Grammer Help

[fourhills]

I need some help with grammer curriculum. My son took the CAT and we got his results back. He did great in everything but language mechanics. I have been using Growing with Grammer for the past two years. This is the first year he took a standardized test as I wanted to know what subjects he needed more help in.
What grammer programs do you like etc,. ?

Thank you

Kathy

[siloam]

Kathy,

What age? I really like Junior Analytical Grammar, thus I assume I would also like Analytical Grammar, though I haven't used it yet. :D

JAG works best starting at about 4th grade. It is very good about not having a lot of busy work. It does have you do parsing above the sentences but it does not continue with traditional parsing techniques. It also has you diagram all the sentences after unit...3 I think (11 units total). There was once when we were about half way through that it totally overwhelmed my dd (she didn't have any grammar before JAG) so we started the whole thing over again from the beginning. Now we are at the end and I am very pleased with her knowledge level.

Heather

[Sue in St Pete]

I'll second JAG or AG depending on the age. I haven't used JAG, but I love AG. You can read my review here (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63660&highlight=analytical+grammar).

[Felicia]

I will have to third AG and JAG. I am using both right now. My 7th grade dd loves it and says it is the best thing we've used for grammar and that she understands it better as well. It is purely grammar, no writing or other language arts involved, so they get just the grammar lesson.

My 5th grade ds is using JAG. He is a little behind in some areas and this is one of them. But with this program he is enjoying grammar and is learning quite well from it. JAG is targeted toward 4th or 5th graders they say. You can check them at here: http://www.analyticalgrammar.com/

They have a lot of videos that explains their methodology.

HTH
Felicia

[MerryAtHope]

Did you administer the test or did someone else? Did you get any more specific information? "Language Mechanics" can mean so many things, I find it's helpful to know if there is a specific area where they struggle (for example, capitalization, punctuation, letter writing...) When I tested my kids last year I made specific note of questions they got wrong--not the questions themselves, but the types of things they struggled with, so that I could know some specifics to work on.

Merry :-)

[carlychan]

My ds is 4th and doing Easy Grammar 4/5. We will finish that this year. I actually like it...it is easy:) However, I wish it had more to it...punctuation and capitalization reinforcements (does that make sense?). Next year I am planning on going to LLATL and am not sure if I am going to need to do anything along with it. I am eager to see others responses! Carly

[Chris in VA]

I have only used FLL and Rod and Staff, but I can say Rod and Staff is about the most thorough grammar program I've ever seen. You just can't go wrong with it. I don't have a big problem with the Christian aspect, but if you do, Voyages in English is good, too. These happen to be the programs WTM recommends.

Of course, you can do a test prep book on grammar/usage/mechanics, if you just want to go over those areas as review.

[thundersweet]

My ds is 4th and doing Easy Grammar 4/5. We will finish that this year. I actually like it...it is easy:) However, I wish it had more to it...punctuation and capitalization reinforcements (does that make sense?). Next year I am planning on going to LLATL and am not sure if I am going to need to do anything along with it. I am eager to see others responses! Carly

We used GWG in first. We switched to Easy Grammar this year. The 2nd grade book has the kids do a sentence where they are to capitalize whatever needs to be capatalized and a sentence with only punctation. I make dd write these sentences out in correct form rather than just correct the sentence already written for her. She does these two things every single day at the start of the lesson. I am starting to see her use correct capitalization/punctuation in her writing. Next year, we will go into the 3rd grade book and use the Daily Grams that goes along with EG before each lesson. So, she'll continue to have to capitalize/punctuate a sentence or two every single day.

I have heard so many good things about JAG/AG. My "plan" is to switch to JAG in 4th grade.

Sandy

[Gamom3]

I have only used FLL and Rod and Staff, but I can say Rod and Staff is about the most thorough grammar program I've ever seen. You just can't go wrong with it. I don't have a big problem with the Christian aspect, but if you do, Voyages in English is good, too. These happen to be the programs WTM recommends.

Of course, you can do a test prep book on grammar/usage/mechanics, if you just want to go over those areas as review.

:iagree:

[fourhills]

Thanks again Ladies. This is great. I love this board.
Have a great day

Kathy