Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 Review

I have been using a brand new product recently released - Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 with my daughter the last few weeks. I have always wanted to explore Hake Publishing for my homeschool grammar program in the past but, I just never took the plunge.

I received a physical product: Student Textbook, Writing Workbook, and the Teacher Guide. All of the books are a softcover book with perforated pages and 3 holes punched for adding to a 3 ring folder.

Teacher Guide

A suggested schedule for 146 days is included that includes both the Student Textbook, test,  and the Writing Workbook. 

The Introduction section is very helpful getting started and breaks down the components clearly. All your answers for each lesson, test, additional practice pages are included in the Teacher Guide. Also the test and practice pages for the student is in the back of the book. They recommend you teach the lesson in order as they really do build upon one another. It also stresses to keep a consistent schedule for your student.

The lessons are scripted for you and are highlighted in bold. Each lesson states that they average around 40-45 minutes in length.  I like that each step has an estimated time frame it should take to help with planning. So far we have spent around 30 minutes on each lesson and the lessons may get longer the further we get into the lessons. Underneath the time frame it says optional or required activity. I found that the optional activity didn’t really need my attention as it was more of a classroom activity. I really liked that as it helped me move along in the lessons without any hiccups. 

Student Text

This is a consumable workbook. There are 111 lessons in all. It’s in black and white and a few illustrations in the workbook.

 The format is basically the same for each lesson. Grammar Meeting, Vocabulary, Read the Grammar Lesson, Practice Problems, and Review Set. The first test starts on Day 11 and after that it’s every 5th day which is included in the Student Text.

Writing Workbook

This is also a consumable workbook with a total of 21 writing lessons. The Writing Workbook is scheduled for the same day you do the test. This includes writing paragraphs, filling in a short answer,  number the sentences in order, and other writing activities that go along with the lessons in the Student Textbook. 

They recommend a 3 ring binders, notebook, and encourage your student to make a writing journal.

How did I use Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 in my homeschool?

I used this with my 15 year old 9^th grader with special needs. She is typically around a 3^rd to 4^th grade level in language arts. She varies in topics as some areas she has mastered and would be closer to her grade. My daughter regresses for unknown reasons and I find I need to teach the grammar skills she had previously mastered often with her. We typically did 3-4 days a week for summer school. In the fall we will do Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 five days in a week.

A typical lesson looks like this: The first part is the “Grammar Meeting” which is highlighted in both the teacher and student book by a box at the top of the lesson.  The “Grammar Meeting”   basically is a question for your student to think about and answer the question orally. An example from lesson 21 is, “What kind of person would make a good firefighter?” The intent is to enhance listening skills and to model correct grammar verbally which should help them to practice those skills when they need to put it in print. Also included in the box are vocabulary words. The vocabulary words are Latin roots/prefixes and some Greek words in this portion. The “Grammar Meeting” box is indicated as optional. I personally felt that it was a good overview to start with. I really liked the vocabulary portions taught in the box area.

The Grammar Lesson portion I would read out loud to Bug. It has several examples on the topic you are learning about. Then we would go over the Practice Problems together. This is a variety of circle the correct word, fill in the blank, and so on.

The Review Set is reviewing other concepts you learned in previous lessons. This portion we spent the longest amount of time on. I really liked how each lesson went over previously learned concepts. I found this very beneficial to review the concepts.

I followed the schedule and did the test and Writing Workbook when it was assigned. 

Final Thoughts:

I really liked Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3. I was impressed  with this homeschool language arts curriculum. I felt this was a perfect amount of work. The lessons are concise and to the point. I didn’t think it had an overboard of questions or review in each lesson. Trust me this is crucial to me with a special needs daughter who tends to get overwhelmed. It's an open and go curriculum. I could look over the lesson the night or even the morning before and it required no prep on my end. 

My daughter had a hard time writing in the provided space in both books. She has hard time writing due to arthritis and she is not able to physically write smaller. She got a bit frustrated in that aspect of the curriculum. The space felt smaller than some other programs I have used. This may not be an issue for many students. 

Overall, my daughter told me that she enjoyed using this homeschool grammar program. We will continue with this next year for her 9^th grade year.

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew have been using Hake/Saxon Grammar and Writing 3 in their homeschool. See what they think. Don't forget to stop by Hake Publishing and see their other programs.