Finding a Grammar curriculum for my oldest daughter has been somewhat a challenge because she needs something that keeps her engaged so that she will learn. Recently, we had the opportunity to review in exchange for our honest review the  Fix It! Grammar Book 1: The Nose Tree from the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW for short), and I think we finally found a grammar program that works for her.

 

The concept of this program is ingenious! Each day the student works on a sentence. However, the sentence is part of a story. Throughout the course, they read and rewrite an entire story. Adding the story element keeps my daughter engaged, and it helps make this program not as dry as some of the other programs we have tried in the past.

 

 

How it works

We started with Fix it! Grammar Book 1: The Nose Tree. It is recommended to take the placement test on the website to see where your student should begin. This book lays the foundation in teaching the parts of speech, punctuation, creating paragraphs, and proofreading skills. The recommended usage is fifteen minutes a day for four days a week, and this is something that you will want to do with your child as there is a teacher’s  manual, which also includes an e-book to the student guide.

I started by reading through the teacher’s manual and looking through the student workbook so that I knew what I was doing before I started with my daughter. The first week, we took things slow as we got acquainted with the curriculum. The hard copy of the student workbook has cards to cut and use as reference as your student does each lesson. My daughter has found the cards quite helpful. It is recommended in the teacher’s guide that each student has a notebook with folders in it to store the cards.

Why it Works for us

The story aspect of this program makes this program interesting for my daughter. She loves to read, so the fact that she is learning about proper grammar and parts of speech while she reads a little bit of a story each day keeps her engaged. Also, the student works on rewriting sentences, which is great for those needing extra practice in handwriting.  The cards are super helpful as visual reminders, and the fact that these are short lessons makes it so she doesn’t get bored.

Final Thoughts

You can find the whole Fix It! Grammar series on the IEW website. I do suggest that you take the placement test first.  You can also connect with them on social media.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iew
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iew/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/iewtv
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iew/

You can also see what other Homeschool Review Crew members are saying about other books in the series by checking out the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew Website!

I hope you found this review helpful, and as always, I look forward to hearing from you!