Homeschool Grammar Curriculum

Grammar matters. The study of language usage helps us communicate effectively in English as well as other languages. Check out these options for homeschool grammar curriculum.

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to homeschool resources. It may take some trial and error to find the right fit for you as the teacher and your kids as the students.

Grammar? Why do we need grammar?

Because we do?
Because it’s what we’ve always done?
Because Abraham Lincoln knew a gerund from a present participle?
Because I said so?

Trust me when I say that these reasons won’t fly well with your children — or your gut. It’s downright silly to require your kids to learn something that has no purpose in this world. So, if you don’t know why you’re teaching something, you better find out.

Unfortunately, that’s what people think about grammar; that it serves no purpose in this world.

In my teaching credential/Master’s program at UCSB almost 30 years ago, my professors claimed that the study of grammar was obsolete. The education program as a whole did not encourage the teaching of grammar at all, neither did the public school where I later taught.

The study of grammar was relegated to the ranks of old school teachers who “should be retired already”, complete with eye rolling by those more hip educators.

Ironically, the eye rollers had the advantage of understanding how the English language works, thanks to their own grammar instruction, so they really had no way to A/B test what life would be like without it.

Grammar matters.

In my gut I’ve known that grammar was a good thing.

As a French major, grammar mattered tremendously in the acquisition of a new language.

As a French major, I learned that grammar mattered tremendously in my acquisition of a new language. So did phonics.

The parts of speech are, in fact, the building blocks of languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, etc. They basically tell you the job that a certain kind of word does in the sentence. And to communicate effectively we need to put words to work in the way they function best.

Grammar, at its simplest, is the study of the words in a language, the jobs that they do, and how to use them together in the most understandable way.

The argument my college professors used for dissing grammar was that we intuitively know when to use which words. They claimed that with abundant reading, a child would develop an ear for the right way for things to sound, that we don’t need to formally teach it.

However, in this global society that we live in with multiple languages being spoken, written, and read in one neighborhood block, I think this is less likely to happen for the masses, let alone the kids in our own homes.

I help my three year old learn to say “I can do it,” instead of “Me do it.”

In order to acquire fluency in a language — whether foreign or our own — an understanding of the jobs that words do is helpful. Not only does this help us use the words correctly, but it also helps us correct our own errors in writing and speaking.

Grammar helps us communicate better in our own language as well as acquire fluency in other languages.

Homeschool Resources

Over the years we’ve used several different homeschool grammar curriculums. Here’s a brief review of each:

Easy Grammar

We started out using Easy Grammar when my oldest was in 1st or second grade. At that time, I had four or five kids, mostly preschool and below, so let’s just say that I was in “survival mode”.

While I knew grammar was an important subject to teach, the baby daze was too overwhelming for me to sweat it too much.

Easy Grammar, particularly the pink book was, indeed, an easy way to talk about the basics of language usage. My older boys did a page or two per day up into the middle grades at which point I realized that they didn’t completely “get it” when it came to articulating the jobs words did.

It’s about this time that the baby haze cleared and we switched programs, though in the junior high years we have returned to the grade level Easy grammar student workbook for review.

Winston Grammar

This is a very hands-on program in that flashcards are used to teach diagramming and the parts of speech. I liked this aspect of the program since it was very visual and kinesthetic.

We plugged along for both the Winston Grammar Basic and Advanced Programs while I used a different program with my younger kids. By using two different programs at the same time, I had a great experience of comparison.

I found that the other homeschool grammar curriculum was giving ME an excellent refresher course in grammar while I was almost as confused as my bigger boys with Winston Grammar.

While leads me to my best pick for grammar:

First Language Lessons

This homeschool grammar curriculum is repetitive, but that is a good thing. Teaching it helped me grasp a lot of things that I didn’t previously understand about grammar — and my own schooling included weekly grammar instruction for all 12 grades!

The program uses songs, poems, and stories to teach not only grammar, but also basic language and writing skills. I wish we had started with the first level book with all my boys, but better late than never!

I’ve used First Language Lessons for kids much older than it was designed for as a way to review and fill in the gaps. I recommend it for use between grades 3 and 8, with the caveat that some of the lessons are targeted for younger kids.

Other programs we’ve tried

Rod and Staff Grammar – This is very old school grammar curriculum and highly technical. I didn’t find it to be as practical as other programs.

Stewart English Program – My high schoolers take literature classes through an online classical school that uses The Stewart English Program. The workbooks are very user-friendly and cover the basics.

FAQs

Grammar doesn’t have to have a bad rap. It’s amazing to me that it has in the past. But, words are so important. And when we use them effectively, we communicate so much more.

And I want my kids to be good communicators, don’t you?

More Homeschool Tips

This post was originally published on July 3, 2012. It has been updated for content and clarity.