high school planning newbie needing help with Comp/Rhetoric sequence

[greenmamato3]

I have been immersing myself in all the posted topics regarding Language Arts for high school on the High School boards and have reviewed the WTM (not 4th edition because I don't own it) as well as my copy of Teaching the Trivium for guidelines about what to do as I plan my oldest DS's 4 yrs of high school.  And yes, I've read Ruth's epic post  . . . .

My head is swimming.  Please offer help if you can wade through my post!  I'm most thankful for anyone to jump in here and give advice!

 

I hate to be a "needy" mom on here, but I need some shoulders to lean on from those of you who have gone before me and have accumulated invaluable experience and perspective.

 

Here's some background that might help you as you advise.

 

As an elementary and middle school student, he has completed the following:

IEW SWI-A plus some of the Theme-based books

WWE1-4

WWS 1-2

Lively Art of Writing (LAW)

IEW unit VIII of TWSS

MCT: Island, Town, CE,1 ML1, WWW, 4practice, 

R&S Grade 8

Killgallon SCES & SCMS

VCR A

World of Poetry (CAP)

Fallacy Detective

Art of Argument

Discovery of Deduction

 

He is currently enrolled in a Humanities local tutorial class (going into his 3rd year) which teaches cohesively (as one would expect) wonderful literature, challenging presentations/ projects and writing assignments based on the Progym, and deep study of history.  He is a strong student in this class and writes well, thinks well, and loves all of it.  I just don't know that it is enough actual writing to call it an entire credit hour.  Thus . . . my search for something to just fill out and ensure everything is in place.

 

How to navigate the high school years' English/Lit/Speech credits without overloading him . . . . (we'll have 2 others after him . . . just fyi)

 

On my bookshelf (and/or written in my accumulated notes) for the high school years are the following resources:

Elements of Style

On Writing Well

On Speaking Well

A Rulebook for Arguments + Wkbk

Intermediate Logic (Nance)

Hands on Essays

New Oxford Guide to Writing

The Elements of Rhetoric

VCR level D & E

Figures of Speech (Quinn)

How to Read Lit Like a Prof

They Say, I Say

How to Read a Book

Aristotle Rhetoric

 

On my radar but I have no idea whether they are needed or just duplicates / redundancies of what I own are the following:

LTOW (it seems he would be better suited to level 2 but you're supposed to start at level 1 :( )

IEW SICC C or Theme Based level C or SWI-C --> i get conflicting opinions about which would be best given our trail up to this point

IEW WTTW

MCT ML3 & WWW2

MP's CC <-- i think he could jump in at book 6 and continue through 8, even though I know you're supposed to go from ground up

Rhetoric Alive 1

Writing Strands 7 plus Writing Exposition

Write Foundation level 2 or 3

EIW level 10

 

What is my problem, then, you ask?

Sequencing this and making it not too robust but just enough to fill out the need for High School level writing instruction/English credits in light of what he has done and what he will need to be able to do.  We are just on the brink of 9th grade studies (we school on and off all year long).   What order could I use for the books sitting on my self?  WHat would be missing, or would I need nothing from the radar list?

 

{Oh, and we really cannot do online classes because we're on satellite internet}

 

I talked with the gal from LTOW (circe) and she recommended he go quickly through LTOW1 and then roll into LTOW2 but this seems so expensive.  And I cannot tell really whether that is the right kind of writing instruction for him, or whether that is unnecessary.  It seems that LTOW is a thinking program, not a writing skills program.  I need something that is just bare bones practice in writing but can be flexible to fit in with the sometimes hefty loads of writing he does in his Humanities class.  

 

I need something that is nuts and bolts, ongoing, not overwhelming, exposes him to all the different types of essay writing he needs to be able to do.   

 

Also, in which order should I do the rhetoric books I currently own?  Also, how do I assign credit hours for the Rhetoric studies.  I am so confused because WTM talks about Rhetoric being the replacement for Logic . . . but the Rulebook for Arguments and the New Oxford Guide are more like nuts and bolts to writing out his arguments, whereas the Intermediate Logic curriculum is all about mastering the propositions.  (Would I do Intermediate Logic prior to Rulebook for Arguments or concurrently?)  Do I give an elective credit for Intermediate Logic?   What do I call it?  I know I call it "Speech" when we do a Rhetoric class for elective credit, right?

 

I am drawn to the official-ness of the Progym model (as it is called out in LTOW, CC, CAP), but came to it late in my schooling with him, so he hasn't had official instruction in that.  DD2 and DS3 are getting that with CAP's Wr&Rh.  We have generally always been a mesh of WTM and Charlotte Mason . . . . I'm beginning to see the fruit of all of it in DS1. . . .but I want to finish strong during these last four years, bringing to completion what I began with such fervor at the beginning.  

 

 

[almondbutterandjelly]

If he does plenty of writing already, then all you really need to do is look at where he needs improvement or what he needs to know for college that he's not yet getting.

 

It might help you to look at the 9th grade planning thread.

 

I can tell you that for my dd, who is by no means a person who enjoys writing but is okay at it, we will be doing (for 11th grade), Sentence Composing for High School because she needs to work on making her sentences more elaborate, followed by Jensen's Format Writing.

 

For 9th grade, we used Seton's Composition book.  For 10th grade, we used Abeka Grammar & Composition.

 

YMMV.  

[lizlatorre]

SWB has a talk available at WTM press in MP3 formatabout Writing forthe Highschool years, where she goes into what to do in a very clear fashion in terms of the sequence. You might check that out.