Rod & Staff The Building Christian English Texts

by Lisa Golda
(Texas, USA)

The Building Christian English texts are solid, traditional courses for second through tenth grades that follow an accelerated scope and sequence.

If you are looking for a systematic, traditional English program for grades two through 10, then you might want to consider Rod and Staff. This series is extremely solid in the basics of grammar and usage as well as composition skills.

Beginning in grade two your child will learn about nouns, verbs, pronouns, and adjectives. He will also be introduced to sentence writing, paragraphs, and basic dictionary skills. Subsequent grades build on previous knowledge with plenty of review as new skills are introduced and practiced.

Sentence diagramming begins in third grade and continues throughout all levels, and poetry also is studied every year. Grades nine and 10 consist of two books that may be studied in either order. Both books review previously studied grammar concepts as well as introduce new ones, but the focus of these books appears to be on composition style. Book one covers outlining, argumentative essays, poetry, and letter writing; Book Two teaches expository essays, stories, descriptions, and parliamentary procedure.

Each grade level offers a hardback student text, teacher’s manual, optional worksheets, and tests. Student texts are non-consumable, so students must do their work on separate paper or a whiteboard. The inexpensive worksheets offer a convenient supplement. Teachers manuals have reduced student pages and answers to all exercises, worksheets, and tests, in addition to teaching tips. Their manuals have given me the confidence I need to teach my children English Grammar.

Exercises are based on Bible stories as well as science and history topics. Strong families, hard work, and obedient and respectful children are frequent examples at all levels. If you like Pathway readers, you will probably like Rod and Staff English!

I love this curriculum. I am confident that my children are receiving an excellent foundation in English, and I am pleased that the content of the books is wholesome and Bible-based.