Placement in Rod & Staff English

[abrightmom]

In my quest to be on track to move into Bigger this next school year (at that time my boys will be in 2nd and 3rd grades) I am wondering if it would be wise to start my current 2nd grader on R&S English 2. We are currently using First Language Lessons which they are enjoying. Is this enough for movement into R&S 3 for 3rd grade for him? I am consulting the HOD catalog today and making a list of items needed and I read this note: "Since English 3 is significantly more advanced than English 2, we recommend children in grades 2-3 go through English 2 first. If children have previously used an advanced program, you may have them use English 3 instead."

I don't know what an advanced program would be . Would the grammar in English 2 be a better pre-requisite than FLL 2? The phrase "significantly more advanced than English 2" motivates me to make sure we're ready for English 3.

One other thought: I read about the recommended progression for R&S English used throughout HOD. If I understand it properly then my kiddo would need to be in 3 for 3rd grade, 4/4th, 5/5th & 6th, 6/7th & 8th. I do like this progression and would like to put him in English 3 this next year which is why I'm needing placement/preparation advice .

Thank-you!!

Katrina

[ktwensel]

Katrina,

I am using R&S 2 with my 3rd grader. He has been spotty with grammar (my fault, not his) and I wanted a strong review. We do most of it orally and I am finding the weak areas as well as the holes, so for us it is working well. Sometimes we do two lessons a day, and then sometime I go right on to the review &/or test and have him "test out" of a chapter if I feel he understands it well. There is a lot of review. I do know that many people use R&S a grade below what your child is actually in. I am using 4 for my 5th grader and it is a perfect fit.

I also want to add that my plan was to use R&S 2 to see where the gaps were and then move on to 3 if we finish before our year is up. The lessons are very short. Being that R&S is relatively inexpensive, we felt we would be able to do this. We love R&S. It is straight to the point, little fluff, and gets the job done.

HTH!

[my3sons]

I agree R & S English 2 would be good to go through with your second grader, just to be sure a firm foundation for the future R & S English books is laid. R & S English 3 includes diagramming, so we found R & S English 2 nice to have prior to that. We too do about 2/3 of it orally, and my dc write the other 1/3 or so. This has been especially nice as we are finishing out R & S English 4, as the lessons get longer. I think R & S English is outstanding for so many reasons - I hope you enjoy it too!

In Christ,
Julie