Evaluating Our 2010-2011 School Year Progress Part 3 - Grammar and Spelling

While we are fully enjoying our break from school, I am also using the time off to take a step back from our everyday routine and carefully consider how things are going in each of our school subjects.  To help me in this evaluation process, I am using the following questions:

• Are we on track to finish the curriculum at the end of the 2010-2011 school year?
• Are my children doing well academically in the subject? Are they learning the material and making progress in accordance with their individual abilities?
• Are my children enjoying the subject? Now, schoolwork is not always fun but negative attitudes and discouragement on a child's part can mean that some changes are needed.
• Am I happy with how things are going in the subject?
• Are there any changes I would like to make?
• Are there any organizational or record-keeping tasks that need done related to the subject?

In earlier posts, I've evaluated our progress in Math and Reading.  In this post, I will focus on Grammar and Spelling.

Are we on track to finish the curriculum at the end of the 2010-2011 school year?

Amber (8th) is using Growing With Grammar Level 8 this year.  She has 67 more lessons left to complete the course which she can finish by completing 4 lessons per week for the remainder of the school year.

Duncan (4th) is using Growing With Grammar Level 4 this year.  While Amber completes one lesson per day, Duncan completes 1/2 of a lesson per day which equals one page per day.  Duncan still has 161 more pages to complete in GWG 4 so he will not finish GWG 4 this school year.  I am completely OK with that though.  He will simply take up where he left off in GWG 4 in the 2011-2012 school year.

Mason (6th) is using Junior Analytical Grammar.  He has 37 more lessons to complete so he will finish by completing two lessons per week.

Regarding Spelling, all three of my children are using The Phonetic Zoo from the Institute for Excellence in Spelling.  Amber is using Level B and both Mason and Duncan are using Level A.  Since The Phonetic Zoo is completely self-paced based on mastery of the spelling lists, my children vary quite a bit in how many lessons they've completed thus far.

When one of my children masters a lesson, they receive a little phonetic zoo card to display in the school room.  Both Level A and Level B have 47 lessons.  Mason has completed 31 lessons, Duncan has completed 17 lessons, and Amber has completed 7 lessons.  While both Mason and Duncan are likely to finish Level A and move on to Level B this school year, it is unlikely that Amber will complete Level B this year.  I am OK with that, though.  She can simply move on to Level C when she is ready.

   

Are my children doing well academically in the subject? Are they learning the material and making progress in accordance with their individual abilities?

All three of my children are doing well in Spelling.  Due to the focus on mastery of each spelling list, I know that my children know how to spell all of the words on the list when they pass the lesson.  As well, since each list focuses on specific spelling rules, those spelling rules are applied to other words which are not on the list but follow the spelling rule.

Amber and Duncan are both doing well in Grammar.  Grammar and writing has always come easily to Amber so she excels in that area.  Duncan does quite well in grammar as well - he rarely needs help with his lessons and does well on the chapter reviews.

Mason, on the other hand, has always really struggled with Grammar.  I've tried several different Grammar programs with him and he has struggled through all of them.  He often needs help so I do quite a bit of one-on-one Grammar time with him.  Through repetition and review, though, I do think that Mason is learning in accordance with his abilities.  Grammar may never be easy for him but he is definitely understanding the parts of speech and how to diagram sentences better than he has in the past.

Are my children enjoying the subject? Now, schoolwork is not always fun but negative attitudes and discouragement on a child's part can mean that some changes are needed.

While it might be stretching the truth a bit to state that my children ENJOY Spelling and Grammar, they definitely complete their daily work with no complaints or tears.  Even though Grammar is quite difficult for Mason, he still manages to have a fairly positive attitude toward his work in that subject and he definitely tries to do his best.

Am I happy with how things are going in the subject?  Are there any changes I would like to make?

I am very happy with how things are going in Spelling.  Of all of the Spelling programs that I've tried, The Phonetic Zoo is definitely my favorite.  The only change I would like to make in Spelling is to make sure that Amber works on a Spelling lesson each day.  She usually tackles Algebra 1, Biology, Grammar, and Literary Analysis first.  We complete History together after lunch.  She often leaves Spelling for last, and if she runs out of time, well - it simply doesn't get done.  Therefore, I need to make her more accountable for completing Spelling each day.

I am also very happy with how things are going in Grammar for Amber and Duncan.  Growing With Grammar is a great fit for them and I'm quite pleased with the program.  (If you are interested in learning more about GWG, you can read my full review of GWG at The Curriculum Choice.)

I'm somewhat happy with how things are going in Grammar for Mason.  While I do like Junior Analytical Grammar quite a bit, I do wish there was more review and more lessons on each concept.  Mason just needs a lot of review and repetition in his Grammar course.  I do plan to add daily editing practice by using Evan-Moor's Daily Paragraph Editing Grade 5.  The Daily Paragraph Editing will give him more practice in grammar and I like it immensely more than what we have been using for editing practice.

I would also like to schedule in a specific time during the day in which I work with Mason on Grammar concepts.  Right now, we work together whenever he is having a problem with a lesson but I think a regularly scheduled time would allow us to play some grammar games when he does not need help with a particular grammar lesson.  Or I may set up a separate time just to play grammar games with both Mason and Duncan.  Do you have any great grammar games to suggest?

Are there any organizational or record-keeping tasks that need done related to the subject?

I need to work out a schedule that includes time for grammar games.

So, how are things going in Spelling and Grammar at your house?  Are you happy with the resources you are using?  Are there changes you would like to make?  Do you have any grammar games that your children enjoy playing?