For my final review of the Ninth Grade Timberdoodle kit, I am excited to share with you Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind. What I love about these books is that they are colored coded depending on what level your child is using. My son used the blue series. This included a workbook, teacher key, and instruction manual .
From diagramming sentences to learning the basics rules of grammar this series has it all. I love its simplistic approach. It is not too overwhelming for the child that is not strong in grammar, as I mentioned in my previous review, this is not a strong point for all of my children.
The teacher's manual is perfect for the parent that is not comfortable teaching grammar. I enjoy teaching it (even though my boys despise learning it) so the word for word instructions in the manual was not needed for me but I have used that method of teaching for other subjects and thrived on it. If you are looking for a scripted teaching manual then this is absolutely for you. What I ended up doing was I used this as a tool to help me see where my son's weaknesses were. I then used that as a springboard to teach him on my own using methods that work well for both of us. I guess you could say this was a diagnostic test, to see where he was at.
I plan on hanging on to these workbooks (you receive three total; the student book, key, and instruction manual) for my daughter. These step by step instructions will work perfectly for her. Even though it wasn't the perfect fit for my son, he felt confident working through the lessons on his own for a time. I would then, see where he was at and teach him from there.
This is an excellent tool for the homeschooling parent that might not love grammar and for the student that is task driven. The lessons are divided up neatly and concisely, allowing for a smooth year of English grammar. I recommend this series for the new homeschooling mom or dad that might be intimidated in teaching grammar. It is a great way to get your feet wet in the subject!
Disclaimer: Many thanks to Timberdoodle for the above product in exchange for an honest review.
