Do we need to know parts of speech?

Question

We have been homeschooling for over 2 years. We are starting our 3rd year and son is 15 years old. We are relaxed eclectic but I stress math, reading, grammar and writing. Am I archaic by requiring that my son know the classification for each word in a sentence? Is this still required knowledge? It is one of the things that just came to me one day when I thought it sure seems like a waste of time to know if a pronoun is personal, reflexive, intensive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative or indefinite. Do SAT, ACT, or community colleges placement tests contain these type questions? We may take a shortcut if one of you veteran teachers tell me to forget it and teach something more meaningful. We will continue to plow on through if you tell me that it is something that he needs to know.

Answer 1

I say stick with the grammar.

Just as you said: he may use them correctly, but does he understand the WHY? Grammar study helps understand the why, helps with reading, helps with writing. Also, just the analysis skills involved make it worthwhile not to mention provide great help in learning a second language--I have yet to come across material for second language learning that does not, at the higher levels, emphasize grammar.

Btw, knowing if a pronoun is personal or reflexive would help a WHOLE lot of people who use it incorrectly. "It was just myself and Don at the movies last night." Sorry, that is incorrect. A reflexive pronoun can't be a subject, right? It means it has to REFLECT back on the person. "I cut myself."

I am nitpicky with grammar, perhaps because of a lot of second (third...) language learning that led me to being aware of English grammar. Knowing how English grammar worked help me improve my writing, not to mention my ability to pick out errors in what others have written.

That said, at his age, you might be better off looking at sentence diagramming, clauses and the like. That's where a lot of high-level writing has issues since people can't keep the verbs and pronouns straight with different sub-clauses.

Answer 2

Knowing parts of speech can be very useful when you are trying to construct more complex sentences.  It helps to know the difference between an adverb and an adjective.  It helps avoid ambiguity in sentence structure.  That is also the reason for diagramming sentences.  While some may argue that diagramming is unnecessary, I think most people would agree that knowing the parts of speech IS very necessary.

Answer 3

I did not learn proper grammar in public school many years ago.  When I went to college, our instructor said "you have to either know this or read a thousand books."  I have read that many and more so I sounded and wrote reasonably well because I was familiar with the language.   But I had no idea about the terms and why a sentence was correct or not and    my ignorance did hamper me as a teenager when I wanted to take a foreign language course and I did not know the terminology of grammar.    I too, teach my HS children grammar; they can diagram a sentence quite well.    I met a college English teacher and asked her if the kids she received in her class could diagram sentences.   She replied succinctly, "The ones who go on to university can."     I would assume that grammar (and yeah , those reflexive -demonstrative pronouns etc. can be a chore) is essential if you are looking at university, a career  that requires good literacy or even if you want to have a well educated child.  Go for it.    For Grammar I highly recommend the Easy Grammar Series by Wanda C Philips and for writing proper sentences with punctuation, the Easy Writing workbook.    (Oh gosh, now I hope no one marks my answer.)

Answer 4

I feel it is a really good idea, for when he starts to write the professional type of papers and knows how to word them correctly.  Even on high school papers he needs to know how to word his papers and when to use each word in his sentences. There was a boy on here the other day, asking how to use an action verb.  Would your son say "A ACTION VERB, OR AN ACTION VERB?" Does he know what an action verb is? What about punctuation?

Answer 5

Yes, definitively; diagramming sentences is not an unnecessary skill either.

Yes, it is a part of the test.

If you would like to know what to include, see what is needed for the new SAT, it will give you an idea of how much English, and essay writing will be required down the road.

To find out if kids are on the right track, have them take the PSAT, it will show you where their strong, and weak points are; giving them an opportunity to focus extra attention on the area's that need more practice.

A good preparation book for the SAT is Up Your Score, Amazon carries it for about $10.00.

http://www.amazon.com/Up-Your-Score-Unde...

EDIT:

If you are concerned, and would like more practice in these area's see if Essential Learning Products has anything past the 6th grade level.

Their  subject specific work books have been a part of our program as extra practice, Capitalization, and Punctuation, Blending the Language Skills, and Writing.

I have no clue if they go past the 6Th grade level, since we use Write Shop starting around age 12.

http://www.writeshop.com

Their Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation could be an inexpensive guide, and workbook.

http://www.writeshop.com/store/products....

Hope this helps a bit.

Good Luck.

Answer 6

Yes, it is crucial that your son know the parts of speech, and the classification for each word in a sentence.  Knowing the different kinds of pronouns is important too.

I graduated from high school 30 years ago and even won the "English" special achievement award.  However, somewhere along the lines I missed the finer points of grammar.  Yet, I instinctively know when a sentence is grammatically incorrect, but I cannot always explain why.

Later in life, I worked as an editor for transcripts written in English by those who learned English as a second language.  I am now taking the time to learn the grammar that I didn't learn earlier in life, so I can explain my word choices/changes I make to the transcripts when I edit them.

So many people don't know English grammar, and many who have learned English as a second language can write better than native English speakers.  Having this knowledge will help your son in the long run.  You are not being archaic.