Opinions on "Jump In" for writing 7th grade?

[Mosaicmind]

I really can't afford another $100 for a writing program like Write Shop, Brave Writer, or CW. All of these are this much or almost this much when you figure in tax and s/h. I have looked at Jump In for writing for my my 7th grade ds and I like the price especially, but I also don't want to spend $30 on something that isn't going to work. Tell me what your experience has been if you have used it or looked at it.

[chubbyhugs]

Dd used it in 8th grade, and we will continue to use it in 9th this fall because dd14 does not like to write. It is written to middle school age, and gently helps the kid see that writing is not a mystery. I like it because there is no preparation time involved for me, speaks directly to the student, and is concise. It breaks down the writing steps in small chunks that dd can handle. It covers pre-writing, opinion, persuasion, exposition (biography, book report, newspaper article, how-to, compare and contrast), description, narration, and poetry. We haven't used all the sections yet, because up to this time dd mainly needed pre-writing, opinion and compare & contrast. It has met dd's needs.

[MerryAtHope]

We also used it last year and will continue it this year. Really good program, and I like that it breaks assignments down into bite-sized chunks. Did you know that on Apologia's website, you can see the whole first chapter as a sample? You might go read that to help you decide. HTH! Merry :-)

[Free Indeed]

I also like it. We didn't end up using it though because ds did not like it. We may try it again in the future. We ended up going with and loving IEW. I only mention it because we bought the $10 over view dvd and with the helps on the yhoo group it has worked wonderfully! Just wanted to share.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We have not started it, but I have it and we are starting this year for my dd who is going into 7th grade. From looking at the program I am VERY excited to start it! It looks to be a very solid program and written for the student to understand!

[Negin]

We started using Jump In, and although we're taking a bit of a break finishing up some other programs, we really do love it. :) In fact, I appreciate your post since it's reminding me to perhaps return to Jump In sooner than planned. I miss this program.

When researching it, I came up with these notes:

 

For 5th-8th grades, junior high, or even reluctant high school student

Appealing to reluctant writers

Open-and-go format

Workbook style

Student-led – instructions are simple enough for student to read on own

Very little teaching required other than answering a few questions and checking work

The student can work very independently and do each of the skill areas on his own

The parent just coaches them through writing their assignments

When you get to the actual writing assignment, you can, if you need to, take longer than the author suggests. You can have the student work on 1-2 paragraphs a day and then you can work on revision together. That way you can ask him questions like "So what is the main point of your paragraph?" and "What is another way you could say that so it would be clearer to your reader?"

Assignments are short and not overwhelming

Very easy to use, one assignment a day or however long you want to use it

Incremental approach - very step-by-step and very methodical

Student learns a little each day by doing a "skill"

Breaking down into steps – easy to use

Covers all types of writing – including essays and research papers

There is a lot of leeway as far as what to write about

Covers several genres of writing - A large part of the book teaches persuasive and expository writing. The remaining quarter focuses on different types of creative writing. Of all the different programs, Jump In seems to teach the greatest variety of writing skills.

Has enough material for 2-3 years if you include the "Writing Plunges" in the Teacher's book. After that, it could be used as a reference and you could use different topics for the different formats.

[mom31257]

I have a child who likes to write, until it's an assignment. We used Jump In over a year and a half. I will say that I think it gets the job done, and she complained MUCH less than the prior assignments. She did get to attend an outside writing class during part of that same time, so I can't say that it was all Jump In, but I do think it is a great program. I plan to use it with my ds when he gets to middle school.