Fix It! Grammar vs Rod and Staff English
The sharpest difference is faith content: Fix It! Grammar is None, Rod and Staff English is Integrated. Five more separate them, which puts real distance between the two.
At a glance
Fix It! Grammar
Grades 3-12
Owners report it suits
Reluctant learnersRod and Staff English
Grades 2-10
Owners report it suits
Advanced/giftedMulti-age familiesBoth are reported to suit Independent workers.
Skip to who fitsWhere they differ
| Attribute | Fix It! Grammar | Rod and Staff English |
|---|---|---|
Rigor
?How demanding the material is versus grade level. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Time commitment
?How long a daily lesson takes the child. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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| Faith content | None | Integrated |
| Approach | Spiral | Mastery |
| Format | Workbook | Textbook |
| Used as | Spine or supplement | Spine |
| Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions. | Reluctant learnersIndependent workers | Advanced/giftedIndependent workersMulti-age families |
| Method | ClassicalIntegrated grammar | TraditionalTraditional grammar |
| Grades | 3-12 | 2-10 |
Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.
Where they match
- Parent involvementboth shared
- Prep loadboth minimal
- Screen timeboth fully offline
- Independenceboth semi-independent
How each one plays by grade
Fix It! Grammar
Grades 3-12
The books build in order, and IEW suggests most students start at Level 3 or below. Level 1 (Nose Tree) assumes no prior grammar.
Rod and Staff English
Grades 2-10
Grades 2-8 are the strongest part of the series and run advanced. High school exists but is thinner and shifts to composition and speech, and the publisher stops at grade 10. Many families start a child one grade below age until they adjust to the format.
Cost
| Cost item | Fix It! Grammar | Rod and Staff English |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19-29/level | $3-35/component |
| Consumable | Partial | Partial |
| Per child / year | ~$29/level combo, less for siblings under the home license | ~$50-65 first year, ~$6-12 for later children reusing the hardbacks |
What parents report
Fix It! Grammar
Consistently praised
- Short, gentle daily lessons
- Applied editing feels realistic, not busywork
- Story passages keep kids interested
- Grammar sticks better than worksheets
- Affordable and close to open-and-go
Reported as challenges
- The teacher's manual isn't fully scripted
- Repetitive for quick students
- Daily copywork load, plain and text-heavy
- The IEW labeling system has a learning curve
Rod and Staff English
Consistently praised
- Hardbound texts are reusable and cheap, so it stretches across a big family
- Grammar coverage is thorough and runs advanced for grade level
- Plain black-and-white pages keep distractible kids focused
- One teacher's manual holds answers, quizzes, and tests
- Mostly open-and-go once you know the routine
Reported as challenges
- The farm and Mennonite illustrations feel dated to some families
- Repetitive and boring if you do every exercise
- Lots of writing that wears out kids with weak handwriting stamina
- It stops at grade 10, so high school is thin
Who Fix It! Grammar fits
Short, applied grammar tied to a story, and the natural companion for families already using IEW writing. Kids who need diagramming, a multisensory approach, or a fast pace with little review should keep looking.
Read the full Fix It! Grammar entry Check price Institute for Excellence in WritingWho Rod and Staff English fits
Rigorous, Scripture-soaked traditional grammar on a budget, best with strong readers and independent upper-grade students. Families wanting color, secular content, or a light daily load should cross it off the list.
Read the full Rod and Staff English entry Check price Rod and Staff PublishersSome links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes how a curriculum is described or scored.
Still deciding?
Fix It! Grammar compared with
Descriptions aggregate what homeschool parents consistently report across public community sources together with each publisher's own materials. Prices and editions change over time. Both entries last reviewed August 2026.