Total Page : 420
Publisher : Peace Hill Press
Publication Date : 2003 02
>> excellent old fashioned grammar
This is old fashioned grammar with common sense It is easy enough for slow learners with enrichment activities for those who need it This one book covers two years including teacher instruction Excellent for the money Hard to find a grammar book for this age that doesn t also have penmanship and spelling These lessons teach a multitude of non grammar info such as learning your address family names memorization summarizing and even analyzing more than just written works All of this is age appropriate My 6 year old can summarize a story better than most public schooled children his age I am sure He knows his family s names and relations better than before it s big and complicated and he can analyze as well He has already memorized two poems and is working on the third Excellent teaching book
>> Simple Easy to Use and Easy to Teach
I have been using this book since the beginning of the school year We are now at lesson 50 I have to say I love it The lessons are short but to the point My daughter is in first grade and it is just the right level for her And her 4 year old sister can listen and memorize the poems because they are short It works really well for our family
I am always curious about negative reviews So I read them for this book One reviewer mentioned that the author adapted many of the poems Honestly I suspected that when we learned the Monday s Child poem But I was thankful that it was adapted The poem that I remember had several negative things And my son was born on Wednesday Ugh In the original poem he would be full of woe I think the version in this book is one I much prefer I noticed that other language in that poem is also updated I think that s okay Happy and Cheerful is a lot easier for a first grader to understand than bonny and blithe I am comfortable with those modifications
Another interesting thing that people also commented about not liking the directions for what the parent is to say I remember one school that I subbed for that used Saxon Phonics It drove me crazy at the time It was written out exactly what I needed to say and it seemed a bit extreme to me first graders were diagramming sentences and words and it seemed to me that you had to cover every question they had written down exactly a they had written It truly was a script that needed to be followed But not all teaching materials with directions for parents are like that I don t think this book is I do follow it most of the time but I modify the questions when I need to for my children For teaching reading I use How to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and love that book Now I am so familiar with that book though that I say very little of the script We go over the sounds and words and story and questions But I still appreciate the script if I need it as a reference I have realized that scripted lessons are not loved by everyone we all find what method of teaching works best for us and for our kids
I would recommend this book highly I am a certified teacher and as I started using this book I really saw the logic of how the lessons are organized The lessons are varied periodically there is a story or picture with questions about it I think it is very important for children to understand grammar and so often it seems to be overlooked in our country I know that when I was student teaching 10 years ago we never touched it in first grade or third or fifth
>> I Just Can t Wrap My Mind Around This One
I have a really difficult time getting excited about this program Trust me I tried It came highly recommended by a few other homeschooling families I know
The essence of the lessons are having the child memorize the definitions of the parts of speech Sometimes the child makes a list of example words Sometimes the child writes a letter memorizes a poem or talks about a picture in the book But essentially the child is solely memorizing the definitions
Rarely is the teacher prompted to ask an open ended question of the student Most of the questions in the scripts tell you to prompt the child until they get the answer right
Language has structure and helping a child discover the structure and use it to express her or himself is what I am looking for in a grammar program I don t like the idea of having my children be able to parrot back to me what the definition of a noun is but really have no idea how to find one or use one
Other posters have noted that many of the poems has been altered I concur and I find that unacceptable
I also disagree strongly with the definitions A person place thing or idea is not a noun The word that names the person place thing or idea is a noun It is a subtle distinction but an important one With all the talk about logic in A Well Trained Mind I assumed that Ms Wise would have understood that
I would recommend this curriculum if you need something that is inexpensive Beyond that I can t recommend it
Click Above Or Below To See More Detail >>> First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind
