ELTL vs. Bravewriter? Can they be combined?

[kentuckymom]

As I said in my history thread, I'll be homeschooling a 6th grader for the first time in the fall. 

 

Two of my main goals in language arts are to teach him the grammar he's gotten precious little of in public school and to teach him to write well and enjoy writing. Right now he absolutely hates to write. 

 

I've been looking at LA programs, and I like the idea of programs that use real books to teach. ELTL and Bravewriter have both caught my eye.

 

ELTL is cheaper and more complete, but I love the idea of the Bravewriter lifestyle and I think some elements of it would really appeal to Squirrelboy.

 

So is one of these better than the other, or is it really just a matter of taste? Would it be unreasonable to do ELTL as our main program but bring in elements of the Bravewriter Lifestyle and an occasional writing project?

[LivingHope]

Since ELTL includes dictation and narration with grammar, it is complimentary to the Brave Writer lifestyle. ELTL has only three lessons per week, allowing plenty of time for spontaneous free-writing, additional writing projects, nature and art studies, and poetry tea times.

[Julie of KY]

So is one of these better than the other, or is it really just a matter of taste? Would it be unreasonable to do ELTL as our main program but bring in elements of the Bravewriter Lifestyle and an occasional writing project?

 

While I haven't used ELTL I have used a lot of CM methods. I certainly don't think one curriculum is "better" than the other generally as it really depends on your personality and how it fits your family and methods. Some curriculum that others can implement very well would never work at my home.

 

It is certainly not unreasonable to use ELTL (or anything else) and a main program and then bring in elements of Brave Writer. On the other hand, I think it would be very difficult to go completely Bravewriter as a new homeschooler -- it just doesn't have the structure that many people need.

 

ELTL would certainly give you more structure, you could use this and implement some of the Brave Writer lifestyle at the same time. You could sign up for Julie Bogarts free daily message to get ideas of how to start using BW ideas in your day to day activities. You could get the Writer's Jungle (or look at mine) for Brave Writer ideas. If you take online classes from BW, you can set aside other language arts during those weeks so you can concentrate on the class. If you are doing ELTL (or anything else), there is no rule that you have to complete the full year in one schoolyear especially if you are replacing it with other things.

 

Keep your eye on your goals as you go along.

 

 

[Holly]

I think it would be fine.  ELTL only has one writing lesson every other week, and there are only 3 lessons per week, leaving you plenty of time to add in your own writing.  

[kentuckymom]

Thanks! I appreciate Julie of KY's advice that trying to jump into just Bravewriter my first year would probably be too much. It sound like using ELTL as our base and maybe adding in some Bravewriter elements as we move along could work well.