Nam2001 Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 What are your favorite online schools that provide writing courses (for high school) that are NOT connected to a literature class? Some of the schools we have looked into have English all lumped together but we are looking for writing only. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 The Well Trained Mind Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Well, for *writing* alone, I liked Fundamentals of Academic Writing at Wilson Hill Academy. However, it is really, really pricey now. It isn't for someone who is already a good writer. It is for the kid who has reached high school and still doesn't know how to put together a solid essay. It also teaches common punctuation and grammar mistakes in a light but comprehensive way. The class holds your hand through an extremely small number of total essays (3? 4? for a full year), but involves frequent smaller composition exercises in class, usually working in parallel with a 2-3 other students or together with 2-3 other students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TarynB Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 https://www.writeathome.com/ https://bravewriter.com/online-classes/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nam2001 Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 On 9/18/2018 at 8:11 AM, RootAnn said: Well, for *writing* alone, I liked Fundamentals of Academic Writing at Wilson Hill Academy. However, it is really, really pricey now. It isn't for someone who is already a good writer. It is for the kid who has reached high school and still doesn't know how to put together a solid essay. It also teaches common punctuation and grammar mistakes in a light but comprehensive way. The class holds your hand through an extremely small number of total essays (3? 4? for a full year), but involves frequent smaller composition exercises in class, usually working in parallel with a 2-3 other students or together with 2-3 other students. This sounds like a good class. I’ll see where she is at the end of this year and if this is a good fit. Do you have to take previous writing classes at WHA as a prerequisite? It says it builds on their LA4 fundamentals of expository writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nam2001 Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 How about Lost Tools of Writing - either from Coram Deo Tutorials or Circe Academy? Anyone have experience there?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 19, 2018 Share Posted September 19, 2018 20 minutes ago, Nam2001 said: This sounds like a good class. I’ll see where she is at the end of this year and if this is a good fit. Do you have to take previous writing classes at WHA as a prerequisite? It says it builds on their LA4 fundamentals of expository writing. I actually had a kid (DD#2) taking LA4 the same year as I had a kid (DD#1) taking LA5. LA4 was much harder & more in depth. I think LA5 is more for kids who didn't take LA4 and/or didn't do well in it. (All my opinion! Not official WHA policy!!) You do NOT have to take any previous WHA classes. 19 minutes ago, Nam2001 said: How about Lost Tools of Writing - either from Coram Deo Tutorials or Circe Academy? Anyone have experience there?? Aaaaannnd, I have a kid (DD#3) in Coram Deo's LToW this year. She took a different Coram Deo class last year (that isn't offered anymore) and now writes essays for fun. LToW would have been a horrible fit for dd#1 & dd#2 for so many reasons, but it resonates with this kid. She loves the small class sizes & the teacher. The feedback is fairly minimal (unless this class is really different than the previous one), but the work is very incremental. While WHA's FoAW was also very incremental & gentle, it was more chaotic in how it taught different things. A little bit of this, a little bit of that - and you didn't see the big picture until later when they put everything together. LToW teaches things at little at a time, but in a very orderly fashion. It doesn't cover as much as FoAW does. IMO, FoAW is a solid 8th grade class or a remedial 9th grade class. LToW could be taken as early as 7th, IMO. My FoAW kid was a reluctant writer. My LA4 kid was an excellent writer. My LToW kid is a solid, good, non-reluctant writer. Different classes for different kids. (My LToW kid might have done great in LA4, but Coram Deo's price, class size, and writing-only approach was more palatable for dd#3.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nam2001 Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 28 minutes ago, RootAnn said: I actually had a kid (DD#2) taking LA4 the same year as I had a kid (DD#1) taking LA5. LA4 was much harder & more in depth. I think LA5 is more for kids who didn't take LA4 and/or didn't do well in it. (All my opinion! Not official WHA policy!!) You do NOT have to take any previous WHA classes. Aaaaannnd, I have a kid (DD#3) in Coram Deo's LToW this year. She took a different Coram Deo class last year (that isn't offered anymore) and now writes essays for fun. LToW would have been a horrible fit for dd#1 & dd#2 for so many reasons, but it resonates with this kid. She loves the small class sizes & the teacher. The feedback is fairly minimal (unless this class is really different than the previous one), but the work is very incremental. While WHA's FoAW was also very incremental & gentle, it was more chaotic in how it taught different things. A little bit of this, a little bit of that - and you didn't see the big picture until later when they put everything together. LToW teaches things at little at a time, but in a very orderly fashion. It doesn't cover as much as FoAW does. IMO, FoAW is a solid 8th grade class or a remedial 9th grade class. LToW could be taken as early as 7th, IMO. My FoAW kid was a reluctant writer. My LA4 kid was an excellent writer. My LToW kid is a solid, good, non-reluctant writer. Different classes for different kids. (My LToW kid might have done great in LA4, but Coram Deo's price, class size, and writing-only approach was more palatable for dd#3.) Thanks for all of this info. We definitely will need a class with plenty of feedback so maybe Coram Deo isn’t the one. Maybe Circe Academy gives more if we go for LTOW. