Writing & English Grammar Grades 2

The teaching of English grammar is most efficiently accomplished through Latin instruction. The English Grammar Recitation program solidifies the grammar students have learned in Latin by having them memorize and recite the grammatical and usage rules in English, while also supplementing with English-specific rules for capitalization and punctuation.

Once students have mastered the basic rules of how language works, they are ready to learn how to use that language persuasively. In the Classical Composition program, students learn one of the most important liberal arts, rhetoric—the ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and persuasively. Training in rhetoric begins in the earliest grades, when young students are asked to answer reading comprehension questions in simple sentences and paragraphs in their literature and history guides, and continues with formal training in rhetorical skills in the Classical Composition program, culminating in the study of the advanced theory of persuasive communication in Aristotle's Rhetoric.

Classical Composition

*denotes consumable book

Classical Composition (Stages I-V available)

by James A. Selby

Grades 4+

*Student Book $21.95 ea. | Teacher Guide $29.95 ea.

Ancient writers invented a way of teaching writing known as the progymnasmata (or "before exercises"), which provided a method of teaching composition that not only taught budding writers a disciplined way to approach communication, but also helped them appeal to the hearts and minds of their audience.

The fourteen exercises, organized from the simplest and most basic to the most complex and sophisticated, were the core education of a classical speaker, designed to produce what Quintilian once called "the good man, speaking well."

Jim Selby has blown the dust off of the writing curriculum that was used in schools for over 1,500 years and put it in an easy-to-teach format that will revolutionize your curriculum. Presented clearly and systematically, Classical Composition will give you a clear road map to writing excellence.

Suggested Sequence:

Grade Stage 4 I: Fable 5 II: Narrative 6 III: Chreia & Maxim 7 IV: Refutation & Confirmation 8 V: Common Topic 9 VI: Encomium, Invective, & Comparison (coming soon) 10 VII: Characterization (1 semester) (coming soon) 10 VIII: Description (1 semester) (coming soon) 11 IX: Thesis & Law (coming soon)

Grade 2

Student $8.50 Teacher $10.95

English Grammar Practice

Designed for the final year of primary school, this program is an oral practice of many basic aspects of language arts from capitalization and punctuation to language and reading skills. This book includes two worksheets per week that can be added to morning work or used as supplements to Latin or literature studies. English Grammar Practice makes an excellent addition to language study at the end of primary school and prepares students for more in-depth work in grammar school.

English Grammar

English Grammar Recitation

Grades 3-8

We've been saying for years that English Grammar Latin teaches English grammar Recitation $10.95 better than English teaches English Flashcards $13.50 grammar, and we have written *Student $12.95 ea. a course that makes the perfect Teacher $13.95 ea. English grammar supplement for your Latin program. Our English Grammar Recitation is a manual of about 150 grammar questions, answers, and examples designed to be studied and memorized. Brief exercises in the Student Guide, including some diagramming, accompany the grammar questions. However, mastery of the English grammar recitation is the primary goal of this course, not its application. It is hoped that this course can be completed in much less time than the typical English grammar course, leaving more time for composition and Latin. Workbooks I-III are available now, with IV-V coming soon! Each lesson in the workbooks covers two to three grammar questions along with practice exercises. English Grammar Recitation also covers common capitalization and punctuation rules by means of concise style sheets.

Classical Studies covers Greek mythology, ancient history, and the Middle Ages. We do not study history chronologically, but rather in accordance with the age-appropriateness of the content for the student. We begin in third grade with Greek myths, fantastical stories that appeal to young students and are suited to their age level. Next we study Rome and then the Middle Ages, saving the complexity of the Greek civilization for later in the grammar school, though it comes before Rome chronologically. Students are then prepared to read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in middle school as they review each time period with Dorothy Mills' ancient history series. This cyclical approach to Classical Studies prepares students to read and understand the classics of Greek, Roman, and British history in upper school, and to gain insight into the modern world.

Students starting their classical education in later years will skip the Famous Men series and acquire their ancient history with an overview from the Dorothy Mills books. We would also recommend reading D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths (p. 24) and The Trojan War by Olivia Coolidge (p. 28) as an introduction to the characters and plot of The Iliad and The Odyssey before taking on these difficult works.