Teaching Writing

There seem to be two extremes in the homeschooling community on teaching writing.

Great Success - There are the parents and students who thrive and the kids become not just proficient but often beautiful writers. Some examples of great writers that have emerged from homeschooling are listed at the bottom of this article in section copied (with permission) from HomeschoolLiterature.com, the section on books by homeschoolers.  I'd like to hear and understand more about how these achievements are done.

Strugglers - There are a large number of homeschool parents and students who do not "click" well when it comes to teaching writing.  Sometimes the parents fear that this will happen sinc e they might lack confidnce in their own writing skills. Other times, the parents write beautifully but something aobu the teaching of writing disrupts the usually smooth instructional pattern that they have. In other cases, to be frank, the student and paretn are often having disagreements and writing, where there is no answer key and style is important, bringgs the conflict toa new level of intensity.  While these parents can buy video courses or use textooks, they mostly succeed by outsourcing the teaching and feedback.  Our suggestion: Time4Writing.com.  And I quote:

Time4Writing offers a comprehensive online writing curriculum to homeschool students who are looking to build basic writing skills and fundamentals in a one-on-one teaching environment. Courses offered start at second grade and go through high school covering everything you need for a comprehensive homeschool writing curriculum. Do any of these situations sound familiar? Teaching several children at different grade levels prevents you from spending the time to thoroughly grade writing assignments and provide constructive and detailed feedback. While your children like writing, they have become over-sensitive to feedback from you about their writing. You would like help in writing instruction from someone that is a certified writing teacher to make sure that your children learn how to write for success on tests and entrance exams. Your child is struggling or resisting writing assignments and you need a way to motivate them and stay engaged so that their writing skills stay at grade level. You are looking for an easy to use and affordable writing curriculum and can’t afford the cost of a personal writing tutor in your home. You have a hesitant or reluctant writer that needs a push to get them going and you haven’t found the spark that lights their fire. You are looking for a fun-filled way to introduce beginning writing skills to your young writer Although your children can write up a storm, they lack the skills needed to review, edit and revise their own work College entrance exams are looming and you don’t think your high school student’s writing skills are good enough to qualify them for much needed scholarships Courses by level and subjects such as


BOOKS BY HOMESCHOOLERS from Homeschool Literature.com

Novel Concept by Teagan Bentley

Write a book with Monica and Julie! When two homeschooling best friends team up to enter a novel writing contest, things get busy fast! Through planning for birthdays and getting ready for Halloween, Monica and Julie’s writing adventure becomes one novel concept

Our America…The Pilgrim Adventure by Susan Kilbride - - Finn & Ginny’s parents are lost back in time, and the two young twins have decided to go back to early America to find them. Their search takes the twins to the Mayflower where they discover that the Pilgrims had far more adventures than they had ever realized. 


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