Easy Grammar Curriculum Review

by Sally
(Georgetown, TX)

We have used Easy Grammar for the past three years in our homeschooling curriculum. We have used levels 3,4,5,6 and this year we are also using Daily Grams for grade 7.

My two boys, ages 10 and 12 have found Easy Grammar simple to follow and understand. I do have to help with some concepts (especially with my 10 year old), but most of their work is done independently.

The prepositional approach is effective and easy to grasp. The only downfall I have found with Easy Grammar is that it doesn't include much writing. We have to use an entirely separate writing curriculum for language arts.

Overall, we have found Easy Grammar a perfect fit for our family.

Just the grammar, please!

by Jana
(Woodinville WA USA)

Levels Used: 3rd and 4th grades
Dates Used:'09-'10 school year

Likes: We are using Institute for Excellence in Writing this year for our writing composition course but still needed a grammar text. Most other grammar courses included have a year's worth of work in composition. I looked at Bob Jones and Shurley grammar both before buying Easy Grammar. This program easily won because of it's simple, easy layout. Just grammar, straight and simple. I didn't pay extra for composition work I'm not going to use...or be tempted to squeeze into the schedule.

The teacher's manual does contain all the pages in the student workbook so if you only have one child, you can just buy the teacher's manual and use the student pages right out of there.

Permission is given to copy all student pages however, after running the numbers, I figured I'd save myself $2 by copying everything myself since I have multiple children. In my book, that just wasn't worth it so I ordered the student books for my kids.

You will want to order the teacher's edition! Don't try to just buy the student book. There is a lot of explanation in there that you the teacher will need.

I also liked that this course is written to be used for homeschool settings. You don't have to deal with projects that apply to classroom use.

Also please note, this program is designed to be used with the Daily Grams books as well. I didn't understand this at first and had to go back and re-order the Daily Grams. Easy Grammar covers one area of grammar at a time. You'll do prepositions for 8 lessons then move on to verbs for a number of lessons. It studies each area intensely. The Daily Grams take up the first 10 min. of your grammar time and are the daily practice in punctuation, capitalization, etc. They work together so make sure you buy them both.

Dislikes: Although the content is well planned, it is all plain black and white printing in an everyday, ordinary font. You can't really say that this book is cute, fun, exciting, or anything like that. But hey, it gets the job done.

Makes Grammar Easy to Understand

by Shannon
(Ishpeming, MI)

Levels Used: 3rd and 5th
Dates Used: September 2009

Likes: We have used a couple of other curricula for grammar. My boys have never really understood grammar, and always put up a fuss. Easy Grammar really breaks things down so they are easy to understand.

I love how they teach them the prepositions, then have them cross out the prepositional phrases, before doing anything else. This really takes away a lot of "fluff" in the sentence, and leaves the main words they are supposed to be looking for.

They teach each part of speech in a step by step approach. They gain an understanding of what they are doing, instead of just rote memorization of definitions. For the first time, my boys don't put up a fight about doing grammar!

Dislikes: In the fifth grade level, my son had a hard time switching his mindset from finding the subject and verb first, to finding/crossing out the prepositional phrases first. He probably could have used a little more practice on doing this before getting into other things, but once he got the hang of it, it was easy.

Covers the Basics

by Stephannie
(Richmond, VA)

Levels Used: 3
Dates Used: currently

Likes: Covers all of the basics. Easy to understand.

Dislikes: I would like to see it mixed up a little instead of broken down to a unit on prepositions, a unit on verbs, a unit on punctuation, etc. I feel a few pages on each subject and then moving to the next and cycling back helps the student remember things better. If not, they remember what they have to for a unit and forget it when they start the next. I am having my son skip back and forth to remedy this.

Thoroughly Happy!

by Rebecca
(College Station, TX USA)

Levels Used: 2 and 4
Dates Used: '09/'10 school year

Likes: One page worksheet per day. Uses repetition to drill the information into the student's head. The student can complete the worksheet on his own, with minimal guidance. You may purchase the workbook or copy the pages from the teacher's manual - I like options.

Dislikes: Can't think of any dislikes. I am thoroughly happy with this product.