 Rod And Staff Question |
| javaprof23 |
 May 12 2005, 07:45 AM
Post
#1
|
|
I've seen the stuff going around about Rod and Staff, so I know some of you use it, and I have a question. I noticed in The Well Trained Mind that if you start using Rod and Staff w/ an eighth grader, you should begin w/ the 5th gr. book. My daughter will be in 8th in the fall and I'm wondering how necessary this is. She has been doing Easy Grammar Plus this year and is an average writer. Is the jump down because of sentence diagramming? This is something we have not done. Would she be totally lost? R & S doesn't send out samples for 8th gr. so I couldn't check.
|
|
 |
|
| Sammi |
 May 12 2005, 08:39 AM
Post
#2
|
|
Geez,
I wish I knew the answer to that one for you, but I can share this with you. We switched to R&S this year. My son is currently in 5th grade. I heard it was advanced, so I purchased the 4th grade for him. It was too easy, so I had to go back and purchase the 5th grade one. I basically think that they cover the same topics over and over, but are making them a bit more challenging. They are very inexpensive comparatively to other programs. You could always get the 8th grade book and then switch if need be. I wish I could have been a bit more help.  Blessings, Sammi |
|
|
|
|
| colerocks |
 May 12 2005, 10:47 AM
Post
#3
|
 Has anyone used R&S for a first or second grader? Are you using it for Language Arts only, or for the other subjects as well? I'm interested also in the "We Lambs" books for character building, but can't find where to get them. |
|
|
|
|
| Appliejuice |
May 12 2005, 11:07 AM
Post
#4
|
||||
I wish I could answer your question. We started Rod and Staff last year for 5th grade. I have not idea what the 8th grade it like. I don't know if I would go as far back as fifth grade English.
We used R&S second grade English and Math last year. My daughter was in first grade then. I have another daughter that is going into K and will be using R&S first grade English and first grade Math. I may have to go to a different English, if dd#2 is not getting it. She is not on the same level as dd#1. It seems to me, if you start with R&S in K, you should use 1st grade material. In 2nd grade use 3rd grade material and so forth. My son started R&S in fifth grade and I got him fifth grade material, which is just right for him.  Next year is it 6th grade material. My dd#1 is going into 3rd grade and I bought the third grade material, math, english, spelling, social studies, Bible and science. I do not like the social studies or the spelling for her. It is way too simple for her, so those will be sold. It looks like I can use the science with all the girls, except the younger girls will not be doing any kind of writing reports or results. After getting the 3rd and 6th grade curriculum for next school year and having looked over it, I have decided to just use the English, Math, Bible and Art from R&S. I guess I got long winded here. Hope this helps.  |
|||||
|
|
|
||||
| Sherinova |
May 13 2005, 08:47 AM
Post
#5
|
|
Do you have the curriculum guides for 5th & 6th? That might help finding the right place to start. You can also call them...they've been helpful the couple of times I have called them. If your child has been using a rigorous grammar program to include diagramming, then I would stay on level. If not, I would go down a level. You can individualize more if needed! R&S also sells some booklets that emphasize individual skills i.e. parts of speech, diagramming... This may not be right for your dd, but it's where I would start.
I did notice that my son was studying the same stuff in the early 3rd grade grammar book as our church academy was studying in their late 3rd grade grammar and they use Abeka and BJU. My 
|
|
|
|
|
| javaprof23 |
May 13 2005, 10:21 AM
Post
#6
|
||
Are these referred to as "English Worksheets" in the catalog? I saw those and was wondering about them. Those would be really helpful. Dd has been doing grammar, but not diagramming. She doesn't really need beginning grammar and I'm also afraid that the writing assignments in the 5th gr. book would be too easy and discouraging to her. I think I'll call R&S...thanks for the suggestions, Sheri and everybody! |
|||
|
|
|
||
| Sammi |
May 13 2005, 10:37 AM
Post
#7
|
|
I have used Rod & Staff for 2nd & 5th grade this year. I did not order the additional work sheets, b'c I feel that they give them enough exercises in the book.
That being said, the teachers book has the worksheet answers in the back of the book. So if your child needed additional help in a particular section, you could just type up the questions from there. HTH! Sammi 
|
|
|
|
|
| 2Bgracious |
May 13 2005, 12:02 PM
Post
#8
|
|
Java,
I personally like easy Grammar and am sure you can find other books that teach diagraming (I stay away from R&S for personal reasons...one being I don't want them to have my address...long story) |
|
|
|
|
| Appliejuice |
May 13 2005, 03:23 PM
Post
#9
|
||
I think you could find some on the internet, if you needed to.
|
|||
|
|
|
||
| Tressa |
May 13 2005, 03:56 PM
Post
#10
|
|
If it is only diagramming that you are worried about, I don't think it would take that long to pick up. If your dd knows her parts of speech, it probably wouldn't take very long to get the idea of diagramming.
Just a thought..
|
|
|
|
|
| Sherinova |
May 13 2005, 09:53 PM
Post
#11
|
||||
Yes. If you have the '05 catalog, they are on pg.100. There is a level for grades 3-5 and for 6-8 and they include parts of speech, the sentence, punctuation & capitalization. According to the catalog write-up, these are different than the worksheets that go along w/the textbooks. |
|||||
|
|
|
||||
