My daughter helped me review the Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 from Hake Publishing. With the built in concept of continual review in addition to new concepts being introduced along the way students are set up to be effective communicators. The program covers grammar, writing, spelling, and vocabulary.
There are a total of 111 grammar lessons, 22 tests, and 21 writing lessons in this curriculum. The set-up of Grammar and Writing is similar to Saxon Math for those that are familiar with that set-up. It is very important that lessons are started at the beginning and are not skipped. The program in designed to build upon previous lessons and therefore skipping lessons would not work. Each lesson begins with a Grammar Meeting that is scripted in the Teacher Guide. This is more for a classroom setting and doesn't really apply or work well for a single homeschool child so I skipped this part. I did go over the Vocabulary section with my child. Next, is the Lesson portion of the program followed by the Review Set. In the Student Workbook lesson portion students will have opportunity to practice the new concept being taught in addition to examples shown. The Review Set gives the student more practice of concepts learned in previous lessons as well as what was just learned. Repetition, repetition, repetition!!
The Teacher Guide is very user friendly and easy to follow. It is definitely set-up for a classroom type set-up but can easily be adjusted for the homeschool setting.
A basic overview of what is covered in Grammar and Writing 3:
- The Paragraph
- Self Evaluation of Essays
- Persuasive Essay
- Expository Essay
- Personal Narrative
- Descriptive Essay
- Chapter Summary
- Punctuation
- Capitalization
- Eight Parts of Speech
- Sentence Structure
- Diagramming
- Usage
- Spelling Rules
- Vocabulary Development
A full Scope and Sequence of not only 3rd grade but also 4th-8th grades can be looked though to see in greater detail what all is covered.
Grammar and Writing 3, Writing Workbook is used at various points, usually after a chunk of lessons are completed. It is suggested that students keep at daily writing journal for daily writing practice. Becoming an effective writer is critical and in this years curriculum students will be guided in developing the tools to develop those skills.
This curriculum was not a great fit for our family. With that said, I always encourage others to please go and explore the site for themselves. What doesn't work for one family or child might be the perfect fit for you. I think that it does a good job at covering the skills and concepts needed to prepare the student but doesn't quite give enough practice problems to ensure that the student has fully grasped the concepts before moving on. Even though concepts are continually reviewed I do not feel it is enough. I was a bit underwhelmed by the Writing Workbook and would have liked to have seen more in the way of content. It does not really draw the student in and get them excited to write.
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