The very welcome news this week that all children in England will be returning to school and college from 8th March will be music to the ears of many parents – especially those who have had to master the likes of English grammar and algebra as part of their homeschooling duties!
We weren’t surprised to read this article by Michael Rosen, much loved children’s author and former Children’s Laureate, that raised the very valid point about English grammar, and how it’s taught.
A fronted adverbial…?!
Who knew what that actually means?*
And does it matter?!
No doubt having to bear the brunt of educating children by homeschooling has opened many parents’ eyes to the gaps in their own knowledge, particularly around the details of grammar. Many parents have been up close and personal with much more than they ever encountered in their own education.
But the same question applies: does it matter?!
Michael Rosen argues that this fixation on the mechanics of language and grammar is turning children’s writing into “writing by numbers”, leading to a stifling of natural creativity and focusing on the wrong thing altogether. He says that grammar shouldn’t be about these semantics, that it should instead deliver just enough to open up a whole world of creative writing. not overwhelm it.
It’s all about balance…
Perhaps Mr Rosen has a point.
It seems counterintuitive when asking children to write imaginative pieces of creative writing to say that it must also include a tick box of multiple grammatical features… it indeed follows that the writing process could naturally become more mechanical and less “free”.
We’ve talked before about how we believe grammar does indeed matter, especially in terms of keeping writing on the straight and narrow, but there is a case to answer for going too far the other way.
It’s time for some middle ground – and paying more attention to why grammar is used and the difference it’s making to the message being conveyed. Making sure that children are familiar with and understand the fundamentals of grammar but allowing more freedom beyond that so they can enjoy the creative writing process.
Teaching children to understand how language choices have an effect on meaning is also one of the most important parts of teaching grammar. It’s much more likely to spark more interest and generate a deeper understanding, which ultimately should lead to the grammar rules becoming more embedded in use by children – which is surely the end goal? It’s the difference between randomly inserting those adverbials because it means you’re ticking that grammar diversity box (which doesn’t necessarily mean you’re ticking the “good writing” box!) and helping children truly understand how moving those adverbials round in a sentence can change what is connected in that sentence or what is highlighted within it.
Anything to make learning – whatever the subject – more interesting for children is a winner. We love the idea of “grammar gym” used by a teacher in France… perhaps we could take a leaf out of their book here across the Channel?!
*A fronted adverbial is when the adverbial word or phrase is moved to the front of the sentence, before the verb.