Grammar woes

[MomtoJGJE]

I realized a couple of days ago that we have a problem. Jayden couldn't tell me what adjectives or adverbs were... she's halfway through R&S 4 She couldn't tell me what those words meant (adjective and adverb) and she couldn't pick them out of a sentence. Which is annoying because she's so far through the books. I always assumed this would be like other things and she'd just get it at some point, but it doesn't seem to be working.

However I told her to pray and think about if she really doesn't know it or if she's just being difficult. I made a comparison with math (because she's had struggles with math before) and told her that nouns and verbs are like adding and subtracting and adjectives and adverbs are like multiplying and dividing... that she can't go further in grammar without knowing those things.... just like she couldn't be doing the level of math she is doing now if she didn't even know what multiply and divide meant.

She seemed to understand and went off to pray/think about it.... she came back saying she just thought she was being difficult. Unfortunately I truly believe she really doesn't get it. I explained that at this point, dropping back to English 3 wouldn't be the end of the world... that it's why we homeschool, etc so that she can really grasp things and not just move on without knowing.

I just don't know what to do. I told her that since she told me she was just being difficult that we'd continue on until after the new year starts, but if she still seems to not get it that I will drop her back.

I guess I'm asking for prayers for wisdom and any advice you have!

[annaz]

I don't know that I'd go back, but to sit at the stoplight for awhile.

I would just try different avenues of explanation. If she knows what the noun and verbs are, then those things will be easier to explain. Break it out for a bit.
They each describe. The one with verb in it describes the verb. Little tricks. Have her describe her house, her room, her doll. Adjectives. Have her describe her action at play. Make it more personal, more applicable, so she can see the difference. Have her go outside and describe how the wind is blowing. Have her go outside and describe the flower. If it's moving it's a verb and how it's moving is the adverb. The flower is the noun, the color is the adjective. Start simple that way with things around the house. Make a column of nouns. Have her describe them. Do the same for verbs.

Otherwise there is a fun series by Brian P. Cleary, here:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss? ... .%20Cleary.

If she still doesn't understand, move on and come back to it. Let it sink in for a while.

[StephanieU]

I was thinking along the same lines too - stop R&S for a short time and use something else to re-teach those items. There are a good number of free games/activities online that might help too.

[MelInKansas]

Prayer said.

Sometimes my oldest understands something and just can't verbalize it. Though if she is having trouble doing the exercises in R&S because she doesn't understand these concepts, then she probably really doesn't understand them.

You could try doing a crash course back through just those units in R&S 3, and add in some extra practice (though usually I think R&S has just the right amount of practice).

I hope you are able to figure out what to do!

[chillin'inandover]

Have you been diligent with giving an oral review each lesson? If not that may help. Also I am using R&S 5 and it has adjectives and adverbs. I am guessing each year reviews these topics because of the spiral learning. Keep on moving forward and with practice kiddo will get it. Going forward makes more sense, but reviewing each day may improve retention. Also in writing program in CTC there are assignments to find all 4 parts of speech. Are you using Write with the Best? That really solidified my kiddos skills.
Prayer works best!