Writing

So, great, please provide the link. Thanks.

Writing, by the way , is not my point of success. I have many youngsters who really have extreme difficulties in all aspects of written language; from writing something that makes sense at all, to rambling on for a page or two about who knows what w/o any capitals or periods, to having no idea whatsoever where periods go, to writing coherent sentences and paragraphs in simple sentences (that is the higher end of my program). Given that reading is such a high priority, writing takes the back seat until the child can read and comprehend decently.

I am having this problem with my son and have been looking for ways to home remediate. My search of vegsource.com, a forum for homeschoolers that MaryMN recommends, has led me to look at Institute for Excellence in Writing (writing-edu.com). The creator actually teaches how to teach writing, and his course is available on video tape with some supplemental materials. A ten hour video taping of a student intensive workshop is also available. He starts with something called a key word concept that aims at separating (as an initial matter) how to write and thinking about what to write. My son repeatedly claims he cannot do the latter, and this is specifically what the program attempts to address. An overview of how this works in practice is on the website in a newsletter article called “Writing Without Tears.” I would really be interested in views on this. My other two inquiries on this in the last week have languished, though I got enthusiastic responses on vegsource.

but have not started it yet. I can probably answer some basic questions about it.

The key word idea in IEW is almost identical to the 3-word outline described in Step Up to Writing, as I recall. However, Step is more of a writing resource, while IEW is more of a writing course.

You might want to try the IEWFamilies email list on http://www.groups.yahoo.com (although I think that website is going to be down for maintenance for a few days soon) for more information.

WriteShop is supposed to be a good writing program for 6th graders and up — similar to IEW, but with daily lessons plans, more detailed checklists, etc. and therefore easier for some homeschoolers to use.

Mary

Mary, thanks for the information—will check out the group. Also I didn’t know about Step Up to Writing incorporating a key word type concept. I will look for more information on it. I also have heard good things about Write Shop, but a number of the homeschooling forum posters seemed to think IEW’s key word concept was very valuable as a prelude to Write Shop.

Here is the address for the paragraph a week if you are interested.
http://www.knownet.net/~ackley/paragraph/par_week_program.html

x

I missed the link to Write Shop. Sounds very interesting! Please help :o) Liv

http://writeshop4u.homestead.com/