Writing for 6th grader?

[momtofive]

I'm trying to decide on a writing program for my upcoming 6th grader. He's done HOD in the past, and just started doing written narrations this past year. He absolutely hates this, as he struggles with what to write and how to write it. I'd love a more incremental approach that gives him some building blocks that he can use to grow in his writing skills. In the past we've also done R&S 2, and 3, and then used Winning with Writing this past year, which really turned out to be a bust for this child. This year we'll be doing Sonlight Core D (also with a fourth grade sibling), and I'm not impressed in the writing activities involved there. He needs more instruction. I've looked into WWE, and think this might be younger than I could use for my 6th grader. WWS seems to be above where he's at. IEW looks great, but it seems that they teach writing with only using key word outlines (which is fine), but just makes me wonder about other methods and how they differ. Will one work better than another for a struggling writer? He just feels like he has no direction in his writing, and I just want to give him a clear, well marked path to follow, so he can confidently write! (I apologize for the paragraph form of my questions! For some reason my return key isn't working on the forum toay! ) Thanks so much! :)

[LJPPKGFGSC]

I use, and love, WWS! Other than the difficulty level, are you interested in Writing with Skill? I think that it can be done slowly, or otherwise adapted to the student, if you like SWB's method of teaching writing.

[momtofive]

I do like WWS, but am new to this, so I thought I'd get some advice on these three options and see what might work for him!

 

He is a struggling writer, and hasn't had much experience with writing. We've done informal writing, but nothing much structured. I really need to boost his level of writing proficiency before high school.

[birchbark]

I am doing Understanding Writing with my 6th-grader. UW is written for all grades, and everyone starts at the beginning and goes through at their own pace. It is gentle and incremental in its approach and includes mechanics as well as some grammar. It is not a narration-style program however, if that is what you are looking for. Neither is it creative writing. It begins with descriptive writing, then narrative, and so on. You start with writing sentences, and then paragraphs for quite a while before doing longer compositions. You can see samples here.

 

UW is expensive when buying new, but you can usually find good deals on used ones.