Write at Home or Home2Teach writing programs?

[cricket1178]

I'm looking for online writing programs for my dc for next fall (7th grade). Which one does the hive like?

[Shelly in VA]

bump

[Langhaven]

I have only had experience with Write at home. We used it in conjunction with our curriculum (Tapestry of Grace) for an 8th and 9th grader and had a writing coach to evaluate papers they wrote. I thought it was excellent practice and that it corresponded so closely to what we were doing was a plus. I used it to see if I was on track in my evaluation technique. I learned alot about grading on a rubric and that I was probably too hard of a grader for the writing level. ;) It was good to have the pressure of performing for another evaluator, having deadlines from someone else and getting outside feedback. I will be using it this coming year with my 5th grader. He is a reluctant writer. I think it will be motivational and fun for him to do it this way.

 

Pam

[MerryAtHope]

I haven't used those, but also check out www.bravewriter.com They offer several writing classes online.

 

Merry :-)

[Shelly in VA]

Do you have a website for Write at Home? Call me crazy, but my google search isn't finding a writing program. :confused: I think that means I'm not thinking clearly, and I need to call it a day!

 

Shelly

[Carmen_and_Company]

Well, my eldest, graduating ds absolutely LOVED Home2teach courses. He hates writing and I felt having an outside party teaching composition during 10th grade would be best. Taz had to begin with the paragraphing course. He was deflated to say the least, but Eileen made a writer out of my kid. Home2teach is strict on format & content, and your child will always have corrections to make.

 

Each class meets on-line for an hour to discuss that week's lesson. The instructor makes sure that each child participates and is not just sitting in front of the computer watching everyone else respond. Each day of the week a specific assignment is due with the composition due usually on Thursday by X time. The student makes said corrections, and the final copy is due the next day.

 

Taz learned MLA format for writing papers, proper headings, self-editing, how to expand his writing, and so much more.

 

I plan to begin the cycle with Storm & Blaze when they enter 7th grade, as I want for them to be prepared for the the Home2Teach honors courses offered for high school.

 

Our experience with Bravewriter was horrid. Taz took the SAT essay prep course, and felt there was not much direction, and really did not know what was expected of him. He felt the course was not even half as instructive as Home2teach's basic paragraph writing course. We wasted our money and have not looked at the Bravewriter board or materials ever since.

[Tina in WA]

We use Home2Teach as well. I love it and DD loves it. The teachers (Joy and Elizabeth) my dd had/have are wonderful, patience, helpful with revisions, etc. They really take the time to work with the kids. I have really seen Jess improve with her writing. And it carries over into so may other things/subjects she has to do. It's be a great class.

 

Another thing to keep in mind, is the learning style of your child. My soon to be 6th grade son wouldn't not like an online class where it was all typed bases learning/instruction. Maybe as he gets older, but I don't see us using it anytime soon. It works wonderful for my dd (7th) though. :)

 

~Tina

 

PS: Another bonus is that I have been learning a little right along with her. I will look at her paper and think something is wrong or write and when the revisions come back I see the correct way to for the sentence, etc. It is WONDERFUL! :D

[Langhaven]

Here's the link for Write at Home!

 

http://writeathome.com/

 

Pam

[Chris in VA]

We've only done Write@Home's Essay course, but ds feels it was a good class. I think it was very light--only two papers, and independent reading from The Lively Art of Writing. But he does have more confidence, the feedback was great, and the format suited us. I'm going to have him take a semester course with them in the fall. Wish I had started him in 9th grade.

[Andie]

Well, my eldest, graduating ds absolutely LOVED Home2teach courses. He hates writing and I felt having an outside party teaching composition during 10th grade would be best. Taz had to begin with the paragraphing course. He was deflated to say the least, but Eileen made a writer out of my kid. Home2teach is strict on format & content, and your child will always have corrections to make.

