~ Daily Grams ~
a JOY In Our Journey favorite!
Daily Grams is a quick and relatively painless way of teaching grammar independently to our children. Our family has used these simple workbooks for a number of years. I've found it to work better with my children than anything I ever used in the public school system when I was a teacher or a student.
Here's what I like about Daily Grams: simple. Children do one worksheet page each day. The directions provided are short and sweet. Once in a while, I need to supplement the directions by looking in my heftier grammar reference book, but not often.
Sometimes, if the girls have questions about their grammar, or don't remember something they've learned previously, I instruct them to just go back into the earlier pages of their workbook and find the section where that concept was taught. 95% of the time, that is enough to jog their memories and get them back on track.
Here's the other thing I love about Daily Grams: it is constantly repetitive in that past concepts are taught regularly. That is the #1 difference about this fabulous series of workbooks compared to almost all other grammar programs and systems.
Most grammar books and programs have a chapter on commas, then one on periods, then on nouns, then on pronouns, etc. By the time the children are halfway through the book, they've forgotten most everything they placed into their short-term memory from the beginning of the book! Not so with Daily Grams: the students review concepts continually, on almost each page.
It's this spiraling concept that has enabled us to not need to prepare for the grammar sections on standardized tests. The girls just "know" the material and concepts because they use them every day! And in their writing, their learning from Daily Grams transfers over to their sentences, paragraphs, and essays.
This may not work for every child who has some learning delays or challenges. No curriculum will work wonders for every child! But I have two girls with opposing learning styles, and they both have soared with this simple, inexpensive program!
Daily Grams comes in workbooks for grades 3-7, and then there is one junior high/high school workbook.
The workbooks also come in two formats: with an answer key, and without one. The only thing I'd like to see changed in this workbook series is that the answer key was either separate from the workbook, or it had serrated pages so it could be easily torn out of the workbook and stored elsewhere by the parent or teacher.
Sometimes, if the girls have questions about their grammar, or don't remember something they've learned previously, I instruct them to just go back into the earlier pages of their workbook and find the section where that concept was taught. 95% of the time, that is enough to jog their memories and get them back on track.
Here's the other thing I love about Daily Grams: it is constantly repetitive in that past concepts are taught regularly. That is the #1 difference about this fabulous series of workbooks compared to almost all other grammar programs and systems.
Most grammar books and programs have a chapter on commas, then one on periods, then on nouns, then on pronouns, etc. By the time the children are halfway through the book, they've forgotten most everything they placed into their short-term memory from the beginning of the book! Not so with Daily Grams: the students review concepts continually, on almost each page.
It's this spiraling concept that has enabled us to not need to prepare for the grammar sections on standardized tests. The girls just "know" the material and concepts because they use them every day! And in their writing, their learning from Daily Grams transfers over to their sentences, paragraphs, and essays.
This may not work for every child who has some learning delays or challenges. No curriculum will work wonders for every child! But I have two girls with opposing learning styles, and they both have soared with this simple, inexpensive program!
Daily Grams comes in workbooks for grades 3-7, and then there is one junior high/high school workbook.
The workbooks also come in two formats: with an answer key, and without one. The only thing I'd like to see changed in this workbook series is that the answer key was either separate from the workbook, or it had serrated pages so it could be easily torn out of the workbook and stored elsewhere by the parent or teacher.
No answer key (less expensive)
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Answer key provided in back (a bit more expensive)
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This isn't a paid or required review! Daily Grams is just a product I love because it's effective and inexpensive! Plus, it requires very little "teacher time", which is also a bonus! I just wanted to let you know about Daily Grams.
