Oak Meadow Lit & Composition

[Pretty in Pink]

Any experience with this curriculum? How much hand-holding is there for the teacher, specifically with regards to evaluating papers?

 

I am trying to decide between continuing on with Write Shop II (which is working quite well for us, incidentally) and covering lit separately with a reading list and lit guides, or using an all-in-one program that combines lit and writing.

 

The thing is that I really NEED a lot of help grading essays. I tend to be overly critical and nitpick and make the process miserable for my child. :P

 

I am open to other suggestions as well. Oak Meadow is just the one secular resource that I tend to refer to for some reason.
 

[Hoot]

I have OM's 9th grade lit. course in front of me and so far we have completed the first book.  I have to admit that, while DS14 was excited when he saw the sample online, I was incredibly disappointed when I actually got it in the mail.  The Teacher's Manual gives about 3 pgs. expository writing instruction and about 2 pgs. explaining how to complete the "Essay Writing" activity at the end of each book.  It gives exactly ZERO help in evaluating said writing.  There are no rubrics or guidelines whatsoever, though I assume that is because it is created to be used with their online classes.  The grammar and poetry that are thrown in are more like a random afterthought. 

 

Each lesson is set up with a couple of chapters to read, several vocabulary words, about a dozen comprehension questions, about 5 critical thinking essay questions, and the occasional extension activity.  At the end of every book is an "Essay Writing" activity wherein the student writes a 3 - 5 page "interpretive essay."  The student is free to choose any topic for his essay, though there are 2 or 3 suggestions listed.

 

The comprehension questions, in my opinion, are pretty simplistic and are things I would maybe just do aloud.  The critical thinking questions are mostly decent, though I think some of them would fall more into "busy work" than anything.  I like the essay writing activity at the end of each book, though there is little direction given and it assumes the student already knows most of what he needs to know about essay writing.  The 2 pgs. of instruction are about as basic as it gets.  As for the "extension" activities, I'm really not overly fond of those because they tend to be cutesy busy-work type activities such as making a collage, reading a group of pages aloud with expression, drawing a map etc.  These are not priorities for us.

 

My final disappointment was the pacing of the program.  I don't see how one can leave 9th grade sane (or prepared) after spending the whole year on 4 novels.  DS and I would both go crazy at spending that long on each book.  Even working the first book at double-pace, DS didn't really have to put in that much effort to complete the work.  To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't even call the selections very good 9th grade material to spend a whole year on.  Our plan is to start the year gently with these books (we should complete them and a few other selections by Christmas) and then move onto much meatier works.  The amount of work expected each week is pretty unbalanced as well.  Some weeks you're doing reading, vocab, comprehension, and critical thinking, while other weeks you're doing a single grammar lesson or reading a couple of poems... and that's it.    

 

Overall, I was definitely disappointed in the OM Intro. to Lit., particularly after seeing how amazing their geography program was for this year.  We definitely won't be bothering with it again next year.  I would say that it is a mediocre program at best, though if you're looking for something simple in order to check a box or just ease your way into the year, this might do the trick. 

[Pretty in Pink]

Okay, I am not looking for a program like what you have described, Contessa. Thank you for the thorough review! I did think that 3-5 books per year seemed like too little, and figured that if we used it we would still supplement with a reading list and a few well-chosen lit guides. I very much want grading rubrics for his essays. OM sounds like a no go for us.

[Hoot]

You're very welcome Pretty in Pink.  I should have mentioned that the teacher's guide does give a short and very general idea of the types of answers you should be looking for in each of the essay answers.  With the interpretive essay, however, you are on your own.  If you like the idea of starting with OM and jumping off into some study guides, you could always find a generalized writing rubric online to grade each essay.  THIS site has a variety of options based on the type of writing.  It might be helpful.