Need some feedback on English credit for 10th and catching up on writing

[summerreading]

Last year was a bad year for us and we are playing catch up in some subjects. It's my fault and I know this is less than ideal starting 10th. He didn't get much writing done and needs some remediation. I picked Essentials in Writing but chose level 8. I know he is behind and the usual advice is to get a tutor, but it doesn't seem feasible right now. He is stealth dyslexic with writing and spelling being the main issues. After looking through many programs this one seemed the best fit. 

Should I have him do EIW 8 double time and then use something else the second half of the year? If so would Jumping to EIW 10 be ok and enough writing? Or would you recommend something else?

The rest of his English credit is half year of Dystopian Literature through Online G3. Would I need to add something for the second half of the year to make it a full credit? I have Art of Argument here and would like to use that at some point.

[almondbutterandjelly]

I wouldn't double time any writing remediation.  Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[freesia]

I think the answer to enough is hard to answer.  English credits can be all over the place in terms of "amount".  In general, you want to aim for around 4-5 hours a week.  Some folks choose to do more.  I would probably add some books in the spring, but another option would be to focus just on writing.  The goal is to learn to write,so I wouldn't worry about "catching up" to an arbitrary scope and sequence.  I would work on getting his writing fluid by the end of the year.  If he needs to spend 5 hours a week next semester instead of doing more literature, that may be what you chose to do.  If that would still be too much writing for him, add in some literature.  But, I wouldn't "just" have him do writing if it was only taking 2.5 hours a week.  I would at the least have him listen to great lit on audio for the rest of the time.

[MerryAtHope]

8 hours ago, summerreading said:

Last year was a bad year for us and we are playing catch up in some subjects. It's my fault and I know this is less than ideal starting 10th. He didn't get much writing done and needs some remediation. I picked Essentials in Writing but chose level 8. I know he is behind and the usual advice is to get a tutor, but it doesn't seem feasible right now. He is stealth dyslexic with writing and spelling being the main issues. After looking through many programs this one seemed the best fit. 

Should I have him do EIW 8 double time and then use something else the second half of the year? If so would Jumping to EIW 10 be ok and enough writing? Or would you recommend something else?

The rest of his English credit is half year of Dystopian Literature through Online G3. Would I need to add something for the second half of the year to make it a full credit? I have Art of Argument here and would like to use that at some point.

 

For the writing portion, EIW 8 will be fine. I had my kids do 30 minutes on writing, and 30-45 minutes on lit (with discussion time and read-alouds that I didn't track but to help round things out). I wouldn't try to make EIW go faster than he's ready--it's better to build up the skills at his pace and let him do fewer pieces if need be. Help him get really solid on sentence and paragraph skills, and then start to learn how to put together essays and research papers. I usually incorporated the research paper into another subject like history. 

Whenever he ends up getting through EIW 8 (whether he finishes early this year and you move on, or whether you don't move on until next year), I'd go to EIW 9 next. The levels are not strict grade levels, and 9 and 10 are more incremental than 11 and 12. Your son will get more foundational instruction and be better served that way I think. HTH some!

[2_girls_mommy]

I am with everyone else. I wouldn't worry about the grade level on the book or try to speed through it. I had both of my kids do WWS 1 in 9th grade which WTM suggests for early middle school. Writing is writing and is important to learn, no matter where you are. It is just the tool I choose for us. I also have them do literature and writing projects on that, plus go through R&S English whereever they are, no matter the grade level. Since we do several curriculum for English 1, we move slowly through the curricula. I pick and choose which assignments to do and what to focus on. I don't speed through any of it. I also have spelling curricula for my one that has dyslexic tendencies. 

[summerreading]

Thanks for all the replies. I feel a bit better now!

[summerreading]

On 9/20/2018 at 6:31 PM, MerryAtHope said:

 

For the writing portion, EIW 8 will be fine. I had my kids do 30 minutes on writing, and 30-45 minutes on lit (with discussion time and read-alouds that I didn't track but to help round things out). I wouldn't try to make EIW go faster than he's ready--it's better to build up the skills at his pace and let him do fewer pieces if need be. Help him get really solid on sentence and paragraph skills, and then start to learn how to put together essays and research papers. I usually incorporated the research paper into another subject like history. 

Whenever he ends up getting through EIW 8 (whether he finishes early this year and you move on, or whether you don't move on until next year), I'd go to EIW 9 next. The levels are not strict grade levels, and 9 and 10 are more incremental than 11 and 12. Your son will get more foundational instruction and be better served that way I think. HTH some!

 

I think I first got the recommendation for EIW from you. Do you use their scoring services?

[MerryAtHope]

10 hours ago, summerreading said:

 

I think I first got the recommendation for EIW from you. Do you use their scoring services?

 

No I didn't--they didn't have the scoring services when my kids were in high school. 

[threewishes]

I think what you are doing sounds great, and I am a high school English teacher. Would you believe that my daughter doesn't like to write, and English was a struggle for us too last year. However, she can write, well...when she wants to. This year, we are trying Jensen's format writing to solidify skills. 

[J-rap]

We spent a couple years in a family crisis so weren't able to follow heavy curriculums.  This was when my dd was in 10th and 11th grades.  For 10th grade, I just had her write a lot, but we didn't follow a curriculum.  We incorporated it into other subjects, like history and literature.  For example, she'd read a chapter in history and then write about it --  her thoughts, or a summary, or a journal entry, etc.   I gave her lots of leeway.  She also wrote a book that year on a topic that interested her.  I didn't grade her too hard in writing that year...(and not at all on her book).   It was a year to just get comfortable in writing and letting it flow!

The following year, we used Increase Your Score in 3 Minutes a Day:  SAT Essay.   She also took an online class in journalism.  Those two things helped her take her writing which she learned to do more freely the year before, and organize it better and be succinct.

So we never followed a specific curriculum those two years, except for the journalism course she took online. 

She was never a good speller and didn't always edit her writing well.  I'd catch words that she misspelled and made spelling lists with them for her to practice.   She finally learned how to edit in college.

I think she's a pretty solid writer now.  It's fun to see!

I don't know if this is helpful...  Perhaps dyslexia makes it very different.  Mostly I wanted to present a different way of doing it, which may or may not work in your situation.