Winston Grammar - Review

This is our third day into using Winston Grammar and so far it's a hit. Now I know that new curriculum is ALWAYS a hit when it's all shiny and new but I'm hoping this keeps it's favoured status.

What makes Winston Gramar a hit with Catherine is that it's not simply workbook work. It comes with a bunch of different cards that represent the different parts of a sentence and those are what Catherine uses to map out a sentence. Having her use her hands rather then simply fill out a worksheet seems to engage her brain and she recalls the previous day's lesson much more easily (this is something I've got to work into math!). The other great thing for her is that the lessons are quick. We only spend 5 to 15 minutes a day on it.

What I like are the very clear instructions and the script. I was a little surprised to find that I really liked having a script to follow. I tend to be a little scattered and the script was just what I needed to keep my explanations focused and clear. I can also see how this is a great approach for someone who's not so familiar with the subject.

Another great thing is it's focus on mastery. You don't move on from a lesson until your child can not only pick the objects of a lesson out of worksheet pages, not only when they can pick them out of other sentences and paragraphs but when they can use them in their own writing. This means that though a lesson in the student workbooks is only maybe a dozen sentences the lesson may actually take a week or more. It also allows for a bit of variety. It's not the same old black and white worksheets day in and day out as it was with Easy Grammar. It's cards and worksheets and selected readings and some creative writing.

I'll check back in when we've had a chance to get bored with the program and let you know if we're still having fun.