A favorite vendor among homeschoolers is Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). Whether you just started homeschooling or you've been homeschooling for years now, I'm sure you've heard of this leader in the homeschooling curriculum world.We were recently asked to review the Fix It! Grammar series from IEW. I had heard of this series before, but we had never officially tried it. I've always been curious about the program, but just never got around to ordering it.
What is Fix It! Grammar?
Fix It! Grammar is a grammar and writing curriculum for students of all ages. Fix It! Grammar helps student learn how to apply grammar rules to the writing from the readings they will read. This learning technique allows students to then take that knowledge and apply it to their own writing. Usually grammar is taught one rule at a time. Students learn the rules, know the rules, but often never apply them to their own writing. Fix It! Grammar fixes that problem.
The series has a total of 6 books for students to work through.
Book 1~ Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree
Book 2~ Fix It! Grammar: Robin Hood
Book 3~ Fix It! Grammar: Frog Prince, or Just Desert
Book 4~ Fix It! Grammar: Little Mermaid
Book 5~ Fix It! Grammar: Chanticleer
Book 6~ Fix It! Grammar: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The books can be purchased individually or as a set. For this review, we received Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree. We received book one in the series, since neither of the kids had used this particular grammar series before. They do recommend starting with book one and moving on from there. We received on teacher's manual and one student's book. In the teacher's manual was information on how to access the free downloads that come with the purchase of the teacher's manual. The free downloads included access to Fix It! Grammar Book 1 e-book for additional students, Mastery Learning e-audio, and But, but, but... What about Grammar? e-audio.
How Does Fix It! Grammar Work?
The book is broken up into 33 weeks. The lessons include grammar instruction and practice for the students. Students will work on lesson for fifteen minutes a day, four days a week! No long boring lesson. You students will not get that glazed over look in their eyes with this program. To use the program, students will need the student notebook, grammar cards, and a spiral notebook.
Each lesson is broken up into four days of work. On the first day, students should begin by reading the Learn It page.
This page explains what the students will be learning and applying to the lesson. Just a few examples of what they will learn are: Nouns, Homophones, Articles, Strong verbs, Punctuation, Clause Starters, and Contractions. They should also cut out the corresponding grammar cards located in the back of their book.
Each day, the students will read the sentence. They will define any words that are in bold and finally fix and mark the sentence.
Since the paragraph is broken up into simple sentences, students can easily work through the program. Each day goes into wonderful detail and allows students to really learn grammar and how to correct errors.
The Teacher's Manual has instructions for the teacher to present the material to the student. Everything is clearly explained and broken down for instruction. It really is an easy curriculum for parents to teach.
How Did We Use Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree Book?
We received our books and I added the lessons to our school plans the following week. I stopped using the grammar program we were currently using to work on this one. At first, I followed the recommend guidelines for this series. We took week 1 lessons and broken them up into four days. At the end of the week, I asked what they thought. They both complained it was too easy. This is were I should tell you that they both took the placement test, but missed items on it. I choose to start with book one because of their results. Neither one wanted to do the placement test, so I'm thinking they didn't take it seriously that day. You just have to love kids some days.
After hearing their thoughts, I decided to speed the week up and work through the book a little faster. We ended up working on one week a day. This was similar to what they had been doing already in their other grammar program. This did help a little. We would read the entire paragraph. They would then define the words in bold. I had them do this in their spiral notebook. After working on vocabulary, they would get to work labeling the parts nouns, adjectives, verb, etc. Then they would work on the punctuation. Finally I had them rewrite the entire paragraph in their spiral notebook. I made sure to stress to indent. They had a habit of forgetting to do this the first few weeks.
What Did We Think of Fix It! Grammar?
Our thought differ on this one, so I'll share a little from everyone.
My Thoughts
I liked the program. It was simple and easy to follow. The lessons were short, but to the point. I truly felt that both Michael and Therese were learning a few new things their other grammar program was not addressing. I liked the fact that it helped them learn how to apply it to their own writing. I honestly did see an improvement in their writing as we progressed through the book. I'm currently debating on what we'll use next year. Fix It! Grammar or our current program. You'll find out when I post about our curriculum for the 2019-2020 school year.
Michael's Thoughts
He was not a fan. I'm honestly not surprised here. He's not a big fan of change. He felt it was too easy. He said working on one sentence a day seemed pointless to him. He preferred our other grammar program and asked to go back to it.
Therese's Thoughts
She's unsure about it. Like her brother, she felt it was too easy. She thought it was better when we did the week at a faster pace. She did add that Fix It! Grammar did cover things their other grammar program didn't. She is interested in seeing what the other books have to offer. She's curious if they get more difficult. She did enjoy the 15 minute lesson. It was quick to do. She could get it done and check it off her to do list.
So I have one yes, one maybe, and a no.
Overall, I have to say the program is extremely thorough and presents grammar a simple and logical way. Any student using this program would greatly benefit from it. I do wish I had ordered Fix It! Grammar when my kids were younger. I honestly believe they would have benefited from the program.
Discover more about Fix It! Grammar or IEW!
Want to learn more about the other books in the Fix It! Grammar Series?
Just click the picture below and read all about them. I know I'll be heading over to see what the other books look like!
Till Next Time,
Monique
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