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Marvelous Monday- ENGLISH and GRAMMAR
By Kendra | April 20, 2009
I am a grammar fanatic. The truth is, I just love language, whether it’s English, Spanish, French… I love the feel of words as they roll around my mouth and I have favorite words that sound like musical phrases to me. Conversely, incorrect grammar grates on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard. “I seen” instead of “I saw” is currently at the top of my grammar hit list.
I am not, however, so blinded by my own love of language that I mistakenly believe that my children will embrace a grammar text with the same enjoyment I do. That’s right– I enjoy grammar texts.
We began with Rod and Staff, going from Phonics to their English texts, but somewhere around second grade I decided to go with English for the Thoughtful Child instead. I can’t really remember now why, but I know I learned of EFTTC from The Well-Trained Mind. I like both Rod and Staff and EFTTC, but each are quite different. EFTTC is gentle, slow, and not text-like while Rod and Staff English is gentle, rigorous, and definitely a text book format.
Now, here’s where personal philosophy comes into play. While I love grammar and all things word-related, I do still feel strongly that later is better for the majority of children. Certainly children need to have a basic understanding of punctuation, capitilization, and sentence structure. Those things can be introduced naturally through copywork and reading. English for the Thoughtful Child does this nicely as well, as do the Pathway Reader workbooks if you’re inclined to use them with your early readers. My children have loved the Pathway series and I see good fruit in the simple, straight-forward daily exercises which cover vocabulary, word usage, spelling, phonics, and reading comprehension.
We have used the wonderful series of Ruth Heller books in our Circle Time. I read a page or two depending on the flow of the text and everyone thinks of a sentence using the words we are studying (ie verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.) You can see a sample of one of our son’s funny drawings here.
Eventually, a thorough and comprehensive study of grammar is necessary, and for that we have used Rod and Staff English, Grade 8, Preparing for Usefulness. If your student has never studied grammar formally, Rod and Staff English 8 will cover everything: parts of speech, punctuation, capitilization, sentence diagramming, note taking, outlining, paragraph construction, letter writing, proofreading, outlines, story writing, and poetry. There are copious exercises for practice and reviews every chapter.
Our current 8th grader isn’t a natural writer so I’ve had him using Rod and Staff English 8 this year. His compositions have improved in such a way that I am once again affirmed by our choice to use this text. As with my previous Marvelous Monday review on Math, I feel that Rod and Staff puts out timeless, thorough, and proven texts.
We did use Daily Grams for several years, but I did not see that my children retained the information over the long haul. Again, this is where the idea that later is better plays a part; because an 8th grader in our home is writing so much for the Veritas Press Omnibus, they need to put all of this grammar study to good use. Daily Grams seemed to teach snippets out of context; there was simply a disconnect between the short daily exercises and the writing they were instructed to do for Omnibus.
If you want to improve your own grammar and have a good laugh at the same time, try Spogg.
And, of course, don’t forget to visit Cheryl’s blog to see her Marvelous Monday post, too!
Topics: Educating at Home, Resources, Reviews | 20 Comments »
April 20th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Testing…
April 20th, 2009 at 8:47 am
“Grammer Fanatic”? No Grammer snob
) LOL It was so nice that I seen you at Church yesterday! Tee hee…I could have so much fun with this. But I shall stop now 
)
~C
April 20th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Ah, see? My friends know me well
April 20th, 2009 at 9:02 am
I’ve never heard of the Rod and Staff curriculum, but it sounds great and very thorough. A strong grasp of grammar is so vital!
April 20th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I would have said exactly the same thing about Daily Grams but I’m wondering if Cheryl’s post might hold the answer. Instead of having my children do them alone and often making errors, perhaps sitting with them and discussing them would make the difference. Now, the chances of me making the time to sit with all five (almost six!) of my students and doing that are pretty slim; but it might be the answer for those who want Daily Grams to work…
April 20th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Oh, another thing. I think the correct term to describe you is, “Grammar Nazi!”
