Brain Dead on Grammar

[deltagal]

Okay - this is currently our last frontier, so to speak. Grammar. Nothing in this arena seems to be sticking in my 14 yo's brain. We've been reviewing, and reviewing, and reviewing. He has note cards to use to prompt him. Practice sheets. And we're getting nowhere. We're at the end of the chapter on pronouns. We've been meeting daily to review and discuss and practice pronouns, and today he tells me..."I have no idea what a pronoun is." I'm actually not frustrated with him. I know all too well this feeling of being at the point of saturation, which I think is fundamentally his issue. But again...how do we move beyond this point. We've been working intentionally since the beginning of January to try to break through and we're not there. Any thoughts?

[Mom2Monkeys]

We've hit road blocks like this before with my DD, mostly in math....I one day just said, NO MORE. We went two or three weeks without touching math and to my surprise, when we came back to tackle it again, she knew it like the back of her hand. So, we just did a quick review and moved on. Crazy, but sometimes when you've had to really hit something hard, stepping back for a while can be the ticket...rest and let it sink in and process. Then come back to it fresh.

[anointedhsmom]

Florence, I can understand how you are feeling right now. I have some of the same issues with my 11 year old son. He just has problems retaining math and grammar. He needs very small incremental lessons and then for days or even weeks he has to work with those principals. He also can't just talk about what he's learned. He must write or underline to retain. That is the key with my son. I don't know what you are using for grammar but I'm assuming it's R&S If so are you doing most of the work orally? With more information about what exactly you are using and how you are using it every lesson we might be able to give you a bit more advice. But my first thought is how much is he having to write? If it's not much do you think that is something that could help cement the ideas for him?

I'm sure others will also speak up with their experiences. I will pray for clarity as to why your son is having a hard time retaining things and that He will give you the knowledge and wisdom to help your son.

[deltagal]

Thanks ladies. We're using Rod and Staff 5. We should have completed it in December, since we began it in January of 2010, but it has been S-L-O-W. I'm now concerned that we're not even going to finish it by summer. We keep going back and reviewing old concepts to try to sort through the confusion. I think we do a fair amount of writing. We use the workbook and the tests. We also do the daily review in the teacher's manual and then practice work on a markerboard. We just finished today's lesson a few minutes ago. He did okay. He seemed to know today what a pronoun was, but is still very fuzzy on everything else.

[Daph]

We use Easy Grammar, and my daughter loves it!

[mrsrandolph]

Have you considered using any Grammar Songs? I am sure this idea would sound beyond cheesy to your child. However, I learned all of my parts of speech and lists and lists of words from songs when I was in Middle School. I remember them to this day. You might google grammar songs. : )

[deltagal]

We use Easy Grammar, and my daughter loves it!

Daph - We used Easy Grammar once upon a time and the same result. I don't think it's the curriculum...it's the student. And I really like Rod and Staff - the teaching is marvelous. There is so much "meat" in the material.