How can you achieve success with Rod and Staff English?
Success with Rod and Staff English can be achieved in more than one way. You can easily do it as written. Or, you can modify the presentation while still covering all the content. While we truly love Rod and Staff English, the lessons at the upper levels can get quite long. So, here is one tip we’ve found that helps us consistently get it done.
Do two-thirds of each lesson orally or on a whiteboard.
Working through the lesson orally and/or on a whiteboard speeds each lesson right along. This method also keeps the student’s interest and allows you to correct any misconceptions immediately. Plus, in this scenario, written work is limited to only meaningful answers. For example, it is much more important to write diagramming exercises than it is to write the words ‘singular’ and ‘plural.’ So, anything that can be done orally… we do orally! Anything that can be done quickly on a whiteboard, we do in that fashion.
Assign one-third of the lesson to be done as written work.
At the end of the lesson, we assign one section to be done as written work. When choosing which section this will be, we make sure it is a section that is most meaningfully done in writing. This assigned section often includes diagramming or composition exercises. If there isn’t a certain section that benefits from being written, we may do the entire lesson orally instead.
To cement previous concepts, be sure to do the oral review at the beginning of each lesson.
We also make sure to do the oral review at the beginning of each lesson to cement previous concepts. Skipping the oral review means students forget what has been studied previously. So, don’t skip the oral review!
Using this method results in quicker lessons and positive results!
We’ve tried this method from English 2 through English 8 with good results. We consistently get it done, and our boys have good overall retention of concepts. When our two older sons entered college, they were thankful for the strong English background they acquired through Rod and Staff English! Try this method yourself, and see what you think!
Blessings,
Carrie
This Post Has 3 Comments
My son’s Rod & Staff English 8 contains 124 lessons. If we do grammar five days a week, one lesson a day, we need 60+ weeks (with no breaks) to complete English 8. A typical school year is only about 32 to 36 weeks. How do we complete English 8 in one year?! The lessons contain way too much material for us to complete 2 lessons a day. (We also only do school 4 days a week, with the 5th day being a co-op.)
I’m sorry we missed this, Cabot! We agree with you! R & S English 8 has too much material to be completed in one year. It is also difficult enough to be considered high school credit worthy. This is why Carrie schedules R & S English 7 over 9th and 10th grade, with half being completed each year, as well as schedules R & S English 8 over 11th and 12th grade, with half being completed each year. High school level literature and composition curricula rounds out the high school English credits. Hope this helps!
In Christ,
Julie
I think you divided by 2 (days a week) rather than 5. Hope that helps!