FLL1 or delay grammar?

[Gwenny]

I'm torn between starting FLL1 with my dd next year (grade 1) or waiting to start grammar until 3rd grade. I have FLL1/2 and it looks fairly gentle and the lessons seem short. However, if I can just wait and start grammar at a later date and catch up quickly, why bother until then? I know Charlotte Mason, and others too I believe, recommend introducing grammar later.

I guess I trying to simplify next year's schedule. We plan on also doing WWE1 and it seems some of the same things are covered. Will WWE1 be enough alone?
Gwen

[Penelope]

We are doing both FLL1 and WWE1 this year.

I had the same questions about whether to delay grammar or not. It seems to me that you could go either way, although by "delay" I also mean to third grade, not middle school. Another option, I think, could be to wait until second grade and go through both FLL1 and 2 in one year. You could condense some of the lessons and easily do more per week, at least for FLL1. WWE does cover many of the same topics, but not parts of speech.

My ds likes FLL. It does only take a few minutes, even with the enrichment activities. I have just started doing our own poem memorization, so we now skip the FLL poems. Depending on the day, we may skip the narration or picture study as well, because in addition to WWE we narrate for our other subjects. So we are primarily doing FLL for parts of speech. I think this is fine because he is already reading well; if he weren't, I'd probably devote the extra time to phonics rather than learning the grammar.

[Trivium Academy]

I think it has more to do with where your child is at academically and whether it will benefit him or her to focus more on phonics and building reading fluency at this stage. The one nagging idea for me about delayed formal grammar was that a child does not need to study grammar every year for 12 years, esp. in the light of the fact my dd needed more phonetic instruction.

I chose to go the middle road, doing grammar through application instead of using rote memorization as FLL uses. I think any route you decide on is fine b/c there is no wrong answer, it's just about being comfortable about the decision that matters. I can't speak to whether WWE is enough on its own, it's completely up to you.

[Titus.Two.Five]

I prefer to delay *formal* grammar until grade 3, focusing on phonics, fluent reading, and beginning spelling in grades 1 and 2. However, we are using FLL this year in 2nd grade. It is gentle, not what I consider *formal* grammar, and it is a great way for me to be sure we get our narration and memory work in. ;)

We use 1 lesson per day, so we will finish the whole book in this year and can then move onto R&S English 3 in 3rd grade.

[Cadam]

Dd enjoyed FLL at first so we did it. She was having fun "doing school" and that was great. For some reason she just doesn't want to do it this year. She says it's boring and in her defense she is keeping up with the grammar in our Latin program just fine so FLL probably is boring! I dropped it. She is getting a lot f grammar from our Latin and I will pick up Rod and Staff in either 3rd or 4th grade.

The next kid will do FLL in K and first if she feels like it.

[angela&4boys]

We use FLL 1/2 for our 8yo ds. It was a readiness issue for him and is a perfect fit. I tried it at 6yo and even though it's gentle, it was still too abstract for him. I also appreciate CM's thoughts on waiting and this approach seems to fit somewhere in between her's and Classical.

I have him do all the writing suggestions and we use it along with WWE. We move at a faster pace (4x week) and we do grammar only since we cover narration in WWE.

[OhElizabeth]

I don't think it matters so much WHEN you do it (1st, 2nd, 3rd), but doing it, gently introducing the concepts and MEMORIZING THE DEFS is incredibly valuable. As Cadam said, all the review built into FLL can get very boring for some kids. We did the lessons where new concepts were introduced, memorized the defs, and skipped the rest. It was incredibly valuable in that way and created a strong foundation for her to go into Writing Tales, a writing program that integrates grammar study. Take the time to do these little bits of memory work and gentle introduction. So many people hate grammar and there's really no need. My dd thinks grammar is EASY, because we introduced it so gently and happily when she was young.

[one l michele]

You can introduce age appropriate grammar and mechanical concepts that way. We kind of do the same through Spelling Plus Dictation.

YMMV, but I don't see the need to use a formal grammar program in elementary. I prefer to hold off memorizing until the dc is connecting pieces and can understand why he's memorizing it and how it fits together. Until then, I just think our time now is more wisely used elsewhere, specifically focusing on reading, being read to, and lots of time to explore.

[Cadam]

I would just use WWE. You can introduce age appropriate grammar and mechanical concepts that way. We kind of do the same through Spelling Plus Dictation.



I think this is true of a confident teacher. Many of us don't know our subject well enough the first time through to do it this way though. I could do it now but I couldn't have done it with my oldest.

[one l michele]

I think this is true of a confident teacher. Many of us don't know our subject well enough the first time through to do it this way though. I could do it now but I couldn't have done it with my oldest.

I have NEVER considered myself a confident teacher, let alone with LA's which I consider my weakest area.

There is not much a first grader needs to know as far as grammar and mechanics. I also don't feel it takes 12 years of studying grammar to be proficient.

[Carol in Cal.]

Starting at 6 or 7. I read it to DD as part of our cuddle time at night. We would read FLL, Bible, something in German or history or science, and a fun book that was above her own reading level.

I skipped some of the picture studies, and the redundancies in the text when they got to be unnecessary. I can't remember whether or not we did the poems.

I liked FLL because my DD is a strongly auditory learner, and always has been, and so her retention was great. OTOH, she couldn't really apply most of it consistently until she was about 9 or 10, so there was this annoying gap during which I flailed away at grammar, with a panicky feeling that something was very wrong. But she hit her stride finally, and is a grammar pro now, pretty much. I wish that FLL 3 and 4 had been available to us--they would have been a much better fit than Rod and Staff.

[birchbark]

Dd enjoyed FLL at first so we did it. She was having fun "doing school" and that was great. For some reason she just doesn't want to do it this year. She says it's boring. . .

This was our exact experience also. I will finish FLL 2, but next year I'm planning on skipping FLL and just doing a writing program with lighter grammar; either WWE or Writing Tales.

[KAM]

We used FLL 1 for 1st grade but now in 2nd FLL2 seems a bit much. DD is very bored with it and hates doing the chanting of helping verbs etc. So we are switching to Primary Language Lessons which will hopefully be more interesting to her. I plan to wait another year or 2 for more formal grammar.

[LisaK in VA]

My K/1 children both enjoy FLL 1/2. In fact, I have to keep sending my 4th grader back to his work, because he wants to do the chants, poems, etc. with my K1 "class." :001_smile:

It is very gentle, and very light, however, I'll also be using something different next year for grammar, because my then 1st grader won't be physically ready for FLL3, and my 2nd grader will be moving into K12 LA...

But, for a very gentle 1st & 2nd grade intro to grammar, I'm convinced it's invaluable and will make the transition to more formal grammar much easier for my current littles...