what they are called.

[Green Bean]

3 hours ago, Garga said:

Oh, and to add to my own post:

After 19 years out of the workforce, I got a job as a technical writer at a health insurance company, and the lessons I learned along with my kids using CLE grammar have been critical to my success at writing on the job. 

CLE is very good, as is R&S, but not for a 5 yr old. CLE does have a grammar handbook, I believe. I know R&S does.

[Clarita]

Grammarland looks super fun. I will look into the options. Thanks!

[Ellie]

Maybe Winston Grammar? We didn't love it, but many people do, and it doesn't require any real writing.

The most successful grammar at our house was Easy Grammar.

Edited May 20, 2022 by Ellie

[Servant4Christ]

6 hours ago, Ellie said:

Maybe Winston Grammar? We didn't love it, but many people do, and it doesn't require any real writing.

The most successful grammar at our house was Easy Grammar.

 

Easy grammar looks great. I thought R&S was supposed to be advanced, so I am very surprised to see things in the grade 5 sample that are not covered in R&S grade 5.

[PeterPan]

Dittoing the FLL recommend. We did the early version that was combined gr 1 and 2, all oral, no workbook or written stuff. LOVE it, highly recommend. Also, go ahead and get this kid started on latin or a spoken language!! 🙂

[AnneGG]

Grammar Tales stories. 
School House Rock. 
 

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly get your adverbs hereeee

[Green Bean]

YES!! Schoolhouse Rock rocks!

[lmrich]

First Language Lessons - gentle, easy, and it sticks. 

Schoolhouse Rock all the way!!

[Clarita]

6 hours ago, PeterPan said:

Also, go ahead and get this kid started on latin or a spoken language!! 🙂

For familial reasons we are incorporating Chinese. Although I'm still uncertain how for next year. There's a program that I'm going to try out during the summer; we'll see how that goes. 

[PeterPan]

10 minutes ago, Clarita said:

There's a program that I'm going to try out during the summer; we'll see how that goes. 

Can you get a tutor online to speak with him? 

[Clarita]

Just now, PeterPan said:

Can you get a tutor online to speak with him? 

Yes it would be one of the options we would look into. We do live in an area where a lot of options are available everything from different types of classes (what we are trying out), in-person or online tutoring. 

My pronunciation is good enough that if I have guidance (even via book) it'd be OK. I moved to the US when I was first grade , so I have that amazing learning from when I was little. My big problem is not knowing a lot of vocabulary, literacy, and even my basic grammar isn't always correct.