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Grammar
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My oldest will be in eighth grade this year and will be working through the second section of Analytical Grammar. My 6th grader has done Jr. AG and my younger kids (2nd and 4th) have very little formal grammar so far. I’m considering using Our Mother Tongue in small bits during our morning time with my 6th grader and down. Would it be too much for them at their ages or good in small pieces? They are already used to doing narrations, copywork and dictation (the 6th grader) and we will continue with those, so perhaps OMT would be overkill at this age for them? Opinions would be greatly appreciated!
I think it would be overkill – especially for the younger ones. But that’s just my opinion 🙂 Is there a weakness you hope to strenthen? That could make a difference.
I’d love to see some improvement in my 4th and 6th graders in the area of mechanics (like punctuation), but maybe copywork and dictation (and patience!) are enough for now? Thank you for your thoughts!
Yes, copywork and dictation will help to emphasize correct punctuation, as will their independent reading of well-written literature. I, personally, would not worry about a formal grammar program with either of them, maybe with the 6th grader if you feel you absolutely must. I did oral lessons from English for the Thoughtful Child with my children when they were around 7-8, but it was never heavy or too much for them. I know many on here say not to do any grammar until 10, some say 7th-8th, and others say high school. The great thing about grammar is that it is a finite body of information that doesn’t change. The tricky part about doing it too soon is that you risk turning your child off of grammar if they aren’t ready for such an abstract concept. My son will be in 5th this coming year, and he still doesn’t have perfect punctuation. I’m not too worried about it because I know he will eventually get it and it will come more easily if he is older and can think on the abstract end of things. I ordered JAG and was planning to use it next year, but I’m seriously considering holding off. There are still some other subjects, like typing and nature study, that I want improvement in in his younger years. Whether we cover grammar at age 10 or 13 or 16, it will get covered. I hope that helps!
I like Our Mother Tongue but to do both would be overkill. I agree.
Also, I agree with Lindsey about the well-written literature giving your younger set what they need in good grammer reinforcement.
If you really want something to do grammar wise with them, I would suggest something casual and lovely like Simply Grammar or Primary Language Lessons. With PLL, do not feel like you have to do all of the lessons and I would say you don’t have to do any of the writing. Use it as a conversational start to language arts. But, truly, if you did nothing but speak well and give them great copywork and great literature in the early years- it is enough!!!
Thank you, everyone. Yes, I do agree that what we’ve done and are doing so far is working us toward a solid foundation and that we don’t need to do anything more formal at this point. We do a morning time all together each morning and I like the idea of a gentle grammar intro at their ages (naming parts of speech and punctuation, for example) and think our morning time is a good place for that. I love the look of Our Mother Tongue but if it’s geared towards an older student then it’s not what I’m looking for. Thank you!
You might consider using one of the things mentioned above and doing only the lessons pertaining to your concerns. Or, you could do as I do, and just occasionally choose one thing from the child’s writing to point out to them….maybe while looking over the writing together, or maybe at an unrelated time (dictation time?) show how to do it properly. You just don’t want it to kill the joy of writing or destroy their confidence. So, it is very important not to try to correct multiple issues at once, and to let them enjoy the success of the things they do well. Give some type of practice (point out…in this dictation exercise, tell what kind of punctuation mark goes at the end of the sentences I speak to you now, tell where this sentence needs a comma, how do we decide whether to use an apostrophe, etc.). Personally, I have only ever taught grammar this way…never used a program. I am hoping to use Analytical Grammar with my next child since it is so highly recommended here…but then I will decide whether it was really helpful/necessary and go from there. My oldest two who haven’t ever had a program give no evidence of needing one. At those ages, they certainly had similar problems, but they all got worked out over time.
Anniepeter, correcting things as I see them pop up (in narrations, especially) is pretty much exactly what I was hoping to do gently in our morning time. I’m not terribly confident in my own grammar knowledge, which was why I was looking for a guide to hold my own hand while I show my kids. I was going through things we already have yesterday and found a grammar guide that I think may work well. I still love the look of Our Mother Tongue and think it could fill that need well, too, I’m just not sure if it’s written to too old of a student for my purposes right now.
As for AG, my oldest is a very self-motivated learner and specifically asked for a grammar program last year. He did all of season one mostly on his own and did very well. I don’t see my next child being even remotely interested in such an endeavor anytime soon. 🙂
I think Our Mother Tongue could be used as a gentle introduction to grammar for elementary age students during morning time and not be too overwhelming if you take it slowly. The first unit includes 9 chapters (46 pages) and covers the parts of speech. Each chapter is divided into little sections that would make good stopping points. After the parts of speech, the sentence is introduced and it becomes a little more difficult but if it’s too much you could stop there and pick it up later. What I think would be great about including OMT in morning time is that there are these little notes and side bars along the way that are interesting and would add to the discussion. There is historia, Latin roots, punctuation notes, etc. So, while I agree with what the others have said, I still think OMT would be a great addition to your morning time.
And, nice to see you, JK! Miss you! It’s me, Stephanie 🙂
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