Flowergirl159 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I am looking at what options are available for grade 7 up. Up until now, we have used mainly copywork, dictation and narration (mostly oral but she does do her own written narrations at times now). We do Latin to cover grammar and have nearly finished AAS for spelling. She is very creative and loves words, language and writing. I guess I am looking for a program or structure of some sort, so I can begin to teach her the mechanics of writing or the different genres. I am at a loss as far as editing drafts go, so I haven't done much of that. If you have used the CM approach in the younger years, what did you use to help you transition to written narrations that were of a higher quality? And what did you use to teach all that writing stuff in the high school years? Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Disclaimer: I do use copywork and narration disguised as dicusssion, but I'm not a CM follower. Copywork merges into actual composition curricula around 3rd-4th grade for my kids. My first thought for your girl was Jump In, but if she hasn't even written summaries/narrations she may not be ready for it. My second opinion is the Wordsmith series, starting with Wordsmith Apprentice even though it's aimed at grades 4-6. A 7th grader could move through it more quickly and it gently lays a nice foundation. WA has a newspaper reporter feel and "hires" the DC at the beginning. The longer they "work" the higher up the totem pole they climb working on various types of writing, until they have their own column with basic essays at the end. Chasing that with the Wordsmith level would likely have her ready for something like Jump In. (FWIW, I once heard SWB in person suggest running through this series with a similarly aged child who just wasn't ready for WWS, and it worked fabulously for my reluctant writer when he was in the target age range.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 One more a creative writer may enjoy is Cover Story. This one covers a wide variety of writing types from poetry to short stories. The writing volume could be overwhelming for a first curricula though, and I'd definitely do something like Wordsmith first to build up to it. There's a rubric for every project to help you with grading. My current 7th grader is working through Lively Art of Writing to cover basic essays right now, and we've melted Art of Argument into it somewhat. He is NOT a creative writer, but these are covering great skills for any writer. My high schoolers have used a hodge podge of writing books like A Rulebook for Arguments, Writing With a Thesis, and such. DD/10th likes the looks of Power in Your Hands by the Jump In author for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowergirl159 Posted March 23, 2016 Author Share Posted March 23, 2016 Thanks Silvermoon for your suggestions. I am still interested in seeing what others use for LA from grade 7 and higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 I love Write With the Best for middle school. There are two volumes. They teach different genres of writing through models, rather than formulas. The lessons are broken down into daily chunks. CBD has decent samples, Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here. (Click on Additional Views.) Another one to look at is Maxwell's School Composition. This is a vintage reprint (although I believe you can view it free online). There are some happy users here on the boards which you will see if you do a search. For high school we have moved to online writing courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeriJ Posted March 23, 2016 Share Posted March 23, 2016 We have been pretty CM in elementary. I started my 7th grader on Writing With Skill this year to give more structure to narrations. It wouldn't be considered CM program, but for us it works well giving me ideas of what to assign for more specific narrations in content subjects. We're taking it slow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flowergirl159 Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Is WWS1 a good program? I am sure some love and some hate it lol I used WWE with my girls when they were younger and formed my own writing curriculum from what I learned in WWE. So I guess WWS would be the next step? It looks like it would teach me what they need to know. If you used WWS, have your kids enjoyed it? Have they learned what they needed to know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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