If this were your 7th grader, what writing program would you use?

[Kfamily]

If this were your 7th grader, what writing program would you use and if not a program what would your focus on writing look like?

 

1. Does not need help with interesting word choice....thrives on using a thesarus and self-edits with an eye towards "I've already used that verb, now I want a different one and I don't think that adjective is the one I'm looking for..etc" Has a very good, natural writing voice.

 

2. Enjoys literature and poetry and has begun to have opinions in matters of morality and this is beginning to show itself in the writing.

 

3. Has improved greatly in using/referring to the text when writing for nonfiction subjects such as history.

 

4. Needs to work on paragraphing and an eye towards writing something as well as possible the first time. (reducing so many minor mistakes such as spelling and capitalization.

 

5. Needs some direct instruction on the use of commas and probably is ready to learn about colons, semicolons, etc.

 

6. Can rewrite a narrative style model with no difficulty. Is getting better at understanding scene changes and when to paragraph but could use a little more time here.

 

7. Has no real exposure to understanding how to organize a paper into an essay and to write one with a particular style (persuasive, etc.).

 

8. Has shown can answer basic questions such as compare someone to someone else and answer this fairly well but could use some guidance in setting this up too.

 

 

I do plan on adding literary elements to our discussions of literature and with some time and practice with this will add this aspect of writing in as well.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Melissa B]

I will be using Put That in Writing Level 1 this coming school year followed by level 2 in 8th grade. I believe it was recommended to me by 8FillstheHeart. It sounds like it might be a program that would work well for you also.

 

http://www.barrettsbookshelf.com/

[Heather in VA]

Is there a reason you won't just continue into Diogenes? That is where CW really starts to pull away from other programs and teaches students how to create well constructed essays, use of supporting quotes and information, logical arguments etc? Diogenes and Herodotus are really fantastic for the upper level writing skills.

 

Heather

[Kfamily]

Cadam,

I have planned on adding in more WTM elements to our writing. We just moved so I haven't put that into action yet, but I really like her approach to writing for history and literature (especially her plan for the high school years).

 

Melissa B,

I really like the looks of Put That in Writing. I keep going back to it. I love that it skips over some of what dd does not need practice with (such as we are experiencing with CW) but really works with skills that are closer to where she is now.

 

Heather in Va,

I really want to stay with CW. I had planned on it and I believe it will be my best guide in her more advanced writing years. It is so amazing how much dc change over a little amount of time. When we began CW, her writing needed me to place her in Homer (and not even Older Beginners) but in several months time she has really matured (she just turned 13) and it has begun to show in many ways. She has come to love writing, loves Shakespeare and poetry and art. She has gained her footing in how to express herself. So the problem I've having is that she has outgrown Homer in many ways, yet we still have a lot of it left. I don't want to skip it and truthfully she still needs to work on plenty of the skills that is offered by Homer. I do have a plan to adapt Homer such as working on some weeks by doing only the skill exercises and skipping the writing project (combining skills in those weeks with other weeks in the next writing project). Some days this seems like such a long journey...meanwhile I feel like she is ready to learn some new skills. Does that make sense? She enjoys writing in other subjects and her lack of skills prevents us from making more progress there. It is getting really messy!:D

I am also really struggling to make the booklist from CW work with our plans each year. Each year there are books that she should read for CW but that we are not ready to read yet based on our plans for history/literature. CW arranges their books based on what will best illustrates their writing focus for that level. So she would need to read Histories (Herodotus) and The Prince in the same year, yet historically these are not in the same time period. So I keep trying to sort this out too.

[Kfamily]

Any more suggestions...:001_smile:

[Heather in VA]

Well I can help you figure out how to make Diogenes work for you if you want to try that. I hesitated to post more lest I make you feel like I'm trying to talk you into something you don't want. Just let me know if you are interested. I'm not an expert but I do have a dd in Herodotus so I've dealt with the book issue etc.

 

Heather

[Kfamily]

Thank you so much Heather!:001_smile: I sent you a pm.