When you buy the teacher's book for Fix It (old or new) the student book comes free as a pdf download. You may download it and print it as many times as you want for use with your own kids or kids you teach in a co-op class. That is what makes it "non consumable." Of course if you decided not to bother with the printing you can purchase a printed student book that you would indeed consume, but you still have access to the downloads. That access stays with the book. You can't send the files to anyone else, but if you sell your teacher's book used, the ability to access the student books goes with it.

What grade is the first book aimed at? I assume the are meant to be used consecutively after that? The first book can be started with a 3rd or 4th grader, but it can also be used with a much older student. We do recommend that everyone start with Book 1 to be sure that there are no holes. There are advanced concepts presented in every book, so they can be used with older students. Older kids could do books 1 and 2 in one year by doubling up the passages/day. There are only 6 books, so you would not use them consecutively starting in grade 3. Books 1 and 2 can be done in the elementary years, 3 and 4 in the middle school years, and 5 and 6 in the high school years. Thus you would do some, take a break, and then do more. In the "off" years, you can continue to reinforce what had been learned as you edit their writing. Review at point of need. This is also a great use of the older book. The "Tom Sawyer" and the "King and the Discommodious Pea" stories were not included in the new Fix It, so those can be used for reinforcement as desired. All the others were rewritten to work with the new format, so even if you did them in the past, they are worth doing again.

So Fix-It is not stand alone. One must first learn grammar through read alouds and Latin (or another grammar program). Fix-It is used as an application of prior grammar knowledge. Well, yes, you do need to need to develop an inherent understanding of grammar through just learning to speak English. This is talking about language patterns in general, not the understanding of how they work together. It is why first graders know that "Me go to the store" is wrong. They can't tell you why, but they have heard enough good English (hopefully!) to get a gist of what is right and what is wrong. It is also why that in order to learn another language you must get out and speak it with native speakers. The foreign language courses just don't cut it at getting the inherent "ear" down: you have to speak it too. Fix It is a stand alone grammar program because it does start at the beginning and teach parts of speech, phrases, clauses, and the punctuation rules associated with all of these. The first books work on the vocabulary of grammar while the middle and upper books get into the analytical process of grammar. It is all taught at point of need (to correctly edit a sentence), thus it really sticks. The students get a handle on not only how to fix things, but also why.

Remember that Fix It is not just editing practice. It is a complete grammar program. Also, it is non consumable. You are purchasing the teacher's book, which gives you unlimited permission to print student books for your own family and for students in your co-op classes. (Each teacher should have their own book.) Thus, you can even sell it used. Regarding Andrew Pudewa's take on grammar, it isn't that he does not like the teaching of grammar. It is that he dislikes the ineffective teaching of grammar. In Andrew's talk "But, but, but….what about grammar?" he identifies four paradoxes about teaching and learning about English grammar. The first is that you do not need to know much grammar to be a good writer--just ask professional writers. In "Why Johnny Can't Write," Linden indicates that there is only one thing less effective than using "free writing" to teach writing. It is an over-reliance on grammar. Interestingly she says the two best ways to teach writing are text reconstruction and sentence combining. The second paradox is that kids can do years of grammar workbooks and then come to writing class and not be able to find a verb in their writing. I had a girl who has done years of Shirley grammar, yet in our writing class she asks "what is an adjective again?" It is the lack of applied use of the grammar The third paradox is that grammar is an imperfect science. Math is great--it hasn't changed since the time of Euclid. Grammar is changing all the time, and different grammar teachers have different ideas about the application of grammar. The reason for this is English is a mesh of so many languages, which is why learning Latin or some other foreign language is really the best way to learn English grammar. The final paradox is that although the grammar stage is the first stage in a classical education, it is not the place to teach analytic grammar because analytic grammar is a logic stage exercise. There are three stages to leaning grammar: inherent grammar (basic language patterns and vocabulary), applied grammar (the ability to edit writing), analytic grammar (knowledge of the vocabulary and the reasons behind all the rules). Poetry memorization and listening to books read aloud is the best way to learn inherent grammar. Andrew pushes teaching Latin to really learn the rest of grammar, and Fix It covers the next two stages: editing and analytic grammar. Over the course of the six books, students incrementally learn all the rules related to the required edits--painlessly and effectively. HTH!

