Grammar for Homeschool

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Teaching the Parts of Speech

Although teaching grammar has become slightly old fashioned, most home educators still want to incorporate at least the very basics of the parts of speech into their language arts curriculum. Here is a collection of some of the best resources available to make learning English grammar interesting and memorable. Many of them can be found free online, so with just a little bit of planning, you can develop a very low cost homeschool grammar curriculum.

Teaching the Building Blocks of English 

The Parts of Speech

grammarlandI'm going to start out with an assortment of resources and teaching ideas. Choose what fits your homeschool from among these options.

Grammarland by M. L. Nesbit is a living book in the public domain (published 1878). The children of Schoolroomshire participate in a court proceeding of Grammarland and learn all about the parts of speech and the rules of grammar that govern them.

Each part of speech is personified and makes an appearance at court. Their personalities and behaviors reflect their functions in this allegorical tale.

I would recommend this book for ages eight and above with the parent reading out loud to the child, discussing as you read. At the end of most chapters there are small assignments to label the parts of speech of a small passage.

The quaint black and white images of the parts of speech on this page all come from this book.

Another source for the text of Grammarland.



I found three different poems to help you learn the parts of speech. Each one is a bit different, so choose the one you like best, download the PDF, print it out, and teach it to your children.


The Nine Parts of Speech

Three little words you often see,
Are articles - a, an, and the.
A noun's the name of anything
As school, garden, hoop, or swing.
An adjective tells the kind of noun -
Great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Instead of nouns the pronouns stand -
Her head, his face, your arm, my hand.
Verbs tell of something to be done,
To read, sing, jump, or run.
How things are done the adverbs tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
Conjunctions join words together,
As men and women, wind or weather.
The prepositions stands before
A noun, as at or through the door.
The interjection shows surprise,
As ah! how pretty --- Oh! how wise.
The whole are called nine parts of speech,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.


The poem The Nine Parts of Speech was written by Green Baker in 1865 or 1866. For this poem in printable PDF, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.



grammar songsListen to The Language Police online for free. This silly song will help you learn the parts of speech.

Grammar Songs, published by Audio Memory and pictured to the right, is another great resource. Look for it at your favorite homeschool retailer.

Garden of Praise offers an entire grammar package including songs set to familiar tunes, printables, and suggestions for teaching the parts of speech.










Here is another Parts of Speech Poem:

THE PARTS OF SPEECH

Every name is called a NOUN,
As field and fountain, street and town;

In place of noun the PRONOUN stands
As he and she can clap their hands;

The ADJECTIVE describes a thing,
As magic wand and bridal ring;

The VERB means action, something done -
To read, to write, to jump, to run;

How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As quickly, slowly, badly, well;

The PREPOSITION shows relation,
As in the street, or at the station;

CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways,
Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase;

The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!'

Through Poetry, we learn how each
of these make up THE PARTS OF SPEECH.


This second parts of speech poem is taken from Language and Grammar.

For printable PDFs of the poem, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.




This third parts of speech poem is taken from First Lessons in Language (also called Elements of English Grammar) by David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed. (See pp. 27-28 for the poem.)

Parts of Speech
A NOUN'S the name of any thing;
As, school or garden, hoop, or swing.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun;
As, great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Three of these words we often see
Called ARTICLES -- a, an, and the.

Instead of nouns the PRONOUNS stand;
John's head, his face, my arm, your hand.

VERBS tell of something being done;
As, read, write, spell, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell;
As, slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
They also tell us where and when;
As, here, and there, and now, and then.

A PREPOSITION stands before A NOUN;
as, in, or through, a door.

CONJUNCTIONS sentences unite;
As, kittens scratch and puppies bite.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise;
As O, how pretty! Ah, how wise!


If you'd like this poem in a printable PDF click HERE for LTR and HERE for A4.



crayola parts of speech bookMake your own reference guide to the parts of speech. A layered book would be perfect! Crayola tells you how to do it. Or visit Minibook Gallery for other types of minibooks.

