Homeschool World Forum

[coloradomama]

New to HS with 4th amd sixth grader. I have no idea how to get any kind of composition/writing going. I try to incorporate some into history by having the answer questionl. We do journaling several times a week to try to spark some creative writing. But what they write is half hearted or just plain below what I know they are capable of doing just because they "hate writing". They were at a charter school prior to homeschooling were writing was huge. I mean, my kids would have projects that were grades above what I can remember doing as a kid at the same age. I know I can just wing it and make things up myself. I need some kind of cirricilm. Maybe something that also includes grammar/vocabulary. Anything out there that any of you use and really like? I'm scared they will one day graduate with poor writing skill, it seems writing is so stressed these days at least from what I've experienced from the schools they"ve been at. Thank you.

[hscoach]

You could read reviews of different writing curriculums and decide which one would be best for your children. Here are a couple of sites for that:

http://www.cathyduffyreviews.com/

http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/

My boys hated writing also when they were at the same age as your children. The program that we used (and liked) was Institute for Excellence in Writing. (IEW) I felt like it helped them a lot. But it is expensive. Here is a review of the program by Cathy Duffy:

http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/structure-and-style.htm

For this program or any other, you may consider buying it used to save money. I did a quick search on vegsource and saw this where someone is selling the IEW program for a considerably lower price than if you would buy it new:

http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/fs712/messages/47170.html

Hope this helps some.
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Laura L. Barth
http://www.freehomeschooladvice.com

[Theodore]

I never particularly liked writing assignments either. Few children do. I think before you move into writing (aside from basic mechanics), you have to really instill a love of reading and get your children to read a wide variety of material. This way they'll have more subjects to draw upon, and will hopefully already have absorbed a lot of writing mechanics via osmosis. They need somewhere to start before they can improve. Also, don't spend an overabundance of time on grammar unless you're going to combine it with foreign language study. Most grammar seems pointless and meaningless until you have to use it for translation, and will be promptly forgotten as soon as the next test is passed. I know, because I was that way myself until I took Latin.

Oh, and Latin isn't nearly as useful as a spoken language such as Spanish, at least unless you're going into ancient literature or something of that sort.
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