whitestavern Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I am moving towards more of a CM approach to homeschooling for the fall. I have a DD9 and a DS6. The one thing I just can't wrap my head around is no writing. It seems CM doesn't really have writing instruction, only written narration, which doesn't start until age 10. DD is pretty good at narration, but I still think I'd like to her to do some kind of writing curriculum. We did WT1 this past year and she was okay with it, but it did get a little boring towards the end of the year (for both of us) because every week was the same thing. Is there a writing program out there that gives instruction; ie how to write a paragraph, how to outline, etc. in a fairly gentle approach w/short lessons? Even something w/varied assignments, like a little creative writing thrown in there? I'd like something she can do fairly independently. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline4kids Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I have ordered Story Starters by Karen Andreola which is supposed to help guide writing past initial written narrations. It is creative writing, but is intended to get kids over the hump of not wanting to write by providing a motivating format. Once they take off I will worry about style and form. For your children I would suggest a dictation program to get them confident getting words on paper. Dictation has made writing much easier for my 7 and 9 year olds. Two programs I would suggest are Spelling Wisdom and Dictation Day by Day (free through Google books). Also, if you are not doing much copy work I would suggest that as well. I use a timer for copywork. "Start here and give me your very best copying and penmanship until the bell dings..."---it usually amounts to five minutes or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evergreen Academy Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 Both Primary Language Lessons and English for the Thoughtful Child (we've used book 2) are CM friendly and include narration, dictation and copywork exercises as well as introductory grammar. Gentle and sweet but no real writing instruction. Intermediate Language Lessons (grades 4-6) does walk a child through writing an outline, and writing from an outline. There aren't a lot of instructions but I could see what it was striving for, and it worked for my son. I think Lost Classics has produced a teacher's guide that would give more instruction. The book itself didn't give clues like "topic sentence," etc, but I don't think you'd find that in a CM style resource (though maybe in the guide, I don't know). I second the dictation idea (Writing With Ease looks like a wonderful product for this!). Another thing we've tried with great success is to have the child give me their narration orally, and I write it down. Then they use that as copywork/handwriting over the course of the week, and eventually their handwriting skills catch up to their thoughts and they can write it out themselves around age 10. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling grades 1, 3, 3 and 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamace Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 Anyone use Sonlight's LAs? Is their copywork/dictation similar to these programs you mentioned? I'm new to CM and SL. Trying to learn more about writing too for my 6 yo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evergreen Academy Posted July 1, 2009 Share Posted July 1, 2009 I have used Sonlight LA, K, 5 and 6. It does use dictation but the language is really not taught in a CM sort of way - more of Ruth Beechick's style. While I do like her teaching a lot, Sonlight LA wasn't a good fit for us. There is a lot of writing required, but not a lot of instruction IMO. Blessings, Aimee mom to 6 great kids ages 6-18, schooling grades 1, 3, 3 and 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted July 1, 2009 Author Share Posted July 1, 2009 I have ordered Story Starters by Karen Andreola which is supposed to help guide writing past initial written narrations. It is creative writing, but is intended to get kids over the hump of not wanting to write by providing a motivating format. Once they take off I will worry about style and form. For your children I would suggest a dictation program to get them confident getting words on paper. Dictation has made writing much easier for my 7 and 9 year olds. Two programs I would suggest are Spelling Wisdom and Dictation Day by Day (free through Google books). Also, if you are not doing much copy work I would suggest that as well. I use a timer for copywork. "Start here and give me your very best copying and penmanship until the bell dings..."---it usually amounts to five minutes or so. Thank you for the suggestion of Spelling Wisdom. We have done dictation, but nothing as varied and interesting as this. I did some searching on the boards and I like how people incorporate grammar and vocabulary as they go over the selection with their child. I think we've found a new spelling program!! I am also looking into the other programs you mentioned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.