Rod and Staff 3 or 4

[renee]

My fourth grader is doing Preparing this year. We almost completed all of Abeka 3 grammar last year. He did fine with it. He has done Abeka Grammar from 1st grade through 3rd grade. We picked up Rod and Staff 3 at the end of last year and reached lesson 35. He did fine with it, but we hit our summer break and put it down. Knowing that he has had grammar instruction for the past several years can I place him in Rod and Staff 4? n

Any thoughts? Thank you!

Renee

[pjdobro]

I would think that you would be fine to start R&S4. There is always some review built in and it sounds like he has a strong foundation having already done the Abeka and most of R&S3.

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I agree. I will have a 4th grader as well. We are doing Bigger so that I can teach him and his sister at the same time. We did BJU 3 last year for english and we are going to jump right into R&S 4. I think he will do fine with it because so much of it is review.

[renee]

Thank you! He is solid with parts of speech. My concern was the writing instruction. Does Rod and Staff 4 review what was taught in the last few lessons of 3 with writing instruction? He knows how to write a short narration with assistance (I ask him main points and write them on the board so he can put it into a short paragraph). He can point out the main idea of a story. If this all sounds like he will be ready then I will go ahead and order it.

One more question. I do full speed with 4 in Preparing, correct?

Thank you!!!

Renee

[mskogen]

When we switched from Abeka grammar to R&S, we had finished abeka 3 grammar. I had my son do all of R&S 3 because as I looked through the book I noticed there were topics he had not learned with Abeka. After finishing R&S 4, I am very glad we did all of 3. R&S level 4 is very meaty. It has alot of information in it. My son is great at grammar and I contribute it to starting with R&S 3. Just wanted to give you one more opinion. Hope it helps.

[renee]

That was very helpful! Thank you

[pjdobro]

I'm not for sure if the same writing topics are covered again in 4. I know they start basic by having them write a short paragraph and work on making their sentences more descriptive. All the years blur together for me now and I'm not for sure which year they learned which thing. I would recommend just comparing the Table of Contents for each to see what is covered. The writing really builds from year to year adding more depth to what they have previously learned. You may want to cover the chapters on writing in 3 before moving onto 4. I would just look them over, compare the TOCs and see what you think.

One more question. I do full speed with 4 in Preparing, correct?

Yes, the grammar is done full-speed 4 days a week in Preparing using either R&S3 or R&S4.

[renee]

Thank you for responding!!

[renee]

If anyone else has advice, I would love to hear it!

[joyfulhomeschooler]

O.K. I know I wrote that we had decided to go with 4, but I am jumping back in to tell you that after looking through the table of contents for both again and more closely this time, I have changed my mind. Well, I am really not sure what level we will go with to tell you the truth. I found that level 4 assumes your child knows some stuff that isn't reviewed. Such as to name all the helping verbs (lesson 6), and how to organize and write a paragraph (also lesson 6 in level 4). My son knows what a paragraph is and can write one, but doesn't really know how to organize it, and can't name all the linking verbs even though he can pick them out in a sentence. I just wanted to chime back in to let you know you are not alone in your decision Sometimes that makes it easier to know lol

I pray that we are both able to make the best decision for our kiddos. Let us know what you decide.

[renee]

Thank you for posting. I am starting to think it is not really going to hurt to have him do 3. Just do not have peace about 4.

Praying for you too!!

Renee

[my3sons]

The writing instruction in R & S English is so solid. Considering R & S English is advanced, and HOD has an overall goal for dc to complete R & S English 6 by the end of Grade 8, with R & S English 7 and 8 being spread out over high school, I think doing R & S English 3 with your fourth grader could work well. Though your child is probably ready for portions of R & S English 4 after doing Abeka 3, the writing portions (and any other areas possibly not touched upon in Abeka 3 - such as how to do sentence diagramming R & S English style) in R & S English 3 probably make it worthy of doing. One other option would be to look through R & S English 3 and have your child do whatever you felt was necessary before beginning R & S English 4 - but sometimes, this is too much guesswork and more of a hassle than just doing 3 and being sure your bases are covered. I hope something here can help as you make your decision! We have loved R & S English for many years here, and I truly feel it is a very solid English program. HOD does suggest doing 2/3 of it orally or on markerboard, reserving just 1 section or so for the student to write. We have enjoyed this and found it to be an excellent way to teach English in a time conscious, thorough way. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[renee]

Thank you so much for your help! I just want to make sure when using rod and staff 3 with Preparing in 4th gr. that it will prepare him for the writing instruction covered in CTC. I hope that makes sense! I am not too sure how the writing requirements and the english flow together.

Blessings,
Rene

[pjdobro]

Thank you so much for your help! I just want to make sure when using rod and staff 3 with Preparing in 4th gr. that it will prepare him for the writing instruction covered in CTC. I hope that makes sense! I am not too sure how the writing requirements and the english flow together.

Blessings,
Rene

I think you will be fine as far as that goes since Preparing recommends either using R&S3 or R&S4 and CTC recommends R&S4 or R&S5. If a dc needed to be done with R&S4 before starting CTC, Carrie wouldn't have suggested both options.