Our next question comes from a sweet lady I met in Carbondale a few weeks ago. She asks "Do you ever use any formal grammar? If so, when?"
We do not use formal grammar in the early years. As our children do copywork and read excellent books, they begin to pick up on things like correct spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization. It is amazing to me how much the children have retained just from the simple exercise of copywork! You can read my post about that here.
Now, when the children get a little older, around 9 or so, I do use Simply Grammar. I have found that this just re-inforces what they picked up on during previous copywork lessons, and helps them see why they use certain words in certain ways, and give names to what they have been using. The lessons are very gentle, very short, and straightforward. You feel like you are cheating! When I used this program with my oldest child, I kept thinking, this is silly, she's not really learning anything. It didn't feel like there was any meat to the lesson. In fact, in lesson one, they learn that there are two parts to a sentence - that of which you speak, and what you say about it. I didn't think my daughter would remember anything from the lesson, as it was just too simple! However, we stuck with it. I was pleasantly surprised when, several weeks later, she had remembered the two parts of a sentence! I thought, wow, how'd she do that?! I'd say the proof is in the pudding!
I recommend this resource whole-heartedly. It's only a few dollars, and will serve you and your children well. It's also wonderful because it's a open up and teach book. You don't need anything else but a pencil and paper to teach your student their grammar lessons! This is a very easy part of our day.
Please share with me what you choose to do for grammar. One of the things I love about a Charlotte Mason education is that it is not a one-size-fits all, and many people have come up with very creative ideas. I love to learn about them!
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