JennifersLost Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I started using Rod & Staff's English book (grammar) with my fourth grader and love how it's presenting things, so I bougth the English 9 & 10 Communicating Effectively book to use with my 8th and 10th graders. It looks good except the sentence diagramming part is so advanced. They (and I) are going to be completely lost. What should we do? Start with grade 8 instead? Does that review the diagramming stuff? Or are we doomed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandy in Indy Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I wouldn't start with anything past 6...they'll need the background in it. There's a good chance that they'll be able to breeze through parts of it but they'll miss too much if they don't have a suberb grammar education (which includes diagramming). And we only did books 3-8. In high school, I concentrated on literature and writing. They'll have a thorough grammar education if they finish book 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 How do you convince your 10th grader to start in book 6? Sigh. I know, I know - just make them do it. I guess the fifth grader is going to need the book anyhow, huh? I guess I'll just bite the bullet. Why oh why didn't I start this earlier? I know why. The religious aspect scared me off, but the presentation is better than anything else I've seen and I've looked at so many grammar and writing resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Wit my oldest, we started book 6 in 8th grade, and it was super hard. I'm now doing the 5th book with my youngest, in 6th grade, and wish we'd breezed through that before moving through 6. We put brown paper covers on all our textbooks. Covering up that number took away some of the sting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 I'm agreeing with the other advice you've received. This program really builds on the previous grade levels. My dd did Voyages in English grades 4 & 5. Then we switched to R&S for 6th, and when we finished that she did about a third of R&S 7. Then I decided she knew all the grammar she'd ever need - really! - and we didn't do any more formal grammar. Meanwhile, I had started younger DS in R&S 4. He's now a 7th grader and about 10 lessons into R&S 6. We will try to finish it this year (we skip the writing & poetry sections, so I think we can make it). Then I will consider him done with formal grammar. I don't have advice on how to spin it to your kids. But if they haven't had any *rigorous* formal grammar, they should be challenged with R&S 6. If my 10th grader decided she needed formal grammar again, we'd probably start at lesson 1 in R&S 7 again. I honestly think that any student completing R&S 6 or 7 will have more grammar instruction than most high schoolers ever get. Do you know anybody who has the books you can look at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 How do you convince your 10th grader to start in book 6? . we don't call the books grade anything, but level 6, or level 7. goes down much better. especially as they know that most high-school children ( in Australia haven't even been taught up to level 3) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inashoe Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Tell her you are going to skip levels 1 to 4 ! I would suggest you do R&S 5 before 6, you could probably skip lessons, do some orally and that way cover more than one lesson at a time. But you will appreciate the background that it will give you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in Central TX Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Here is a link to a scope and sequence chart for R&S Grammar (scroll down until you see the page for Building Christian English Series): http://www.rodandstaff.info/scope/ I would also recommend that you start with R&S 5. I did a quick comparison of R&S grammar 5 & 6 back in March 2008. I'm copying part of my post here: In comparing R&S 5 & 6: -the lessons are longer in 6, and a smaller typeset is used -there are more oral drill exercises, written exercises, and review exercises for each lesson in 6 -there are 139 lessons in 6, but only 119 in 5 -there are 82 worksheets for 6, but only 68 worksheets for 5 -there are 11 chapter tests & a final for 6, but only 10 chapter tests in 5 -5 talks about verb tenses & principal parts; 6 talks about transitive verbs & action verbs that aren't transitive -5 talks about linking verbs with predicate nouns & adj; 6 talks about passive and active voice -5 talks about nom, obj, & poss pronouns; 6 expands on this and talks about relative pronouns & relative clauses -there's more diagramming in 6 including adjective clauses, adverbs of degree, and adverb clauses -more advanced concepts in 6 include prepositional phrases as adjectives and adverbs, subordinating conjunctions, and avoiding misplaced phrases and clauses HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 How do you convince your 10th grader to start in book 6? Sigh. I know, I know - just make them do it. I guess the fifth grader is going to need the book anyhow, huh? I guess I'll just bite the bullet. Why oh why didn't I start this earlier? I know why. The religious aspect scared me off, but the presentation is better than anything else I've seen and I've looked at so many grammar and writing resources. in HS here in BC. He finished the Grade 6 book in Grade 9 so not much different than your son's age. Maybe that can be a panacea for him. Also I think I have a Grade 5 copy of the text book that I'd be happy to give you if you would like it. I will look for it today. Let me know and the next time we're shopping in your neck of the woods I'll drop it off for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Oh, Rose - that would be a lifesaver! I just ordered book 6 yesterday before I read all the rest of the posts and then I was kicking myself as I read this for not getting 5. And I just can't afford another one right now. Book 4 is working great for my 6th grader. We could probably whip through book 5 with the older two, just concentrating on the grammar stuff they haven't seen yet, and then move right into book 6. Thank you so much for your offer. And maybe we could finally have that cup of coffee, too. I'd love to see you again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rose in BC Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Why don't you pm me your address. I have Grade 3, 4, 5 that I'm not using. I could only find the text books right now but I think a friend of mine has my teacher's manuals and isn't using them. I'll check with her later this afternoon. Do you just want Grade 5 or the others as well (they might be useful as background info.