Writing strands. . . It seems people either love this or hate it

[mama26]

I am needing something for my dd who is a junior in high school. She has struggled in writing, so I need something that is concise, to the point, and can be accomplished in a limited time frame. Would Writing Strands be good for that?

 

Anyone have experience with this curriculum pro or con?

 

Thanks

[Carol in Cal.]

For fast remedial work with a struggling writer at the high school level, I would go with IEW (which normally I don't care for) and Jenson's Format Writing. I have used Writing Strands extensively and really like it, but don't think it's suitable for your situation.

[Julie in MN]

I love it, but notnecessarily for a quick fix.

 

For good info on using it in high school, you might do a tag search and/or look for Nan in Mass posts on this board.

 

Id spend some time figuring out what exact weaknesses you want to work on. My older dd needed to use her own words more, and a little IEW did her some good. Whereas my youngest who needs to tone down his own opinions and get more tightly organized would be wasting his time learning IEW techniques. I used MCT materials with him, because they were his type of high standards but still goofy and loose (in teaching, not in expectations).

 

The best thing you could offer, IMHO, would be to have her write a paragraph every day and give her your feedback every day as a reader.

 

 

Julie

[Negin]

We love Apologia Jump In.

[ThisIsTheDay]

I don't have experience with Apologia's Jump In, but I remember being impressed when I saw it.

 

I would also suggest IEW in your case. My 17yodd much prefers the loose structure of Writing Strands, and she's used that for several years. I bought the IEW High School Essay DVD set for her this year, which she found helpful.

 

Fwiw, I think IEW is hands down a better program; it's just not a great fit for my kids.