Writing skills for rising junior

[ssexton]

My son is a sophomore this year, and I've been mulling over where his stands with his writing skills. His grammar is fine, and he has strong vocabulary and reading skills. However, he's having difficulty learning to organize his thoughts and stick to a thesis. He rambles. He contradicts himself. He seems to back into his positions. He has taken literature and composition classes at a local tutorial for the last three years, and while the literature component is solid, I don't think the composition portion has been as helpful. 

 

Can anyone recommend resources to help develop stronger writing organizational skills? I'd love to know about resources that either target that skill specifically or classes (online/video) that emphasize clarity in writing as part of an overall high school English class. We do need something he can jump into as a junior, though. That seems like it might rule out many of the online classical writing classes that progress through the progymnasmata.

 

Thanks!

[Faithr]

I taught the Lost Tools of Writing 1 a year or so ago.  It is very strong on teaching organization.  You might want to check it out.  There is a helpful yahoo group you can join if you get stuck. https://www.circeinstitute.org/lost-tools-writing

 

[teeterbunch]

Your son is a year younger than mine, and exactly where he was a year ago.  We have enlisted the help of a writing mentor from Patrick Henry College.  My take on the problem with my son is that he is resistant to my instruction (specifically developing an outline prior to writing).  That may not be the situation with your son.  The jury is still out on how effective this change has been, but the mentor gives fabulous, spot-on, but encouraging feedback, and my son respects him.  He is a first year law student, so it hasn't been that long since he was writing AP essays, SAT essays, and college admissions essays himself.  These are the things he is helping my son with.  We pay him $48 for every 4 hours he puts in.  I think that's a steal.  Just wanted to let you know of the opportunity.  

 

Ashley

[ssexton]

Thank you both for your replies! I've flirted with Lost Tools of Writing in the past, and I just went to look at it. I see that they have added a video component since the last time I checked. It looks like maybe it can be used alongside whatever else we are doing for literature? I wonder if I could incorporate it into the literature course he's been taking at tutorial--especially since they only seem to write two papers a semester. 

 

Ashley, we have the same problem! He's been very resistant to writing an outline prior to writing. I am sure an outline would help him tremendously.  Do you think your tutor would be open to taking on additional students? 

 

I appreciate your ideas!

[teeterbunch]

Shannon,

 

I'm not sure how that works.  Here is a link so you can learn more.  https://www.phc.edu/writing.php If they say you can request a specific mentor, then I will happily give you the name of ours.  My suspicion is that they are all good, however, our mentor has experience tutoring kids for the SAT, so that makes him an especially good fit for us.  I didn't think to request that type of background, but maybe you can.  Just a happy coincidence for us.

 

BTW...we have also outsourced with BraveWriter.  They, too, are terrific, but I think my son feels more of a connection to this young man.  They have similar interests (ie. attending law school) and so he has more "cred", I guess. : )

 

Ashley

[Faithr]

Yes, you most definitely can use LToW with your literature.  That is what we did.  LToL is brilliant in its simplicity.  You ask a 'should' question about one of the characters.  The sample that LToW uses is Should Edmund have followed the White Witch.  You can apply this to any piece of literature or really even anything!  Once you come up with your 'should' or 'ought' question.  Then you develop a thesis.  They have a method of exploring the pros and cons of an argument by using an ANI which stands for affirmative, negative and interesting.  So the student takes his should question and writes out all the affirmative reasons he can think, the more the better for why Edmund should have followed the White Witch (or whatever question they've come up with) then all the negative reasons then anything that seems interesting, any little detail or fact.  Then the text gives very specific instructions on how to organize or arrange the proofs for the the assertions that Edmund should have followed or should not have followed the White Witch (or whatever question it is the student has come up with.  In fact they have a template worksheet that the student fills out.  At first my students thought the whole thing was boring but as we went further into the year, they began to appreciate the very simple structure that provided them with brilliant way to approach any subject and write about it logically.  We read many works of literature and wrote essays for each using the LToW method.  If you are unfamiliar with classical rhetoric (which is what LToW is an intro to) I would advise trying to learn as much about it as possible.  I am not familiar with the video component.  I think that could potentially help  a lot.  I found a lot of help on the yahoo list, even though I just lurked a lot.  HTH.