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How important is diagramming?


paulcindy
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My 10 yo just looks at it and breaks out in hives. I have never learned diagramming, and I look at it and I don't think I still "get it". Is it really that important?

 

Okay, if it is. Will it be easy for me to teach it? I have looked at it and it looks real foreign to me:confused:

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I think it's important, and we teach it here.

 

What are you using? We use Rod and Staff grammar, and it starts off very simply.(subject+verb) It adds steps very slowly.

 

We do class practice together on a white board, and try to make it a game: Who can diagram it first? For every 5 correct you get 5 skittles, etc. I have 3 boys. They like competition. :)

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You have to think about it like a puzzle. Don't get scared, get happy! :-) Get a good book and start simple...Nouns and Verbs...go from there....

Are you using a grammar program? If so, which one??

Carrie:-)

Edited by NayfiesMama
Yup..what Hillary said..while I was still typing:-)
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To me it's not important to learn just for the sake of learning it. It is, however, extremely important, IMHO, to USE it to learn advanced grammar concepts. You learn it in baby steps with the easy stuff and then USE it to learn the hard stuff. It's a means to an end.

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Well, I personally think it's a really important *tool* to use in understanding grammar. It's a visual organization tool, in a nutshell. There are many ways to learn and understand grammar, and many ways to organize the information you learn. Some methods use colors to highlight different parts of speech/parts of sentences, some use underlining techniques, some use an auditory/oral method to sort through it all (like Shurley for instance). Diagramming is a visual method of seeing & understanding grammar. If I've learned one thing in my many years of homeschooling, it's that the more ways I can approach a subject being learned, the better it gets learned. So labeling sentences is good, but learning to ask questions (ala shurley) as you label is better, and learning to diagram what you have just spoken and labeled is even better! Not that diagramming is the be all end all of grammar, but it is a very powerful visual tool to help understand it. It really isn't hard, and most books start with the basics and go a step at a time. R&S 4 would be a great place to start with a 10 yr old. It won't be too hard to teach, and you'll learn as you go as well.

Have fun,

Kayleen

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