Grammar Formula

This being my 10th year of homeschooling, I'm finding it rather comical that it is apparent doing the same thing, in the same manner, is maddening to me. I've posted before comparing grammar curricula, this post is not that. It is what I've found to be a teaching mechanism for me and a way to have a well-rounded grammar program. It isn't likely I'll get down everything we do, but here is an idea.

For me, doing The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading proved invaluable for learning what I consider some of the best jingles out there, as well as the proper sounds of letters. I also like the sentences in the back of Level 2 for diagramming and labeling, but I don't just do what Beers' suggests; I like incorporating the Essentials of the English Language (EEL) question and answer flow. This is very similar to Shurley English's, only it starts with, "Who or what is the sentence about?"

Sometimes I direct my students to locate all of the prepositional phrases first, or right after finding the subject and the verb.  Easy Grammar starts the labeling process with prepositional phrases since that minimizes the other words in the sentence. Regardless of where we start in the sentence, I've found that consistently discussing the word's part of speech AND it's job in the sentence is very important. It takes some children a long time to understand the fact that a noun can be labeled as several different things depending on how it's used.

Using EEL's charts is an important step in memorizing grammar facts, and the Foundations work in Classical Conversations is often used. You can get this info in Shurley English or Easy Grammar, but the manner in which facts are presented and memorized in CC is superior. Even I have learned the prepositions, though each program incorporates different words in their list, which is annoying. Where I do not like CC is in the definition of a noun.  I prefer sticking with a noun as naming a person, place or thing.

Diagramming sentences--where to get them? The Phonics Road and Shurley are good sources and I use them both. Along with this, I'll use Shurley's writing improved sentences as a way to mix things up a bit and Easy Grammar's "Daily Grams". We can label a sentence given in there for variety. Vocabulary words are great in the Shurley curricula. We use that as well as a simple vocabulary workbook purchased at a teacher store. For my youngest student, I have a punctuation workbook and a daily editing practice book. We incorporate these skills with IEW so the kids see why these things matter.

Finally, I'm doing Fix It! with my 5th grader. This is a terrific program to practice the grammar skills, but it is cumbersome and not as thorough with teaching skills as we need for an entire year's program.

I know this approach isn't for a new homeschooler, but for me, trying to keep surviving, it is working great!