It is far easier to use a calculator than it is to learn twelve sets of tables. So why do we insist children be taught times tables? Because we understand that whilst children may go on to use a calculator, tables are the building blocks of maths. How can a child learn division if they don't know their tables? Or, how can a child learn fractions if they don't understand division? Multiplication, division, and fractions are easy for those children who know their tables off by heart. Grammar is the same thing. The parts of speech are to English what tables are to maths. Every word you speak, every thought you think is a part of speech.

If the parts of speech are so important then why don't we all know them? Good question! To find the answer we need to go back 30 - 40 years. In the '60s and '70s a handful of intellectual giants decided that creativity was the key to a child's development, and anything which smacked of tradition, i.e. grammar was considered detrimental and promptly discarded. These gurus also thought that kids would pick-up grammar along the way, thereby justifying why schools didn't need to teach it. And so schools didn't. We fell for it: hook, line, and sinker. I can't help but think such an idiotic notion could only have been conceived after a visit to Woodstock, and a few joints later ... hey man, I've just had this great idea ...

The good news is that grammar has been put back on the curriculum. However, what has eluded educational authorities up until now was finding a way children could practise the basics of grammar at home; much like they do with reading, spelling and times tables. A difficult task given that most parents weren't taught grammar. With this in mind I developed a screensaver to teach children (and parents) the parts of speech. For the first time ever learning the basics of grammar is now as easy as learning to read. Irrespective of a child's age, geographic location, or nationality the outcome will be universal - just like it is with reading.

This site has one goal; to ensure that all children learn the parts of speech, because literacy has two components - reading and writing. Unfortunately, reading gets all the attention, whilst writing is ignored.

Regrettably, a handful of spaced out intellectuals still roam the earth entrenched in the belief that children should not be taught grammar; that's what computers are for! Don't believe their nonsense. Computers are incapable of interpreting meaning. And besides, what happens when you need to write something and can't use a computer, e.g. exam time? Students (and parents) must understand that grammatical errors can lead to clarity errors, which lead to loss of marks. Example: The manager gave $10,000 to the family of the employee who was killed on the instructions of the directors. Or what about this one: It was a busy week. I had a tooth taken out and a dishwasher put in. The bottom line is this: a computer will accept a bizarre sentence; a teacher who marks exams won't.

About the screensaver

The screensaver is based on a simply mnemonic (a saying). Penny And Isaac Are Very Clever At Playing Nintendo. Which transposes into: Prepositions, Articles, Interjections, Adverbs, Verbs, Conjunctions, Adjectives, Pronouns, Nouns (the parts of speech).

Writing a mnemonic is easy. What is difficult; however, is writing a mnemonic, which appeals to both boys and girls, of all ages, and from different cultures. Not such an easy task!

For me there was only one answer. Games. But what game would appeal to both boys and girls? Of different ages? And from different cultures? Computer games! They are the only games which speak a universal language. But how many games start with the letters; A, C, I, N, P or V? And would those games still be played in five years time? After much deliberation I decided that the manufacturers of the games were as well known as the games themselves. And given that the letters N and P were in the parts of speech it came down to choosing either Nintendo or PlayStation (the Xbox didn't even get a look in!). Why choose Nintendo over PlayStation? Simply because I owned one during the early '90s. It was a big grey box, had lots of cords (which the cat chewed) and a game called Super Mario - and I loved it! (I haven't a clue where it is now or whatever happened to it, but I do remember that it was a lot of fun). For the record, Nintendo has no association with the screensaver nor does it endorse it. The entire funding for the screensaver and this website has been at my expense.

The mnemonic is used to create visualisation. Just about every child in the English speaking world has either played or seen a computer game. Therefore, it is easy for them to imagine what they're being asked to visualise: two children (a girl called Penny and a boy named Isaac), who are very clever at playing Nintendo.

At the start it is important to repeat the mnemonic as often as possible. In the car, in the kitchen, on the trampoline - everywhere! Break it into lots of threes, pausing in between:

Penny And Isaac (pause) Are Very Clever (pause) At Playing Nintendo.

By doing it this way kids learn that there are nine words, i.e. 3 x 3. A full description of how to learn/teach the parts of speech can be found in the downloads section of this website The Parts of Speech (4 pages).

The screensaver is also colour coded to aid memory. Download it for your home computer and do everything you can to convince your school principal to install it on all class and library computers, after all - it's free! The more kids see it, the greater their chances are of remembering it. It will also be to their advantage to learn it as soon as possible, i.e. in primary/elementary school, thereby giving them a sound base from which they can build on.

Lyn Magree