Inspiration Software?

Inspiration is a wonderful piece of software that allows students to brainstorm on the computer, organize their ideas, and then format them. They can move from outline to web with one click. I use it all the time, as does my daughter. My son will use it occasionally:) It is easy to use- if you read the directions and do the tutorial that is part of the program. It can be confusing- there are a lot of options- otherwise. It is well worth the money.

You can see a lot of what Inspiration does by going to www.inspiration.com. You can download a copy that is good for 30 days, so you can see if it is useful to your son. A friend of mine saw my copy and tried it for some business presentations and manual organization that she was hired to do. The group was so impressed that they purchased a copy for all their people. It was originally created for the business world.
There is always the kidspiration copy that is not so complicated - bigger buttons and a cleaner screen. It is advertised as good for K-3, but I could see it as being good for the older student who might be confused by all the options.

I am curently working on a masters degree and use Inspiration to web my responses. Not only does it make webbing easy but also fun. I think your son would enjoy using it. I ahve shared it with my daughter who will be entering the 11 grade. Also I use it to web ideas generated at team meetings and my team thinks it’s wondeful.
Bev

Inspiration software was highly recommended to me by an educator for my then 9 year old son, who is gifted but has a weakness in writing. I downloaded the trial software from Inspiration’s website and found that it was not suitable for my son at his writing level. The program is somewhat complicated to learn, and if writing is difficult to begin with, this may present yet another obstacle for your 6th grade son. I suggest that you download the sample available on the web and evaluate it in light of your child’s ability with both computers and brainstorming for writing.

My son’s writing difficulties are numerous, from the mechanics of writing to the writing process. In the writing process, he has real difficulty with detail and development although he can outline fairly well. At this point he is not ready to benefit from a program like Inspiration.

Audrey

I can see where Inspiration might be a little complicated for a nine year old. I had to go through the tutorial before I could be comfortable and even I kept the manual close by the first time. then Did you take a look at Kidspiration by any chance? I haven’t, but I understand it is somewhat simpler to use.

Robin