Jessie Wise & Sara Buffington

Elementary Grammar

This is an elementary-level grammar & composition curriculum. There are 4 levels that loosely correspond to grade levels. This is a significant plus for me as we run the full spectrum of learners; those who have giftings outside of academics and those whose giftings are academics. I greatly appreciate it when homeschool curriculum doesn’t splash the grade level across the front. It’s a simple thing but I prefer it when the terms “level 1” or “book a” are used over “grade 1”.

Flexible and Easy to Use Grammar Curriculum

I hold off teaching grammar until students are reading well. This curriculum is flexible and allows you to do that as Level 3 can be used after levels 1 & 2 or it can be used as a first grammar text for older elementary students.

Level 1 – start with a grade 1 or 2 student and then carry on with the other 3 levels

Level 2 – grade 2/3

Level 3 – start with a grade 3, 4, or 5 students and then carry on with the next level

Level 4 – grade 4-6

The instructions are simple and straight forward and it’s clear right from the start how you are to move through the curriculum.

The fact that each level has significantly less than 180 lessons was a huge draw for me. It is a turn-off for me when homeschool curriculum packs in enough lessons to fill every possible teaching day over a 10-month period. I prefer a curriculum that allows us the freedom to veer from the schedule from time to time to pursue other interests, dive into projects, spend some time reviewing, or just take a break.

Level 1 & 2

contain 100 lessons each

Level 3

110 lessons:

89 regular lessons

7 writing letters lessons

7 dictionary skills lessons

7 oral usage lessons

Level 4

101 lessons:

85 regular lessons

1 contraction lesson

10 writing lessons

5 dictionary skills lessons

The workbooks are consumable but reasonably priced. There is a lot of white space on each page, a benefit for anyone who can become overwhelmed when there are a lot of words on a page. Also, there are no graphics or characters.

We purchased the downloadable version of the workbooks, and I would not do that again. It has been a hassle to keep up with printing lessons off using our own printer and I have found having the entire workbook printed at a printing company to be costly; not enough of a savings to make the extra steps worthwhile.

Classical Approach

All four levels use classical techniques to develop language ability: memory work, copy-work, dictation, picture narration, story narration, and grammar.

Direct Instruction

If you are at all hesitant about your own grammar skills and teaching ability this would be a great choice as every lesson is scripted, simple, and straightforward. This curriculum is not set up for a student to learn on their own; an instructor is needed! The scripted lessons make it easy for the instructor, and this direct instruction method is essential for learners who get bogged down in written instructions.

Most lessons are not lengthy, so you don’t need to worry about the fact that the lessons require you to walk your student through them. There is the occasional lengthy lesson, but most are very reasonable. There is a good amount of repetition of topics throughout each level, so I have not found the short lessons to be a problem, and most lessons have an optional component that we always completed as the lessons really were so manageable. The flexibility and ease of this program allow you to use a writing program alongside it, or you could wait and use a formal writing program after Level 4.

This is a solid grammar curriculum and should easily make it into your top 3 when trying to narrow down your choices.

by Adrianne Curwen

Adrianne is a wife to a public-school educator/administrator and a homeschooling Mama to seven children, ranging in age from 7 to 23. She believes that we have a unique opportunity as homeschoolers to design individualized education that suits giftings, interests, and passions. She and her husband have used a blend of registered homeschooling, enrolment with independent DL schools, and participation in public trade school programs to design individualized programs for their children.  She is passionate about using as many read-alouds, picture books, novels, and conversations to educate her children but also gets excited by the amazing homeschool-designed curriculum that’s out there.  Adrianne is thrilled by her new role as Communication Specialist for Classical Education Books and is grateful to have an opportunity to learn something new.  She is grateful, every day, for her saviour, Jesus Christ, and has no greater joy than when she sees her most important missions field walk with Him.

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I didn’t know much about Well-Ordered Language when I bought the 1A student edition earlier this school year. I thought it’d be a bit of a last-ditch effort for my (ahem, older) kids to properly learn grammar after doing practice with Daily Grams, some IEW sentence wrangling, and some really great Ruth Heller picture books when my two were younger. Nothing seemed to stick. They could stumble through the two afore-mentioned curriculums; paying attention just enough to get them done within the prescribed 3 minutes a day, but they had zero interest or motivation to allow the sticky notes of information in their brain to actually…stick. 
 
I’d read a different book from Classical Academic Press and had heard quite a bit about the program so…why not? I’d try it out to see if we could get anywhere with it.  I’m very pleased to inform you that we’re just now finishing up Book 1B and will work steadily through 2A until the end of term, teaching two kids of different ages, and abilities and the ‘notes have stuck!’

Easily Adaptable Language Arts Program

Well-Ordered language can be taught to any child at any level. It starts at the very beginning of basic grammar and sentence structure, with subjects and predicates, and moves through levels 1-4, with both A and B components or two books per year, one per semester, for four years/levels.  I’ve only done level 1 so far, so I’ll stick with talking about that, but I’ve been very impressed with not only the ease and logical progression of the program, but the adaptability, and the quality literature and language it tucks in between the covers, as well.
 
My children are not grades 3 and 4, as suggested for the Classical school’s use, but are in middle school. One has diagnosed learning disabilities, the other, just assumed (and not as severe). The ‘stickiness’ of concepts is often a cause of low executive function. A lot of review, slow pace and daily practice with solid momentum helps a lot. A beginner program that can be adapted to use for older students is always something I’m keeping an eye out for. 
 
Although there are some portions that we’ve skipped due to age (like the songs/chants–these help younger kids, I’m sure, but my older kids just feel like they are too ‘babyish’. Fair enough-if they can master the content, they can skip that exercise in each chapter). I also have adapted the program for two students to use one book as opposed to just one. It cuts my cost in half, but it also cuts the work in half, though they still get the quality content, teaching, and review.  Those who struggle with a lot of writing/content at one time, this ‘less work more often’ system is very helpful. 

Great Layout and No Drivel!  

The content is excellent. Classical Academic Press (CAPs) always uses quality literature, poetry, and Latin words/definitions in their teaching, which I strongly prefer to made-up sentences that amount to drivel or uninteresting paragraphs you’d find on a standard test. My kids have had a broader understanding of the grammar rules because the way they lay out everything is, as Goldilocks says, “just right”. It’s orderly and you don’t spend too little or too much time on it before moving on to the next concept, which just builds on the prior one. It is aptly named.

Complimentary Writing Program

Well-Ordered Language has a sister writing program, called Writing and Rhetoric, and although I didn’t know it at the time, they mesh beautifully together. That was just a happy little accident that worked out for the benefit of my family by working through them side by side. (See also: last-ditch efforts)

Working Well-Ordered Language together with Writing and Rhetoric has improved my children’s ability to understand the parts of a sentence, grammar rules, and amplification with description and dialogue drastically within one year.  Their writing ability has sky-rocketed in the last 6 months alone. I am very pleased with these two programs, see the immense benefits of working them in tandem, and will continue to use them next year. I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t know about them until this past year!
 
If you’d like to know more on how to adapt them to different ages, and abilities, or have more questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment and I’ll be in touch.  

Shop here for all Well-Ordered Language Levels.

My name is Sarah Mast and I homeschool my two kids in Ft. Langley, BC. One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is the community gained, and I  volunteer with a local support group to help foster that and connect others. My family loves the outdoors and traveling, and our weekends include skiing, swimming, hiking, or biking depending on the season. I found Classical Education Books at a conference and noticed their well-curated selection of children’s books. I kept tabs on their collection of the classics and hard-to-find books and reached out. Now I get to help customers hone their collections, and work on the ever-growing inventory here at CEB!

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