Any one have any Rod and Staff English input?

[drios]

Hey guys,

I have all other subjects picked out for next year except English for my 3rd grader. Help 😅 I’m stuck between Christian Light and Rod and staff they both look great and can’t make up my mind between them. I like the fact that everything is built in together for Christian light but Rod and staff is mastery based and might help more with retention. Anyways any input if you tried either of these is so appreciated. Thanks in advance❤️

[Chris in VA]

We used Rod and Staff 3 in 4th grade. I really liked it. Dd thought it was ok. I didn't make her copy out everything. There was enough room to write some of the exercises right in the book. For others we used notebook paper.  We did not do the writing assignments because she was using SOTW and narrations to cover writing. 

It was a good introduction and she leaned on it for years--she went to PS after that and never had another stand-alone grammar class. 

[Serenade]

Rod & Staff English is one of my favorite homeschool programs. My kids are in college and beyond now, but I'm having a hard time parting with my Rod & Staff.  One thing to keep in mind is that it's appropriate to use a level lower than your child's grade if need be.  Rod & Staff is very thorough.  I'm convinced that any student who has a thorough grip of the grammar principles taught in Rod & Staff 5 probably knows all the grammar needed for college!

[KeriJ]

9 minutes ago, Serenade said:

Rod & Staff English is one of my favorite homeschool programs. My kids are in college and beyond now, but I'm having a hard time parting with my Rod & Staff.  One thing to keep in mind is that it's appropriate to use a level lower than your child's grade if need be.  Rod & Staff is very thorough.  I'm convinced that any student who has a thorough grip of the grammar principles taught in Rod & Staff 5 probably knows all the grammar needed for college!

Agree with all of this!

[KeriJ]

37 minutes ago, Serenade said:

Rod & Staff English is one of my favorite homeschool programs. My kids are in college and beyond now, but I'm having a hard time parting with my Rod & Staff.  One thing to keep in mind is that it's appropriate to use a level lower than your child's grade if need be.  Rod & Staff is very thorough.  I'm convinced that any student who has a thorough grip of the grammar principles taught in Rod & Staff 5 probably knows all the grammar needed for college!

I used R&S for years, then switched around a lot after that.  I love how it covers everything and how thorough it is! It explains things exactly the way my brain thinks.  The kids and I would always get cracked up that I would stop after reading a paragraph in a lesson and put my own two cents in, but then  go on reading and the book would say exactly what I just said!

But I also wondered if the grammar was sticking.  I wondered if it was just something that *I* loved.  Do you feel that it was actually effective and that they retained?

[AnneGG]

We’ve used both. I think they are both very thorough and academically complete.
 

I like CLE because my children don’t have to write everything out. I also like that it’s an all in one, and that they review things from several years ago. This works well for some  of my children that forget things like phonics & spelling rules. I also just like CLE as a whole and enjoy using their curriculum. However my children aren’t big fans of the Language Arts, they find it boring and tedious. It is multiple worksheets everyday. 
 

I like R&S because it’s gentle and somehow it still manages to be rigorous. The lessons aren’t super long, so the dry aspect of the curriculum is somewhat mitigated. We do a mix of oral and written work with R&S. I feel more involved with R&S, which I like. We do not care for their spelling or their readers. IMO it goes into a lot of depth in the older grades, and a lot of that information is not needed for students that aren’t planning to major in English.

While I do appreciate the Bible stories and Christian living, it can feel almost smothering at times. The English has more Bible in it than their science. All that said, we use it! (And a couple of other resources for variety’s sake.) 

[Servant4Christ]

I used CLE grades 1-3 for my oldest before switching to R&S. I have found that R&S is easier to retain because it teaches a student to use actual paper and think about what they are writing. Diagramming sentences is the best example I can think of to compare: CLE gives the diagram for a student to fill in the words; R&S has the student draw the diagram from memory before filling in the words. Having English and spelling as separate subjects has actually been great because we can slow down grammar for harder chapters or writing assignments without having to slow down spelling.

[freesia]

I used Rod and staff in grades 5-8 with my older three. Because someone gave me 2-4, I used them with my youngest. It was fine. I liked it. My bff used CLE and, honestly, I loved the all in one aspect and think you should consider using CLE at the third grade level. But really I think they are both great programs.