Grammar for Homeschool
Teaching the Parts of Speech
Although teaching grammar has become slightly old fashioned, most home educators still want to incorporate at least the very basics of the parts of speech into their language arts curriculum. Here is a collection of some of the best resources available to make learning English grammar interesting and memorable. Many of them can be found free online, so with just a little bit of planning, you can develop a very low cost homeschool grammar curriculum.
Using Grammarland Novel - To Teach the Parts of Speech
Grammarland by M. L. Nesbit is a living book in the public domain (published 1878). The children of Schoolroomshire participate in a court proceeding of Grammarland and learn all about the parts of speech and the rules of grammar that govern them.
Each part of speech is personified and makes an appearance at court. Their personalities and behaviors reflect their functions in this allegorical tale.
I would recommend this book for ages eight to twelve with the parent reading out loud to the child, discussing as you read. Children over twelve could enjoy this book independently. At the end of most chapters there are small assignments to label the parts of speech of a small passage.
The quaint black and white images of the parts of speech on this page all come from this book.
Would you like some free printables, specially made for Grammarland? Here are two sources:
1. Worksheets that have the activities written in the original text.
2. Free printable notebooking pages from God's Gems.
Here is another source for the text of Grammarland. And Librivox has free audio recordings of Grammarland, too.
More Tools for Teaching Grammar
The Homeschool Classroom shares some tips for Teaching Grammar Without Requiring Writing. This is a must read, especially if your children dislike handwriting.
Listen to The Language Police online for free. This silly song will help you learn the parts of speech.
Grammar Songs, published by Audio Memory and pictured to the right, is another great resource. Look for it at your favorite homeschool retailer.
Garden of Praise offers an entire grammar package including songs set to familiar tunes, printables, and suggestions for teaching the parts of speech.
Make your own reference guide to the parts of speech. A layered book would be perfect! Crayola tells you how to do it.
Or visit Minibook Gallery for other types of minibooks.
Prefer notebooking? Then be sure to visit Notebooking Pages' free language arts resources. There are free printables for each part of speech
Links for Making a Grammar Lapbook - Ideas and Printables
- RETAIL -- Operation English Grammar Lapbook
This is a for purchase product. This Hands of a Child lapbook kit is a thorough look at grammar for children Read a review of this product at The Curriculum Choice - EXAMPLE --Grammar Lapbook Pictures
Wonderful example of a lapbook. - EXAMPLE --Grammar Lapbook Blog Entry
No printables but lots of ideas here for making your own. - PRINTABLES --Language Arts Printables from Busy Teachers Cafe
Look for the link to the Grammar Booklet for a handy minibook template. Each page has a part of speech and its definition with space for the student to write examples. This page also has some parts of speech worksheets you may find useful. - Homeschool Share Grammar Mini Books
Three minibook templates that go along with the story Grammarland: Adjective Endings, Adjective Pronouns, and Objective/Nominative Case.
Instant Books for Grammar
More Printable Grammar Helps
- Grammar Cheat Sheet
This document would be appropriate for middle school or high school students. It's an overview of the parts of speech and their various subgroupings (common and proper under nouns; transitive and linking under verbs, etc). - Language Arts Forms
A nice collection of grammar printables shared by a homeschool mom. - Printable Grammar Notebooking Pages
Look for the grammar notebooking pages.
Three Parts of Speech Grammar Poems
Free Printable Posters
Here are three different poems that can be used to learn about the parts of speech.
I found three different poems to help you learn the parts of speech. Each one is a bit different, so choose the one you like best, download the PDF, print it out, and teach it to your children. Click the image for a letter sized mini-poster. (An A4 alternative is also available.)
Besides hanging on the wall or putting into a notebook, these poem poems could be used for memorization or for copywork.
If you want the text of the poems to create your own printables, click here.
POEM ONE:
The poem The Nine Parts of Speech was written by Green Baker in 1865 or 1866. For this poem in printable PDF, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.
POEM TWO:
This second parts of speech poem is taken from Language and Grammar.
For printable PDFs of the poem, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.
POEM THREE:
This third parts of speech poem is taken from First Lessons in Language (also called Elements of English Grammar) by David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed. (See pp. 27-28 for the poem.)
If you'd like this poem in a printable PDF click HERE for LTR and HERE for A4.
Charlotte Mason Styled Grammar and Language Arts
Charlotte Mason felt that grammar was best learned in the context of real language through the reading, dictating, and copying of literature passages. Here are some English curricula that fit with Charlotte Mason's gentle approach to language arts. For curriculum reviews of these and other (not necessarily CM styled) products, visit Home School Reviews.
For more details about a CM language arts, visit Eads Home Ministries.
Printable Parts of Speech Posters
For free printable parts of speech charts try these options:
- Scholastic
- Nicholas Academy
- Parts of Speech Chart at Busy Teachers Cafe
Parts of Speech Poster Set
Let's Be Honest
Grammar can sometimes be dry. Spice it up with hands-on activities, games, songs, and videos. Remember that the more senses you can engage during the learning, the more retention (and usually the more enjoyment).
Grammar Games
My daughter created this homemade board game with a grammar theme! Making it and playing it offer lots of enjoyable learning.
- Make your own board games about grammar. This is a win-win situation because the child learns as he makes the game and then reviews as he plays the game!
- Play some spoken games with your words! Teaching K-8 shares some clever verbal games that you could play even while riding in the car.
- Word bags are another simple game idea that require only paper bags, paper, and pencil.
- Parts of Speech Card Game is a free PDF to cut out and play. A reminder about words -- a word's part of speech can only be determined in context. So encourage your child to USE the word in a sentence to prove its part of speech. In other words, you may draw YELLOW and say that is an adjective. Yes, YELLOW can be an adjective. But it can also be a noun.