Is Grammar Overrated?

by Valorie Delp | More from this Blogger

28 Feb 2008 03:48 AM

I was thinking about this the other day when the topic came up among some friends. I was surprised to learn that I was the only one in the group that didn't teach formal grammar as a separate subject. So I asked some other friends. In that group I was the only one to do any sort of grammar at all. Now I'm curious as to who teaches formal grammar, who doesn't and why.

What the Experts Say

Some experts claim that you never should teach grammar as a formal and separate subject. After all, grammar is useless apart from writing. Spouting off that you know what a gerund is. . .well, doesn't do much. What counts, so sayeth the experts, is that you know when something is wrong. Whether or not you can verbalize the fact that your sentence ends in a preposition, what is key is that you realize it's incorrect. Grammar, writing. . .they're all combined and if you can't distinctly label the terminology, diagram a sentence, or note a verb-that's fine. This is a key philosophy in the "balanced literacy" approach of many public schools and is also a key philosophy in Writing Strands, a writing curriculum for homeschoolers.

What the Other Experts Say

If you are more traditional in your approach to homeschooling, using things like the tried and true "Rod and Staff", then you are probably appalled at the idea that someone doesn't need to know how to diagram a sentence. Verbs, adverbs, nouns-every child should know what they mean and understand their function in a sentence. For this, sayeth traditionalists, is the road to good writing.

My Approach

I said I didn't teach grammar as a formal and separate subject-but I didn't say I don't teach grammar. I do teach terminology during writing, and I definitely teach the woes of run on sentences and sentence fragments. It seems to me that over all, young adults are inadequately prepared for the job market, lacking basic writing skills or the ability to fix their mistakes. However, truth be told, where I really work on grammar is through foreign language. Learning a foreign language gives purpose to knowing what a verb is, how a sentence goes together and practicing conjugations. It naturally teaches the importance of grammatical construction.

So where do you fall on the grammar continuum-is it totally irrelevant, absolutely essential, or do you find ways to sneak it in?

Are you subscribed to the Families.com Homeschool Blog? With the click of a button, you can receive an email notification anytime a new blog is posted in the Families.com Homeschool Blog! Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture). Click on "Subscribe via Email". You'll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Homeschool Blog! Don't miss a thing - subscribe now!

Learn more about Valorie Delp

Hello everybody! My name is Valorie and I am one busy lady! When I'm not writing or editing for families, I am busy trying to get my brood of 5 in line.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

Andrea Hermitt (5512) 04 Mar 2008 10:57 AM

I didn't teach my children grammar separately until they reached middle school and started taking classes. Now they take grammar as a separate entity to itself which also includes Latin roots, vocabulary, and sentence structure.

Literature is learned along with their history curriculum.

Valorie Delp (49340) 04 Mar 2008 11:29 AM

It's funny because I'm not sure it's necessary for good writing. It does seem thought that the terminology is necessary for higher education, for understanding foreign languages more easily and for standardized testing in some cases. I'm quite happy to teach a foreign language. . .I'm not happy to teach grammar. . .yet. ;-)