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Evan-Moor Grammar & Punctuation Curriculum Review


Grammar & Punctuation is a grammar workbook for elementary students published by Evan-Moor. I’ve used it to teach homeschool grammar with three of my kids, most recently for 1st, 3rd, and 6th grades. Each time I’ve used it, we’ve used it for the entire school year and completed the workbook.

FYI, if you’re interested in more curriculum reviews, check out my review page. You may also be interested in our past curriculum choices.

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Grammar & Punctuation Review

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How does it work?

Each Grammar & Punctuation grade-level covers 25 Rules to Learn that are grade-level appropriate. Each rule is covered in a rule chart that contains a written explanation of the rule and several examples for each aspect of the rule.

The rule chart page for each rule is followed by three student practice pages. The student practice pages generally increase in difficulty. For example, when learning about different types of sentences, the first practice page might be an exercise in identifying different types of sentences and the next practice page might ask the student to write examples of each type of sentence.

What should you buy?

On the Evan-Moor website, you can purchase either a print version or an e-book version of Grammar & Punctuation. I don’t believe that there’s a separate teacher’s manual or student book. The pages are reproducible, so you can make copies of the pages in the print book to assemble your student’s work, or remove the answer key from the book and allow them to use it as a workbook.

How much time does it take?

Teacher Prep Time

If you choose to use Grammar & Punctuation, I recommend you do the following before the beginning of the school year:

  • Determine how you will use this curriculum. For example, the way I’ve chosen to use it is to sit with each student separately on Monday to introduce the new rule and do the first practice page with them, then allow them to do the other two practice pages independently on subsequent days. In this way, my students each do grammar three days a week. You could also have a four days a week schedule by introducing the new rule on one day (maybe using a hands-on activity such as one of the ones I have listed below), then allowing your students to work on the practice pages independently on subsequent days.
  • If you purchase the e-book, you’ll need to print & assemble the student pages into binders, a folder system, or possibly bind them (possibly using a ProClick system).
  • If you plan to use Grammar & Punctuation as a spine because you like the convenience and organization of a workbook but fear that your student may need more hands-on activities to understand concepts, you should research, plan, and assemble as many of those supplemental activities ahead of time. Believe me, doing this work before the school year begins – instead of in the midst of the school year when you’ll be pulled in many directions – will save your bacon! I recommend the following resources for hands-on grammar activities:

Student Time

The amount of time required from your students to complete this curriculum will depend on their grade level and how you actually use these workbooks, but in general:

  • When introducing a grammar rule – About 10 minutes of one-on-one teaching time with parent so that you can introduce the new rule and go over the examples with your student.
  • Each practice page – <20 minutes, maybe much less depending on difficulty and grade-level.

How does Grammar & Punctuation rate?

My rating of Evan-Moor's Grammar & Punctuation Workbook - Written by Experts is 5 stars, Includes Planning Suggestions is 1 star, Teaches How to Use It is 3 stars, Stepwise Learning is 5 stars, and Homeschool Friendly is 3 stars, with an overall rating of 3.5 stars.

My personal (feelings-based) rating of these grammar workbooks is 4 stars, but the rating based on the criteria detailed above comes to about 3.5 stars.

Will Grammar & Punctuation work for your family?

(Based on Learning Preferences and Three D’s I describe in earlier posts.)

Since this is a workbook-based curriculum, I would say that the best fit would be students that have a preferred Learning Method of the Written Word and a Social Setting preference for Independent work, but you could make thoughtful adaptations to your students’ particular preferences/needs.

My Best Tips for Using Grammar & Punctuation

  • If you purchase the e-book and don’t want to print it out yourself, you can have it printed by The Homeschool Printing Company through their website. If you do use this option, I recommend that you have it spiral-bound so that the spiral is on top, allowing the workbook to function like a legal pad. My kids like this option because the spine is never in their way when writing. Also, give yourself plenty of lead time since it might take a month or more for the printing company to get to your order.
  • My recommendation for scheduling is that you cover just one rule a week. This allows you to keep making forward progress while still giving you plenty of wiggle-room.

The Last Thing You Need to Know about Grammar & Punctuation

Even though they are not written for homeschoolers, the Grammar & Punctuation workbooks are homeschool friendly because they are so flexible. You can use them as a supplement to your language arts studies (that should also include spelling and writing). Or use them as the base of your grammar instruction and supplement with other activities to cement the grammar concepts in the minds of your students.

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