PathwayReaders.com

Climbing to Good English

Comprehensive Grammar and Writing Skills
Curriculum for Grades 1-8

• Christian values - solid, easy to understand instruction in grammar, research and writing skills without a lot of frills and fluff. Suitable for home educating families and for Christian school classrooms. Written originally for Amish parochial schools.

• Economical - Climbing to Good English packs a lot of value into very inexpensively priced teacher guides and student workbooks. Do not let the low price lead you to believe it is an inferior program - great things can and do come with small price tags! Now that is a refreshing thought, isn't it?!

• Designed for all student abilities - The workbooks fit both slow and fast students. Each page has plenty of work for the average student.

• Equally effective in a single grade or multi-grade situation. - Climbing to Good English (CGE), is different from most others in that it is programmed for use in multi-grade situations.

• 3 to 5 lessons per week - Grades 1-3 each have five lessons per week. Grades 4-8 have three lessons per week. Optional supplemental practice pages are available for use on the other two days, or as practice work for those needing it, as extra work for faster students, or as an end of unit or end of year review.

• These easy-to-use guides/answer keys are a real bargain and major time saver for you - the busy parent or teacher. - Yes, the clear and simple instructions are written in the student workbooks and you can get along without the guide. However, consider this: What is your time worth to you? If you are like most, it is worth a whole lot! The guides suggest ways to present lessons, give ideas for drill and extra work, suggestions for review work, and suggested grading methods. And, most importantly, saves you huge amounts of time and brain fatigue after your busy day by giving you the answers!

• Dual grade teaching guides for grades 5/6 and 7/8 - The publishers have tried to help instructors save time by making it possible to teach two grades simultaneously by combining two grades into each hardbound instruction guide/answer key. Both grades study the same concepts at the same time. However, the sixth and eighth grades are generally on a harder level and often have more work than the fifth and seventh grades. How this can be done is easy to understand if you consider how the skill subjects such as arithmetic, reading, and English are taught. It is very much like building a wall. Each course has the same kind of blocks and mortar, but each is on a higher level than the one before.

• Encourages independent learning - "Doing work independently may mean making a few mistakes, but this trains pupils to think for themselves and is an important part of the learning process." The pupils are expected to help themselves do much of the work independently without much teacher help. The older a pupil becomes, the more he is expected to do this.

• Complete and thorough - Starting with a phonics review and introduction to basic parts of speech and writing skills in grade one, Climbing to Good English takes the student through to advanced language arts skills in grade eight.

• Placement - As Climbing to Good English is very thorough and tends to be advanced, if an older child has not had strong foundations in grammar and writing instruction, seriously consider starting with Level 2 or 3. A third grade student coming out of the school system will usually benefit from a quick run through Level 2 to establish confidence. 4th and 5th grade students often benefit from the strong foundations laid in Level 3. Explain to an older student who is reluctant to start at a lower level than his or her grade level that it is much like learning to play the piano or any other instrument. Even an adult must start with basic, introductory music lessons in order to become a proficient musician. Call us at 519-925-9721 for further information on determining where to start.

In other series, eighth grade is usually just another step in the ladder of formal education, while for Climbing to Good English it involves tying together some loose ends which others deal with farther on. This may mean dropping a few things of doubtful value to make room for those of practical value. However, this should in no way hinder the student who chooses to continue his formal education. In fact, it may help him even more. We have had reports of college/university age students being well prepared for English classes based on the strength of their Climbing to Good English lessons!

Sample lessons are available for viewing on this website. Simply click on the grade you are interested in (see the menu bar), scroll down on the resulting page to the lessons you wish to view, whether that be for Working With Words, Climbing to Good English, or Pathway Readers.