I've decided to go with Rod and Staff Language for Phillip next year. Last year, I did something rather easy and Charlotte Mason and it worked well. This year, it didn't work as well. My girls did very well with Easy Grammar this year, so I've decided I wanted something more concrete for Phillip, too. So do I want to buy the TE, too? Or is it a waste of money in a homeschool setting?
What grade is he going to be in next year? I didn't start the series until the 4th grade level, so I'm not sure what it's like before that. All I know is that the Teacher books are WONDERFUL imho. They have little daily quizzes you can or don't have to do with them when you start each lesson, they have the answers to each question, and in the back they have the answers to the worksheet pages and the tests. I LOVE the Teacher books! If you're better at English than I am, and feel confident that you know what you want him to get out of the program, and would know the answers to things, and especially like doing things on your own, then maybe you wouldn't want to get the TE. But for me and my limited knowledge of English, we will get the TE's! If I was going to see you again this summer, I'd bring one for you to look at! Too bad Rachael and my ds won't be able to see each other again this summer! They got along so well last summer! :lol:
I'm not Deena, but I must give a HUGE plug for Rod and Staff English. I taught English for a Christian high school. We used Abeka there. The students who were doing well with English, stayed near the top. The students who struggled, stayed near the bottom. When I began homeschooling, I used Write Source products. They are very engaging, but the teacher's resources are very difficult to follow and sadly, my children had little retention after four years. Two years ago, my teens were begging for something different. They were both having to edit their work over and over again. We looked at every product imaginable and decided upon Rod and Staff. The teachers' manuals are simple to follow and very helpful. They're so inexpensive, I think it is nice simply to have the entire program. This year, I've been tutoring a teen who has only used Easy Grammar. He also had little retention. After I asked his mother to switch him to Rod and Staff, he improved leaps and bounds. I'm not trying to knock other programs, but when you see something that works with every type of learning style and in various settings, you want to pass it on! Blessings, Trishy kriagirl.blogspot.com
Thanks, guys! Trishy, I don't believe we've "met" yet. Welcome!!! My girls will be 12 and 14. My oldest one took a composition/grammar class last year, and did very well in it. This year, as I said, we did Easy Grammar with both girls. My oldest says she wished she had taken it BEFORE the class she had last year! So maybe I will go with R&S with them, too..... And maybe both together....? Deena, I was going to get 3rd grade for Phillip. I will go ahead and get the TE then. Thanks!
I love it!! My DD is in 3rd grade - it's easy to follow and we are doing a lesson a day 4 days per week right now and we stop if the subject wasn't covered enough (subjects & predicates lately) and do some worksheets - but it's more to strengthen what they were saying.
Thanks for this information. I am looking at R&S for English this next year. I've heard good things from people who have taught ABeka in the classroom and are now using R&S. I think I'm going to make the switch this year. I am very disappointed in ABeka's teacher's manuals. I also am a teacher and I find them to be difficult to follow as a teacher who has used many different types of teacher's manuals. I don't know how they expect a homeschool mom with no experience to use them. I am actually going to write to them with my concerns.
Which book should I start my girls in, do you think? Rachael is going into 9th, and Faythe 7th. As I said, they both did Easy Grammar this year together; Rachael had much better retainment, but that''s OK. I may check with the moms at 4-H to see if any of them use R&S so I can see the books.
I definitely "second" everyone's recommendation of the TE (and I hardly ever use them in other subjects since my kids are all young). We'll be using 3rd and 5th next year (plus my son will probably start 2nd mid-yr....all English.) We used Abeka 4th grade this year and a variety of things including Spectrum LA 2 for my 2nd grader.
Jackie, were the girls using the same level? Do you think that Rachael needs to be pushed (not exactly the right word) a little more to go ahead? I honestly am not sure if they should be on the same level. It's hard to know, since there's no placement test, and the scope and sequences look close to the same, since they cover the same things each year, just in more depth. I don't know how well Faythe retains things and does with Grammar. I know Rachael is sharp. That's why I wondered. The 6th grade one is hard for me to get through! I'm spotty in English, so that's one reason, but they don't mess around, it's a thorough program, so "it aint easy pickins"! The TE's are so helpful, that's the only way I can "help" my ds! You've seen me say that if you get a level and they're frustrated with the English/Grammar--DON'T GIVE UP ON R&S! Try a lower level, since they are somewhat advanced if you haven't used them all the way through, or haven't had a good English/Grammar background. See? I've been raving about R&S, with help from DaLynn and Rhonda, for some time now! It's good to have more people on the "I Love R&S English/Grammar!" Bandwagon!