I thought this FAQ about the new Fix It from the IEW website might be helpful. -Jill Question: How does Fix It! Grammar compare to a traditional grammar program. Does it include diagramming? Answer: Traditional grammar programs systematically teach concepts about grammar, punctuation, and usage with sentences artificially contrived to fit the rules. The theory behind such approaches is that after learning the rules, students will be able to apply them to their own writing. Often these programs teach more concepts than are need-to-know in terms of punctuation, correct grammar, or performance on the ACT or SAT, but they cover the rules well. Diagramming is a method for helping students grasp the underlying structure of sentences, which is critical for punctuating sentences correctly but which seems to work with only about half the population. Most diagramming programs also teach more than is truly helpful to students learning grammar. Fix It! Grammar emerged from a teacher's frustration with traditional approaches. Like many teachers, Pamela White (who earned her Master's Degree and A.B.D. in English from Vanderbilt University) recognized that students using traditional grammar programs may learn the rules well but seem to have a disconnect in applying them. The more that grammar is rooted in the writing experience, the better it sticks. The ultimate goal of teaching grammar should be to train students to be able to edit their own writing effectively. When a side benefit is improved performance on the SAT or ACT, so much the better. Fix It! Grammar (third edition) is a complete grammar program for these goals that truly matter, but it teaches students in the context of writing and through editing rather than through exercises focusing on specific rules. The early books in Fix It! Grammar begin with marking parts of speech and then identifying phrases (mainly prepositional phrases), main clauses, and dependent clauses. This is better than diagramming because it focuses on the structural parts of sentences that matter most and most affect punctuation rather than getting students bogged down in labeling the parts of sentences that rarely become punctuation hurdles. Gradually, the Fix It! Grammar stories incorporate usage, grammar, and punctuation concepts, taught by asking students to correct the mistakes in passages and then discuss with their teacher the reasons for corrections. Early stories have advanced concepts which can be used with stronger students and which pave the way for concepts in later stories. The six books, each lasting a full year, contain some instruction at the start of each week's lesson as well as added instruction and tips to teachers to use as needed. All six stories use natural sentences--rather than ones artificially contrived to fit an exercise--that closely mimic the kinds of errors in student writing, so students get repeated practice looking for errors in sentences (the same methods achievement tests use), along with the challenge of needing to explain the why's behind fixes. Since the sentences have the normal complexity of real writing, they also deal with the same issues any writer faces in editing his or her own work.

Actually, the new Fix It is a complete, stand-alone grammar program. No need to supplement it at all.

Fix It was completely revised this year, so it is a different program than what was presented in the video. The basic concept is the same: take a sentence a day of a story and correct it, but the new edition does much more. Students learn to mark parts of speech, clauses, and phrases. This leads them to understand why punctuation is used as it is. The passages also deal with common usage errors, homophones, misspellings, and more. The teacher's notes supplies a dialog that you can have with your student to ensure they understand the reasons why--no guessing! Lots of review is built in so it supports a mastery learning approach. It only takes 15 minutes/day. Fix It does support IEW's sentence opener numbers, but they are clearly laid out for easy reference, and the numbering system is great because many of the comma rules are built into the sentence patterns. Thus, it becomes a handy way to identify what to do. There are sample pages on the IEW website: www.iew.com/fix that you can take a look at. The nice thing with IEW is that if you purchase from them, you get a lifetime guarantee. You can always return it used for a full refund. So, no buying mistakes there!

Windows does not explore world views explicitly (nothing like Starting Points). There is one or maybe two lessons on "world view" that could be skipped. The main thing is to explore getting to know the author's point of view by examining their writing; that is all. The author, Lesha Myers is a Christian who taught at a Christian school. However, she is not your typical Christian author in that she includes works in Windows that some parents have not been happy about. For example, the first story is "The Most Dangerous Game" about a man who ends up being hunted by another man. That story is recommended in the AP literature lists and it is excellent, but it certainly isn't "Christian." Lesha does encourage students to engage with the themes but does not recommend any particular conclusion. As a Christian, I can't really say whether a secular teacher would be comfortable teaching Windows, but I did not find it overly Christian. Lesha does not proselytize in her books. If anything she leans toward shocking Christians out of their comfort zones. I found her work refreshing and a delight to teach. My students came away with a much greater understanding of how to handle literature. Even the boys enjoyed it, and that is saying something! HTH. Jill Pike

