Hake Grammar and Writing 3 (A REVIEW)

We had the opportunity to try out this Language Arts Curriculum from Hake Publishing, or commonly known in the homeschool world as Saxon. I had no idea that there was also a homeschool Grammar program from this well known Math publisher, and was excited to check it out. We received Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 for this review.

Our physical copies of the Grammar and Writing 3 level included a Teacher Guide, Consumable Textbook, and a Writing Workbook. The books are all softcovered, and about the size of a standard piece 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.

The consumable textbook for the student is laid out in lessons. Each lesson has a specific topic, and the topic is explained at the beginning of the lesson, followed by questions, fill-in-the blanks, matching, etc.. It's a textbook and workbook all in one. When I am considering a new language arts book, I usually mostly want to see some sample pages to see exactly what is covered. On the Hake Publishing website there are sample pages available for all the levels except level 3 (coming soon). Looking at the Level 4 will give a good idea, but I also took some pictures of the inside of our book to give an example of how topic is covered, and what the questions look like.

The beginning of a lesson

The beginning of a later lesson

The "review set" at the end of a lesson

The Teacher Guide is key to making this whole curriculum work. It has a guided script (much like the Saxon Math), and grammar meetings. This is where the ideas or teachings of the lesson are put into play. It is important that a parent or teacher help the child with this part, but there is flexibility. I have found that I don't have to do or read every part if my child/student already understands the concept, and they can do the workbook part on their own. For example, there are many times where the teacher scripted part is talking to a class or several children. I don't always need to talk to my single student in that context so I change it for just him. The "grammar meeting" or question takes a very short time, like as little as 5 minutes, and then they can be on their own answering questions. It also depends on how much discussion takes place. I like that this curriculum allows for talking and discussing before each lesson.

Lesson 1 in Teacher guide.

The Writing Workbook. This book is used on "test" days. It is used about every 5 lessons, sometimes more. It is intended to guide the student through very specific writing lessons as they work through learning proper grammar through the lessons. It starts out very simple with getting to know complete sentences better, then to paragraphs, then to fully writing different writing styles. It has space for all writing exercises to write in the book itself.

Lesson 4 in Writing book.

You might be wondering when to use the writing book! It's in the schedule near the front of the Teacher's Guide. This is a very helpful guide to plan out the schedule for the school year.

The teacher schedule found in the Teacher's Guide.

I am using this with my 5th grade (in the Fall) son who has some catching up to do in the writing area. I felt this was a good place for him to start since it starts out covering just basic sentence structuring. He really likes the grammar meeting, and does well with the question format. I am happy to have discovered this grammar and writing curriculum. I am excited to keep going with him through the other levels because I really like this curriculum! If you want to see what others have to say about Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3, you can click on the banner below.