Grammar-land, or Grammar in Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-Shire by M.L. Nesbitt is a story-type introduction to the parts of speech.
Grammar does not a good writer make!
For almost a century now, researchers have explored the question, Does grammar knowledge help produce good writers and speakers? And recent surveys of all the research have uncovered startling results.
While educational research usually is equivocal and you can find studies to support both sides of almost any question, that is not the case with this research. On the question of relationship of grammar knowledge to writing ability, the research is clear and overwhelming on one side of the issue. This is the finding:
Knowledge of the definitions and rules of grammar does not, in itself, improve student writing.
This finding is probably startling to people who have been calling for more grammar to be included in our curriculum. But it does not surprise many conscientious English teachers who discovered this on their own.
You Can Teach Your Child Successfully by Dr. Ruth Beechick
Dr. Beechick goes on to say that children began to learn grammar simply by speaking and that they continue to learn grammar by writing. More important than grammar at the earlier stages would be spelling and mechanics (punctuation and capitalization).
Grammar — encompassing the parts of speech and the roles words play in sentences — really will not make much sense to someone who hasn’t written. Once we have our child writing well, we can start providing him with labels for the words that he is using and helping him understand the role they are playing in the sentence he has written. That is the point at which a book like Grammar-land can be very effective.
Grammar-land is ruled by Judge Grammar (of course) who asks friends from “Schoolroom-Shire” to assist him in his work by writing out a list of twenty names of anything they can see, hear, taste, touch smell, or think about; or by setting verses right by substituting a few pronouns for nouns; or by crossing out words that belong to “Mr. Adjective,” for example.
The parts of speech covered include:
- Nouns
- Articles
- Pronouns
- Adjectives
- Interjections
- Verbs (tense, number, person, and case)
- Adverbs
- Prepositions
- Conjunctions
The seventeen chapters can easily be covered in one traditional school year by covering one chapter per week.
Fun to read, easy to understand, and very simple to use, Grammar-land is a great tool for the DIY homeschool mom to have in hand!
Free eBook
- Read online
- EPUB
- Kindle (suggest downloading the EPUB version above and converting)
Free Notebooking Sets
- Grammar-Land Primary Notebooking Pages
One page for each chapter of the book. Great for narrating each chapter and keeping a grammar notebook as mentioned above.
- Grammar-Land Regular-Lined Notebooking Pages
One page for each chapter of the book. Great for narrating each chapter and keeping a grammar notebook as mentioned above.
Suggestions
- Even though most students will easily be able to read the book on their own, enjoy this one as a read-aloud.
- After reading the book, ask your child to narrate what was discussed. This will help you make sure the information is understood, and give you an opportunity to clarify any misconceptions.
- Ask your child to follow the Judge’s instructions. You’ll find great helps already prepared for you below.
- Reinforce what was learned by dictating a sentence or two from your child’s literature or history titles that have examples of the subject being discussed in the Grammar-land lesson that he can highlight in some way.
- Ask your child to write a sentence of his own incorporating something from the lesson.
- Keep a grammar notebook, one page for each character encountered along with a description of his role.
Additional Resources
Grammar-land, or Grammar in Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-Shire by M.L. Nesbitt
Reputable paperback for those interested.
10 Ways to Use Notebooking: #5 Grammar & Spelling
Ideas and resources for creating a grammar notebook.
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