I am still agonizing over what to use for my 7th grader who hasn’t really done any formal grammar to this point. With his writing issues (dysgrahia) I really don’t want to load him down with having him rewrite everything from a text into a notebook. One of the other ladies in our group uses Easy Grammar and loves it, but her boys are younger, so I’m looking for opinions for those who are familiar with Easy Grammar PLUS. I also need something that is pretty straight forward that he can do independently.
4 My Boys, take a look the response I was given from SCM based on some similar concerns I have for my kids mar & spelling(I posted a ? yesterday “final SCM choices” or something like that!) I can tell you, I used Easy Grammar grades 5 & 6 for them last year. They are 7th and 9th graders for self-esteem purposes, but actually are academically lower; but that”s ok! I was also looking at Easy Grammar Plus for both, or possibly Analyticl Grammar Season 1. Now I will look into the one SCM mentioned. I can tell you, I really liked the EG books, except for the fact we had to cover the answers (are on back of pages, too tempting). I did skip alot of the diagramming; which was wasted material I spent money on they couldn’t use yet. My kids are not that advanced. I can also tell you, we have a homeschool graduate who works at our vet office; her mom used EG all the way through the EG Plus, and then on to Daily Grams. She then did 1 year of IEW. The girl just got accepted into college (MSU) and accepted into their early entry Vet Tech. program, so it must have worked for her! We are like you, still studying these things…. will be curious to see what you hear.
Marie, I did look at the link Sonya posted on your thread, but the cost of the program immediately put it out of the running. Also the fact that it appears to be rather teacher intensive didn’t appeal. I really need him to do it on his own as much as possible, though I am starting to wonder how effective that will be. He needs to keep working on the habits of attention and best effort. My time for working with each of my boys individually is very limited because I work mornings and we are all pretty much spent by 3 o’clock, 3:30 at the latest. That gives me a maximum of 30 to 45 minutes a day to work with each boy with only 1 hour for family studies.
Can anyone tell me how many times a week you do Easy Grammar PLUS and for how long each time?
When my older kids used EG+, they did 2-4 pages per day. Set a timer. No more than 15-20 minutes on grammar. If it’s taking 20, they are either not understanding it, or dawdling. Your call. :). Mine did that amount in less than 15 minutes after they realized they were in control of the situation. ;0)
It’s been at least 4-5 years since it’s been a resource used here at home. I don’t recall it taking all year.
Suggested use:
Begin by going over how you’d like it to be used. Will it be with Mom, or independent? How many days/per week would you like grammar study to take place using EG+? Do you want to to be completed in one year, or spread out longer?
As with other resources, consider how much can be reasonably expected to be completed successfully on an independent basis within the amount of time you wish to allot to it. If 20 minutes is the time you plan to devote to it, set a timer on those days, for that many minutes for a week, or two. This should give you a fairly good idea how many pages are a good fit. Then, take the number of pages left in the book, divide that by the number of expected pages and you’ll know how many days it will tame to complete. This will still be a guesstimate. Adjust, up or down, the number of pages, or days, to cover it within your goal time.
That may be a long answer, but each of my older children finished it at different times. One didn’t complete it as he preferred OMT and I felt cofident that it was plenty formal grammar for him. I also felt EG+ was enough for one of our other sons.
My answers tend to suggest tailoring to each child’s needs/abilities more than to standardized timeline goals. Hope you’ll understand.
Is trasitionong from Easy Grammar to Analytical Grammar a bumpy road, for those who are familiar with both programs? Looking for simple, to the point, affordable program for those who learn slower. I liked EG, but also see so many endorsements for AG. Is it for the average or gifted type students? Also looked at Sonya’s link mentioned (for my kids); it may be a bit too elementary for them.