Pros & Cons R&S English or BJU English

[alilac]

I can't make this choice between these Grade 2 programs. Here's what I gather:

R&S is mastery, BJU is spiral
R&S covers Alphabetical Order, but BJU covers that in it's spelling program

They look like they both cover the mechanics of writing, but other than this, how are these programs different?

Someone gave me R&S for free and I already had BJU English and other than color and the info above, I'm not seeing differences and having a hard time deciding which to use.

pros and cons of either?

Thanks.

[diaperjoys]

We like BJU; haven't tried Rod and Staff... as an added perk, I like the precursive font that bju uses, and the fact that I can have the same font in english and handwriting.

[Julieofsardis]

BJU is more workbook than R&S. I really like the writing assignments in BJU better. R&S is a little old fashioned feeling and that is good, but when you are asking a child to write about something, it should be something they are readily familiar with intead of older themes.

I like the review in R&S way better than BJU. My ideal curriculum would be BJU for the writing and comp and R&S for the grammar.

[alilac]

BJU is more workbook than R&S. I really like the writing assignments in BJU better. R&S is a little old fashioned feeling and that is good, but when you are asking a child to write about something, it should be something they are readily familiar with intead of older themes.

I like the review in R&S way better than BJU. My ideal curriculum would be BJU for the writing and comp and R&S for the grammar.

I agree, the writing looked more fun in BJU...letters and such, but I liked the grammar better in R&S. Ugh...what to do.

[Jen the RD]

Use R&S for grammar. In 2nd grade, you can do it orally and that will suffice. My dd did this and did very well with the parts of speech. Then use the writing portion of BJU. You might have to mix and match lessons to cover similar topics, but I doubt that would be a big deal. Honestly, you'd have the best of both worlds.

HTH,
Jennifer

[alilac]

Jennifer, do you do this?

Would you follow R&S then when it comes time to write, write about what's in BJU or would you just stop R&S for a while and hit one of the Writing Chapters in BJU? Just curious.

[Ellie]

I prefer R&S. I like its textbook format better than BJUP's workbook; I like the sensible, straighforward instruction; I like its grammar instruction; I even like the writing instruction and assignments.

Having said that let me say this: You can't go wrong with BJUP, either.

I wouldn't try to combine them, though; that's way too much like work.:D Just pick one. Your dc will be fine.

[Wee Pip]

I've used BJU and had a similar battle before choosing. R&S is a nicer price, which was enticing to me! But when I really examined my own personal preferences, I realized R&S would drive me totally batty. I like color, and I like things bright and big, LOL. Naturally, that meant BJU for me! R&S's colorless, old fashioned presentation gave me this foreboding feeling of tedious torture, and a ruler being struck on a student's knuckles. ((shudder)) But I have a friend that opted for R&S and was totally happy with it (she loves old fashioned type books, and has been repeatedly annoyed with BJU's presentation). This friend would've been very unhappy with BJU. So there you have it, the Tale of the Country Mouse and the City Mouse, LOL. Good luck! Your child would get a good education either way!