Grammar Galaxy: Homeschool Kit Overview

^{Disclaimer: We received this product for review purposes. As always, we are not required to write a positive review. All opinions are honest and my own. This post may contain affiliated links.}

We have been given the opportunity to review the secular Fun to Learn: Grammar Galaxy Nova: Volume 6 and Grammar Galaxy Red Star: Volume 4. If you are looking for a customizable, relaxed, vocabulary-enriched, story-based language arts program, this will most probably fit your family’s style.

Details:

Grade/Age: Red Star Volume 4 is geared towards students in 5+ grade and Nova Volume 6 is geared towards students in middle school, 7th Grade+. However, this can definitely be used in lower or upper grades depending on your kid.

The units covered:

Literacy Concepts
Vocabulary
Spelling Strategies
Grammar
Composition and Public Speaking

Parent Involvement: Minimal. The chapters can be read independently and the missions (workbook assignments) can be done independently.

Schedule/Lessons: The curriculum is broken down into 36 weekly lessons with chapters and corresponding missions (assignments) laid out without the constrictions of an explicit set schedule. In other words, there is no “Day 1: Read Text, Day 2: Narration & Discuss Concept, Text Day 3: Define Vocabulary Words…….”; you make up the schedule based on your child’s needs and home routine.

Costs: There are two options, digital ($50) and print ($60). In my opinion and especially if you have multiple kids, the digital option is very budget friendly …… AND! AND! AND! the text and images are in gray. No worrying about using up all the color ink. Additionally, artistic kids (like my daughter), can easily color in those images to make the pages more visually appealing for them.

Just wanted to point out, that there are eight levels, from 1st to 8th grade; each at $50 or $60. If you choose to use all the levels, you will be spending a total of $400 – $480, not including sales. But most homeschoolers, take curriculum buying, year by year.

How It Works

Grammar Galaxy: Adventures in Language Arts takes you on an adventure in a fictional universe on plant English and its’ galaxies. With the help of Kirk, Luke, and Ellen (royal siblings) and, at times, with the guidance of their parents, you protect the galaxies from The Gremlin, who are set to destroy the English language through grammatical errors. Muahhahahaha!!!

As was mentioned above, there are 36 concepts split into 36 weeks with corresponding missions. Each mission has three steps, (1) review of both previous and current lessons, (2) vocabulary, and (3) lesson application with sentence or composition WRITING. Through these missions, you practice the concepts and correct the treacherous acts by The Gremlins, and then all is good in the Galaxies.

Since there is no day-to-day explicit lesson schedule, you create the lesson schedule. Further, there are some activities that puts an emphasis on public speaking. For example, using their outline or final composition paper, the kids are asked to read it back to an audience (us).

Additionally, by the end of the curriculum, your child would have learned over 100+ vocabulary words.

Our Experience

My daughter, a rising 4th grader, generally prefers the story-style lessons as opposed to her older brother, who functions better with a set schedule and straight-to-the-point lessons. In my opinion, the benefit of Grammar Galaxy is I do have the ability and the wiggle room to make it fit for both personalities and build on it by adding flashcards or supplement resources while following the original concept sequence.

Also, want to add that Grammar Galaxy teaches concepts through mastery. So, what was covered in prior years, won’t be covered again. If I used the lessons as originally intended and didn’t add supplements, it took us about 1 hour a week to complete. I personally would build on the spelling strategies because MY kids need more help in spelling.

In case you want to know at which level your kid should start, there is a placement quiz on Grammar Galaxy’s site.