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Those who approach Grammar using copy work, narration and dictation using "living books",  will worry little

about teaching grammar in the younger years.  Once a child is reading chapter books and writing with ease,

the abstract concepts found in Grammar will be much easier for the student to comprehend.

 

 

Excerpt from "A Charlotte Mason Approach to English Grammar":  by Sonya Shafer

 

Grades 1–3: Charlotte did not recommend that we teach parts of speech and rules of the English language during

the younger grades. Those are the years to lay the foundation of good English usage in conversations, narrations,

copywork, and great books.

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She encouraged us to begin gently, when the child was eight or nine, by teaching the parts of a simple sentence: the subject and what is said about the subject.

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Grades 4–6: In these grades Charlotte introduced the parts of speech, beginning with simple two-word sentences to teach the concept of verbs (Mary sings, Auntie knits, Henry runs).

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She didn’t give a lot of particulars about teaching the parts of speech, because she basically used a traditional English Grammar textbook to teach this subject. She then incorporated selections from good living books to reinforce and apply what the students had learned. For example, she might give a stanza from a Christina Rossetti poem and ask the students to parse (identify the parts of speech) and analyze (identify what job each is doing in the sentence) the words she had italicized in that stanza.

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She also included some word studies in her grammar lessons, teaching such things as prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms.

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Charlotte stated that “by twelve, they should have a fair knowledge of English grammar” (Vol. 3, p. 235). I assume that from that age on, she merely held them accountable for what they had learned and continued to apply their knowledge of English grammar in their studies.  READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

 

 

PDFs and Online Resources

 

PDF: Sheldon's Primary Language Lessons  

 

PDF: Sheldon's Advanced Language Lessons

 

Lessons in Language for Primary Grades

 

Talking with the Pencil: Primary Lessons in Language

GRAMMAR:  A simple approach

Method of teaching Grammar based on Charlotte Mason principles. Great for teaching multiple ages. Easy and simple to add to reading of "Living Books"

Originally published in 1900, it uses wonderful pictures to stimulate the child’s imagination and lead him or her into writing. The grammar introduced includes those things necessary to the writing task.

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