livingthedream
- Reviewed on Friday, June 11, 2010
- Grades Used: 2nd grade
- Dates used: 2010
I finally found my language arts curriculum! I tried everything; some too rigid, some too soft. This is the perfect balance. First I ordered their English and loved it. Then I ordered their spelling, which is great. Next, I ordered their free curriculum sample (brilliant idea) and decided I needed their phonics and penmanship as well. Save yourself all this trouble and just get all of it at once, or oder the sample first so you can see all you need. I am so pleased with everything I have seen. Don't be put off by the lack of "flash", the simplicity is one of the best things about the books. It actually sparks my kids imagination; they love the drawings. You can't beat the price, especially considering so much of it is non-consumable. I am so glad I discovered this when I did. I am so excited to have my kindergartener learn with Rod and Staff from the very beginning. I'm excited to experience their first grade. One thing I am not using though, are their readers. I will use them for my younger son, but for my older girl I use Veritas Press literature guides and Institute for Excellence in Writing. I use My Father's World, and use R&S for the L.A. and Math that MFW does't have. I tried what they recommend (and so much more), and it just didn't work for us. Once again, I feel like I finally found what I have been looking for!
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TashaMc
- Reviewed on Tuesday, May 25, 2010
- Grades Used: 2nd, 3rd
- Dates used: 2008-2010
Rod and Staff Grammar is a textbook series for 2nd-10th grades. Because it is text rather than workbook, we do the entire lesson orally. This is great for little boys who think there is too much writing required of them each day. The only thing we write out is the additional Unit Test booklet which is a supplemental workbook of tests (which is great!). R&S is so well written. They explain every detail in every way possible. And because we do the lessons orally, we are able to get 3 or 4 lessons done easily in the time that it would take you to write out one lesson. It is a gentle book that is able to cover a lot without stressing out the student. It does have biblical reference to basic bible stories. But the Christian perspective is not over-done. I highly recommend this textbook grammar series. Especially if you would like to cut down on the handwriting. I also use a separate spelling and phonics program while using R&S for grammar.
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beverly
- Reviewed on Thursday, May 06, 2010
- Grades Used: 3 to part of 6
- Dates used: 2004 to part of 2008
We used Rod and Staff since 3rd grade. By the time we reached 6th grade, we were so confused with the intensity of diagramming in R & S. My son was falling so far behind and I was having a difficult time trying to figure out all of this diagramming. We moved on to Winston Grammar. (Read review for them.)
However, I will say that R & S is superb at teaching writing and outlines. If I could have figured out a way to only use the writing of R & S and remove the diagramming, I would've continued. It's a solid program, but the diagramming was overwhelming for us in 6th grade. We moved on..........
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khollands
- Reviewed on Sunday, February 28, 2010
- Grades Used: 3rd-6th
- Dates used: 2009-2010
We started Rod and Staff English in September (09) and I have found the curriculum to very thorough. At first I was a little apprehensive since we had tried other English curriculum's and just found them so so or missing something. It seems the more we get into these books the more we like them. Not only are they thorough but even my boys tell me that they are learning. I recently had them tested in Language Arts and their scores really improved. The 6th grade book is pretty advanced and you really need the teacher book. I recommend the teacher book for all grades. It has lots of useful information and good examples to get the idea across. I wasn't using mine to its full extent until recently and I really missed out in the beginning of the year. For now we plan to use this as our English program for each grade. I do supplement with some writing but the older grades has a lot of writing too. I have been very impressed with these books.
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