Analytical Grammar Reviews

by Michael
(TX)

We used Junior Analytical Grammar (complete program) and Analytical Grammar (first ten weeks)during 2008-2009 and 2009-Present.

Likes: I absolutely love this program!! It really makes my kids think about how our language works which helps in the learning of other languages.

It is a bit pricey, but it has all the instruction your child will ever need, and you can purchase review and reinforcement books when you are finished with the program.

My children complete their work independently. There is ample concept application (busy work) for the teacher to see whether the student fully understands the lesson, but not so much that the student will be overwhelmed.

Also, the lesson instruction is separate from the assignments. At the end of the program the student has a reference manual for future use.

Dislikes: I wish their were more review and reinforcement workbooks.

Expensive, but Worth It

by Spetzi
(NJ)

We used grades 4-5 in 2009.

Likes: This program approaches grammar in a logical fashion that there are rules to understand and apply. Once these rules are learned, the student does not need to be drilled in grammar every year.

Each week there is a lesson with three practice pages. The student is free to review the lesson page while s/he completes the practice pages. There is also a Skills Support page where the student will be asked to paraphrase or rewrite part of a speech or poem. My son particularly enjoyed this challenge. The fifth day is an assessment to see if the lesson of the week and every previous lesson have been learned. The student is free to review any notes while completing the assessment. We found that this was rarely necessary as it was explained so well the student had full understanding after the second practice page. The author encourages the student to skip the third page of practice if s/he demonstrates complete grasp of the topic.

One feature that makes Analytical Grammar a good value, even though it's pricey, is the lesson/workbook. When the student is finished with the course, s/he can rip out the workpages and then has a book of just the notes of the lessons. This will serve as a reference as they continue on through school.

Dislikes: There were a couple of typos in the text. Sometimes the diagramming got a bit tedious. We found it quite expensive until we realized what a phenomenal course this is.