Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



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Kathryn
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Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 6:22pm | IP Logged Quote Kathryn
Disclaimer: If you love the Seton 5 English book, you might not want to read further because I'm going to complain. Unless you have some suggestions to make it more enjoyable. I do love the Catholic history and stories that are woven into the lessons but....

I must say it makes me want to go to sleep just LOOKING at the problems she has to do. It's sooooooooo repetitious. I mean how many lessons does she need on punctuation: 25; adjectives: 18; nouns: 22; pronouns: 29; verbs: 37 and on and on w/ adverbs and prepositions and sentences?! Even I can't take this! I've even gone to where I only have her do the odd or even problems but again, it just seems to drone on and on. This is enough to kill any desire to learn English or Grammar further.

I guess I have several questions:

What do you consider the difference between English and Grammar? I understand the logic about learning how to build a proper sentence but this workbook method doesn't inspire anything at all.

Why do some curriculums call it English and some call it Grammar? I always thought of English as writing and/or Literature and Grammar as the mechanics of it.

Any suggestions for learning this in a more living books way? Or another choice that might be not so repetitive? We've done some of the Brian P. Cleary books w/ her younger brother and she LOVES those but it doesn't get as in-depth as some of the material in her workbook.

Are these (what I consider) intense Grammar lessons necessary for 5th grade? I've considered CHC LOG as an alternative. This child is a quick study but she sure doesn't like this over and over and over and over stuff and for once, I readily agree.

Thanks in advance,


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mavmama
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Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 6:41pm | IP Logged Quote mavmama
We have used CHC's LOG in the lower grades, then switched to Primary Language Lessons. they liked that betterm but I couldn't keep up with it. This year we are using Queen's Language books and they love it and are learning a lot. It is much like Primary Lang. Lessons, but self contained. Seton's program does seem to cover all the bases, but we couldn't handle the boring repitition.

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Macmom
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Posted: Feb 15 2010 at 8:16pm | IP Logged Quote Macmom
I sympathize. Seton workbooks are boring and repetitive, and if a public school or private school subjected my poor children to hours of boring workbook pages as "seatwork," just to keep the little buggers busy, I'd be furious. One option is to skip every other problem, and at times to skip whole lessons (but I know it makes a homeschooling mom feel like shes not getting her money's worth if she doesn't use EVERY problem in EVERY lesson!)

Look, English is a language.

All languages have phonograms, spelling, and grammar as a basis.

Phonograms are the sounds languages use (like the trilling "r" in Spanish that English speakers don't have), and the sounds each of our 26 letters and multi-lettered blends make. You cover this in early reading skills.

Spelling is the unique way each language puts phonograms together to make words.

Grammar is the way each language puts words together to form coherent thoughts. Like using "s" for the ending of most plurals in English, or Latin putting the verb and it's pronoun at the END of a sentence. Proper grammar is important for communication, and it lays the groundwork for developing more complex and reasoned arguments/ statements/ etc. The better your grammar, the more precise you can be in your communication.

I REALLY like the Easy Grammar series. And, for 6th grade and up, The Latin Road to English Grammar. If you have the time, books like "First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind," "English for the Thoughtful Child," "Primary Language Lessons" are also excellent.

And, I am a "former" English teacher. I wanted my kids to love their native language, speak well, write well, and have worthwhile things to say. You do need grammar for all that.

Peace,
Macmom



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