Extra English Education
Are you concerned that your teenager doesn’t read enough books?
Are you worried that their writing isn’t as good as it should be?
Reading plays a major role in writing, helping children absorb grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and paragraph patterns. It also helps them recognise written words correctly and automatically, improving their spelling.
But according to the National Literacy Trust, fewer than 3 in 10 young people read daily in 2023. And in 2021, an estimated 7 million people had “very poor” literacy skills. Poor literacy can lead to limited job prospects, affecting 16.6% of working age adults in the UK.
So what can you do if your child is unwilling to sit down and start reading books from cover to cover? How else are they going to learn the fundamental rules of written grammar?
Don’t worry — help is at hand!
What is Grammar Builder?
Grammar Builder is an online course that teaches the essentials of written English — areas where young people can fall behind if they don’t read regularly. Students receive a 74-page e-book and an online answer form to fill out. There is no time limit to complete the course.
There are 5 units, each worth 200 marks:
- Unit 1: Parts of speech. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and conjunctions — and all their subcategories. These are the basics of written English which students need to know.
- Unit 2: Verb tenses. All the 12 main verb tenses of the past, present and future: simple past, past continuous, present perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous, simple present, present continuous, simple future, future continuous, future perfect and future perfect continuous. Students often confuse and/or mix up tenses, making their writing unclear.
- Unit 3: Punctuation. All the 12 main punctuation marks: full stop, question mark, exclamation mark, comma, semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, ellipsis, brackets, apostrophe and speech marks. Students frequently misuse punctuation — or forget it to use it altogether — which can make their writing hard to understand.
- Unit 4: Capital letters and spelling. When and when not to use capital letters: 26 rules. Spelling: single and double consonants with long and short vowel sounds and at the beginning of words; 17 silent letters of the alphabet; 34 common homophones with tips to tell them apart; 25 commonly misspelled words with tips on how to remember their correct spellings. Capital letter and spelling mistakes stand out like a sore thumb, but with these tips and rules they can be easily remedied.
- Unit 5: Review. 2 tests of 100 marks each, reviewing all the content of Units 1 – 4. This final unit reviews and reinforces what students have learned throughout the course, so they can apply it to their writing and make immediate improvements.
Who is Grammar Builder for?
Grammar Builder is primarily aimed at students aged 10 to 18 who need to fill any gaps in their knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling. It will help them improve the quality of their writing and get higher grades in assessments, exams and coursework.
However, because the ability to write grammatically correct English is a life skill, Grammar Builder can be helpful to anyone wishing to invest in themselves and further their careers.
Why should I choose Grammar Builder?
- Active learning. Unlike many online grammar courses which consist of video lessons followed by a quiz limited to MCQs (multiple choice questions), Grammar Builder requires the student to complete exercises at multiple stages in each unit. This way students learn by doing rather than just watching.
- A systematic and thorough approach. Grammar Builder follows a teach-and-test format throughout Units 1 – 4. Each grammar point comes with explanations and examples, followed by exercises to immediately reinforce learning.
- A variety of exercises. Instead of relying on MCQs, Grammar Builder has a wider range of exercises which challenges students to think more for themselves, therefore maximising learning.
- Personalised marking. Unlike most courses which are marked by computers because they only use MCQs, Grammar Builder is marked by hand because of the variety of exercises which require independent thought.
- A higher volume of content. The course is out of 1,000 marks, with an average of around 15 exercises per unit (78 in total). This is much higher than other courses, and ensures that students learn as much as possible.
- Dedicated support in real time. I host a weekly Zoom meeting for students to ask me anything they are not sure about. If you have a question at any other time then you can contact me by email.
- Feedback. After your answers have been assessed, they will be returned to you so you can see where you made any mistakes and learn from them. If you have any questions about these, then you can either e-mail me or ask me during the weekly Zoom meeting.
- Certificate of completion. After you finish the course, you will receive a digital certificate showing your final score. This is provided free of charge, unlike most grammar courses which charge an additional fee.
How much is Grammar Builder?
Grammar Builder is £60, which is roughly the cost of a 60-minute in-person lesson. However, the course takes around 60-120 hours to complete, and contains more information than could possibly be taught in a lesson — and it includes the certificate of completion along with feedback.