The Curriculum Choice

Our Mother Tongue

Classical, High School, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts 6 Responses »

Jan 282010

I really love the Rod & Staff English curriculum. It is wonderfully thorough, sequential, and it just makes sense to me. (I even reviewed it on The Curriculum Choice. ) I thought I would continue using it through the 8th grade.

But last year my son (currently 11 years old) asked me why he had to keep doing the same things in English every year. Over… and over… And I didn’t know. (I should mention that he completed grades 3-6 of the Rod & Staff English program.)

Here’s where I make a little confession. I’m a rule follower. I love a system where everything is neat and organized. Step 1, Step 2, etc. I love office supplies, new textbooks, well, books in general. And I never particularly minded “busy work” in school. Not over the top, but doing a page of something that I knew how to do never bothered me.

My son is not like that. He smells busy work a mile away. Practicing concepts he understands seems a waste of time to him. And he clearly understood the concepts. Some of my philosophy has been that he needs to get over it and practice anyway because he’s a kid and doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does. While that may be partially true, I realized that he really was spending a lot of time and learning very little new material in English. So I got to do something that is always fun for me. Curriculum research!

I was looking for a text that he could work through and then be finished. No more grammar study. Now, that’s something he can get excited over. I finally settled on a text called Our Mother Tongue by Nancy Wilson. In the introduction, the author poses the question “Why another grammar book?” The beginning of her answer describes exactly what I was looking for.

That is a good question. The world seems to be quite full of grammar books, but it is not easy to find a text today that covers all the bases, still emphasizes diagramming, is not laden with politically correct jargon, and embraces a Christian world view. I am certainly not claiming to have achieved all these things in this little book, but I have aimed for it. I wanted to produce a grammar book that could be used to teach junior-high students as well as high-school or college students and adults, a book that covered many of the aspects of English grammar succinctly; I also wanted a book that could assume the biblical view of language. At the same time I wanted to whet the appetite of the student to want to know more about the history of our language….

The book is divided into 6 units.

Unit One: The Eight Classes of Words

Unit Two: The Sentence

Unit Three: Special Properties of Nouns and pronouns

Unit Four: Special Properties of Verbs

Unit Five: Verbals

Unit Six: The Special Properties of Modifiers

The 6 units contain a total of 49 lessons. Each lesson has a several accompanying exercises, so we are spreading the lessons out. We will actually use this book for 2 school years, but it could be completed in less. The exercises are usually short, but require thought.

Our Mother Tongue is a very affordable. It retails for only $20, plus $5 for the answer key. In addition the book is not designed to be written in and is completely non-consumable. I love a book that I can reuse later on.

A nice extra is the addition of historical notes on the English language. These are found in most of the lessons and are located on the side of the page, separate from the grammar portion of the text. I find these to be very interesting facts that I have never learned.

The only complaint that I have about this book is that the answer key is not as complete as I would like. There are many exercises that do not have answers included. These are usually the ones in which the answers may vary, but some example correct answers would have been helpful.

I would recommend this for the junior high or high school level for a student that doesn’t need a lot of repetition. It can be used first for grammar instruction and later for a grammar reference.

Written by Kristen, Well-Trained Classical mom of 4. Kristen blogs at A Day in the Life.

Spell to Write and Read

Biblical Principle Approach, Language Arts, Phonics 2 Responses »

Nov 172009

I knew my son needed to learn how to read, but I’d never taught anyone. I debated the decision to homeschool. I worried and fretted. Then I resolved to trust the process. I’d been taught the basics of teaching phonics through a program called, Writing Road to Reading.

We used it. It worked!

Then we got to the spelling rules and the notebook work. I had a general idea of what to do, but really wanted more examples. That’s when I discovered Spell to Write and Read by Wanda Sanseri.

Mrs. Sanseri started her program by writing helpful tutorials to go along with Writing Road to Reading. Soon it became it’s own separate manual.

I purchased an older version called, Teaching Reading at Home, but from what I can tell the new version is similar. There are specific tutorials for teaching letter formation, step by step instructions for working through the program, and sample notebook pages.

By the time I invested in this curriculum, my son had already learned the 70 phonograms, but I still found it helpful. What we did use daily was the second part of the curriculum, The W.I.S.E. Guide to Spelling.

The W.I.S.E. Guide breaks down the spelling lists and gives lots of ideas for using each week’s words. I found that especially helpful.

Spell to Write and Read is a total language program. It teaches reading, writing, and spelling all at the same time. Children learn to write the letters as they learn their sounds. Then they compile their own spelling book that reinforces what they already learned. It is an investment that can be used for multiple grade levels. The spelling portion can be used all the way through high school.

