Analytical Grammar (A Homeschool Review)

Product - Analytical Grammar curriculum and DVD.  (A systematic approach to language mastery.)

Recommended age - Grade 6 and up.


Created by - R. Robin Finley (A retired language arts teacher.)

Contributing author -  Erin Karl (Robin's daughter. Erin taught middle school language arts.)

It is quite intimidating writing a review for a language arts program. Of course, I will second - guess every thing I write!  But this program is exceptional.  I have been using it with my teenage son.

Here are the basics:

There are two bound workbooks. 

One is the student book -

There are 35 units which cover such lessons as:  pronouns, comma rules, helping verbs, active and passive voices, and many more.  These are designed to be done in order, each lesson building on the last one.

A lesson consists of:

Notes:  Explains the objective, uses definitions and examples, and introduces the lesson.

Exercise #1:  Since we used the DVD along with the binder, we watched the lesson on DVD.  The Teachers were wonderful. It was like having private tutors who were professional, to the point, and took the time to carefully explain the exercise to viewers.

Exercise #2:  The student does this on his own.  It is similar to the first exercise.

Exercise #3:  Similar to the previous exercise, continuing the practice and work required to thoroughly learn the unit.

Some of the units include a "Skills Support":  A lesson for the student to complete.

Each unit ends with a Test.

What I love about this program is that each exercise is only one page long.  It is not cluttered up with directions or endless text.  It is to the point, clearly written, and helps the student get the job done.

The teacher book is the same as the student book but has all the answers filled in.

DVD:

This is a set of four DVDs.  All 35 units are included here.  This is very well done.  I found it to be an invaluable teaching resource to go with the workbook.

Overall, the program is just what I have been looking for.   We did this program first thing most mornings. If we were at the table, I would set up a laptop for my student to watch the DVD.  He could also watch it on television in another room.   He worked wherever he found a quiet room.  I greatly appreciated the DVD because I felt like my student was in the capable hands of excellent tutors, who could teach this subject better than I could! Why? Because they have dedicated much of their lives to the study and teaching of this one subject.  Their teaching method and curriculum is well tested and worked beautifully for us.

 Mrs. Finley and her daughter have uncomplicated language arts and made it very easy to learn.   I was impressed with the quality of the program and how well everything was explained. 

My student has a greater appreciation of sentence structure and the purpose of grammar.  He has always been a struggling learner.  This program has improved his reading and writing skills, by helping him focus specifically on the study of language arts.


*Disclosure - I received this item for review purposes.*