Please help me decide on R & S English - which level?

[maddykate]

I am trying to decide on which level to go with for my 5th grader and 4th grader. I have everything set to go except for this...

A little history - My girls have been homeschooled until last year, when I gave in to the grass-is-greener syndrome and they went to public school. I am so thankful for that year simply because it showed me so, so clearly that we are doing the right thing in homeschooling our children. When they were homeschooled, we did Spectrum Language Arts workbooks and Easy Grammer. In public school, honestly, I do not think they did much at all, though I am not sure since I never saw papers on it. They don't seem to be able to remember much beyond a noun and a verb, so I am trying to decide if I should do R & S 3 or 4, or even 5. I know most years, English is repeated in more depth, but the content is somewhat the same. Is Rod and Staff like this? I feel like the girls could handle a little more in depth or a little harder, but I don't want to bog them down with something that we will all not enjoy.

Any insight and advice is welcome!

Thanks so much,
Maddy

[Jen in Va]

R&S grammar progresses very rapidly, particularly after level 4. I've taken two kids all the way through their level 8 (which is the equivalent of post-high school grammar.) I've even used the level 8 book two years in a row with both of them because it is so meaty that one pass through wasn't enough. IMO, and Carrie's too, I believe, the later you do the upper levels of R&S the better. My plan is to have my now almost 7 yo do level 6 in 8th grade leaving the 7th and 8th grade books for high school. If I were in your shoes, I'd go with no higher than level 4--maybe even level 3 if they've never had diagramming and are struggling with grammar. Level three would give you a great foundation in grammar without overwhelming your children with too much too soon. Each level of their grammar goes deeper and wider over what has already been studied. There is lots of review with R&S--daily oral review--you can also get the worksheet book very inexpensively (answers are in the TM) and the test manual is not expensive either--both are great, and I will be using them when we get there with our youngest. Using R&S grammar my children have always scored in the 99th %tle in grammar on the Stanford Achievement Test. There are a few places in the R&S grammar that make you scratch your head, but I think those rare places are a product of the different culture/way of life of the Mennonites for whom these books were originally written. IMHO, there is no better grammar out there, and I've tried more than a few.

To boil that all down...I'd go with level 3. Sorry, I just love their grammar and can get a bit long-winded when talking about it.

[maddykate]

Jen in VA,

Thank you so very much for your reply. I had somewhat come to the decision to do exactly as you suggested so it makes me feel so much better to have it confirmed from someone who has "been there/done that". Thank you so much for your help. You have given me peace about it now.

Truly,
Maddy