Parent Tips: Practices 1.3.2, 1.3.3 & 1.3.4

Feb 7

In these practices, your child will write different types of sentences and pick apart their grammar.

Why bother learning sentence grammar?

This is a reasonable question for some kids. For example, if you have a child who already writes largely perfect sentences with ease but struggles/resists the idea of learning any grammar, they are writing by ear (they’ve intuited how English should sound and flow through reading and listening and breaking it down into grammar can ruin their intuitive feel for the flow). Many kids will get quite far (some, exceptionally far) relying solely on their ear, so your child should not feel bad about this ability. Quite the opposite.

It is, however, useful to let your child know that you are aware that they have this skill and that they can write well using their ear. Do also let them know that taking the time to learn the basics of sentence grammar also will help them when they encounter tricky writing situations–usually involving commas–that they aren’t sure how to solve. This may induce them to slow down and look at language differently. These kids are also well served by studying Romance languages, because they’ll pick up grammatical concepts that translate to English.

If this is your child, congratulations! If not, don’t panic! Most gifted kids, no matter how smart, need some balance of ear-based writing and awareness of foundational grammar to write clean sentences because they otherwise miss the fine details, such as a missing verb or creative capitalization.

No matter who your child is, here are some tips for helping them become easy with writing sentences in these practices:

Feedback. If you give feedback on their captions in these practices, focus on both the mechanical competency–did your child use a subject and predicate and correctly label all the different elements of the sentence–and the content. Are the captions creative and thoughtful? Are they varied so that the student tries a variety of sentence formations? If so, praise the thought quality!
Sentence complexity. Some kids will write complex sentences (sentences with multiple clauses) in this practice. Do not stifle this instinct; it’s great! However, be ready for them to struggle with identifying the subject and predicate since they may not yet know that it’s possible to have multiple subjects and predicates in one complex sentence or may be unfamiliar with pronouns like “that” and “there” serving as subjects. Let your child know that they’ve written something called a complex sentence and that they’ll study them soon, while also helping them identify all the subjects and predicates in their sentence.
“To be” verbs. Many kids have trouble identifying the verb when it’s a form of “to be.” These verbs are invisible to kids because they express such a fundamental state; they’re the breaths we take without thinking. If you notice student(s) having this problem, point out the “to be” verb and explain how the verb works. Give examples of the conjugation of “to be.” We also have an extension practice on the topic for students who continue to struggle with the concept.
“Other stuff.” Some kids will struggle with the idea of a sentence that consists only of a subject and verb (e.g., I go). This possibility is briefly covered in the video for this lesson and in Practice 1.3.1, but this is a good time to reinforce the message that, while a subject and verb are a must in a sentence, the “other stuff” in a predicate is optional.
The concept of a command. Of the four sentence types, imperative sentences are most likely to confuse your child. Kids are used to hearing and speaking commands, but they probably haven’t noticed them as a distinct entity called “a command.” To help, give a few examples, making sure to include sentences that don’t have stated subjects as well as some that do (e.g., “Feed the cat” or “Clara, clean your room” or “Stop picking your nose, Nate”).
Exclamatory sentences & exclamation points. Many kids assume that any sentence with an exclamation mark is an exclamatory sentence, but this is not true. While this is a fine point, it’s worth helping kids understand that the intention of the sentence matters more than the exclamation mark. So, if the sentence intends to state something, ask a question, or command, then that sentence is still a declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentence even if it includes an exclamation point. The sole purpose of an exclamatory sentence is to express heightened emotion.
Subject-verb disagreement. Have your child read texts out loud when they are checking for subject-verb disagreement. Most native English-speaking gifted kids will immediately hear the problem, even if they aren’t sure how to describe what’s going wrong.