Secular R&S English middle grades?

[training5]

Is there anything else out there that is as thorough and includes all that R&S does or that is completely secular?

[training5]

Nothing out there? Nothing?

[Crissy]

You might check Doc's site (http://docsdomain.net/blog/). Her Secular Lesson Planning and Secular Suppliers pages may be a good place to start.

[TracyR]

I know alot of families have used Daily Grammar http://www.easygrammar.com/index2.html
with success .

[Peela]

Lol, not that I am aware of but I know a Pagan family who use R&S and the daughters change all the Gods to Goddess in their answers.
Actually, it's worth looking at Analytical Grammar- being secular is one of the reasons I bought it. Its not like R&S, but it covers grammar very thoroughly.

[Jenny in Atl]

How about Warriner's English Grammar and Composition. Their First Course (7th), Second is (8th)... and so on. You can find them used on Amazon. I also have used AG, and it's solid too.

[Sue in St Pete]

I don't know how it compares to R&S. It is secular. Here's my review:

Analytical Grammar website is http://www.analyticalgrammar.com. The videos at the website do a great job of explaining the program. We are using Analytical Grammar for 6th-7th-8th grade. AG breaks it up into 3 seasons. 6th grade has 10 weeks of daily grammar work, then review 1x every 2 weeks. 7th grade has 7 weeks of daily grammar work, then review 1x every month. 8th grade has 17 weeks of daily grammar work and then you are done. It can be completed in 1 or 2 years as well. We have completed Season 1 and are reviewing the rest of the year.

Season 1 - basic grammar (parts of speech, parts of a sentence, basics of diagramming
Season 2 - advanced grammar (verbal phrases and subordinate clauses) (this completes the study of grammar)
Season 3 - application of grammatical knowledge to the rules of capitalization, punctuation and usage

Pros:
• Clear and concise
• Pick up and go (little to no preparation required from mom)
• Teach lesson on first day of week and student can work on their own for rest of week. Only checking/correcting required from mom.
• Each lesson has a theme (American flag, humorous Johnny Carson story, women & math, Mexican-Americans, Martin Luther King Jr., Jewish Americans, fairy tales, etc.) which makes the lessons more interesting.
• Sentences are much more complex than Shurley grammar
• Novelty of getting a letter grade on test
• Comfort of letter grade for perfectionist mom (ds is missing some but still getting an A)
• Student book turns into a reference manual when you remove student exercises.

Cons:
• None that I have found
• Some say it’s expensive. I spent $120 but will use it over 3 years.

Disclaimer: I have a master’s degree in Operations Research, which is concerned with all things efficiency. Part of the reason I love AG is that it is the most efficient use of my time and my child’s time. This leaves time for other wonderful things like math, history, music, and sports! I suppose if you are a good teacher and you teach grammar year after year after year, you learn to make your lessons more and more efficient. That must be with the author, Robin Finley, did.