Grammar Printables 

for a study of the parts of speech

grammar worksheets
This first link is a very valuable one! Free Scott Foresman grammar workbooks!
Scott Foresman
FREE printable grammar book for grades 1-6.
Grammar Lapbook Pictures
Wonderful example of a lapbook.
Grammar Lapbook at Lapbook Lessons
You'll have to join this Ning network to access there free templates.
Language Arts Printables from Busy Teachers Cafe
Look for the link to the Grammar Booklet for a handy minibook template. Each page has a part of speech and its definition with space for the student to write examples.

This page also has some parts of speech worksheets you may find useful.
Grammar Cheat Sheet
This document would be appropriate for middle school or high school students. It's an overview of the parts of speech and their various subgroupings (common and proper under nouns; transitive and linking under verbs, etc).
Grammar Lapbook Blog Entry
No printables but lots of ideas here for making your own.
Language Arts Forms
A nice collection of grammar printables shared by a homeschool mom.
Decorate the Parts of Speech Christmas Trees
Click or scroll down to the Language section. Look for the Decorate the Parts of Speech Christmas Tree. This is a cute Christmas themed grammar activity! Free printable PDF made by a homeschool mom.
RETAIL -- Operation: English Grammar Lapbook
CurrClickThis is a for purchase product. This Hands of a Child lapbook kit is a thorough look at grammar for children Read a review of this product at The Curriculum Choice
Homeschool Share Grammar Mini Books
Three minibook templates that go along with the story Grammarland: Adjective Endings, Adjective Pronouns, and Objective/Nominative Case.
Parts of Speech Chart
Suitable for a mini office or other reference use. (PDF; two per page)

Charlotte Mason Styled Grammar and Language Arts 

Charlotte Mason felt that grammar was best learned in the context of real language through the reading, dictating, and copying of literature passages. Here are some English curricula that fit with Charlotte Mason's gentle approach to language arts. For curriculum reviews of these and other (not necessarily CM styled) products, visit Home School Reviews.

For more details about a CM language arts, visit Eads Home Ministries.

Simply Grammar: An Illustrated Primer

Amazon Price: $22.45 (as of 07/11/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $6.75

English for the Thoughtful Child, Vol. 1

Amazon Price: $12.89 (as of 07/11/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $5.99

English for the Thoughtful Child, Vol. 2

Amazon Price: $18.95 (as of 07/11/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $15.75

Primary Language Lessons

Amazon Price: $14.65 (as of 07/11/2009) Buy Now
Used Price: $8.25

Let's Be Honest

Grammar can sometimes be dry. Spice it up with hands-on activities, games, songs, and videos. Remember that the more senses you can engage during the learning, the more retention (and usually the more enjoyment).

Grammar Games 



grammar game

My daughter created this homemade board game with a grammar theme! Making it and playing it offer lots of enjoyable learning.

verb is a noun
Play some spoken games with your words! Teaching K-8 shares some clever verbal games that you could play even while riding in the car.

Word bags are another simple game idea that require only paper bags, paper, and pencil.

This game highlighted below, You've Been Sentenced, reinforces grammar while making for a great family game night. You could probably make your own version of this game with just some index cards.





You've Been Sentenced!

Amazon Price: $21.50 (as of 07/11/2009)Buy Now

This sentence-building game uses unique five-sided cards with multiple forms of a base word (beauty, beautify, beautiful). With a hand of 10 cards, players try to score the most points by constructing the longest, grammatically correct, and sensible sentence. Half the fun is trying to defend, explain, and justify a completely ridiculous sentence to the other players. Accepted sentences score points, rejected sentences get you zip. First player to reach 200 points wins.

School House Rock 

Grammar Rock

These catchy tunes and simple cartoon animations will help you learn the parts of speech painlessly!

Grammar Rock Interjection

Grammar Rock Interje... 0 points

Grammar Rock Preposition

Grammar Rock Preposi... 0 points

School House Rock - Verb: That's What's a'Happenin'!

School House Rock -... 0 points

Grammar Rock Adjective

Grammar Rock Adjecti... 0 points

Lolly Lolly Lolly get your adverbs here

Lolly Lolly Lolly ge... 0 points

SchoolHouse Rock - Grammar The Tale Of Mr Morton

SchoolHouse Rock - G... 0 points

Conjunction Junction

Conjunction Junction 0 points

Schoolhouse Rock - A Noun Is A Person, Place, Or Thing

Schoolhouse Rock - A... 0 points

Grammar Rock Pronoun

Grammar Rock Pronoun 0 points

Awesome Hands-on Activities For Teaching Grammar 

Awesome Hands-on Activities For Teaching Grammar

Amazon Price: $10.39 (as of 07/11/2009)Buy Now

Grammar Manipulatives Kids Love! 

