Anyone heard of Michael Clay Thompson's grammar series?

[Jenny in Atl]

I saw this on another list I'm on and the look interesting. Anyone here heard of them or used them? Here is the link...

www.rfwp.com

[nmoira]

We're using the elementary series and love it. DD1 recently finished Practice Island (the workbook for Grammar Island and Sentence Island). She has also finished Music of the Hemispheres (poetry) and Building Language (the most elementary of his vocabulary series; Caesar's English is a big step up and we're working slowly through it). The grammar books do not teach rudimentary mechanics (e.g. capitalization rules), but get right into the heart of English grammar. I greatly prefer MCT's 4 level method of sentence analysis to traditional diagramming. Each sentence is analyzed according to word type, function in the sentence, phrases, and clauses. The books are fun and humorous, at least to someone who loves language.

There is no need to buy the student books for the elementary series; the TM's will suffice. I did purchase a the student workbook for Practice Island, but you could just as easily write out each day's sentence on a white board or blank paper.

[Colleen in SEVA]

I have MCT's Building Language and will be using Grammar Island and Practice Island when they arrive. I am very excited about it, I think it will be a good fit for DS and I (neither of us do well with your standard fill-in-the-blank, practice-overkill type programs).

What really drew me to the program was a review that I read, something to the effect that MCT's love for the English language was conveyed to the students through this series. There was a recent discussion about these books on the old boards (http://wtmboards.com/K8currNov292007/messages/646.html).

We have used Aesop's Fables: Books About Reading, Writing, Thinking (http://www.rfwp.com/series6.htm) from RFWP and I'm hoping it will be a nice transition for us.

MCT is speaking at a workshop near me in a few weeks -- so excited for that as well!

[Melissa B]

We use all five parts of his language arts program: grammar, vocabulary, writing, poetry and practice. I really love this program. If you have any questions just let me know!

[Country Girl]

I have eyed this website for the last 2 years and everytime the topic comes up on the boards it seems to get rave reviews from those that use the program. However, I still don't quite understand how the program works. Can someone help me understand it a little better? I am so used to the workbook format of grammar and I can't quite grasp how grammar is learned in this program? Is it just through reading the book? Is there practice on classifying sentences? Nmoira mentioned that she prefers the classification method in this program to traditional diagramming, is it something similar to Shurley or KISS that labels parts of sentences? I would love to hear more about this program and how you schedule this in your day.

Thanks!

[Jenny in Atl]

Yes, I would like to know as well. I really like being able to see and touch the bks. I have been burned too many times in the past by stuff folks loved and then I get it and, well... it's not so great.

[Dana in OR]

I have used the following from MCT's site and LOVE them for my middle schooler:

Caesar's English I
Classical Words
Classics in the Classroom

I was just waiting for my dd7 to read a little better and I will soon order his whole series of grammar and poetry texts.

The teacher and student manuals are the same, just that the TM has answers...you can get by with the TM if you want to save $$. The cost is well worth this program - they ship quickly, too.

Dana

[nmoira]

MCT's language arts series is designed for gifted or language adept kids. The grammar series deal solely with the structure of language and assumes trivial mechanics will be picked up incidentally (one level of GWG did the trick for DD). Grammar Island is divided into four parts: word types, functions of words in the sentence, phrases and clauses. As it was originally designed, each successive book would be covered early in the school year and applied for the remainder. The practice books were introduced last year and proved useful to us. They consist of 100 sentences for analysis. There were a few tricks and twists I probably would not have come up with myself for practice. Grammar Island is best followed by Sentence Island and then the practice books. Later practice books also include vocabulary from the Caesar's English series.

These books do not pander and I would not recommend them for struggling or resistant students. The elementary series are amusing and lighthearted, but the child must understand the content to get the jokes.

I prefer his method of sentence analysis because I find that traditional diagramming methods are about tearing down rather than building up. There is no beauty of language, only function. Because MCT's system preserves the sentence, the beauty of language can still be appreciated. The four level sentence analysis works like this (they aren't lined up perfectly):

I read the book to my cat.
P v adj n prep adj n
subj pred DO
......................prep phrase
one independent clause; simple declarative sentence

His language arts posters (http://www.rfwp.com/series79.htm) give you some idea of the simplicity and elegance of the system.

As far as scheduling, DD took about a month per book (grammar, writing, poetry, vocabulary) and, after the writing book, analyzed 3-4 sentences per week until the practice book was done (she'd already finished Grammar Town as well, but the practice books came out so we backtracked). We'd have started right in with the next level, but she's doing a big push in Spanish and setting aside all she can to make time. She's on the young side and I'm in no hurry to have her forge ahead. She's content at the moment to work slowly through Caesar's English.

[Country Girl]

I missed your reply but wanted to say thanks. I appreciate the extra information you provided. My son seems to "get" language pretty quickly and that is what led me to this program in the first place. I'm definitely going to consider this for next year.

Thanks!

[Terrilth]

I know this is a very old thread but is anyone still using this that can answer some questions for me?

I found the thread and forum by searching for this curriculum.

We are using First Language Lessons right now but this looks very appealing!

I'm curious about where to begin. We are at FLL Level 2 right now but it is a bit too repetitive for my girls.

[Dolphin]

Yes, a lot of us use MCT. Some in combination with FLL. We found FLL to be a little repetitive and it just wasn't working at the age ds was, so we moved to MCT and have been very happy.

That said. SWB has a new grammar series coming out Advanced Language Lessons. For 5th grade and up. Here (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=303506) is the thread on that. We will be trying that in the fall as it does look to be meatier, and it moves toward the student working independently.

I plan to use MCT with dd for the grammar years, and ALL for logic.

If you go to the search button on the banner, then advanced search and type in MCT search titles only and the k-8 board, you should get a lot of information on MCT.

Welcome to the hive!

Nicole

ETA: start at the Island level. Here (http://satorismiles.com/2011/06/10/mct-island-schedule/)is a lesson plan for it that a board member wrote out and has made available.

[Terrilth]

Awesome! Thanks so much for the reply (and the link.):001_smile:

I have heard some former users of FLL go to Shurley English, but MCT feels like a much better fit for us.

[Shawna in Texas]

If you click on the 'mct' or 'michael clay thompson' tags at the bottom of the page, you'll get most of the past threads. The former has the most threads.