Writing Strands Vs Wordsmith or alternative?

[stutterfish]

I have a young teen, currently undergoing vision therapy, who has to be exam-ready in 3 years and needs catch-up English instruction. We've done a couple of years of English Lessons through Literature and CAP's Writing and Rhetoric, excellent as gentle introductions to language arts, but we need to speed up. We're in the UK. I'm looking for a writing instruction book that covers basic composition, from paragraphs to simple essay/report writing (some basic literary analysis/comprehension would be good, too, though not essential). We need something pared down to essentials, that is quick - and cheap! (The next book in the W & R series is over $60 in the UK!)

 

Writing Strands and Wordsmith are available relatively cheaply in the UK. We have an old copy of Wordsmith Apprentice, but only the last part would be relevant for the stage we're at. It looks ok, but I'm not sure if there is enough instruction​ (?) I can only see small samples of Writing Strands online; the example given 'Think about a time when you made a mistake' would probably have my child in a state of endless procrastination. Is it all like this?

 

We don't need spelling or grammar instruction.

 

Any other options? Most UK materials are designed as classroom supplements, not for instruction. Galore Park is not an option.

[Ellie]

I have a young teen, currently undergoing vision therapy, who has to be exam-ready in 3 years and needs catch-up English instruction. We've done a couple of years of English Lessons through Literature and CAP's Writing and Rhetoric, excellent as gentle introductions to language arts, but we need to speed up. We're in the UK. I'm looking for a writing instruction book that covers basic composition, from paragraphs to simple essay/report writing (some basic literary analysis/comprehension would be good, too, though not essential). We need something pared down to essentials, that is quick - and cheap! (The next book in the W & R series is over $60 in the UK!)

 

Writing Strands and Wordsmith are available relatively cheaply in the UK. We have an old copy of Wordsmith Apprentice, but only the last part would be relevant for the stage we're at. It looks ok, but I'm not sure if there is enough instruction​ (?) I can only see small samples of Writing Strands online; the example given 'Think about a time when you made a mistake' would probably have my child in a state of endless procrastination. Is it all like this?

 

We don't need spelling or grammar instruction.

 

Any other options? Most UK materials are designed as classroom supplements, not for instruction. Galore Park is not an option.

 

Well, my favorite is Writing Strands, but it doesn't teach children to write paragraphs. It teaches them how to write. :-)

 

If your young teen did two levels each year (each level is approximately a semester's worth of composition; the author imagined the other semester of an English course to be literature) beginning with Level 5, he would finish the whole series in two years, and he'd be a pretty good writer. That would be Levels 5 and 6 one year, Level 7 and  Writing Exposition the next. Or maybe not push through two a year, but just work on them steadily, you know, until he finishes.

 

He would be too advanced for Wordsmith Apprentice.

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

Look at Super Sentences and Perfect Paragraphs from Schoplastic. You should be able to get it as a download. The author (I think it's Mac Lewis) has 2 videos on Youtube on how he uses the book in his classroom. Its been easy to tweak for one (or 2 in my case) student.

[FawnsFunnyFarm]

Now that I'm on a proper computer I can link you to the book and the videos.  We don't follow his weekly pattern exactly, and we alternate a sentence lesson one week and a paragraph lesson the next.  For the sentences we usually only write sentences 3 days a week, and don't necessarily "test". We work on it till they've "got it", and usually that is only 3 days.  For the paragraphs we do follow his pattern a little closer, but again, I just judge when I think they have it all down.

 

The book is here and is on sale for $7 right now.

 

Sentence video is here: 

Paragraph video is here: 

[leeannpal]

I prefer Wordsmith over Writing Strands. While there is nothing technically wrong with Writing Strands, to me, it moves very slowly. My child got bored fast with Writing Strands. Now that my daughter is 14, I am using my own materials along with Wordsmith.

[Momto6inIN]

We used Wordsmith Creative Writing and then went on to Wordsmith Craftsman (focused on letters/technical writing and essays) with my oldest. He was a natural writer and so this was an easy open and go no fuss program for him and it prepared him well. Tried it with my 2nd oldest and he did fine with Wordsmith but needed more hand holding than Craftsman provided for essay writing. We've dabbled with Writing Strands but liked Wordsmith better for a natural writer.

 

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