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Best college prep writing program


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What do you all think is the best college prep writing program? Ive been a huge fan of IEW for years, and my older 2 used it exclusively, all the way through high school.  They did fine transitioning to college writing.  However, my next daughter has struggled with the transition.  She has a few learning issues from spending her early years in foster care.  She is 12th grade now, and taking English 101 as dual credit.  I thought she would also do well after years of IEW, and we also used Excellence in Writing some too.  However, it seems like the college class transition has been a shock to her.  She has really struggled and has need quite a bit of tutoring.  Thank God, I believe shes going to pass now! My next 3 kids after her, have also spent years in foster care, so I'm wondering about another program for them.  Something that gives lots of practice in writing reports and essays, something that teaches how to find college level sources, etc. Any recommendations? 

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I don't know that there is really one best program out there. I used IEW through middle school until they were writing fluently and correctly. Then in high school they mostly wrote a LOT, and I critiqued a LOT. 

One of mine took AP English Composition from PA Homeschoolers with Mrs. Inspektor her junior year and then was one of her T.A.'s the following year. She's an English major with a focus on rhetoric and professional writing and plans a career in proposal writing or technical writing. She works at the college writing center. 

The other did the research paper class through Lukeion his senior year. He's in business school and is a very strong, analytical writer. His professors always have positive comments. He's a double major in the more quantitative side of business, but still a lot of writing and research. 

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Similar to @G5052 -- I have yet to see any program that I think is "one-stop shopping" for college prep writing. Either not all the aspects of writing or types of writing encountered in college are covered, or the teaching perspective comes from an angle that only "clicks" for a portion of students but not for others.

I have pretty much developed my own materials for my homeschool Lit. & Writing co-op classes, and tweak it every year to fit the specific needs of specific students in my classes.

What I would suggest is using a variety of materials and outsourced classes *that click for the individual student* AND cover what they will need in college. Here are a few things I would make sure that you get the student solid with for college writing:

Writing aspects
- writing process (brainstorm, organize, rough draft, revise, proof-edit) -- going back multiple times over the same piece of writing to create a *complete* and *clean* final assignment
- putting writing into format (margins, indents, headings, type size/font/spacing+citation format) -- MLA, APA, Chicago most frequently used 
- understand purpose (specific reason for the piece of writing) & audience (who will be reading & how to gear the tone to match)
- develop "style" -- use a variety of types of complete sentences (short/long, and simple, compound, complex, complex-compound) and vary the order of them for interest; word choice (vocabulary); etc.

Writing structure
- complete sentences (no fragments or run-ons) that are grammatically correct
- consistency in verb tense and "person" or "voice" (exclusively 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person throughout)
- complete paragraph (topic sentence, body sentences -- support, detail, commentary -- concluding sentence)
- complete thesis statement (topic+claim about the topic+direction [major points/reasons that will be developed in the body]) 
- build a complete argument of support for the thesis statement through the body paragraphs:
* each paragraph of the body develops a new point/reason of the argument
* each point/reason is supported by evidence -- facts, statistics/data, examples, quotations, anecdotes
* each piece of evidence is followed by a commentary sentence which connects the dots between the evidence and the point/reason of the paragraph -- "this shows that..." -- and explains how/why the evidence supports the point/reason of that paragraph
* each body paragraph ends with concluding commentary which connects the dots between the point/reason of that paragraph back to the thesis statement -- specifically: it explains how/why the point/reason of that paragraph supports the thesis claim

Types of assignments seen in college (or in prep for college)
- timed essay from a prompt -- SAT/ACT test; possible in-class essay tests for mid-term/finals in college classes
- personal essay -- college admission and scholarship applications
- reader response paper -- Writing 101/102 classes
- literary analysis paper -- Writing 101/102 classes
- research paper with citations -- Writing 101/102, Humanities, Natural Science, possibly core concentration classes
- lab reports -- Natural Science classes
- argumentative papers with citations -- Humanities classes, possibly core concentration classes
- oral presentation with slideshow -- various types of classes

Real-life writing
(because the student will most likely need these during the college years, but also on jobs throughout life)
- resume
- cover letter
- letter of... recommendation; thanks; complaint; requesting information
- memos, reports
- presentations, explanations, etc.
- newsletter article, or other format requiring the sharing or teaching of info to others


The biggest issues I see with my high school students:
1. they do not revise:
* revision #1: add what is missing, remove what doesn't fit, combine what is repeated, rearrange for better structure & flow
* revision #2: fix run-ons, fragments, and major grammatical issues of incorrect sentence structure
2. they do not proof-edit (small fixes of typos, spelling errors, punctuation/capitalization, doubled/missing words)
3. they are missing part of the thesis statement (usually the claim -- a position or idea *about* the topic)
4. they are missing commentary sentences; sometimes missing major points/reasons or supporting evidence for the points/reasons
5. they can't seem to figure out formatting
6. they are unsure how/when to cite, and how to create a Works Cited page (MLA format)
7. they do not know what are credible/reliable sources of information, and they don't understand plagiarism 

Edited by Lori D.
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