Easy Grammar was written by an English teacher who felt there should be a program that not only taught each foundational concept, but continued to build upon it in order to achieve mastery. Easy Grammar is a comprehensive, yet straightforward approach to teaching grammar. Dr. Phillips uses a method I have never seen before, in which the student learns first to identify prepositional phrases. This helps eliminate problems with identifying other parts of speech. Following prepositions, the table of contents includes verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, sentence types, friendly letter, interjections, conjunctions, sentences and fragments, sentences and run-ons, capitalization, punctuation, and writing sentences. 

To facilitate a review, I received a complete Grade 5 Set, which includes the Teacher’s Manual, Student Workbook, and Student Test Booklet. I used this set with my ten-year-old who is currently finishing fourth grade. The teacher’s manual is just over 700 pages and includes introductory information on how to use the program, a copy of every worksheet in the student book, and an answer key. You will also find pretest and posttest assessments, as well as sample lessons for Daily Grams: Grade 5, which is another Easy Grammar series.

The Student Workbook is around 320 pages and begins with a list of prepositions to memorize. While the teacher’s manual is very useful, the information in the Student Workbook is clear and concise, and a motivated student could utilize it almost independently. It gives a quick introduction and definition of the topic of study and a couple of examples, with key words and phrases emphasized in bold print. Simple directions are followed by only a handful of exercises on each page. I think this makes it easy for students to work quickly and efficiently. Once the student learns prepositions, they may move on to other concepts, but cumulative reviews allow the student to continuously practice previous material. The teacher’s manual encourages you to break the reviews down over several lessons if necessary to enhance learning.

The Student Test Booklet is a thin book that includes the pre-assessment, a test for each unit, cumulative tests, and the post-assessment. The unit tests are generally one to two pages in length, while the cumulative tests are necessarily longer to accommodate more material.

The lessons are short but thorough. Many of the assignments include underlining, circling, or striking through certain elements of a sentence. The books are black and white, no pictures, no fluff. Some writing is required, but it is not as extensive as other grammar programs. The assignments are short and require minimal writing, so this grammar program may be particularly suited for students who do not like language arts, struggle with handwriting, or need short and focused lessons. I have found Easy Grammar easy to implement and would certainly recommend it to families who need straightforward and easily accessible grammar lessons. 

Product review by Brittney Rutherford, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2017