Help! My son is failing his BJU English 11 HomeSat class!!

[Melissa in CA]

I don't know what to do. He is just NOT getting it. He is completely lost and not understanding the grammar in the class. This is grammar that I know I never learned in high school, and have never needed to know.

Is it really important in the scheme of life to know how to not only find personal pronouns, but also indefinite, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, reflexive, and reciprocal pronouns as well? And be able to find them ALL in one exercise assignment?

The kid is totally lost. I can't have him continue this class and just get confused further, but I don't know what to do. Can someone recommend something? A program that is simple to understand, but will get the job done. He plans to graduate this year (11th grade) and go on to college. His strengths are math and science, and his ultimate goal is to become an engineer...not an English Professor.

I think BJU's English is to intense for him. I have the Easy Grammar Plus book, but he went through that once in Jr. high and I'm not sure it has enough practice and instruction. I had a very basic public school education, so I really need something that will teach English for me. I thought having a BJU HomeSat teacher teaching it would help. Apparently not. :o

Help? Anyone?

Blessings,
Melissa

[Myrtle]

Is it really important in the scheme of life to know how to not only find personal pronouns, but also indefinite, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, reflexive, and reciprocal pronouns as well? And be able to find them ALL in one exercise assignment?

I don't have any suggestions to remediate your problem, but it is in fact the case that if he takes a foreign language in college he will need to know how to handle all the parts of speech in a single sentence. For example, the placement of an accent mark in Spanish of quien vs. quién depends on if that word is being used as an interrogative pronoun or a relative pronoun.

I am using Easy Grammar with my son but what has enabled him have facility with the finer points of grammar is not his direct study of English grammar but his study of Latin.

[Jan P.]

If it were me I would pull my ds out from the HomeSat class if he isn't getting it. I found a book called Understanding Grammar at Amazon.com. http://tinyurl.com/3doyzg

The reviews looked good, and perhaps your ds could go through it by himself. If not, I think it may be written in a way that the two of you could sit down and discuss. I don't know if it has any lessons.

Here are a couple of others that I'm looking at over at Amazon.com :

Essential Grammar http://tinyurl.com/3ahkdc

High School Grammar and Composition (textbook used in UK and India) http://tinyurl.com/2vsre5

HTH,

[DIY-DY]

Is it really important in the scheme of life to know how to not only find personal pronouns, but also indefinite, demonstrative, relative, interrogative, reflexive, and reciprocal pronouns as well? And be able to find them ALL in one exercise assignment?

The kid is totally lost. I can't have him continue this class and just get confused further, but I don't know what to do. Can someone recommend something? A program that is simple to understand, but will get the job done. He plans to graduate this year (11th grade) and go on to college. His strengths are math and science, and his ultimate goal is to become an engineer...not an English Professor.



Poor grammar, or more specifically, a poor foundation in the mechanics of grammar, can show up to bite you in the nether regions later in life. It's also much easier to lay that foundation *now* than it is to pick it up later, when your head is filled to the brim with the other "practical" things we have on our plates as adults. (It can be done. It's just easier when you're not the breadwinner, or the parent, or the spouse, or the employee, or... yeah, you get the point.) There are many endeavors I've undertaken which would have turned out better, been more enjoyable, or quite possibly just would not have exploded in my face like they did, if I had received a better education *beforehand*.

As with Myrtle, I am finding that my boys are better able to synthesize English grammar, not through their English studies, but through their Latin studies. It's coming to them much easier than it is to me.

I would suggest you get a copy of The Little Brown Handbook and have him work through the things he isn't understanding. Glue the book to his sleeve, and have him keep it with him, always. It'll sink in. (Hey, just this year I learned what a transitive verb is! Truly, I'm glad I know, now!) This may not be *the* curriculum for the situation, and maybe someone else would have a better idea. But that's what I use when I find I'm lacking a piece of crucial knowledge.

[Merry]

My 11th grader ds is also having a hard time with BJU English but I'm going to have him finish it because he scored a bit low on the PSAT due to his weaknesses in basic grammar. BJU has a good reputation for helping kids score high on standardized tests. So, what I'm doing is have him read the lesson and do the odd numbered exercises. Then I check his work. If he doesn't do well, I go over the work with him and then assign the even numbered exercises for more practice. I have the English for the Dummies for reference which helps. He's going pretty slowly which is ok.

[Melissa in CA]

Thank you ladies!

I'm currently considering trying Jensen's Grammar with him. From the samples I have seen, it looks like it might be more his style. Won't know until we give it a try though.

As I previously mentioned, I own Easy Grammar Plus, but it's just too easy for him at this point. He does know basic English Grammar, at least the grammar contained in EG Plus, but I would like him to progress farther than that before graduation.

I think it is mostly BJU's style that is confusing him...too much, too soon, and too wordy for him. ;) Perhaps Jensen's will get the job done. One can hope and pray.