I was really hoping to hear more from people on this subject!! Especially, since I'm attempting to teach it now and it's not my strong suit. I remember dictation and writing my first report at 5th grade. I also remember diagramming at 10 grade. Diagramming made so much sense, but I only had a small amount in the one grade. When I look back, I see a lack of cohesiveness and follow up from teachers.
Now I see more cohesiveness and follow up with teachers. However, DS needs more structure than what is currently in the public school. I don't think that creative writing will ever be his strength. We are spending time on how to write a paragraph and then an essay. The end product will be that he can write college essays without difficulty. This may change as we get closer to college and as he evolves.
I wonder if the lack of grammar in our country stems from the lack of learning multiple languages as well? There is a lot of grammar now that we've added another language.
It's interesting what I see now with DS, and this is across the board in all subjects. He say's 'you make me think'. I started him diagramming sentences and I think this is harder than labeling, for him. Perhaps before he was finding the pattern? It's the same thing with word problems from Singapore Math. He really has to think and not just follow the example. It makes me wonder how much some curriculum has lost ground. This not an opinion at this point, just a passing thought to explore.
Thank you for the topic. I hope we hear more from others-
