Finished R&S writing, now what?

[Stacie in UT]

My son and I have just finished a very successful writing adventure. We spent two years on this adventure. I was wondering if you ladies would be willing to help guide us on to the next step.:bigear:

 

Son is now 15 and will be pursuing many of the regular 10th grade level course work. My son has worked diligently and done very well. He is tired of the R&S format and requested a change. The following is what we've done.

 

8th grade:

level 4 of WWE

R&S English 6 writing lessons

Outlining

 

9th grade:

R&S English 7 writing lessons

Outlining

 

The options I have available for 10th grade are:

 

Writing Strands 5,6,7, or Exposition

Wordsmith

Wordsmith Craftsman

Writing the Essay from Analytical Grammar

 

 

I had originally thought that we would use WS 5 & 6 followed by Writing the Essay. After going through both levels of WS in detail, writing up the class plan for the year, and considering the amount of work involved I am concerned. We are going to have to work hard and furious for the year to accomplish it all. Besides that, I think he might have covered all the material in the WS 5&6 books already, but I'm not sure. It's a bit hard to flesh out the exact stuff being taught in WS for me.

 

I used parts of the Wordsmith series with my older two sons. Both enjoy writing now. They used it pretty much on their own. The course looks kind of fun to me. After R&S for two years fun looks very appealing to me.

 

So, what do you think? WS or Wordsmith? If WS, which books this year to be followed by Writing the Essay? Would I need Writing the Essay? OR perhaps Wordsmith followed by Writing the Essay followed by Wordsmith Craftsman?

 

One additional question I'd like to ask, how many have used WS7 and Exposition? What has your experience been with them? Can you compare them to the Wordsmith Craftsman book?

 

Oh, I've been visiting the WTM boards for 10 years now, if I remember correctly, and I love it here. I always know there is help available here.

 

Thank you :)

Edited August 19, 2010 by Stacie in UT
typo

[Gamom3]

:bigear:

[Pam L in Mid Tenn]

Why not take a few months to assign writing in each subject area? It sounds like you've had plenty of instruction. Maybe it would be good to just practice for a while. You let your son write about something he is really interested in. Don't get too technical in the grading. Grade for grammar, sentence structure, paragraph formation, and logical flow of ideas. You may see that you don't "need" another writing program right now. :)

[Stacie in UT]

Pam, that is a great idea. I think I will take some time to practice all we've learned across the curriculum for a while.

 

My son looked through the options and chose Wordsmith Craftsman.

 

Thank you,