[ High School and Self-Education Board ]
Posted by Jean in Wisc. on 11:06 Jul 18
In Reply to: A question for those who have ALREADY produced a good writer...how did you do it????? posted by Praisefor3
In the early years I suggest you choose a curriculum and stay with it--finish it or at least go as far as you can go while getting something out of it. My youngest is doing Writing Strands. I doubt that it matters which one you choose as long as you keep the child writing, writing, writing. We do it Mon-Thurs. Certainly some programs are better than others, but make a good choice and go with it. When you are done, make another choice and go with that one. Starting at the beginning of a new program each year means you never progress deeper into any writing program.
I like to add a few other books as the junior/senior high years come on. Sentence Composing or Art of Styling Sentences can be added (along with so many others). We are using the Curious Researcher this year...evaluate what the child struggles with and find something that address the problem. Make sure that the child uses his writing skills in history and literature classes, and whenever you can, use an essay test format.
My dd was not a born writer. She was one of those children whose sentences were like a shot gun, and after years of writing daily, her paragraph "came together" in 9th grade. Is she a wonderful writer? Nope. She has improved 500%, though. She got a 9 out of 12 on her ACT writing portion, and we were happy because she had not studied for that part of the test at all (went in cold turkey--no prep and no idea of what to expect), she had performed in a play the night before and was up until 1:00 P.M., and she had to leave the test and head out for another performance that night. We hope she can bring it up the 2nd time she takes it, but considering the circumstances, we were content. (BTW, you can see her writing on her blog--link below.)
I do think working through some of the progym is helpful. I like what it teaches. My ds is a bit more of a natural writing, but I'm finding he still needs the experience and the programs to make his writing come together. My youngest has improved a lot, too, over the last few years, and he had a late start of language usage...it is coming together, though. I've started collecting writing books and programs so that I can dip into them in the upper years to round out what they child needs the most. It seems to be working.
Even though we are not going to win any writer of the year awards, I hope some of what I"ve said here helps someone!
Jean