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Formal grammar…till later?
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Anyone NOT do formal grammar till like 5th-6th grade? I am referring to parts of speech, and the such.
I am just finding that all these books teach the same thing over and over every year. I also feel that they are not old enough to comprehend it till middle school age. I feel like just reading good literature and working on spelling in a slow easy way might be enough for my preference till that middle school age where it will all make more sence.
Am I nuts and just overwhelmed or is there others out there who do just what I am suggesting?
Me!
We have the World of Language picture books by Ruth Heller that we’ve looked through before, and for state testing purposes I did teach Makayla a basic definition to get through the standardized tests, but that’s it.
Last week we began our formal grammar study using Analytical Grammar. Beginning in 6th grade you break it up over 3 years (10 weeks, 7 weeks, and 17 weeks). You do a review page every few weeks in between each year’s formal study. That’s it.
Hi Misty – do you teach copywork/dictation/narration? There is a SCM book on teaching language arts the CM way called “Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing” that might be helpful to you. From what I understand, SCM recommends not starting formal grammar until the later years (maybe 10-12 years old) because of the repetition and inability of a younger child to grasp such an abstract concept.
I do not teach formal grammar until about 5th grade, and my kids are very good with writing. They get very few corrections in their grammar on written narrations, so I think they are understanding the grammar without being explicitly taught.
When they are young, I do teach some grammar concepts conversationally. I would say that they learned the meaning of nouns and verbs, proper verb tense, comma usage, use of apostrophes in contractions and for possesives, and capitalization and end punctuation simply through good reading, copywork, and conversational teaching.
I think you are on the right track – if you can swing it I would highly recommend the SCM book or all day seminar where she covers how to teach LA the CM way. It is SUCH a relief and a blessing!
I have with some kids – our oldest did no formal grammar study until grade 6, or even 7 maybe. We used Jr.AG with him at that point. He is now working through AG and scores A++ consistently, so waiting didn’t hurt him a bit.
I have one child who loves English & grammar and enjoyed the work, so she did Easy Grammar in Grade 2 or 3, but then nothing much until this year (grade 6).
My grade 4 daughter is working on basic parts of speech (subject/predicate) but I think I will give it a rest until she is older, for the reasons you mentioned above.
I am reminded of my son’s kindergarten class (our first child attended kindergarten). The kids had to learn to tie their shoes & when everyone in the class could, they had a hot-dog party. It took some kids the entire year, working every day, September through June!
I teach ours when they’re ready in about three minutes, but I have nine kids ages 14 & under, and not very much time to spare. 😀
All children are different & you should do what works best – I believe grammar is useful & necessary, but definitely not something to make into a dreaded chore, year after year.
Thank you ladies. I do teach spelling (All About Spelling) doing it slow and reviewing more than necessary if need be. We do narration orally till 4th and in 5th I have then try and start doing 1 a week. Dication is part of the spelling so yes to that also.
I feel that I am wasting money on these programs and not getting anything out of it for my 3rd grader. Also, even with the older ones I put these books infront of them and though they are great resources there is so much stuff in them I feel it all get’s messed up in there head. I started thinking why not wait till 6th ish grade and then do a formal grammar that just get’s to the heart of it noun, subject, etc. Why do we need all these other things in there. Then when they have that down or with it even get into the reports, essays, research for high school.
I have a wonderful program that was referred to me and my older 7th and 8th grader are doing it now and it’s clicking. It is no fluff, no extras just the noun, subject stuff. Then the next one is puntucation which will cover that area. So I think I am going to stick with this program which I like and feel it’s a great mastery program.
Thanks again.. I think I am going to back off till that 6th-7th ish time frame. Till then do spelling, narration and dication. Then get them on the program I like and continue. Thank you for your comments. It made me feel better knowing I am not the only mom who thinks spending all this time repeating is like beating a dead horse.
We did R&S for a couple years and it seemed a bit overkill! I remember in PS, covering English for a few weeks out of the year…and that was in Jr High/HS honors English!
My plan is to do light grammar each year, but have a grammar heavy year (or term) once in Jr. High and once in HS. I’m looking into Winston grammar, but I haven’t used it.
Right now, we are using dictation, PLL for my 2nd grader, and my 4/5th grader just started a grammar and writing guide from http://www.sfreading.com . We’ll be jumping around the guide as needed, but focusing mostly on writing.
Me! We tried Grammar Land last year (age 9) and it ended with tears daily. So, we put grammar away for a while. I plan to get into it in an in depth way starting in 6th. Her written narrations though are pretty good at the moment. I agree, keep reading great literature! Also, for now, I just explain things as we go.
WE have. I started with Grammarland last year when mine were 10 and 11. This year, at 11 and 12, we are doing Simply Grammar. Next year, we’ll finish the last section of SG and then move into 2 years of Our Mother Tongue and that’s it.
Prior to age ten, they would have found it difficult to have a grasp upon the concepts and it would’ve been a waste of time and money to try to force it. They had used PLL and ILL which was just enough.
We recently enrolled my 2nd grader in a homeschool tutorial a few mornings per week while I am working through some health issues.
We had never discussed grammar but after just three weeks in the program using Shurley English, my son has learned to identify 8 parts of speech, and five types of punctuation and how to proofread his own work.
Very impressive, but I’m not sure it really matters to a child at this age. The other students covered the same material in 1st grade while my son was playing in the backyard. He isn’t the least bit behind the class now and if he waited another year and learned the same things in 3rd grade, it would be fine too.
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