I was given the opportunity to use a fun way to teach grammar to my son. We received the two-book set of the Grammar Galaxy Nebula Kit (Volume 1 Set) written by homeschooling mom, Melanie Wilson, Ph.D. Included with the set were a bookmark and an erasable highlighter to use with the program. The Nebula level is the first in the series and is suitable for beginning readers in first or second grade. There are two other levels in Grammar Galaxy. Protostar (Volume 2) is suitable for third graders, and Yellow Star (Volume 3) is suitable for fourth graders. This program is a complete language arts curriculum.

In this unique program we get to read a story set in the “Grammar Galaxy” and then we get to help solve the dilemma related to language arts that has been troubling its citizens. The story is found in the text titled, Grammar Galaxy: Adventures in Language Arts. After reading the chapter for the lesson the student receives the mission in the Grammar Galaxy: Mission Manual, which is the “workbook” of the program. There are five units with a total of 36 chapters. Each unit is based on a different section of language arts. They are:

• Adventures in Literature
• Adventures in Vocabulary
• Adventures in Spelling
• Adventures in Grammar and
• Adventures in Composition & Speaking

Each unit has a different number of chapters, ranging from five to ten, with each chapter being meant to be a week’s worth of work

Let’s take a look at each book.

Grammar Galaxy: Adventures in Language Arts

This 190-page softcover book contains the actual story. The book begins with a Table of Contents and “A Note to Teachers” before heading straight into the tale. Each chapter is between four to six pages in length and may contain a simple illustration or two.  Three new vocabulary words are introduced within each chapter, allowing them to be learned in context; however, they will also be found listed in the sidebar along with a synonym to help children understand the meaning. Embedded in the chapter, the reader will find a box that explains the topic that is the focus of the mission, such as how to determine meaning from context, the difference between fiction and nonfiction, and what synonyms are. This part of the story is being shared with the characters and the reader simultaneously, as the characters read it from their “guidebook.” Each chapter then concludes with a few comprehension questions.  

The story focuses on the English children, two sons and a daughter of the king and queen of planet English. Kirk, Luke, and Ellen are the first Guardians of Grammar Galaxy, so named by their father when they are given their first mission, to get children to understand the importance of reading and become more interested in reading than playing video games. The English children enlist the help of the students reading the textbook, assigning missions to them in order to sort out the problems caused by the evil Gremlin. This is where the Mission Manual comes in.

Grammar Galaxy: Mission Manual

This 346-page softcover book is technically a consumable workbook, though it is known as the Mission Manual, because well, that just sounds so much cooler. This book also begins with a Table of Contents and “A Note to Teachers” before moving straight into the assignments. Each mission is introduced with an “Official Guardian Mail” letter from the English children explaining the dilemma. There are then three “steps” that the child is to complete. These are to be spread out over the week, though we have been known to work on the entire mission in one sitting. There are various ways that children will be asked to practice their knowledge, such as multiple choice, true/false, discussion, and matching.

The first “step” has three parts. On Guard contains questions that help the child review topics which have been learned both in the current lesson and in previous lessons. This helps the guardian to always be “on guard” or “on the look-out” for further mischief from the Gremlin. The child will also be asked to use each new vocabulary word in a sentence. Then there will be a chance for the child to practice what is being learned in that chapter. The second “step” will contain some sort of exercise that focuses on the topic of the chapter. Then there will be a more hands-on type of activity, such as sorting books from home into piles, telling a few tall tales, or practicing and comparing jumping distances. Step three brings the child back to the mission manual for another workbook type activity, along with a chance to review that week’s vocabulary. The mission concludes with an “Advanced Guardians Only” assignment which is optional for younger students. This optional section asks the child to use composition skills to answer a question, or even do some extra reading or research. The child has the choice to write or dictate their answers.

At the conclusion of each mission the child will find a Mission Update. The English children thank their enlisted guardians for helping to save the planet, explaining how things are improving thanks to their help. There is also a reminder to stay vigilant for more problems and to continue using their new skills. They also “attach” the solutions to the mission questions.

Additionally, at the end of each unit there are two challenges that are to be completed. These unit tests focus only on information from that unit. These will assess whether a child needs more review before moving on to the next lessons. In order to earn a star for the bookmark a child can only have one answer wrong. If Challenge 1 was completed successfully the child does not need to work on Challenge 2, though I could see it being beneficial to complete both. If the child does poorly on the first challenge it is suggested to review the material before taking the second challenge. Additionally, if a child still doesn’t seem to be comprehending after the review and taking the second challenge there are resources at the Grammar Galaxy website to help with review. The book concludes with two final Nebula level challenges.

I love that this curriculum is presented to the child as an adventure, and that they are made honorary guardians of the galaxy. Not only do they get to play a part in the story, but they get to see how all these aspects of language arts have a real-world application. I thought it was interesting that all these different parts of language arts have their own planet in the galaxy. The English children have to sort out problems on these different planets, such as Vocabulary Planet, Spelling Planet, and Composition Planet, and in different cities on those planets.

There is such creativity in this story, as we see the royal family not only have to solve the current dilemma, but also figure out what the problem is to begin with and what caused it. For example, when fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters started running through their castle they had to figure out that the Gremlin had somehow re-categorized fiction stories as non-fiction before they could assign a mission to be solved. And when everyone kept saying the opposite of what they meant, they realized a policy change by the Thesaurus Office in Synonym City was causing the problem because antonyms were moving in with the synonyms.

I also love that the book begins with the importance of reading and explains how to get meaning out of what is being read. This is quite the comprehensive curriculum as there are so many aspects of language arts being taught. We look at several different aspects of literature such as reading comprehension and story elements. Then we delve into different topics in vocabulary, such as synonyms, antonyms, prefixes and suffixes. We will be learning such things as alphabetizing, syllables, contractions, parts of grammar, and will finish up the book by delving into different aspects of composition such as handwriting and thank-you notes.

This is just a wonderful program and one I highly recommend if you want to make language arts fun for you children. The 2-book Nebula set can be purchased for $60.00.

- Product review by Karen Waide, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018