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| Review of Abeka Grammar & Composition I by Abeka |
We used some of this program for 7th grade. It provides a great foundation in English
grammar. While it does provide lessons in writing, we did not use those, as we prefer
Excellence in Writing. This curriculum also contains a handy grammar handbook at
the end of the book.
What it covers: nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, interjections, sentence structure, paragraphs, punctuation, capitalization,
the writing process, summaries, book reports, outlines, and research papers.
Pros: It covers all aspects of grammar well if you wish to teach grammar as a
separate subject. And the grammar handbook at the end is a nice-to-have.
Cons: For us personally, we believe teaching grammar for the sake of teaching
grammar is NOT conducive to children actually learning grammar. After using this,
we quickly realized that the best way to learn grammar is when one is writing. For
example, when teaching grammar as a separate subject, my daughter scored the
lowest in this area on the California Achievement Test (even tho it said she was on
grade level), clearly demonstrating that learning out-of-context grammar doesn't
work. However, when teaching it incorporated into writing instead, she jumped 7
grade levels at 13.6 with a Stanine score of 9! You can't get better than that. Thus,
we have opted to teach grammar as it comes up when the children write as opposed to
using separate curricula such as this.
grammar. While it does provide lessons in writing, we did not use those, as we prefer
Excellence in Writing. This curriculum also contains a handy grammar handbook at
the end of the book.
What it covers: nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, interjections, sentence structure, paragraphs, punctuation, capitalization,
the writing process, summaries, book reports, outlines, and research papers.
Pros: It covers all aspects of grammar well if you wish to teach grammar as a
separate subject. And the grammar handbook at the end is a nice-to-have.
Cons: For us personally, we believe teaching grammar for the sake of teaching
grammar is NOT conducive to children actually learning grammar. After using this,
we quickly realized that the best way to learn grammar is when one is writing. For
example, when teaching grammar as a separate subject, my daughter scored the
lowest in this area on the California Achievement Test (even tho it said she was on
grade level), clearly demonstrating that learning out-of-context grammar doesn't
work. However, when teaching it incorporated into writing instead, she jumped 7
grade levels at 13.6 with a Stanine score of 9! You can't get better than that. Thus,
we have opted to teach grammar as it comes up when the children write as opposed to
using separate curricula such as this.
Country Hills Academy
| Our Grade: 7/09 C |