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Curricula and Learning Links - Language Arts

Why A Child Should Learn Grammar

by Caron

Caron, an experienced homeschool mom, shares her thoughts on the why our kids should learn, and master, English grammar. She was asked to compare A Beka grammar to Easy Grammar by another mom whose son severely disliked A Beka grammar.

I can think of two reasons why a child should master grammar:

  1. So that they can write well. (You may not be able to write intelligently even if your grammar is good, but you sure can't write intelligently if your grammar is bad.)
  2. To make the acquisition of a foreign language easier.

Towards these ends, I think I would prefer to have your son use Easy Grammar, which he at least tolerates, rather than A Beka, which he hates. If there was a huge difference in the quality of the content between Easy Grammar and A Beka, that would be a different story, but there isn't. Even if there was, I would still probably drop A Beka (since he hates it so much) and try something else: There is no shortage of grammar courses available to the homeschooler. I've used a mix of A Beka, Rod and Staff, Warriner's, Stewart's, and one year of Easy Grammar for various years for various of my children--and that's not even scratching the surface of the grammar programs that are available.

I might also evaluate your son's writing. If he is not evidencing age-appropriate mastery of grammar in his writing, then whatever you're using for grammar is probably not working, whether or not he likes it. Additionally, you could also give him a standardized test, if you know of one that you trust.

See more ideas in HomeschoolChristian.com's Language Arts section.