I have a son who will be in 8th grade next year. We have yet to have a formal writing (essay,paragraph etc.) program. I haven't found a curriculum that I was totally thrilled with and I didn't really feel that he was ready for something like that as of yet. I'm not considering sending him back to school so we have been working at OUR own pace. My question is this, If I were to venture out on my own, not using a curriculum, what areas in writing should I begin with?? Should I start at the basics?? Should I start at differant types of writing such as creative,descriptive?? He is VERY lazy and will only do the minimum when it comes to any sort of writing so it makes it a little hard, but I feel that it's time to push him forward a bit. I am considering "Easy Writing" for him to use next year. If you use or have used this curriculum I would like to know what you thought of it. Thanks Angela
Angela, I don't know about Easy Writing curriculum. But I would certainly start at the basics with good sentence writing. Make sure he can write a good sentence (simple, compound, and complex) without creating fragments and run-ons. Then expand into five sentence paragraphs. Get that MASTERED before moving on to essays.
I gotta recommend Writing Strands too. Written to the student, holds thier hand through the process. We've REALLY enjoyed it this year. It's helped my daughter come out of her writing shell and have more confidence. It's really low pressure, humorous, and fun (if you can say that about writing!)
I forgot I had Writing Strands. I'll get it out and look at it again. It's been awhile.I have a Scholastic book from their $$ sale a few years ago about paragraph writing. I'll dig that out too and go through it over the summer. I did go ahead and order Easy Writing. We use Easy Grammar so I thought it might be a good fit. Even if I decide not to use it for him, I have 3 others coming up behind him that may be able to use it. Thanks for your help. Angela
My son is currently in 8th grade. He does not like writing. Actually, he HATES writing. My son is also a bit lazy. He will do as little as possible especially when it came to writing. We tried Writing Strands and it did not work. There was conflict when I tried teaching him writing. Because of these problems, I felt some sort of curriculum/structure guide was necessary for him to work through. This year he has been working through Jump In: A Workbook for Reluctant and Eager Writers by Sharon Watson. This has been working for a couple of reasons. One, it is written to the student and tells him exactly what to do. Two, I am not telling him what to do. I still need to stay on top of each lesson but this has been the best year for us regarding writing.
wow Sue May .... those are exactly the reasons that Writing strands worked for us. He is doing it himself and it speaks to him not me speaking to him. All I do is say, "did you do your writitng strands?" I am glad you found one that works for you though!
I have to second what Sue May said about Apologia's "Jump In" curriculum. I used it this year with my 12 -now 13 year old son. He really enjoys it for the same reasons - it is written to the student -it has some interesting exercises and he likes it so it makes writing fun not a chore. Jane
http://www.christianbook.com/jump-i...&netp_id=461232&event=ESRCN&view=details#curr this is the teachers edition, not sure why its way cheaper than the students but looking that up next on same page It looks like its lists of what to write about. thats all?
http://www.christianbook.com/jump-i...-watson/9781932012743/pd/201274?event=CF#curr student book has way more than the teacher book, how do you grade it? it looks interesting, much like the step by step process and questions with writing strands 7
Does Writing Strands focus only on writing? While Ems has completed writing assignments in the past, I am really looking for something that focuses specifically on writing. I don't care for the mix of writing, along with grammar, and so on.
It amazes me how different each child is. When we have one child figured out then comes another child that is so different. My first child loves writing, talking, listening. I never taught her how to write and she is very good at it. My second, well, does not like writing, talking, or listening. Writing has been a struggle. TeacherMom, you asked how to grade Jump In. It has been a year since I read the intro to the program so the way I do it may be different than what they suggest. This is how I do it. In the back of the book is a list/guide. I check to see if my son has followed the guide. For example, for persuasive writing there is a Don't List as in don't insult. There is also a generic list/guide as in does each sentence begin with a capital letter. The parent's manual has a section titled, "How Do I Give a Grade?" and sample evaluations.
I just read all the info about Jump In from the link. I noticed on the back cover it mentions using it for a 14 year old. My ds will be 9th grade next year and hates--no, loathes--writing. Anyone think it would work for high school writing credit? My state standards say they need to have one LA class that is only on writing.
thanks SUe, I like the writing strands but may have ds look at this as well and help decide his writing next year. He took off with writting strands and last time I told him to doit he asked if he coudl just do his own thing. SO he did a story, couple pages long for a Lego Contest, i was very impressed with the way he was going with his story and now he has to rewrite it and make it a bit longer so he can submit it. The Jump in really looks to me as if it works for older kids brook so maybe so!
Ok, This curriculum looks WONDERFUL!!! I'm going to see if I can find a used copy of it. Is it a must to have the teachers book? Thanks Angela
Mommix3, I am not sure if you mean Jump-In when you say, "this curriculum". If you do, yes I think the teacher's book is worth it. It is fairly cheap and does offer some good ideas and answers to some of the questions. I do not use the teacher's book daily or even weekly but am glad I have it. If your son does not know how to write 300 word paper on a number of different topics as in his opinion, persuasion, biography, book report, etc. then I definintely do think it can count as a high school credit.
Yes, I was referring to the Jump In! curriculum. Maybe I need to purchase it for me LOL! Pennywise learning has the bundle on sale for $30 if anyone is interested. Angela
We also used Writing Strands, and like it. However, it focuses mainly on creative writing, for the most part. When it comes to essays (compare-contrast, persuasive, expository, research papers), it has very little. I've been putting together my own writing curriculum this year focusing on this type of writing. Usually, either my kids get to pick their topics (which helps with motivation), or it is tied to other topics they are studying..usually history or science or literature. Carol
