Homeschool Grammar with Fix It Grammar: a Review
Are you a grammar lover? I’ve always liked grammar, but I wouldn’t say it’s my absolute favorite subject to teach. I decided to try something new about 6 weeks ago. We got IEW’s (Institute for Excellence in Writing) newly revised Fix It! Grammar, so enjoy today’s post Homeschool Grammar with Fix It Grammar: a Review.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary set of Nose Tree in order to review it here. I get commissions for purchases made through affiliate links in this post. All opinions are honest and my own.
What is Fix It Grammar?
Fix It! Grammar is a six-level set of yearly curricula that systematically leads your child through grammar learning concepts and practice. It only requires about 15 minutes a day to teach the concept and for the child to do the daily “fix it” exercise in their book.
There is a Teachers Manual and a Student Book for each level.
The six levels are (the titles correspond with a real book title):
- 1- Nose Tree
- 2- Town Mouse and Country Mouse
- 3- Robin Hood
- 4- Mowgli and Shere Khan
- 5- Frog Prince
- 6- Little Mermaid
Who I Used Fix It Grammar With
Since I haven’t done a systematic approach to grammar with my four youngest kids, I got student books for all of them. They are ages 15 (freshman), 13 (8th grade), 11 (6th grade), and 9 (4th grade).
How I Used Fix It Grammar
Each morning during our group Morning Time, after we watch the daily Worldwatch news program and work on Scripture memory, everyone pulls out their Fix It! Grammar books to work on.
We started out all together, but pretty soon my two oldest (the teens) asked it they could do more than one page a day. Then, my oldest (high schooler) asked it he could do it independently. The page from the Teacher Manual that teaches new concepts is in the Student Book as well, so he really didn’t need me to teach it to him. He also really likes grammar because he is fascinated with linguistics (such as studying foreign languages in order to create his own language).
Each daily page has a list of errors at the top, so the student knows exactly what to look for. They are taught proofreading marks and then add those directly in the book. The final step is to rewrite the sentence at the bottom of the page.
After doing the daily page (or pages), I pull out my Teachers Manual to check their work. The pages in the Student and Teacher books correspond exactly, so it’s very easy and quick to check.
My Final Thoughts
I am very pleased with Fix It Grammar. I love the fact that the sentences that the students are fixing are pulled out of a real story, so it makes it more fun for them.
I’m a systematic thinker, so I think that’s what I love about Fix It Grammar the best. We started with parts of speech, but then added some homophones (to, too, two), and clauses. They are always supposed to capitalize the first letter and add the end punctuation.
Grammar takes practice, just like math, and Fix It Grammar gives them easy and quick daily doses of practice so they start getting it into their brains without even realizing it.
Since they rewrite the sentence each day, they are also doing copywork!
I fully expect to go through all six Levels with my kids since I know it will not only help them improve their writing and speaking, but also help with tests such as SAT and ACT (for scholarships, even if some colleges don’t require them for admission anymore).
Other Details About Fix It Grammar
Here is the scope and sequence of the 30 weeks (one year) of Fix It! Grammar Nose Tree Level 1:
- Parts of Speech (noun, subject noun, pronoun, subject pronoun, verb, action verb, linking verb, helping verb, coordinating conjunction, adjective, article adjective, possessive adjective, adjective after linking verb, interjection, adverb)
- Capitalization (first word, I, quotation marks), Punctuation (end marks, quotation marks, apostrophe contraction)
- Clauses (who/which, that, adverb)
- Homophones (their/there/they’re, to/two/too, its/it’s)
- Other Concepts (indentation, subject-verb pairs, numbers)
- Stylistic Techniques (who/which clause, quality adjective, strong verb, -ly adverb, adverb clause)
At the end of the student book is the entire story so the kids can read it in succession, as well as pages to start their own personal lists of strong verbs, quality adjectives, and -ly adverbs that they might want to use in their own compositions. There is also a Grammar Glossary at the back of the Teachers Manual for quick look-up of concepts.
The Fix It! Grammar Cards
These are a fun addition to the curriculum. There are 30 Fix It! Grammar Cards that have all the concepts listed on them. Use them for learning or review. You can even play some games with them! (Some of the concepts are taught in later levels of Fix It! Grammar.)
The Decision Tree
IEW has so many products for teaching writing, grammar, literature, spelling, and even music that it can be overwhelming to figure out what you need.
Click on the graphic below if you have questions about IEW. The Decision Tree will give you the answers!
Free IEW Gifts:
Looking for some free stuff to help you in teaching writing? They have that, too!
Get your IEW freebies here:
- IEW Recommended Book List (Books for Boys & Other Children Who Would Rather Make Forts All Day)
- -LY Adverbs: Combined List
- Elephant Mini Books
- Guide to Powerful Paragraphs Assignments PDF
- Nurturing Competent Communicators by Andrew Pudewa [Audio Talk]
And, here’s my personalized IEW page!
Other IEW Products We Have Used in Our Home:
- IEW Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Premium Membership
- Phonetic Zoo Spelling
- Bible Heroes: Writing Lessons in Structure and Style
Related Posts:
- Take Your Kids to Grammar Galaxy–the Easy and Fun Way to Do Language Arts!
- Rabbit Trails Through Literature as an Elementary Language Arts Supplement
- Literature Study, Book Report, and Notebooking Pages
