Grammar & Writing 8th Grade Complete Homeschool Kit 2nd Ed.

The good: These books are VERY thorough with traditional grammar. I also like the 2-4 vocabulary woods in each new section (based on Latin roots). I like the repetitive Saxon style.

The bad: After using these books for a couple of weeks, I decided to switch to another more current grammar book. It does not go into as much depth as these books, BUT, I just couldn't get with the very out-dated references and religious references. The grammar book seems to assume that your kid is reading certain novels at the same time, so it uses certain names over and over in the lessons. Kids today do not want examples talking about muskets and religious references or "Federalist" under-pinnings to grammar examples. Later in the book there are statements about "Satan" (I assume from a book that the writer assumes your kid is reading).

In addition, some of the depth of grammar is good. Some of it is just too much for a 14 yr old to care about and it is a big turn OFF. The author needs to strike a balance between substance and minutiae. At times it veered into grammatical minutiae such that it was hard for me (the parent/teacher with a law degree) to keep teaching certain lessons... there just wasn't any way that the minutiae was necessary.

I would have liked to keep using this book, but we had to move on to something that was more current in style even if it was less intense in substance. And also, we wanted SECULAR. I never considered that a grammar book would not be secular. Live and learn.

I love that it is systematically written and easy to use for any student!

Great Homeschool Kit, lessons are easy to follow, comprehensive with extra practice. Journal writing is very helpful, and dictations are given to practice grammar and spelling. It took me a few days to figure out how everything works, but after the first week, everything was clear. We do lot of schooling on-line, so this is a nice change, using the text book. :)

This is a great set, My kids have learned a lot by using this, I just wish, this was not the last set in the series.

I started using Grammar and Writing when my son was in the 6th grade. He's in the 8th now and doing quite well. I also have a 5th grader who is using Grammar and Writing for the first time. He too is grasping all of the material. Before we used Grammar and Writing, we used a very expensive curriculum that many classical programs use. My now 8th grader just never caught on. But when we started Grammar and Writing it's like the switch turned on and it's been on ever since. Grammar and Writing is a very thorough cure that covers all bases. I highly recommend it. The only thing I would like to see improvement on is the binding of the big grammar workbook. A couple of my pages at the beginning of the book were not bound they came right out of the book as I was turning the pages. Other than that, excellent curriculum.

No pictures, no razzle-dazzle, but the grammar lessons are thorough, and presented in small, self-contained bits, and the authors don't talk down to the student. A college student could pick up even the fourth-grade version and not feel that it was too childish. This is the most autonomous subject we have. My boys can sit themselves down at 8:00 a.m. and know what lesson they're on, read the instructions, and complete the exercise without my assistance. The teacher's guide makes correcting the work super simple too.