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Grammar help..
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I need some help and suggestions on where to go. I will tell you a bit so you know my position. I am not good at grammar and without a TM I am lost. My dh and I feel it’s good to know the basics of grammar but how many of us care or use where a verb is in our sentence. I know some, no MANY of you are choking right now. But I want to be honest this is not one of our musts of school for our house. Spelling is important and we teach this seperately. We do family studies which include picture and memory work. So I don’t need this to be in our grammar lessons/program.
Now onto my issue. In 2nd-5th grade we use language lessons and I do it with the child orally, rarely writing it down. We skip picture studies, and memory work. 6th grade we go through some living grammar books like Grammarland, and do dictionary work. With my 1st son we did Grammar Key (http://www.grammarkey.com/) which we bought the programs both parts of speech and machanics. This is self correcting computer program. This was an ok fit for my 1st born.
The issues is my 2nd and 3rd sons are working through the Grammar Key program as instructed starting with parts of speech and not doing well. They are really struggling. I need to switch to something else. I have tried AG and it was not a good fit for our family either. Mother’s Tongue another bummer. I have stuck with each of these for over 6 months working through out the summer trying to find something that works, but it’s not happening.
Looking through old grammar posts is tough. The only thing we haven’t tried and I like the color coded idea, as my one son is very visual is Winston Grammar? What are your thoughts? What program do you think I should look at? If you give any suggestions could you please tell me why you liked it and what type of learner you were using it with.
Thanks for listening and taking into account my position. Misty
Misty, to each his own and what I will suggest is not likely to be a hit on a CM board. But we use Growing with Grammar and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. Yes, it is “non-CM” in that it is a workbook format…but for us, it’s working beautifully. You are bascially doing it every every year from grades 4 through 8. Five years, 3 x per week, 36 week year….might seem boring, but the content is really decent. And …the one very CM part of it is that the lessons are SHORT. I mean, 10 minutes TOPS. Absolutely the BEST part of this program is the “Student Manual” — which is, get this — TRULY written for the student. I’ve looked at a ton of programs out there. I was never able to find one that enabled my children to self-teach. But then I found GWG, and now they are truly doing grammar on their own – AND – they are GETTING IT! I am not figuring out color codes, or re-learning grammar on my own. When I first started hs’ing I was sure I would use Winston Grammar, but when I found out how much I would have “re-learn” and teach in a hands-on way…I decided to re-think it (mostly because I have littles and really needed more self-teaching programs for my eldest children). That said, the GWG program is truly the one written to get the student to figure it ALL our via the student manual. Sure, I still help them from time to time, but I’ll tell you honestly…when I do need to help them I can dip into the student manual for refresher- and I can find the answer/guided teaching in 3 minutes or less. It is that SIMPLE. In short, in our home, this has been working incredibly well.
Just my two cents, and I appreciate that every family has their own needs/preferences. Misty, I’m using this with two very different learners…one is diligent, a great reader, and deals well with me teaching him…the other one more fidgety and definitely visual versus audible learner (Mom please stop talking I need to just think now… LOL). The GWG manuals give everything in very manageable bite-size pieces, so even my fidgety guy seldom complains of long lessons or spacing out.
HTH, feel free to pm me if you want to chat further!
Blessings, Angie
Bumping. Would like to hear From as many as possible on this subject. I am so torn. Those who start later in life I would love to hear your experience Those who use only grammar programs what else do you use to teach capitalization and machanics? Or from someone who is using Queens for HS students.
Thanks misty
Faves at our house for mid-upper level have been basic conversation, and Our Mother Tongue, or Essentials of the English Language. I haven’t used Queen’s at the HS level. Our youngest has used their language lessons, but the copywork lessons drag on for days. I’d look at a sample to see if it’s what would suit an older student. A good grammar handbook, like the one Rod & Staff publishes, is also a great resource to have on hand. Then, you can point to it and have them begin to learn how to do these things correctly in a pinch. They won’t always be at home. Knowing how to use a reference tool like this will be helpful.
Just clarifying….I don’t have them use both OMT and EEL. I choose, with their preferences/needs in mind, which one they should go through when they are ready to tackle bigger things. EEL is the meatier of the two and is possibly intimidating to parents unless they just relax and turn the page. It covers all of grammar, punctuation, spelling rules, and even diagramming. If that’s what you’re looking for, I cannot recommend a better resource. OMT is for a student who can handle assignments on their own. “Complete lesson 1 this week.”
I read your other “All-in-One for Highschool” post and have a couple of suggestions. The CMH/HUFI blog has excellent encouragement for raising writers WITHOUT necessarily using a curriculum. Of course, they’ll use CM methods to accomplish this goal. However, IF you find yourself wanting a spelled out curriculum after reading Lindafaye’s suggestions, take a look at IEW. Yes, it’s pricey if you buy it new. But, I found myself in the “I just can’t figure out how to teach this well on my own,” situation years ago. IEW was a blessing for our family. It covers all of the things you listed in the other thread post. The only drawback beyond price (you can get it used, or keep the 100% money back guarantee in mind if you order directly from IEW) is that you might catch flack from other CMers. I’ve been on both sides of the fence and can see beauty on each side.
Hope this is a little more helpful. Either way, a good handbook is an excellent tool!
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