Key to Blue Workbook

Key to the Blue Workbook provides clear, thoroughly-explained answers to all exercises in the Blue Workbook, one of four non-sequential books in the Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind series. These workbooks offer detailed, well-designed exercises in the correct use of English grammar.

The Key, along with the accompanying Blue Workbook and the Core Instructor Text, forms the complete course Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind. This programme guides students from basic definitions, such as "A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea," through to advanced sentence structure and analysis, equipping them with all the grammar skills needed to write and speak with eloquence and confidence.

This innovative programme combines the three essential elements of language learning: understanding and memorizing rules (prescriptive teaching), repeated exposure to examples of how those rules are used (descriptive instruction), and practice using those rules in exercises and in writing (practical experience). Parents and teachers engage with the dialogue, rules, and examples in the Core Instructor Text annually, while students follow along in the Workbook. This repetition solidifies the concepts, definitions, and examples in the student's mind.

There are four Workbooks, one for each year, each containing the same rules and examples but with four completely different sets of exercises and assignments. This approach allows students to develop a wide-ranging knowledge of how the rules and examples are applied in writing. Each Key to the Workbooks not only provides answers but also explanations for the parent/instructor, and guidance on when the answers might be ambiguous, as they often are in English.

All of the rules covered, along with repeated examples for each, are compiled for ongoing reference in the Comprehensive Handbook of Rules (soon to be renamed as The Grammar Guidebook). Every step of the sentence diagramming process is gathered for reference, along with illustrations, in The Diagramming Dictionary. These will become the student's indispensable guide to writing through high school, into college, and beyond.

Step-by-step instruction takes students from the most basic concepts to advanced grammatical elements such as modal and hortative verbs and the multiple functions of noun clauses. Extensive diagramming exercises reinforce the rules and aid technical and visual learners in effectively understanding and using the English language. Each step of the diagramming process is illustrated and thoroughly explained to the student. Examples and exercises are drawn from great works of literature, as well as from well-written nonfiction texts in science, mathematics, and the social sciences. Regular review is built into each year of work.

The Key accompanies one of four non-sequential workbooks, each containing new exercises that allow students to practise and apply the grammar principles under study.