"I tried to teach my children to write as invisibly as they could. We worked on clear wording, content, and organization. Sometimes it is appropriate to write in one's own voice. The two I taught to write learned to do that without any effort on my part and I didn't tamper with it. After we finished Writing Strands, we only worked on invisible writing. I am not in a position to give advice like Andrew's (what is his last name?) as their parent/teacher. It would immediately make my children question the entire foundation of their education, which was to learn." I was referring to Andrew Pudewa of Excellence in Writing. Invisible writing is fine for expository where you are to provide unbiased information on a topic, but it is only one aspect of writing. There is also narrative, motivational, persuasive, and argumentative, to name a few. Moreover, writing is only one part of the language arts, which include reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It is the art of communicating thought to each other which allows us to enter what Adler called "The Great Conversation." Education is more than just input (grammar stage). It is in rhetoric that learning comes to fruition. In writing and speaking, people end up developing their voice. Voice is simply the way that your thoughts are communicated to others. It can be adjusted to meet a specific audience, but it should reflect the person speaking or writing. It is much like the expression that a musician will give to a piece of music. I recently listened to two recordings of Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring." I was amazed at how the same piece came out in different ways when interpreted by different conductors. Writing is no different. I can assign the exact same prompt using the exact same source text and get ten completely different essays. You can still have your own voice while following another's choice of stylistic techniques. My daughter's expository professor was a pill--he told the class on day 1 that he never gave A's in his courses. (Half the class promptly dropped the course!) However, my daughter listened carefully for what the prof wanted. She did some searching for any published work of his (came up empty handed), so used his syllabus and what he taught in class as a guide. My daughter's paper still had her voice, but followed all the professor's style preferences. The result? An almost perfect score on her first paper, and a comment from the professor during a meeting, "You are writing like a graduate student. There is not much more I can teach you." Espionage paid off. (OK, it wasn't really espionage, but it sure was fun!) Anyway, take it for what it was meant for: a bit of advice to give kids courage as they move forward into the college world. You can get an A on any essay if you do just a little extra homework and play it right. It really is an exciting game. :)

Well, since this topic started with one of my quotes (which is really one of Andrews), I thought I would throw in my clarification. Of course, Andrew gave that advice in fun, and there are times that it can work and times it might not, but the point is not to parrot the professor; the point is to write to your audience. Having graduated 5 and helped quite a few students with their college writing, I can confidently say that college professors have their preferences. Most of them assign a paper by providing a syllabus with very specific parameters for the writing. My students learned to take that syllabus and create a checklist for what they should and should not do in a paper. Additionally, some profs have pet peeves about writing. I knew one who was very allergic to -ly adverbs. He did not mention that on the syllabus, but discussed it in class, so it behooved students to pay attention, even if their own writing "voice" prefers -ly words. My daughter's expository professor made it very clear in class that he hated topic/clinchers, so she made sure she did not use them overtly. He also did not want ANY opinion in an expository essay, not even a decoration to give it a hint of fun. So when Andrew recommended that kids check out their professor's writing (or syllabus) and make themselves a checklist is quite valid. College students should listen closely to their professors and produce the work that they desire, not the work that a student thinks they should like. This kind of discipline will help them in their adult life as they seek to serve their boss or customer in the way that they would like to be served. Students will still have their own "voice," but the message will be in a style appropriate for the one who asked for the writing in the first place.

I LOVE the Picture This materials!! I used it one year as we read through Genesis to 2nd Kings. The kids STILL remember all that we read because it helped them get all the details organized in their mind. We used it for 1st through 9th grade, and it was great. Jill

Hi Andrea, Author of PAL here--thought I would give you more information to help you with your decision. Remember, IEW is dedicated to teacher training. That is why the TWSS (Teaching Writing: Structure and Style) is our core program. Everything else is supplementary to that. Teaching writing is an art, and there are many, many things to attend to as you teach over the years. The cost covers not only the program, but also the support through the forum and free webinars and a lifetime guarantee so that you will never have buyer's remorse. There is even a very low cost lost or damaged DVD replacement, so you never have to worry about your materials. Fortunately, there are many ways to get IEW teacher's training without having to buy the TWSS. Check with your homeschool group; many have it in their library for loan. Or check with a friend who might be willing to lend it. Better, invite some friends to go in a group purchase. Each member buys their own TWSS notebook ($35) and then watch the thing together (great accountability!). Or, buy it, sell it used, and consider the difference a rental fee. I have been homeschooling for 20 years, and I can't tell you how much the TWSS has given me--not only for teaching writing but for teaching everything! I have watched it all the way through at least 3 times in the last 10 years, and STILL learn something new each time through. In any case, for your 3rd grader, any of the level A materials would be great. The SWI A is my favorite because I love having Andrew teach my kids. The new Bible Heroes is also excellent and includes games and grammar, so it is a perfect thing after PAL. All Things Fun has more hand-holding than the Fairy Tales or Geography based, so those three would be your best bet. Blessings, Jill Pike

Hi, Amy, I thought you did a lovely job with your practicum. Unit 3 follows the story sequence chart. You are supposed to have three paragraphs: characters/setting, plot or problem, climax/resolution. Within those parameters is a lot of freedom. i like how you set the stage with your characters at the beginning. The problem was gently laid out. Although the climax/resolution wasn't a cliff hanger, it didn't need to be. I like what you did with the story. The imagery was great. Kuddos! Blessings, Jill