There are a lot of recommended resources, but all that is really needed are the two books mentioned above and some form of the phonogram cards. Mine were cut out of our Writing Road to Reading book and covered with contact paper. Two of the phonograms are different, but my son didn’t even notice.

This year I added two Learning Logs from Wanda Sanseri’s site, Back Home Industries. A composition book can be used instead. I splurged a bit, because it’s time to teach my two little girls to read.

I’m looking forward to it this time around. The fear is gone. It’s been replaced by the wonder and simplicity of laying a solid foundation of learning.

Rod & Staff English

Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts 3 Responses »

Jul 302009

Sometimes it seems like curricula create confusion. Brightly colored texts, songs, jingles, computer programs, and educational games can all be useful learning tools, but perhaps we think that learning always has to be fun and exciting. Do all the extras really help, or could they actually be a detriment?

Simple, systematic, and effective. These are all words that describe Rod & Staff’s English curriculum. Rod & Staff is a Mennonite company, and the unhurried simplicity of the Mennonite lifestyle shines through in their curriculum. Scripture, family, community, and agriculture are prominent themes in the exercises included in the texts.

Simple

Rod & Staff teaches:

Sentences
Parts of Speech (Each part of speech is studied separately)
Punctuation
Capitalization
Reference Books

The text is written with excellent explanations and examples. It can be read to the student by the teacher, or read independently by the student.

Systematic

Beginning in 2nd grade, with texts available through 10th grade, each year of Rod & Staff English builds on the skills learned in the previous one. The format of each text is similar. There is a short lesson which is found in both the student and teacher texts. Following the lesson, there is first a section of oral drill, then written exercises. The exercises progress from simple to more challenging.By simple, I do not mean it is not a rigorous program. We have currently completed years 3 through 6 of the program, and I have already seen topics that I don’t remember studying in school.

Effective
Its simple instruction and systematic review make Rod & Staff a very effective grammar program. One of my favorite features of Rod & Staff English is its use of sentence diagramming. The process of dissecting a sentence and rearranging it is wonderful for gaining understanding of the sentence structure. In addition to a student text and a teacher text, optional workbooks and tests are available. The worksheets allow for extra practice if necessary, and the tests are a great assessment if desired.

Not only is Rod & Staff effective at teaching English, it is also a cost-effective program. The exercises are written on separate paper, making the texts entirely non-consumable. Included throughout each text are writing lessons and practice, so no additional composition program is necessary. Each entire year set can be purchased for under $50.

I have been extremely pleased with my students’ understanding of English grammar after using Rod & Staff. I highly recommend it. Being a Mennonite company, Rod & Staff does not have an official website. Free catalogs are available by calling 606-522-4348.

Written by Kristen, Neo-Classical Mom of 4

10 reasons to buy the curriculum guides even if you don’t use the Noah Plan

Biblical Principle Approach No Responses »

May 012009

The Noah Plan curriculum guides from the Foundation for American Christian Education are hefty tomes full of almost anything you need to know to teach a subject using the Biblical Principle approach. But those who use a different approach can still gain a lot from FACE’s work.

Time lines. While not comprehensive, their time lines are well done and informative, and highlight the use of the subject for the advancement of the Gospel. They are helpful for planning the history of any subject, and cross-referencing to see what was going on in other spheres at a particular point in history.
Resource lists. Especially in history and literature. They are a gold mine. In the history guide they are arranged historically. And their lists incorporate as many original sources and classics as possible for a book this size.
Charts, forms and graphs. Especially in English and the line maps in History and Geography. And they have sample notebook grading charts and other teacher tools.
The focus on Providential History. No matter what your approach, a Providential approach to history affects all subjects and shapes your Christian worldview. Each subject guide addresses that subject’s history
Research. In the literature guide, the information on Shakespeare is almost worth the price of the book. In each guide they offer original documents and a view of a subject that is hard to find in other homeschool resources.
Notebook examples. Even if you are not into traditional notebooking outlines and such, there are many examples of well thought out pages. They can inspire and challenge, or even help solve a problem.
The passion. The authors of each guide are master teachers, and reading their guides can spark an interest, rekindle an excitement or reinforce an idea. Anyone can get on board with doing things well, even if you aren’t keen on the specific methods.
The projects. Each guide offers ideas for projects that you can adapt to any unit study or textbook you may be using.
Tools. Things like word studies and the elements of notebooking are things that any teacher can use. Word studies will serve you well in elementary school through graduate school. It is an invaluable skill. And tools like sample notebook grading sheets can give you a place to start when creating your own materials.
Easy on the pocketbook. There is only one book to buy for each subject. It takes you from kindergarten through high school. All this goodness is wrapped up in one volume for each subject. The investment is only made once.

See samples of the guides here.

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