Reviewing as a 1-year sabbatical homeschool course, for kids who went to public school last year and will go back next year. (Or would be relevant for those using as a supplement.)
I did not expect much of this series, as I paged through it and found a lot of tedium. However. I was surprised by the extent to which my kids enjoyed the course. And, it exceeded my expectations for the reason I bought it, which was to beef up my kids' existing grammar skills, which were relatively good, but not rigorous.
PROS:
Poetry: My kids loved the poetry memorization. I didn't love all the poetry selections, but they weren't bad. I ended up using a few from the book, and then choosing other more serious poets in place of some of the choices. But, I could see the poetry chosen as being positive for most kids, as my only real complaint with it was being, if anythign, too kid-friendly. This exercise could easily be done without the book, but I appreciated the periodic reminders to repeat poetry previously memorized.
Repetition: This is really a pro/con. Wise focuses on memorizing rules and lists quite a bit, and to accomplish this, she includes frequent repetition. Overall, I like this approach. I simply stopped using it when it felt unnecessary. As an example, there's a poem to memorize to remember the articles: a, an, and the. IMO, memorizing that list is a lot simpler than memorizing a whole poem for it. But my kids now have a solid grammar foundation, based both on understanding and memorization; I feel like the one bolsters the other. But I would recommend using the repetition as long as it's useful and then dropping it when it's unnecessary.
Ease: Works out-of-the-box: if used in conjunction with the teacher's manual, little if any preparation is required.
Organization for multi-levels: Levels 3 & 4 are organized similarly. My younger son did level 3 and older did 4. We were able to do most of our work together, as most chapters in 3 were keyed to similar lessons in 4. 4 added new depth, and I often had my younger son listen while my older son learned and did the exercises in 4.
For use as supplement or 1-year course: These worked extremely well for kids who had experience with the loosey-goosey preparation provided in public school. In terms of picking up a bunch of rigor in one year or supplementing while kids are in school, I think this program is excellent. I feel a lot better knowing that when my kids return to school, they will be able to contextualize their grammar lessons within a whole context of grammar, which is what I had wanted for them. This is not a complete soup-to-nuts grammar book, but it does cover the primary structures that most kids will encounter through middle school. It's an excellent balance of scope and depth.
Gentle Diagramming: Once my kids got used to it, they enjoyed the diagramming. It's a very soft introduction to diagramming, which worked very well for kids unaccustomed to it beforehand.
CONS
Repetition: See above.
Composition: As we were doing a 1-year course focused on bolstering rigor, I was unbothered by the lack of composition. There are brief letter-writing suggestions at the end, but as the book sets itself out as a resource for most LA needs, it's worth noting how peremptory this is. For our family, we skipped the few narrations exercises (in which children write a synopsis of a writing selection) and the letter writing, and instead used Writing with Ease 3 days a week (for synopsis) and another composition book 2 days a week.
Diagramming: I would love to see a few pages of suggestions for free diagramming at the end of the book. The gentle approach to diagramming involves the book drawing the diagram and the child filling it in. By the end, my kids were capable enough (thanks FLL!) to draw their own diagrams. I could see a later edition including more practice sentences without giving diagrams to fill in for kids who grok the material. This was especially frustrating in the Book 4 book. My kids only used this for a year and were ready to do their own diagrams by early spring. If my younger son was doing this book and then Book 4 next year, the soft diagramming approach would be way too easy. Also would be a great way to teach multiple kids who may be at different levels.
Overall, very pleased for my needs. I feel like my kids are going back into school with a serious understanding of how language works that will be a framework for everything they do for the next few years.
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mwwg
Great for bolstering rigor
8 May 2018 -
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Nicole James
Very nice grammar program
15 May 2015 -
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Wendy C.
These are awesome books! Don't buy one without the other-Life is ...
3 March 2018 -
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Nicole Johnson
As a homeschooler who hates planning this program works great. I know they are learning what they need ...
17 October 2016 -
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Alice Ceballos
Large Book But A Bit on The Boring Side
23 May 2017 -
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