Hi there! This is Rebecca, one of the assistants to Lee at The HomeScholar. I am a homeschooling mom to a large family and currently have students in high school, middle school, and elementary school. I had the opportunity to review IEW’s Fix-It!™ Grammar and found it an enjoyable, effective companion to our studies.
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I’ve spent about six weeks so far using Fix It!™ Grammar: Level 1 Nose Tree [Teacher/Student Combo] and Fix It!™ Grammar: Level 2 Town Mouse and Country Mouse [Teacher/Student Combo] with my elementary age children. The age range for these products is flexible; if you have a student who has had very little grammar instruction, you could start with Level 1 at a much later age than third through fifth grade and just move through the exercises more quickly. You can view samples at IEW’s Fix-It!™ Grammar, found here, to help determine best placement for your student.
I began using these products with an 8-year-old third grader and 10-year-old twins, in fourth grade. One of my twins is severely dyslexic, so I started her in Level 1, the same level I began with my 8-year-old. She is now a fluent reader, and I was hopeful it would work for her. I began with Level 2 for my other fourth grade student. In general, my children (except for my dyslexic student) have had grammar instruction very similar to Fix-It Grammar!™ for several years, so the concept was not new to them, and they already expected to enjoy the process.
Overall, my children love using this program. They eagerly bring out their books every day and enjoy working through the exercises. However, my dyslexic daughter did not engage with the text in the same way as my other two students, and eventually I stopped using it with her. She is currently using IEW’s Level A Themed Writing Lessons with great success, so perhaps we will pick up Fix-It Grammar!™ later. The dyslexia makes it difficult to associate symbols with meaning in language, so the labeling was very confusing for her.
What I Love About the Product:
- The lessons are quick and effective.
- Students enjoy finding the errors and correcting the mistakes.
- Students enjoy rewriting the sentence correctly in their best handwriting.
- Continual practice reinforces the grammar concepts.
- The continuing story is enjoyable from lesson to lesson.
- Gentle vocabulary instruction builds from lesson to lesson.
- It is not effective for dyslexic students.
- The grammar instruction is a little difficult to teach just from the Teacher’s Manual.
- The Teacher’s Manual and Student Workbook do not indicate when to use the corresponding flashcards.
My children (who are typical learners) are still happily using their respective levels, and I expect to finish the books with them and continue on with the series. I appreciate IEW’s systematic, careful, and non-overwhelming approach to grammar instruction. Little by little, the students build a foundation and begin to recognize errors in writing which then translates to their own writing. I found that my students enjoy finding the mistakes and editing the incorrect sentences. I also have had no complaints when it is time to rewrite the sentence correctly!
Fix-It Grammar!™ works well for me as a busy mom of a large homeschool. The time-conscious lessons help me to effectively and easily address this subject area with my students, without overwhelming our school time or the rest of our day or morning. I also did not find it difficult to manage more than one level at a time. I found it is quite easy to teach several students in one level or to use different levels for different students, depending on their needs. This is due to the short, concise nature and targeted instruction.
I am happy to recommend Fix-It Grammar!™ We will continue using it, and it was a blessing to have the opportunity to review these products. See other IEW recommendations from The HomeScholar here.
~ Rebecca
Assistant to The HomeScholar