Writing curriculum overload!

[Janeway]

I feel so overloaded with this topic!

 

My oldest son goes to History, Literature, and Bible outsourced. He writes some papers there. He also has to write a paper and give a speech every trimester at an extra curricular he is in. I feel like he should be doing composition, but unsure about it. He will eventually do the freshman composition at the community college I think. 

 

I have Jensen's Format Writing on my shelf. There is not much to Jensen's of course. But maybe that is all he needs. Maybe he does not actually need more writing and should just move in to the college composition course in the next couple of years.

 

Also, I went to the convention this past week. I saw so many wonderful things and wonder if I should do more. I liked the Writing and Rhetoric by CAP (they say they will have 9th grade out this fall). I was confused by IEW's program. I saw samples online of EIWs program which look good. I also like Write Shop. Bravewriter looks great, but costly. And I am sure there are a bunch of other good programs. Also, his grammar is very good. Should I still be trying to do grammar? I do not want to overwhelm or overdo anything. If he always knows it and I am still assigning stuff, it feels like busy work and I do not want that. I would rather spend my time doing fruitful things.

 

Should I supplement the classes he has? They have papers, but are not directly teaching composition. Or should I let it this be it and wait until he takes the community college composition course to polish things? He is not having trouble writing 1-2 page papers now.  But I cannot say they are the best papers.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Janeway

[Mom22ns]

Should I supplement the classes he has? They have papers, but are not directly teaching composition. Or should I let it this be it and wait until he takes the community college composition course to polish things? He is not having trouble writing 1-2 page papers now.  But I cannot say they are the best papers.

 

The decision to teach writing or just write as part of English and other classes is a personal one. Neither of my kids received writing instruction in high school with the exception of AP English or College Composition. Until then, they wrote. They wrote in history. They wrote in English. Sometimes the wrote for electives. The writing was graded/received feedback and sometimes had to be revised. This was enough for my kids, but only you know if your child still needs direct instruction. If his papers aren't the best, can you work with him to make sure he is getting feedback to improve them, or do you feel like he needs more instruction?

 

As for grammar, most people quit teaching grammar in high school unless the child is struggling with grammar usage. However, you don't mention what he has already done for grammar. If his grammar isn't holding him back in writing, does he have the knowledge he needs for college entrance exams? If those things are ok, then I'd let it go.

[Julie of KY]

Should I supplement the classes he has? They have papers, but are not directly teaching composition. Or should I let it this be it and wait until he takes the community college composition course to polish things? He is not having trouble writing 1-2 page papers now.  But I cannot say they are the best papers.

 

If he's not writing to a standard that you think he should meet, then I'd do something to try to improve his writing. As you've mentioned there are lots of ways to go about doing this.

 

At my home, less is better - I'm highly influenced by having a severely dysgraphic son that needed to learn to write. I expect his best in any output. If he's cranking out papers too fast to be able to do his best then he's doing too much to stop and learn. Somewhere along the way they need to be taught writing, but how is highly individual.  What one student "gets" another will struggle with.

 

At my home, I use Brave Writer for much of our instruction and it's been well worth the cost. It's not something I am able to teach myself. (Give my calculus anyday, but writing no way.) I do not think there is one way to teach or that you have to shell out  a lot of money.

 

 

[Janeway]

If he's not writing to a standard that you think he should meet, then I'd do something to try to improve his writing. As you've mentioned there are lots of ways to go about doing this.

 

At my home, less is better - I'm highly influenced by having a severely dysgraphic son that needed to learn to write. I expect his best in any output. If he's cranking out papers too fast to be able to do his best then he's doing too much to stop and learn. Somewhere along the way they need to be taught writing, but how is highly individual.  What one student "gets" another will struggle with.

 

At my home, I use Brave Writer for much of our instruction and it's been well worth the cost. It's not something I am able to teach myself. (Give my calculus anyday, but writing no way.) I do not think there is one way to teach or that you have to shell out  a lot of money.

It looks like Brave Writer's essay class for high schoolers is only 6 weeks and $250. I think that might be worth it. But I think I might wait until next summer to do it. That way, I give him more of a chance to improve his writing over the school year and hopefully, get more out of the class next summer. The $250 is a huge amount of money for us.

[Hilltopmom]

The brave writer class was great! Pricey yes, but great feedback from the teacher. They really met kids where they were at (all samples are available to read on their class board) and helped them all improve.

 

DS is going to take the MLA research class next year before starting Comp 101 at CC, since comp 101 requires essays & a final research paper.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Hilltopmom