April 20th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Yeah, Lis, I’m thinking, “When is she going to sit and discuss grammar?” Like so many things, it sounds nice but it isn’t our reality. Maybe that’s why Daily Grams isn’t successful in our homes.
I know that’s how you describe me, but I was trying to avoid weirdos googling that term…
April 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Caroline-
Seen any good deals at CVS? I seen some at Walgreens.
~Kenj
April 20th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Kendra,
I can’t thank you enough for doing this series. I love it! I am reading “The Well-Trained Mind” now. Let’s just say school in our home is going to look a lot different by next fall, and I couldn’t be more excited about it!! I do really appreciate you posting about what has worked for you. It really helps the home school “newbies” like me
April 20th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Toothpaste and shaving cream at CVS! Also, Loreal eyeshodows are B1G1 and now is the time to get your spring/summer colors. I have $2 off coupons so they should end up being almost free.
So I guess your new official title is “Grammer Nazi Snob”. yeah, that should get some weirdos!
April 20th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Well, if you care about the English language, you should all join the Queen’s English Society -
http://www.queens-english-society.com
April 21st, 2009 at 3:50 am
Kendra, have you used the Pathways series in conjunction with EFTTC for your young to mid-elementary kids? Or have you chosen one or the other based on needs of the individual child?
April 21st, 2009 at 3:53 am
I love this series, too! I look forward to it each week and the comments are wonderful.
I use Easy Grammar for my older girls after a year of Shurley (yuck) but I started homeschooling them after elementary so they came here with a good level of understanding.
With my younger ones I think I will start with Rod & Staff and then when things are more nailed down, see if I can use Daily Grams as a practice drill. You have also peaked my interest for the Ruth Heller books so I might check those out and see if they fit better than Daily Grams.
I do wonder (sorry if this has been asked before) how in the world do you spend all that devoted circle time in the morning? I think you said somewhere, three hours?
We started a much better and deliberate time this year but I would really like to start adding more. Are you present the entire time or do you fade in and out?
Can I just come and watch please?
I think we only live a couple thousand miles away!
April 21st, 2009 at 5:01 am
Kendra,
Yea!! A kindred spirit. I, too, LOVE grammar.
I would love to sit my kiddos down and do hour long grammar lessons on the white board. Ahhhh, bliss! Them…not so much.
And every time someone in my house says “I seen…”, I want to scream…loudly. LOL! Is there any hope for these grammar deficient people????
Now keep this next part a secret, ‘kay? Sometimes on Sunday afternoon, I sit and read thru the Christian Light English handbook…for fun. Sick, I know. At least I don’t make my kids sit and read it on Sunday afternoon, right?!
Dawn
April 21st, 2009 at 7:21 am
Jenn- Depends on the child.
Kim- Our current Circle Time is running between 45 minutes to and hour and the babies aren’t present.
Dawn- Sick!
April 21st, 2009 at 10:47 am
Hi Kim – I’m wondering what you didn’t like about Shurely – I’m currently looking at changing our grammar for next year and Shurely came fairly highly recommended by another homeschooling mom I know. I haven’t made any decisions yet am LOVING these Monday posts – thanks Kendra. By the way, I’ve been recommending your blog all over the place lately.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Question on Omnibus. Is 8th grade the year you begin that study. I am impressed with the book and see that Veritas recommends it starting in 7th grade – the readings seem a little much for a 7th grader, but wondered what you think since you are using it.
April 21st, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Kim-
Here’s where I’ve written about VP Omnibus before:
http://www.preschoolersandpeace.com/?p=170
Sorry all the weird characters are there. We still can’t figure out why. (No, I don’t write in Word and then copy and paste…)
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:45 am
Hi Kendra
I just found this site and thought it might be helpful to someone. If you google grammar blast this it the website.
http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/k_5/grammar/
Thanks so much for this series, I have really enjoyed them.
I am looking forward to the next post.
Angela
May 21st, 2009 at 9:11 am
i am so glad i found your blog! after using daily grams for a year we went with rod and staff this time, after a great deal of prayer. i was glad to read your reviews!