Analytical Grammar: A systematic approach to language masteryAbout the Authors
Robin Finley, author
In 1971 I began teaching language arts, which I taught for 34 years in California, Alaska, and North Carolina before retiring in 2003. I began writing Analytical Grammar in 1981. It took 12 years of using my program in the classroom, “tweaking” it and improving it, until it evolved into what you see now. There’s probably not a program anywhere that’s as “classroom tested!” In 1996 I was approached by a private school in my town, asking if my materials were for sale. The rest is history, as they say.
"AG" all came about because in 1981 my department chairs refused to order me another classroom set of grammar books! As a brand new teacher in that school, I was assigned five different classrooms on two floors with no elevators and one wheeled cart! I had one classroom set of grammar books and no way to get the books to my second story students. When I asked for another set, I was told that research showed students didn’t need to know grammar to be good writers! I knew better than to try to argue with their mindset, so I went home that very night and wrote my first unit. Perhaps the Almighty has His best plans for us when we don’t get what we think we want.
Grammar is an important subject, but in my opinion people are starting way too early and spending an unjustified amount of time in its formal study. I am a woman on a mission to convince parents that their students don’t need to be “doing” a grammar worksheet every day, all year long, for years and years and years! If grammar is taught sequentially and logically, there is no need for so much repetition.
Erin Karl, contributing author
My introduction to grammar came in eighth grade when I had my mother for language arts. I was Erin Finley then. I learned grammar from her using her Analytical Grammar program and have always attributed my thorough understanding of the subject to her.
I had an active-duty career as an Air Force officer, where my grammar knowledge helped me produce an award-winning base newspaper. After entering the Air Force Reserves, I used the GI Bill to get my teaching credential. Following in mom's footsteps, I taught middle school language arts for a few years and used Analytical Grammar with great success in my classroom.
I now run the company with my mom and stay home with my children. My husband and I have decided to homeschool our little ones, and mom will surely have a big part in that.
My mom and I find great joy in sharing our materials with a wider and wider circle of homeschoolers, as well as private and public school students.