Grammar curriculum that isn't deadly dull?

[Michelle T]

Are there any grammar programs out there for elementary age kids that won't make their eyes cross and glaze over with boredom? Is there a grammar program out there that focuses more on punctuation and capitalization, rather than mostly on parts of speech?

Trying to find something that might work for my 11.5 yo DS, who is also dealing with raging ADHD and LD's. So I need a grammar program that is very clear, very simple, and not too abstract.

Oh, and preferably not religious.

So, any suggestions? Something that a very active, easily bored, easily frustrated boy might be able to use without that deer-in-a-headlight look? Something that might actually teach him how to use quotation marks and commas, and yet not spend months on dangling participles?
Thanks!
Michelle T

[5wolfcubs]

My first thought was Growing w/ Grammar or FLL 3...but if you just want to focus on punctuation/capitalization, have you looked at the Rainbow Resource catalog? Lots of skill specific workbooks! Or even a local teacher's store?

My oldest still struggles w/ those two concepts. She knows they belong, but doesn't use them in her own writing...YET. :)

[Sue in St Pete]

I like AG because it is clear and concise. Check out the videos at www.analyticalgrammar.com. We have finished "season 1", which is parts of speech and diagramming. Season 2 covers phrases and clauses, I think. Season 3 is punctuation.

At the very least, you could give him the test for each lesson. If he does fine, skip the lesson. They do caution you do do the lessons in order. It makes sense when they say that you cannot teach how to use commas to separate a gerund phrase (or something like that) before they know what a gerund phrase is.

It's non-religious.

Although my 12yo ds does not have ADHD or LD, his nickname is "Our Lord of Perpetual Motion". I have to choose wisely because very little holds his attention long.

Here is a post with my full review of AG in it:
http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690&highlight=analytical+grammar

Good luck!

[hpymomof3]

My ds used to hate grammar but he doesn't mind Growing With Grammar. I find the lessons to be to the point with clear instructions. The lessons are also very short and usually only take him 10 minutes to complete.

Paragraph editing isn't a full grammar program but I have found that it has really helped both my 4th and 7th graders to improve with things like capitatlization and punctuation. It only takes a few minutes a day too.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My first thought was Easy Grammar. The first thing you learn is prepositions, so the first thing you learn to do is go through the sentences and cross out all the prepositional phrases. It's like going through and decluttering the sentence before you get down to the business of analyzing it. After you finish crossing out the prepositional phrases, you're left with just the "meat" of the sentence. You label the parts of speech, but there's no diagramming, just labels, arrows, symbols, and such. The work is done in a workbook, so you don't have to copy everything (like in Rod and Staff).

[Carol in Cal.]

It isn't really a grammar program at all, but it emphasizes capitalization, punctuation, case and tense choices, and content convergence.

It would not be enough to be a stand alone program, but as a very functional editing practice kit to use as a break or while you are looking for something more to your liking, I think that it would be great.

To my mind, the grammar programs are the theory, and this is more the practice.

[AngieW in Texas]

I wonder if Fix-it Grammar would work for you.

The program is published by IEW.

It has 5 levels, but I recommend starting with the lowest level with pretty much all kids. I'm using the lowest level with my 7th grader as a supplement, because it addresses the skills she is particularly weaker in. I still have her using a regular grammar program to make sure that she's exposed to all the "regular" stuff.

The lowest level in the program is Tom Sawyer. The book comes with a cd-rom that has an abridged version of Tom Sawyer in both Word and pdf formats. I use the Word format, because that way my dd can make the corrections on the computer rather than having to practice her handwriting. The first 4 weeks, you work on identifying the subject of each sentence, identifying the verb(s) in each sentence, figuring out where to start new paragraphs, and correcting faulty homophones (like to/too/two). The next 3 weeks, you work on identifying quality adjectives and strong -ly adverbs, identifying subject and -ly openers (IEW terminology, but you can skip this part if you're not using IEW), correcting faulty homophones, and figuring out when to start new paragraphs.

Every few weeks, the amount that you have to do jumps up. You get to a point where everything is in lowercase with very minimal punctuation and your ds has to do all the capitalizing and punctuating as well as figuring out when to start new paragraphs, correcting homophones and problems with usage, ... There are some weeks where the sentences are punctuated, but incorrectly and you have to figure out where the mistakes are and correct them.

The book comes with an answer key and the author is on the IEWfamilies email loop, so if you can't figure out why the answer key shows the sentence in a particular way, you can always post. Sometimes there is more than one correct way to punctuate a sentence.

If you join the IEWfamilies email loop, you can see an extensive sample in the files section.

[Lori D.]

My first choice to catch your distractible fellow's attention:

1. Grammar with a Giggle (by Jane Bell Kiester)
Several of these books are out. Each book lasts a whole school year, doing one paragraph a day, 5 days a week. Each paragraph is one paragraph in a story that takes the whole year to tell. Punctuation, capitalization, tense, subject-verb agreement, homophones (spelling/using the correct one), and a LOT more. This one really does cover it all.

See her philosphy and what the book covers in the sample pages at amazon.com, or at: http://www.maupinhouse.com/caughtya.php


For just straight daily editing practice:

- Editor in Chief series
A longer paragraph (with photo or illustration and caption), with 10 mistakes to find/fix. Covers punctuation, capitalization, tense, subject-verb agreement, homophones (spelling/using the correct one). At 30-36 paragraphs per book, you'll need about 3 books for one year of practice at the rate of 3 paragraphs a week.

- Take Five Minutes: A History Fact a Day for Editing
A short paragraph (2-3 sentences long) with about 4-5 errors per paragraph. There is one and sometimes two paragraphs -- for every day of the year. The one book will last you 2 years.


You can also use the Sonlight Curriculum dictations in this way; I would either use one of theirs and write it out with no capitalization or punctuation, or write out a short paragraph from whatever my boys were currently reading. First I'd have them correct it, then we'd either go over whatever grammar points the Sonlight dictation page directed us to, or I'd make up my own questions to drill/supplement whatever grammar we were currently learning.

BEST of luck, Michelle! Warmest regards, Lori D.