Not trying to sound like I’ve got all the answers or have one up on anyone else in this forum, but as an English major and former editor, I wanted my girls to learn the exactness required in writing–how a phrase out of place, a misplaced modifier, incorrect punctuation, etc. can affect one’s meaning and clarity. To do so requires parsing and diagramming. Diagramming is essential to understand how the words in a sentence are connected. You simply would not believe the kind of work I had to plow through with authors as I helped them write their books. I did not simply fix grammar and punctuation; rather, I was a substantive editor. So I had to help them write the content in a clear, grammatically correct way so that my copy editors wouldn’t have to fix it 🙂
We used Get Smart Grammar for my two oldest as an intro to grammar. I taught them together, and they were in 5th and 7th grades at the time. We followed up with AG the following year to intensify their understanding as well as to give them guidance and reinforcement on capitalization and punctuation rules, which is not included in GSG.
My girls love the process given in the student book of AG for parsing and diagramming. AG puts a concrete process on paper as a flow chart, and within two days of completing a few sentences together, they had the complete process down (the complete process happens midway through Season 1). The process pulled the concepts together in a concrete way.
I had first purchased Shurley Grammar when they were really young–before my CM breakthrough–and did not like it at all. With Fix It, I didn’t find it intensive or challenging enough. As for the sentences in AG, I have to respectfully disagree with the earlier review. We love the sentences in AG because they connect as an actual paragraph of information, interesting historical information. I found the sentences and layout a wonderful complement to writing instruction since they sentences were actually connected. The girls even commented on how nice it was to have sentences that meant something instead of sentences that were single thoughts with no context. Their overall paragraph writing has improved because of AG’s multifaceted approach and layout. You need no English or grammar background to do either program.
I am going to follow this same pathway for my two younger ones when they get to those grade levels as it has worked well going from concept (GSG) to more concrete (AG). Having said that, this, of course, is simply our experience. It is always a journey, and I am always willing to change things up to accommodate learning styles and goals, which is why reading on this forum is so helpful!
