mommy4ever Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 DS15 is a great kid, drives me crazy some days, knows what buttons to push most :lol: Welcome to the world of teens. As we are learning more and more about the school system, with dd11 who has just gotten home from Catholic school.... and some serious 'lackage' (as ds would say). He is in a really good school, I have to say it is fabulous, but they can't make up for the substandard curriculum the gov't dictates. In a couple years he graduates. He is an honor student. He works HARD to get those grades, and in most areas, he is taking courses in high school now that were college level in 'the day'. Although lots of drivel has replaced some very good solid foundation work in the current curriculum along the years. In about a year and a half to 2 years he will have to write 2 major essays that will affect 50% of his grade. I have found out dd11 didn't hasn't been taught grammar beyond noun, verb, adverb and adjective, and barely at that. We have had lots of frustration in starting homeschooling trying to see where she is really at.... to find out dd13 hasn't learned these things either... and tonight ds15 told me he hasn't either. Yet his final marks of his 12 years of schooling will be based on his ability to WRITE. It's not just content, it is QUALITY. SO, I have approx 18-24 months to help him learn the art of writing well, and how to write an essay. Let me tell you this when the 2 youngest(dd6 and dd11) get to be 17, they will write a wicked essay, at least in comparison their ps peers. And I want to give him as much opportunity to improve on this! What curriculum should I consider using? We have approx 10 of those months where he is NOT in school, he'll be in an apprenticeship program working, so schooling after work with no other homework will be tremendously successful and keep his brain working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted May 6, 2010 Share Posted May 6, 2010 For grammar, I would recommend Rod and Staff. Excellent, thorough, no frills. For writing: if he needs help on structure and format, actually getting his ideas onto paper in a coherent form, then I would recommend starting with IEW-C intensive. I'm not crazy about using this program year after year, but it is excellent at teaching a student the form and structure of writing. Another good, brief book for basic essay writing is The Lively Art of Writing, by Lucille Payne. I found the writing prompts uninspiring, but it wasn't difficult coming up with our own. It's a small book, but packed with good info about essay writing, coming up with a thesis, developing the body. Two of my favorite books for style: Elements of Style, Strunk & White and On Writing Well, William Zinnzer (can't remember that spelling right now!). We've also used two Rhetoric texts in high school, but these are the books that I would consider foundational. HTH, Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy4ever Posted May 7, 2010 Author Share Posted May 7, 2010 Oh the irony! Yesterday ds15 came home very upset. He failed his first assignment ever. Mostly due to grammar, he did lose a few points on content. But the irony of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted May 7, 2010 Share Posted May 7, 2010 [I]Analytical Grammar is a good basic review of all grammar Lively Art of Writing[/i] IEW- intensive writing Whichever curriculum you use the important things is that he practices writing essay consistently. I would recommend at least 3 essays a week. The more he practices, getting feedback from you, the better he will become at writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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