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nam2001 Posted September 19, 2018 Author Share Posted September 19, 2018 On 9/18/2018 at 12:13 PM, TarynB said: https://www.writeathome.com/ https://bravewriter.com/online-classes/ What has your experience been like with Brave Writer classes? We don’t use any of their products at home but the classes look great and there are so many options! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 On 9/19/2018 at 3:58 PM, Nam2001 said: How about Lost Tools of Writing - either from Coram Deo Tutorials or Circe Academy? Anyone have experience there?? My dd took a CiRCE LTW1 class last year . She really enjoyed it and I think it did help her writing. However, I feel like it moves pretty slowly and is only focusing on the persuasive essay. For her, it hasn't been easy to translate what she learned in LTW to other types of essays. She's now taking a class through Bright Ideas Press Academy using the Elegant Essay (plus they use two college composition handbooks), and so far I like it a lot because it is focusing on a lot of the specifics of essay writing that she hasn't had before in such detail (she did IEW prior to LTW, so she had some essay experience but not a lot). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 On 9/19/2018 at 5:49 PM, Nam2001 said: What has your experience been like with Brave Writer classes? We don’t use any of their products at home but the classes look great and there are so many options! Not OP, but my dd did not enjoy the one Bravewriter class she took because of the asynchronous, all-text driven format. She felt like the feedback and interaction was very distant because of the format. She needs the live class experience if she's going to take an online class. So consider if your student would do well with the format, because it is a lot different than live online. Some kids do thrive with it. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nam2001 Posted September 21, 2018 Author Share Posted September 21, 2018 12 hours ago, monalisa said: My dd took a CiRCE LTW1 class last year . She really enjoyed it and I think it did help her writing. However, I feel like it moves pretty slowly and is only focusing on the persuasive essay. For her, it hasn't been easy to translate what she learned in LTW to other types of essays. She's now taking a class through Bright Ideas Press Academy using the Elegant Essay (plus they use two college composition handbooks), and so far I like it a lot because it is focusing on a lot of the specifics of essay writing that she hasn't had before in such detail (she did IEW prior to LTW, so she had some essay experience but not a lot). What grade is she now? Wondering when the best time to consider the Bright Ideas class would be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 12 hours ago, monalisa said: Not OP, but my dd did not enjoy the one Bravewriter class she took because of the asynchronous, all-text driven format. She felt like the feedback and interaction was very distant because of the format. She needs the live class experience if she's going to take an online class. So consider if your student would do well with the format, because it is a lot different than live online. Some kids do thrive with it. Yes, know thy student. My DD is finishing up a four week college essay class at Bravewriter, and I am so glad we didn't waste the $$$ or time on any other classes there for this kid. Because they would have been a waste for her. She needs live classes with live classmates at this time of her life. Also, the format of seeing everyone else's work and the teacher's response being public is absolutely the wrong one for my kid. She does not learn this way (even though others do)--it is a deterrent to participation for her. She got through this one, but was never engaged. Other people have waited to take a class until senior year and kicked themselves for waiting so long, so your mileage may vary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 (edited) 33 minutes ago, RootAnn said: Yes, know thy student. My DD is finishing up a four week college essay class at Bravewriter, and I am so glad we didn't waste the $$$ or time on any other classes there for this kid. Because they would have been a waste for her. She needs live classes with live classmates at this time of her life. Also, the format of seeing everyone else's work and the teacher's response being public is absolutely the wrong one for my kid. She does not learn this way (even though others do)--it is a deterrent to participation for her. She got through this one, but was never engaged. Other people have waited to take a class until senior year and kicked themselves for waiting so long, so your mileage may vary. We had a similar experience with bravewriter and I found myself once again wondering what the fuss was about. ultimately, I’ve decided writing essays is a contact sport. Which is bizarre as I was never taught this and I can definitely do this well. I need to sit there one to one and go through with my individual student. So probably for us, one session of private tutoring with the right tutor would’ve been worth 5 classes. Looking back, I think the most impactful writing instruction we’ve had has been select parts of Writing with ease (because it really breaks down the process), some work DS did with Lange at Integritas and the feedback he gets in his CLRC Great Books classes. Edited September 21, 2018 by madteaparty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 11 hours ago, Nam2001 said: What grade is she now? Wondering when the best time to consider the Bright Ideas class would be. She is in 10th grade now (15.5). I think it was listed as a high school class, but the book says its geared for middle and high school. I know of a local co-op that teaches it to 7th and 8th graders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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