And we're not even got going full steam yet but I'm so excited to be almost done with Abeka Lang A. Don't get me wrong, it is thorough and DD has done well....I'm just ready for a change :lol: I think R & S is going to fit our family well long term. I also got IEW in the mail last week and I'm SO EXCITED to get started but the kids need to do their CAT-E tests the end of this week so we can get that over with before I intro anything new. I've watched the first teacher DVD and the first student DVD and I so wish I had bought it for this year rather than waiting. With R & S and the IEW, I forecast an awesome school year
I have the "old" Easy Grammar book, which isn't graded. And it has no writing, just grammar. I had started Rachael in that in the fall, and Faythe in Abeka's "God's Gift of Language". But I REALLY liked the idea of crossing out the prepostions, and felt it would be good for Faythe, too, so I started doing them both together. I could do them both seperate. And Rachael IS way ahead of Faythe in many ways.
Here, here for R&S and the awesome TE's! I'm with Deena and the opinion that the TE is a must-have, and I'm on the opposite end of the "English spectrum," being fairly versed in the logistics and rules of grammar myself. Yet, I'd not be without the teacher manual for these. The godsend for me in them is the oral review supplied with every lesson. My ds9 (who has completed R&S3 and is moving to 4 in May) hates to write, and these oral reviews have been the perfect way for me to be certain that he is grasping the concept and not just filling in the blanks... without having him to write sentence after sentence. In addition, I love the worksheets as an alternate route to doing so much bookwork. But, that's another thread. :lol: I really like that the TE has the actual student page there, with teacher notes in the margins. It has this also for the workbook pages and test booklet pages, and in theory one would ONLY need the TE if budget was really tight one year. That's a definate plus in my book. Anyway. It's absolutely thorough, and I plan to use it (in as many ways as possible and necessary) unless and until it just flat no longer works for us. (And, like I said, I plan to tweak it a million ways to nine to MAKE it work if it ever falters with my kiddos. LOL) Our plan is to start with First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind for grades 1 and 2, and then continue with R&S 3 through 10 (where it stops).
Jackie, I would put them both in level 7. I can tell you when I started with my teens, my ds was a junior. We began with grade 8 and he was very challenged. You will see what I mean when I tell you that there is material in these books that even college English classes may not cover! Don't worry, though. The simplistic, gentle approach explains topics thoroughly. Blessings, Trishy kriagirl.blogspot.com
I'd also like to point out that Abeka, BJU, and Write Source were all originally written for a typical school classroom. That doesn't make them bad programs, but it helps to explain their approach. Rod and Staff is also written for a classroom - albeit a much different type (Mennonite or Amish). The classrooms they have in mind consist of a multi-grade level class with a very young teacher with little or no experience. I'm not trying to knock any programs, here, but wanted to explain the differences Blessings, Trishy] kriagirl.blogspot.com
Which would explain to me why it might work well in a homeschool setting. It can be used for multi-ages, with an instructor who doesn't have to have a degree in English.
Yep! Although most young instructors would have used the exact same method/books all thru their schooling and would be familiar with its thoroughness :lol:
Faythe may need level 6, possibley even level 5. As the others have said, it's very thorough! I think most highschoolers (not the AP courses) don't get as much Grammar as is in level 6! Remember it's a level more than a grade. If they're in too high of a level they have to struggle a lot and learn to hate it! I have my dd in level 4 and it's just right for her to grab the concepts and move on fine! So next year she'll be in Level 5 in 7th grade. Just some thoughts on it for you to think about.
I may try five with Faythe, and 7 or 8 with Rachael. Rachael picked up SO MUCH when she had that co-op class, and then Easy Grammar reinforced the grammar part of it. Does R&S have you cross out the prepositional phrases like Easy Grammar does? That's the main reason I put Faythe in it to begin with. (DEENA: DON'T READ FURTHER!!! Is she looking the other direction now? OK!) I really was beginning to like the diagramming in the Abeka book, and wished that Easy Grammar did it!
