SCM learning library on writing help

Hi Grace,

Written and oral narrations are enough for most children.  It does take effort on our (parent) part however.  The rubrics in the back of ULW is what you and the student will use to continually take ownership and improve narrations however you must “raise the bar” on the type of narrations you ask/expect.  The article I linked is a favorite of mine.  I currently have kiddos from preschool through 9th grade and refer back to that article to remind me of what I should be doing with our narrations (oral and written).  I also like to use the reference Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing.

For families that would like more guidance with writing, particularly for college bound children, we currently recommend the Research Paper and Essay Course by Analytical Grammar.  It is included in Beyond the Book Report season 3 on their website.

I would agree that you don’t necessarily need a writing program. Narration can be enough by itself, if you as the parent are helping them continually improve their writing (correcting grammar and punctuation, etc.). However, sometimes a writing program is helpful as a reference if you really don’t know what you’re doing and need some guidance. That’s maybe where a book like Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing might come in handy. I use Karen Glass’s Know and Tell.

You can definitely use written narrations throughout high school and eventually they can turn into various types of essays and other more formal writing. This is what I do with my kids and so far it’s worked very well. Once they can narrate well, and are writing about 3 paragraphs or so (usually around 8th grade or so), you basically just need to show them essay form and teach how to write an intro and conclusion, and you have an essay. The transition is actually pretty smooth.

Awesome!  Thank you for your words.  We feel blessed and privileged to be able to help provide families with the means of implementing Charlotte’s method.