If you don't use a writing curriculum...

[susankenny]

What does that look like? I want to drop our curriculum for my 11 year old reluctant writer. I feel like if they need to learn to write, than simply writing across the curriculum without it being a separate subject makes the most sense.

 

How do I do this though? Please help:001_smile:

 

Thanks,

Susan

[edeemarie]

I haven't started it yet, but once we finish what we are doing for writing now I am going to be using Comprehensive Composition, which basically gives the framework of what needs to be taught for writing but allows you to chose the topics to use. You can usually buy it used for about $10 or less.

[happyWImom]

What are you using now & having problems with?

 

One suggestion is just getting the Writer's Jungle-just the book. When you click on the link, scroll down to the part that says "Description of the Writer's Jungle, A Survival Guide to Writing with Kids". http://www.bravewriter.com/program/home-study-courses/the-writers-jungle/

 

I have the book, and it has helped a lot. We are doing WWE 2, but I don't consider it a writing curriculum. We are more about the narration these days. Dd, who has always been a reluctant writer, just started a journal (I did say it was part of school, but that she was to write about whatever she liked, and should/could illustrate it). She wrote 4 pages her first day, with perfect punctuation, and only one misspelled word! I was thrilled.

[Hunter]

You might like the Fred Lybrandt curriculum.

 

I bought it and stopped using it, without being able to give it a fair review. The author, in an effort to boost sales, began to engage in inconsistent and pushy business practices that made me nervous and uncomfortable. I have a severe trauma background and severely overreact to middle aged white men that crazymake. He didn't do anything WRONG, but I chose to move on to more comfortable pastures.

 

The man has something to say...I think :lol: But I wouldn't know for sure, because I'm a big baby :tongue_smilie:

[LindaOz]

What does that look like? I want to drop our curriculum for my 11 year old reluctant writer. I feel like if they need to learn to write, than simply writing across the curriculum without it being a separate subject makes the most sense. How do I do this though? Please help:001_smile: Thanks, Susan

 

I am not using a writing curriculum for my 10 and 12 year olds. There is some writing in their general English program, and they do some copywork and dictation from Bravewriter's Arrow and sometimes a writing project from The Arrow. Other than that they write for history and science, and I make time during the week for them to write their own thing. We have freewriting on Tuesday and Thursday, and they love it. They both have a chapter book/novel in progress. Actually my 12yo was inspired by a story idea from her English book and took off with that so I've let her just write in the time she would normally do her English book. So now she has her Mon/Wed/Fri story and her Tues/Thurs story, which is pretty funny really ;) .

 

That's how the 'no-writing-curriculum' thing is working here.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

I think the best thing for a reluctant writer is to have him write weekly, It does not have to be formal writing pieces. The goal is to get him comfortable with writing. You could tag team write with him, you write a sentence, he writes one and so on to the end. Give him the beginning and have him finish. Use a picture and have him write what either what happened before, after, or just the story behind the pic. List some questions about a topic and have him answer them in paragraph form. There are endless ideas out there to get him writing. Before he writes, give him a goal...today we are working on more descriptive sentences or we are working on improving your sentence order or punctuation...things like that. Then when you go over the work look for the goal and talk with him about how he met the goal or not...do not discuss the other problems, just correct them. If you notice a common problem in his writing then make that a goal on the next piece. Then have him rewrite. Once his confidence is up you can move to more formal pieces.