 

Each class meets on-line for an hour to discuss that week's lesson. The instructor makes sure that each child participates and is not just sitting in front of the computer watching everyone else respond. Each day of the week a specific assignment is due with the composition due usually on Thursday by X time. The student makes said corrections, and the final copy is due the next day.

 

Taz learned MLA format for writing papers, proper headings, self-editing, how to expand his writing, and so much more.

 

 

 

 

I have two kids using Home2Teach presently. I can't compare the classes because we've never used Write @ Home, but I'm very pleased with H2T. The H2T classes, as Carmen said, require participation, the assignments are challenging but not overwhelming, and while the teachers maintain high standards, they are very encouraging and positive with edits and correction. Having had two children go through the same courses, now, I have to add that I'm quite impressed with the individualized instruction. Like any company or "school", it's not perfect, but I'm very pleased with my girls' progress and I'm very relieved to have support in teaching writing.

[cricket1178]

Thanks for all the responses. Seems to be evenly divided between the 2. I think I'll do more research on both of them before making my final decision. It may come down to which one I can get into. :D This writing thing is so hard!:tongue_smilie:

[Lisawa]

I'm looking for online writing programs for my dc for next fall (7th grade). Which one does the hive like?

 

The 2 are very different in approach. Can I ask what you are looking for in an on line class??

 

They are both worth the $$ in my opinion... we have used both....

 

Write at home fit my son to a T. They gave him an assignment, he read up on how to accomplish this assignment in a book called lively writing, and then did the assignment. Uploaded it to his student page.... then they corrected it and included notes for him to go over.... he corrected it, uploaded it again and then he was given a final grade.

 

home2teach has 1 hour class each week, and then the child works through the assignment over the week turning it in a few times each week.... the teacher corrects each one and they send in any revisions made. The younger classes do not get grades or scores from what I remember, but if they turn 5 of the 6 assignments in they get a certificate at the end.

 

My son preferred write at home to home2teach because he is very independent and just wants the assignment and then get it done.

 

Home2 teach was great because it was more "teaching" to the child and not as independent, but a child would not need the parent to help really. Unless the child is struggling. Otherwise going over the lesson in the one hour class then completing the assignments with the schedule, your child can do it on their own if you need them too.

 

If your child needs more instruction, and accountability, home2teach would be a good fit. :)

 

HTH~

[Robin in Tx]

HEre's a link to a post I made describing our experience with Write at Home. HTH!

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=149598#poststop

[Sandra in FL]

class. She doesn't think that she's learned much. The link in the previous post echoes my sentiments about the course. There was not much instruction and most of the corrections were of the variety "great paragraph" and "nice sentence." I thought that the course was very light and not worth the money. Maybe the workshops are different. We were much more pleased with writeguide in combination with Writing Strands (email reply from writing consultant every weekday including spelling corrections).

 

We'll be trying Home2Teach Paragraph class in the summer. I think there'll be more instruction in that class.

 

HTH,

Sandra

[Robin in Tx]

There was not much instruction and most of the corrections were of the variety "great paragraph" and "nice sentence."

 

Yeppers.

 

Also, a few times we got comments like, "This is too long, shorten it to two pages." Not much guidance in that regard.

 

Also, the last project we did was a biographical report. The first lesson, dd was instructed to pick someone to write about, and then jot down interesting facts to include in her report. She was specifically instructed to write these as a list... no outline or anything... just a list of things.

 

Next, she was told to draft her paper from this list. Huh? What happened to organizing the notes first? No instruction at all in that regard. And, believe it or not, the feedback that we got on the first draft was not about how well her paper was written or organized... it was about what my dd had chosen to write about. Dd had chosen William Penn, and focused on establishing the colony... the teacher (who happens to live across the pond, btw) thought that Penn's relationship with his father should have been covered more thoroughly. Her criticism was about content, and didn't have a thing to do with skills used for developing papers like this. It would be okay to give comments about how to make a paper more interesting once it is in proper order, but really, after the first draft on Penn, I decided the class wasn't the best use of our time.