I am looking for something that has both Grammar and composition.. Right now I'm thinking R&S.. I was also considering Abeka but was told that it doesn't have much in the way of composition.. Anyone have any other suggestions?? Also, R&S is advanced right?? My son struggles with Grammar so I'm trying to decide if I should do 9th grade or go down to 8th if I do decide to use it.. Anyone opinions? Thanks Angela
I am using Christian light Education for my 9th grader. We are using level 8 right now, but I like it. they have a diagnostic test on there site that is free to use if you need it.
I would go with Easy Grammar. You could either do Easy Grammar Plus (what I did with my 9th grader) or they have new ones that are for the individual grades. I also liked Jensen's Format writing for teaching sd how to write a good paragraph and essay.
We haven't gotten up to 9th grade yet, but we are really liking 7th grade SOS language arts! It has spelling, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and composition. It's also all on the computer which works great when your kid prefers to type rather than write. It also grades the majority of the work for you.
Well, I would not suggest Christian Liberty Press' Applications of Grammar. We are really really struggling with Grammar right now (and I thought Math was going to be my big challenge... nope, we're breezing through that one and love our book for it!). They do give examples and descriptions of the various items we're studying each unit, but then it's like they just 10 different curve balls for the actual exercise section! I just stare at it thinking "where is the example that is structured like this one?!" And honestly, the test is a whole 3rd set of worms.
Right now we are using Rod & Staff 6th grade since I have that on hand. It will work for now, and I may throw in some Easy Grammar. But I REALLY want to get something that's a higher level than what he is working in right now.
oh thank goodness I'm not alone! :lol::lol: I was afraid I had just lost any bit of Grammar skills I thought I had. Of course, my post was a little awkwardly worded, so maybe that's true as well... ha. I blame the post errors on the Cardinals baseball game that is distracting me as I'm nervously watching!
I use Apologia's Jump In with my kids. It's walks you through each style of writing step by step. It's designed for middle school students, but works is also suggested for high school children struggling with writing. There is also a second side to the program which offers writing plungers. I'm using this part for my 7th grade son. It's inexpensive which makes it a low risk. I'm thinking about trying Easy Grammar. It sure gets a lot of great recommendations on here. We're using Grammarlogues right now. It's a neat program, but not enough explanation for my kids. Seems good for extra practice though.
We used abeka in 9th for ds and we switched to Easy Grammar this year and it is WAY easier than abeka. If you decide to use abeka I have my ds's books from last year if your interested. We only switched from abeka because I didn't want to spend the money on it & decided we would like a change. We are still doing their literature though.
Easy Grammar has high school level stuff. I've not used it YET, but I love EG and their approach. Also, for writing....I can't say enough about IEW. It IS and investment and that is hard to get over (I've been fortunate enough to be able to borrow this). My oldest is so much more confident in her writing now. We did SWI B last year, and are doing the Ancient History Book this year. Since she's learned the "method" it's very hands off for me!!!
I have Easy Grammar Plus. Or at least I did until I gave it to my friend who is a new homeschooler this year with highschool age boys. I didn't think I would need it.. I'm looking into IEW and it seems to be good. Do I have to teach it or is it on dvd?? Oh, and do I need to purchase the teachers siminar to get the most out of the program? It seems like this would go great with Easy Grammar Plus.. Thanks Angela
If you are not "into" your curriculum too much for 9th grade English, you could develop a simple easy curriculum yourself that covers vocab, writing, and reading comprehension. Choose various literary works of the kid's choice from short stories, poems, novels, dramas, and biographies. Take what they choose, and pick out 25 vocabulary words from their reading each week, and assess them at the end of the week. When they finish the reading selection, create a project for them to do on it like a poster project or creative art project, and finally have them write about their experience reading the selection and how it relates to their life. Using this simple method for each reading selection usually keeps their interest and gives you valuable feedback on how their reading skills are. P.S. You can assess reading fluency by timing how fast they can read in 1 minute. Count the number of errors they have and write their scores like this: 105/3errors. Mastery is 100 words with less than 3 mistakes. If they are reading faster than that, your reading selection is too easy. I hope that helps!
The R&S is advanced, and some people who have high schoolers who struggle with English go down as far as 5th grade, but you say you want something more advanced than the 6th you're working with. Most people feel the R&S 7 and 8 are actually high school level with the 9 & 10 more of an early-college level. Or, you could look at CLE. Their 9th grade lit is actually the first half of a book (with the first 5 lightunits), while the 10th grade lit is the second half (with the second 5). Their 9th grade English is the first 5 units and the 10th grade English (grammar and composition, both) are the second 5 units of a 10-unit set. Supposedly, you do one semester of lit and one semester of grammar/composition for a whole year's credit in English, then the second half of each for 10th grade, but some people prefer to just do both all year long and complete both in one year. If you want to try this route, do give the diagnostic LA test (free on the website for printing out), and if your student passes the 7th and 8th grade levels, the 9th grade stuff should be appropriate. If not, then go with whatever level is tested into. www.clp.org
Thanks, Lindina. I've just read what you were telling me on a review. I think I'm going to stick with the 6th grade book.
