Grammar for Homeschool

I'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.

Listen 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.)


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.

Make 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.