3sapphires Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Hi everyone. I am new here, but not really. I have lurked for years, gathering ideas as I homeschooled my kids in their younger years. Then we found a lovely small school that was a perfect fit. . . And now it is no longer a perfect fit. For many reasons, I will be pulling my very bright, very motivated 10th grade daughter out to homeschool in the next few days, and I will have a lot of questions. My first is this: She is a excellent writer. It's her thing. According to her honors teachers, she writes on the college level. I USED to be a good writer, and was all through college, but it has been 20 years since I have written anything at all. I need a program that will start from probably the middle school level, and remind me how to write well, so that I can work with her on further developing her writing. I have faith that we can work in a peer-editing type fashion once I get up to speed. I am willing to work on this daily. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RegGuheert Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 We enroll our children in speech club to help them hone their writing skills. I wonder if something like Toastmasters would help you bring your writing skills back up (or if it could even work with your schedule)? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I'm guessing that if you're like me and you've been homeschooling for a while and paying any attention at all, you've been exposed to all kinds of writing instruction as well as good writing. What I needed was a reason to apply all of that knowledge at a challenging level, which I found when I enrolled in some writing intensive graduate courses. They weren't writing courses, just courses that required a whole lot of writing. Doing that did more for my writing ability (which, according to everyone around me was already very good) and for my ability to teach writing effectively. That said, I *highly* recommend the book Engaging Ideas. It's written to the instructor and discusses writing across the curriculum. The same guy is a coauthor on The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, which is written to the student and is *fabulous*. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1Togo Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I totally agree with the fabulousness of Allyn and Bacon, and I off to check out Engaging Ideas. You could start with Bravewriter "Help for High School" which is an excellent lead-in to the above. Also, if you can, find a mentor. And also, check out Bravewriter classes for your daughter. If she is a strong writer, take a look at the advanced, academic writing courses taught by Julie Bogart and her mother for creative writing. Bravewriter is very good for emerging writers, but there are courses for gifted writers as well. I just posted a plug for Bravewriter, so I can't stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 I agree with the Bravewriter class suggestion--start with that while you're getting your feet under you. Also, see whether you can find a writing group for your daughter to join in your area. I would also consider enrolling her into a JC literature class or history class so that she will be taught at her level and do academic subject area writing in context. Then one of the resources that I would suggest that you get for yourself is Jensen's Format Writing, to brush up on various types of writing and essay forms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquility7 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 That said, I *highly* recommend the book Engaging Ideas. WOW, that looks awesome!!!!! I'm ordering it today and cannot wait to get it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3sapphires Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 Ooh, good suggestions! I've looked at them and I think I am going to order both Engaging Ideas and Bravewriter's Help for High School. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad S Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 That said, I *highly* recommend the book Engaging Ideas. It's written to the instructor and discusses writing across the curriculum. The same guy is a coauthor on The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Writing, which is written to the student and is *fabulous*. I totally agree with the fabulousness of Allyn and Bacon, and I off to check out Engaging Ideas. I totally agree with the fabulousness of Engaging Ideas and went off to check out (and then buy a used 6th ed.) of Allyn and Bacon. Thanks, EKS! We have a lot of writing books, but the Allyn and Bacon looks like a nice place to go for an explanation of how to handle a particular issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GThomas Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 My dd13 is a big fan of Bravewriter online classes as well. So another vote for them! My dd also loved Cover Story for middle school and is currently taking the One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN). You didn't say what type of writing your daughter enjoys but if she enjoys creative writing, she may love OYAN. Instruction is all given on DVD, student is fairly self-sufficient (parent monitors progress, grades and give input based on rubics and help in the teacher's guide), and they write a novel from beginning to end in one school year. It can be recorded as 1 credit of Creative Writing. Dd is only on lesson 6 but she loves it so far. There is also this free class with Stanford University: http://online.stanford.edu/course/adventures-writing My dd got halfway through this before summer break. She was enjoying it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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