Grammar Manipulatives Kids Love!

Amazon Price: (as of 07/11/2009)Buy Now
Used Price: $7.41

Let's Talk Grammar 

grammar conjunction Need more meat for thought? Here are blog posts & articles related to the topic of teaching grammar.
Why Learn the Parts of Speech?
The Thinking Mother shares her doubts about the necessity of teaching grammar at all.
Top Four Reasons to Teach Grammar in Your Homeschool
Simply enough they are for learning a second language, developing thinking skills, improving writing, and expanding vocabulary. It's a short article and worth a peek.
Why Study Grammar
A more scholarly article than the previous link, this blog entry gives even more reasons to support the study of English grammar.

Is Grammar Necessary? 

Many public schools have phased out the teaching of parts of speech in favor of the usage and mechanics of English. The thinking is that as long as you can use English, what difference does it make that you can label the parts of speech or diagram a sentence?

Does it matter if someone can't understand the humor in the cartoon below? Or is studying the parts of speech too old fashioned?

grammar comic

What do you think?

Do children still need to study the parts of speech and other grammatical concepts?

Loading Fetching blurbs now... please stand by

No, that's old school. Knowing how to use English is far more important.

Yes. Knowing the parts of speech is the foundation of the English language itself.

Susan52 says:

I'm a bit torn here between the two. I do believe that knowing how to use English is more important, but you might grow up to be a gameshow contestant, in which case you'd want to be sure to know the details so you can prove that you're smarter than a fifth grader!

 
 
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Parts of Speech Charts & Posters 

For free printable parts of speech charts try these three options:
Scholastic
Nicholas Academy
Sparkle Box Elements of Speech (look for the red Download Now button near the top right)



Or make your own with these retail posters for inspiration!

Online Tools for Learning Grammar 

Games and Activities

grammar preposition
Choose some of these online activities and games as an alternative to a paper and pencil worksheet.
Grammar Games
A lot of these games are actually for mechanics and usage, but there are several grammar games as well.
Harcourt Grammar Practice Park
Simple but well done games covering several parts of speech. For example, the noun game -- can you tell if the word is a common noun, proper noun, or not a noun at all?
Grammar Gorillas
Review all the parts of speech through these interactive worksheets.
Learning Planet
Games for three levels of learners.
Madlibs -- E Style
Fill in the blanks and the online madlibs will create a silly story for you.

Guestbook 

Your thoughts, questions, relevant links, and ideas are always welcome.

grammar owl

Ecolicious wrote...

This is great!

ReplyPosted March 17, 2009

Margo_Arrowsmith wrote...

Grammar matters so much. People do pick it up, but you need to understand the concepts. Jazz musicians need to know music extremely well before they can jam and people need to know grammar to write well.

ReplyPosted February 26, 2009

Susan52 wrote...

What a lovely lens! I so miss homeschooling. I love the rhymes and songs that help make learning grammar fun. A SquidAngel blessing for another quality lens!

ReplyPosted January 02, 2009

Lensmaster

Mama Bear wrote

Thank you for this grammar lens, wonderful!

Reply Posted January 01, 2009

poutine wrote...

I've got to admire moms who homeschool, it takes a lot of knowledge and
patience to pull it off.

ReplyPosted December 31, 2008

seegreen wrote...

Love the poems! We use Mad Libs from time to time as well as formal grammar books.

ReplyPosted December 16, 2008

EverythingMouse wrote...

Another great resource. I have been looking for a way to teach grammar painlessly and here you have set out some great ideas and resources. Thanks as always!

ReplyPosted December 15, 2008

marsha32 wrote...

grammar used to be something Jasmine was great at, now she acts like she has no interest and acts like she doesn't understand. Great resources here. I hope you will go add this lens in the plexo list on my homeschool lens.

ReplyPosted December 14, 2008

 
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