This year when buying curriculum I was on the hunt for an English curriculum that was easy to use, plus not too terribly expensive. I also wanted it to be solid not only in grammar, but also in writing. There are many great programs out there, but many are just too costly, especially when I have to buy five of them. This year I came across Climbing to Good English and it has exceeded my expectations. It is easy to use, solid and very inexpensive. Five of my children are using it. I love that in the upper grades the teacher’s manual has two grade levels in one book. It makes it so easy to open the manual and read from the same page for two students at one time. It was definitely made for a multilevel classroom. I will warn you it is not flashy, but in my opinion, it is a great option for someone on a tight budget who wants a solid English program.
It also works great with Pathway Readers. You can find samples of Climbing to Good English here.
Cost for teacher edition is around $7 for single grades. The upper level teacher’s manuals include two grades in each book and their cost is around $15. The student books are around $5. Told ya they were inexpensive.
I found the best price for them to be at Rainbow Resource, but you can also find them at childsbooks and climbingtogoodenglish.
Rod and Staff publishers also have a fantastic, reasonably priced english curriculum, but I prefer something my children can write in.
I’m so glad you posted this! Our English program is solid on grammar but weak on writing. Will definitely check this out!
I am looking forward to getting ours in the mail this week! Thanks for the rec.
This review is helping me with my decision. I know this post is 7 years old, but maybe that means you can tell me how it turned out? Do you feel like it gave your children a solid foundation in grammar and writing skills? We also use many CM methods such as oral and written narration and dictation, and lots of living books. I’m looking for something they can use for short but thorough grammar writing lessons.