Do you have high school students who need a thorough and high level grammar instruction and review? If you’re looking for a straight-forward traditional English grammar and writing curriculum, then check out our review of BJU Press Homeschool English Curriculum.
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English 10 & English 11 Curriculum
We’ve used many different curriculums and approaches to teach English grammar and writing through the years. For two of my high schoolers, I wanted to transition to a traditional textbook approach from a reputable company for at least one of their high school English credits.
Since they are doing literature related to their history studies, I knew I didn’t need a literature component. So, we went with Writing & Grammar 10 Subject Kit (4th edition) and Writing & Grammar 11 Subject Kit (2nd edition) from BJU Press Homeschool.
For each grade level, we received the student work text, the teacher’s edition, and the tests and tests answer key packets.
These subject kits cost about $105 each.
If you want video lessons, you can opt for the video courses instead. You can choose online or DVD format. Depending on whether you want textbooks and tests included, this option will cost between $279-299.
Here’s what this curriculum covers.
Scope & Sequence
English 10 covers these grammar topics:
- Parts of Speech
- Sentences
- Phrases
- Clauses
- Agreement
- Verb Use
- Pronoun Reference & Use
- Adverb & Adjective Use
- Capitalization & Punctuation
English 10 writing assignments include:
- persuasive speech
- an editorial
- an eyewitness report
- a research essay
- a cause-and-effect essay
- short story
- poetry
- webpage design
The last four chapters are entirely about the writing process and then library and study skills. So once your student has had a thorough review of grammar, he can put it to practical use through these in-depth assignments.
English 11 covers these grammar topics:
- parts of speech
- sentence patterns
- verbal phrases
- clauses
- usage
- mechanics
- tenses
- perfect verbals
- adverbial nouns
The English 11 writing assignments include:
- research paper
- literary analysis
- narrative poem
- analytical essay
- interview
- in-class essay
- a letter to the editor
Highlights of BJU Press English
In general, even though this curriculum is written for a traditional classroom, your homeschooled students can still read the text and teach themselves.
Another benefit of using resources from BJU Press is that sentences are not random. They include worth-while material and stories to read. Some are about missionaries or important people in history.
This curriculum includes grammar instruction and review along with writing assignments for each chapter.
Full disclosure, we opted not to use the writing assignments. My high schoolers were working more heavily on writing last year, so I wanted to use this curriculum mainly for the grammar instruction. However, if you want to cover both content areas (grammar and writing) in one year, then you will like the way BJU Press English combines both.
The Teacher’s Edition includes a Lesson Plan Overview section which details the pages, topics, and support materials to use each day. It would definitely make my high schoolers more able to complete this independently if they had this overview in their book! You might want to give them access to it so they know what is required each day.
Of course, BJU Press curriculum is written from a Christian worldview. So that means you will find Scripture verses along with stories of missionaries and other Christian examples included in the curriculum. As you can see from the lesson plan overview above, there are also extensive Biblical Integrations that can be made throughout the course.
Recommendations
If you want to prepare your high schoolers with a college-prep level of grammar instruction, then BJU Press Homeschool will deliver. All of their curriculum that we have used (in multiple subject areas) is definitely challenging and will prepare your students well, especially if they intend to pursue a college degree.
You will want to add in some literature component for a well-rounded English credit. However, you could also focus on the writing and grammar in this curriculum for a full year, then switch over to a complete literature focus (probably with writing as well) the next year.
One aspect I noticed about the writing assignments in each chapter is that an independent and self-motivated student might be able to complete them satisfactorily by themselves.
However, this curriculum is written for traditional classroom use, and since there is mainly a general rather than specific list of steps for the assignment, some students will need more help from mom.
Finally, you will probably need to be more hands-on for the writing sections. The writing rubrics are included in the Teacher’s Toolkit CD included with the Teacher’s Edition. And the Teacher’s Edition does include specific ways to help your student through the writing assignments.
All in all, BJU Press English Curriculum is a solid choice for the high school years. You can find specific curriculum for each grade level. It’s a high quality, college-prep level resource, just like you’ve come to expect from BJU Press.
Here are the resources mentioned in this BJU Press English Review:
Writing & Grammar 11 Subject Kit (2nd edition)
Writing & Grammar 10 Subject Kit (4th edition)
Homeschool Planet offers made-for-you lesson plans to use with BJU Press Writing & Grammar curriculum. You can find them by clicking the button below.
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