Our Mother Tongue: A Guide to English Grammar

Our Mother Tongue by Nancy Wilson (Canon Press) is a one-volume guide to English grammar designed for late-elementary and junior-high students, typically grades 6 through 9. Rather than spreading grammar across many consumable workbooks, it surveys the major concepts of English grammar in a single, readable text, making it a popular choice for classical and Charlotte Mason homeschoolers who want depth without busywork.

The book teaches the eight parts of speech, sentence structure, phrases and clauses, and the mechanics of punctuation, and it leans heavily on the traditional discipline of sentence diagramming. Diagramming trains students to see the architecture of a sentence at a glance, helping them analyze structure quickly and write with greater clarity and precision. Example sentences are drawn from Scripture and from great English authors, so students absorb good style and memorable content while they practice grammar.

Our Mother Tongue is organized into clear lessons with exercises, and a separate answer key is available for parents. Many families use it as a single-year intensive or stretch it across two years for younger students, pairing it with a writing program for a complete language-arts course. Because the instruction is contained in the text itself, it works well for independent or parent-led study and requires little teacher preparation.

Homeschoolers value the program for its rigor, its classical orientation, and its emphasis on understanding grammar as a tool for clear thinking and good writing rather than as isolated rules. It is frequently recommended as a foundation for older students before they move on to formal composition, rhetoric, or advanced grammar study.