Grammar for Homeschool

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 to twelve with the parent reading out loud to the child, discussing as you read. Children over twelve could enjoy this book independently. 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.

Would you like some free printables, specially made for Grammarland? Here are two sources:

1. Worksheets that have the activities written in the original text.
2. Free printable notebooking pages from God's Gems.

Here is another source for the text of Grammarland. And Librivox has free audio recordings of Grammarland, too.

The Homeschool Classroom shares some tips for Teaching Grammar Without Requiring Writing. This is a must read, especially if your children dislike handwriting.

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.

Another handy website with many ideas and printables is Love to Learn Place.

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.

Prefer notebooking? Then be sure to visit Notebooking Pages' free language arts resources. There are free printables for each part of speech

Here are three different poems that can be used to learn about the parts of speech.

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. Click the image for a letter sized mini-poster. (An A4 alternative is also available.)

Besides hanging on the wall or putting into a notebook, these poem poems could be used for memorization or for copywork.

If you want the text of the poems to create your own printables, click here.

POEM ONE:



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.

POEM TWO:



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.

POEM THREE:


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.)


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

If you like my approach to teaching language arts here, you may also be interested in my very modestly priced eBooks shown below. One is specifically about language arts while Notebooking Success applies to any academic area.

Click on the image to learn more. Both of these books are for the teacher; they are methodology books that teach you how to teach.

POEM ONE

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.

POEM TWO

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.

POEM THREE

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!

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.)