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writing curriculum to prepare for public high school


lgliser
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We will be doing middle school next year and I go back and forth as to whether we will homeschool for high school or not. We probably won't decide for sure until 8th grade! 

 

So it's hard to think about a long term plan. Right now I'm thinking about writing. I really like Writing and Rhetoric but I love the idea of hopefully doing the whole series. If they go to high school, then we wouldn't do that. 

 

Then I started wondering if maybe there's a better curriculum we should be doing with the thought of public high school in mind.

 

So my question is, is there? What would you do if you knew you'd send your kids to high school and wanted them well prepared?

 

Or... would you just keep doing what is working NOW since you don't know for sure if they'll go to high school?

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I agree with keep doing what you're doing. As long as you're working consistently through the program you should be fine. You could always take a look at the local SOL in your district in the years before high school, to make sure you cover the basis if you feel you need to or at least to give you an idea of what might be important to focus on.

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I've picked up The Writing Revolution for this year and I'm really liking it. It's not exactly a curriculum, though - it's instructions to the teacher on integrating writing into all subjects.

 

Though I gotta say, with the older kiddo (who just started high school this year) we decided not to do ANY writing AT ALL because she had so much stress around the issue from elementary school, and she's still head and shoulders above her classmates. Possibly because we read and talk a lot.

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I’d just keep doing what I was doing. Having seen the local jr high GT writing curriculum I can safely assume just about anything I found at a homeschool store would be better, as long as it wasn’t titled “Creative Writing with Zero Empahsis on Grammar,†in which case we’d break even. But as long as you have a program and work the program consistently you’re likely to be okay.

 

I tend to agree with this. If you want to continue with Writing and Rhetoric that will cover a lot.

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You could check with your local middle school/high school to get a feel for their writing curriculum. Our district uses a very specific format & it’s the same from elementary through high school. They use the PEEL method & only write from scholastic type articles (no creative writing at all). It is very particular & it’s sole purpose is geared toward passing the state test.

 

ETA-My daughter is public high school & this is the only type of writing they do. Next year she’ll be taking ENC 1101 at the CC & I’m so grateful she’ll be moving away from this.

Edited by mytwomonkeys
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I’d just keep doing what I was doing. Having seen the local jr high GT writing curriculum I can safely assume just about anything I found at a homeschool store would be better, as long as it wasn’t titled “Creative Writing with Zero Empahsis on Grammar,†in which case we’d break even. But as long as you have a program and work the program consistently you’re likely to be okay.

 

I am going to disagree here. Our local middle school spends time both on grammar and vocabulary work and tests on it bi weekely.

 

To the OP. I would make sure my child knew how to formulate a thesis and write an argumentative essay. The easiest way to do that is to work through Lively Art of Writing.

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You could check with your local middle school/high school to get a feel for their writing curriculum. Our district uses a very specific format & it’s the same from elementary through high school. They use the PEEL method & only write from scholastic type articles (no creative writing at all). It is very particular & it’s sole purpose is geared toward passing the state test.

 

ETA-My daughter is public high school & this is the only type of writing they do. Next year she’ll be taking ENC 1101 at the CC & I’m so grateful she’ll be moving away from this.

 

There is a lot of this sort of thing where I live as well and also a big focus on Common Core skills (some of which are great). The local acronym is different, I think, but it's the same idea. 

 

TpT is also a pretty good way to see what kids are doing in school, and they reference the standards used to help other teachers know what is covered--you will be able to see the grade level and such just searching things.

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Excellence in Literature, especially with the honors option, is pretty much on-par with the Honros & AP English classes my niece took at our local high school. It starts in 8th grade.

 

Excellence in Writing sells programs that would be good precursors to EIL.

 

If you're looking for a strong grammar program, you could look into Shurley English.

 

I'm not familiar with W&R, though, so it could be just as effective.

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