I don’t use any specific curriculum. I have a book list for them to read through and discuss with me, and they write narrations and turn them into essays (loosely based on Karen Glass’s book Know and Tell). Some of the books on the list line up with history and they write 3-4 essays about literature during the year. Then I schedule in 2 weeks of studying poetry (mostly just reading and discussing), 2 weeks of short stories (I have them look for literary elements in each story) and 2 research papers (one in December and one in May).
We spent Grades 9 and 10 alternating writing essays with writing narrations, and learning to turn narrations into essays. For Grades 11 and 12, they write an essay per week plus some narrations in other subjects. I have also been known to throw in random weeks of writing business letters, taking notes, and other things that I think are important to know.
It really is a mish-mash of things, but it’s worked here so I keep doing it. Partly why I do it this way is because I can’t find a curriculum I like, and my sons really balk at doing lit analysis-heavy courses, or writing programs with pre-made prompts. It just doesn’t work for them.