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Jennifer, Just a quick note - I'd also call them levels instead of grades. I'm doing level 5 with my ds this year, and boy oh boy, there is stuff in it I never studied! It's not hard to understand, but it's just new for me. So it's definitely not babyish - you can tell your dc that your smart imaginary friends in their 30s and 40s are studying book 5!:lol: Do the exercises orally as much as possible to make it go faster - including diagraming. Some people use whiteboards or chalkboards for oral diagraming; I use scrap pieces of paper while sitting with ds on the couch. You can also skim through a lesson ahead of time to get a feel for what you can skip or alternate, too. Like today, in the oral part there were 12 sentences to diagram, and 14 in the written part. We just did the written part ones (on scrap papers with me just scribbling 1st and 2nd letters of words as ds whizzed through telling me where to put words), as both sets were accomplishing the same goals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam "SFSOM" in TN Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 (edited) How do you convince your 10th grader to start in book 6? Sigh. I know, I know - just make them do it. I guess the fifth grader is going to need the book anyhow, huh? I guess I'll just bite the bullet. Why oh why didn't I start this earlier? I know why. The religious aspect scared me off, but the presentation is better than anything else I've seen and I've looked at so many grammar and writing resources. Jennifer, just tell them that this was written for folks who typically leave school after grade 8. This is to get a complete grammar education finished by that point. The grade 6 book was NOT typical 6th grade-ish to me, and was even quite challenging for me in places -- and I had two college degrees and have done work (for actual pay) writing and editing. Perhaps if they saw it as Book 6 of 8, it would be easier to take? The higher level book was added onto the series much later and is quite esoteric in content, IMO. Edited January 16, 2009 by Pam "SFSOM" in TN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennifersLost Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Thank you all again so much. You're making me feel better because I got a degree in English from an Ivy League university and the Grade 9 & 10 book was making me feel like an idiot! Rose - I think I just need the grade 5 set (and I would love the teacher's manual if it's available). I already have grade 4 and grade 6 is on the way. Thanks so much for offering to bring them here. I'm PM-ing you my address right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrypmgaga Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 If anyone is able to send the Grade 3 book to Australia, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 If anyone is able to send the Grade 3 book to Australia, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot! you can buy the books new in Australia from LEM ( light Educational Ministries) or secondhand from http://aussiehomeschool.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrypmgaga Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Awesome! Thanks for the linkage. I went to their site once and lost it. So I thought I would have to buy it off someone here that was willing to send it or something like that. Thanks once again! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 One additional thing that you should consider, I think, is purchasing the Rod and Staff handbook for yourself. It summarizes everything that is taught in the curriculum, with good examples. I saw one at a convention in April, and am delighted that I bought it. It has filled me in at the 'whole picture' level where RS5 is beyond what I learned in school, and done so very efficiently. And it wasn't all that expensive--12 or 15 dollars, I think. It has made it much easier for me to see where they are headed with some of their occasionally convoluted lessons. I really like their incremental approach, and frankly, my DH can't do the Level 5 stuff at all. DD is 12, and although she doesn't want anyone else to see that she is working in the level 5 instead of level 7 book, she is very VERY glad that she is. This stuff is not really all that easy for some kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 I wouldn't start with anything past 6...they'll need the background in it. There's a good chance that they'll be able to breeze through parts of it but they'll miss too much if they don't have a suberb grammar education (which includes diagramming). And we only did books 3-8. In high school, I concentrated on literature and writing. They'll have a thorough grammar education if they finish book 8. And I'm considering only going through Book 7 and counting that as enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest elisabethrap Posted June 28, 2011 Share Posted June 28, 2011 (edited) We have just finished Exercises in English Level F and H. All four of my kids seem to grasp the material and made it through to the end, but that's about it; no mastery has been demonstrated as of yet. They do however love diagramming. does anyone have any suggestions for next year going into Rod & Staff? thank you. Off Topic: is it necessary to have finshed Critical Thinking and have a firm grasp of diagramming in order to step into Latin with a strong foundation to build on?:confused: Edited June 28, 2011 by elisabethrap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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