Dd is in 8th grade and I am looking for a writing program for the fall. This year we did IEW SWI C first semester and dd complained that she did not like watching the dvd’s. She did not find Andrew funny like most kids. But, we finished it anyhow. This semester we are using IEW The Elegant Essay. This program has me being the teacher. Dd does not like this one either. She wants something independent. Is there a writing program out there like this?
I have seen some suggestions for Epi Kardia. Can the student use this independently? I am open to all suggestions.
Have you seen http://www.time4writing.com/ ? My oldest took one of the highschool classes online. He did it independantly with help from a teacher/tutor who was assigned to him. Though it was a bit pricey (cheaper than some of the other online writing courses), we felt it was a success and his writing skills improved.
We really liked both and my high school age daughters enjoyed them both when they did them. We did Write with the Best first and followed in the following year with Epi Kardia, essay and then research paper courses. Parental involvement not intensive and very good instruction directed to the student and for the parent in marking and grading work. Linda
Becca, regarding the SCM guide’s recommendations, I looked it up in past posts and Sonya used the essay curriculum from AG and had good things to say and Michelle (Bookworm) used the research one and also said it was simple and easy, though the parent has to work with the young adult.
I’m going to use Write with the Best Vol. 1 and 2 when mine are in 7th and 8th, then a separate course for research afterwards; essay if necessary. Also, at the same time as WwtB, I’ll use Our Mother Tongue alongside.
Oh, two other things that I’ll be adding into our schedule is Figuratively Speaking and Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings. I forgot about them so:
or something like that, then research and essay if necessary. OMT in 7th and 8th, hopefully. Like I said, I”m not there yet, either, but these are my plans, so I thought I’d throw them out there.
The Daily Digests can be used with any narrative books, and has open-ended prompts, kind of like a series of written narrations. It’s aimed at getting the student to think. Learning the format of an essay is easy, it’s the thinking part we need to work on 😀 So, for someone who came to Charlotte Mason a little late in the game, this looks really promising! We get to use the books we are already using.
The author will email you generous samples, too! (I am perusing right now )
The girls did Language Lessons from Lord of the Rings as an elective in 9th/10th and loved it – they learned a great deal from the course. We are big LOTR fans and so the course was excellent for them. Linda
I’ve used IEW this year through their US History theme based writing lessons. It’s been fun. But, the SCM suggestions sound like an inexpensive way to tackle it. ;0). I have 11, 15, and 17 yos using it with tweaking for each one’s ability and past writing background.
Becca, I have the research-paper one from AG. I like it. It is not independently to the child, though. There are audio files for the parent to listen to, then papers for the parent with handouts to give to the student and rubrics for the parent. It involves a considerable amount of parental-student interaction.
I wish I could say we exclusively used SCM suggestions for language arts in highschool. We did up until my oldest reached about 15, then realized we both needed a more independent approach. We thereby adopted a more eclectic approach once we hit highschool. Another independent writing program for highschool you may be interested in, is The Writing Course & Essay Course by Fred Lybrand (He’s a homeschooling father who combines CM with Robinson curriculum).
BTW, blessedmom, Virtue in Knowledge looks excellent. Thanks for sharing .
ok so the LOTR literature sounds great! My kids love these movies and books. My question for those who have used it. 9th grade is good time (or later I would imagine) and could you not use this for literature/grammar? Also, how long would you say it would take to do it? Lastly, so many options with buying. . . which set did you buy? Thanks Misty