Someone recently asked about when to start diagramming sentences and doing formal grammar.
The easiest way to teach grammar is to just speak
correctly at home (which I'm sure you are already doing). Then,
when you start the formal grammar, correct use is the first thing
that comes to mind. The Emperor, an English teacher and writer with
strong opinions about such things, thinks sentence diagramming is
overrated, so we've done a bit as a curiosity, but that's about
it.
We taught the parts of speech very
early using Schoolhouse Rock (Grammar Rock) videos.
There is also a great series
you can get in the library with titles like, A Mink, A Fink, A Skating Rink: What is a Noun. I don't get any money from links, by the way, they are just for convenience.
Probably around 9 or 10 we did
Super Grammar, a very fun book with the parts of speech
(and punctuation) as superheroes. We've done a lot of Mad Libs, some other fun books like Comic Strip Grammar, and,
for older kids, Hot Fudge Monday and a proofreading book
called Phunny Stuph. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is
a good one that shows how punctuation changes the meaning of
sentences like ""Let's eat, Grandma!" and "Let's eat Grandma!"
Ultimately, most of our grammar,
spelling, and punctuation instruction came from the kids writing
their own stories, blog posts, and screenplays. The key is to
start young and only correct one kind of mistake at a time so as
not to discourage them. When I had a younger kid who was reluctant
to write, I would write them letters and they would answer them
(incredibly sweet and fun for both of us!).
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