Grammar Insights For A New To MP Family

[JessicaW]

We are new to MP. I have 5 children (7th, 5th, 3rd, 1st, and 4k this year). This fall we had started with Latina Christiana for my 3rd grader and my 5th and 7th grader started with FFL. Moving forward, we have decided to use more MP. I am currently in the stage of riding the high of really getting the MP vision while also dragging my feet because I dread leaving behind all of the curriculum choices we have used in the past. I feel like this opening disclaimer could be added to each question I post here.

We own Rod and Staff English 3-8 grades. We have used it from 3rd on up for my older ones and I loved it. I also own the MP English Grammar Recitation book that I purchased years ago, but I have never seen the corresponding workbooks or the Language Arts workbooks that MP uses in grades 2-8. With ALL that background, do any of you see a way forward where I could continue to use Rod and Staff English instead of the EGR Recitation and Language Arts books that MP suggests? Have any of you used R&S English while also doing LC and moving through the Latin forms? Perhaps I could drop the R&S workbooks and just do the book work? I am just trying to limit the amount of things that I have to sell off and replace as we make the switch to MP.

I really appreciate any thoughts from people who are familiar with both programs. ?

[Jessica Louise]

KF2000 and some of the staff can deffinately help you. I just wanted to mention that R&S and MP are not going to oppose each other. Some of the schools use R&S as needed to assist children that need a little more practice. I have a child that cannot process a lot of spoken language, so we use R&S English alongside MP, to minimize how much time I spend talking. Others here will help you square away an actual plan; I just hoped to aleviate any anxiety or frustration. You are probably not too far off from the MP English track. One more thing, I think that you will find MP's grammar programs to be brief, by comparison, so I don't think that you will find the materials to be heavy load. Again, ladies with experience will chime in!

[KF2000]

Jessica Louise is correct that my family uses the Rod and Staff English series instead of the EGR. We were like you - we were using it before MP wrote EGR because it was what they had in their packages until EGR was ready. We tried switching over more than once but finally decided to stick with what I liked. That was all. No big grammar drama; I just went with what was familiar and easy for me to teach. And it has remained a great choice for our family.

But with their Latin study, you don’t need to feel compelled to do everything R&S has to offer. We do not do the workbooks. And most of the exercises we do orally. I decide lesson by lesson what they need to write out so that if a day of other work is heavy, I will go easy on them. Or if they are really struggling to remember something, they will have to write all the lessons for a while. Flexible. The only exception is that I make them do all the diagramming exercises because that is such good practice for thinking through the material, identifying each word in the sentence, and ordering them by job.

hths!
AMDG,
Sarah

[JessicaW]

Thank you both! I really appreciate your help! I think the plan to stop doing the R&S workbooks after this year and adjusting book assignment length or answer format is a good plan. It is nice to hear that from someone who has done it alongside the Latin already.

I am so thankful for this forum! ?

[KF2000]

Sounds like a plan!
Happy to help!

AMDG,
Sarah

[MamaHill]

Hi Jessica,

Our family has always used R&S along with the Forms. I know that others say that's not necessary, but it has been for my children. It has this lovely synergistic effect when taught together.

I rarely assign the whole assignment in the text, but I always assign a good half of it after going over a few of the Class exercises orally. We do the test at the end of each unit, however, I've only used the workbooks in a few instances.

One aspect I really like about R&S are the multi-step directions and how they incrementally increase by grade. My tween-early teen kiddos really like to skip over those and do what they think the directions say instead of actually reading them. It's just another way to focus on details and doing an assignment well and to the best of your ability.

I'm a big fan of R&S. We use it through Grade 7 in our house.

-Lauren

[JessicaW]

Thank you, MamaHill! I agree with what you said about the directions. The books are just so we'll done! Do you stop using R&S after 7th due to things just getting busier with other work? My 7th grader is my oldest and I am considering not doing any R&S for her next year when she is in 8th. My thought with that is simply that it would allow her to really focus on other subjects during the transition year into MP.

The funny thing is that I already bought all the items needed for R&S 8th and workbooks for a couple years ahead for my younger kids. I was trying to skip a year of ordering from R&S. Serves me right for planning ahead. ?

I wondered about doing R&S 8 in 9th grade. Maybe that is unnecessary/overkill. It also might just be me trying to salvage something I own. I think it could count for one of her non-specific English credits, but I need to investigate that and see how I feel a year from now.