Having a good foundation in grammar is important for strong writing later on, so we have used Easy Grammar Systems for many years. As a member of the Homeschool Review Crew, I recently received the Easy Grammar Ultimate Series: Grade 11 with Test Booklet for my high school son to use.
What it is:
In her Easy Grammar texts (Grades 1-6 and Easy Grammar Plus) Dr. Wanda Phillips uses common grammar concepts to teach students. First, common prepositions are introduced. Then, the student identifies prepositional phrases which help students determine subject, verb agreement, etc. These concepts are introduced at a basic level and help build understanding at a steady rate, using short lessons.
Concepts are reviewed daily to promote mastery and new concepts are added in small increments. Each day’s lesson works up to cover all the aspects of grammar, including:
- sentence structure
- punctuation
- parts of speech
- sentence combining
Also available are Daily GRAMS texts for grades 3-7. Ms. Phillips created these supplemental lessons to help mastery of skills and to improve students’ quality of writing. Concepts for each short, daily lesson include:
- capitalization
- punctuation
- grammar and other concepts
- sentence combining
Easy Grammar Ultimate Series for Grades 8-12+ provides the same daily teaching concepts and format as Daily GRAMS, but with the high school student in mind. There are 180 lessons provided. These lessons provide cyclical learning and application daily, but only take 10 minutes, allowing students more class time for literature and writing.
Also included with this set is a separate booklet which includes student tests.
How we use it:
Four days per week I have scheduled my son to do a one page lesson in his Ultimate Grammar Series workbook. He is in Grade 11 and it takes him less than 10 minutes. Each day the directions are clear and the concepts are a review, he can sit down and get started on his own without help from me.
The answers for the exercises are at the back of the book, so I let him correct his own and make any changes necessary. For younger grades, I have either taken the answer pages out or made a cover to hide them. For the older grades I often let them correct their own work.
What we think:
Our family has been using Easy Grammar texts off and on for almost 20 years now. Between the grades of 4 and 7 these grammar lessons are a complement to our children’s language arts/writing curriculum. Wanda Phillips’ method of introducing prepositions, recognizing prepositional phrases and her systematic approach of bringing in parts of speech and sentence structure are simple, straightforward and thorough. It gives them a solid foundation and sets them up for success in future.
This is the first time we’ve seen or used the Easy Grammar Ultimate Series for upper grades. Like their other series of workbooks and texts we are impressed. Whether a student is weak in grammar or just needs to keep their skills sharp, this series is a great supplement to any high school level language arts course.
All eight of our children have now used at least some of the resources available from Easy Grammar Systems. One of my favorite things about this company that they give permission for families to photocopy pages for use with multiple children. The full teacher/student texts give you the homeschool parent a blank copy of each lesson page and a coordinating answer key. I have been able to make copies of the blank pages, creating our own workbooks for our kids without having to purchase separate workbooks for each one.
The other thing I love about these books is that my children have become more self-directed learners while using them. The instructions for each lesson follow a similar format. Students know what is expected and what comes next. New concepts are introduced clearly and simply, so as they get older and more comfortable with the system, they are able to pick up their lesson and get started on their own. If something seems confusing or overwhelming they come to me and we sit down for more detailed lessons.
This program is at the top of our list of homeschooling must-haves. We give it a large family thumbs up!
Several of our Homeschool Crew Review families are using products from Easy Grammar Systems in their homeschool. Click on the image below to see how they are using them!
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