The Curriculum Choice

Cindy

The biggest reason Cindy chose to homeschool was because she loves experiencing life with her children and watching them grow inside and out. She's sure that’s why the Charlotte Mason method first caught her attention. It allows her to be creative in scheduling, rigorous in learning, yet opens the door for plenty of close-knit time, opportunities for her children to explore their interests and offers enough free time for them to be children. She implements many of Charlotte Mason's methods with an eclectic twist of things that work for her family! Besides writing on her blog, Our Journey Westward, you can find her NaturExplorers studies and other creative curricula at Shining Dawn Books.

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All American History – The Civil War to the 21st Century

Geography, High School, History, Middle School No Responses »

Oct 102011

As my children grow and I begin homeschooling several ages at once, I find myself searching more often for prepared curriculum. Any of you who know me, know that I tend to shy away from textbook curricula because they’re typically so dry and irrelevant. However, in my quest to find prepared curricula that meet my Charlotte Mason/unit study/Classical style, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that a few textbooks have cut the mustard.

All American History Volume 2 – The Civil War to the 21st Century by Celeste W. Rakes is one of those pleasant surprises! This set includes a full year’s worth of history lessons for 6-12th graders. The reading selections are engaging, the worksheets meaningful and the teacher’s guide invaluable.

Each of the 32 lessons lasts approximately one week and are organized into four 8-week units. In order to effectively teach the lessons, you really do need all three components: the Student Reader, Student Activity Book and Teacher’s Guide with Answer Key.

The Student Reader is a 500+ page hardcover which includes the “textbook” readings for each lessons. Many black and white photos, illustrations, and maps enhance the text to make connections. Readings vary in length, but most average 10-12 pages.

The Student Activity Book accompanies the reader. During the readings, your child uses the workbook pages, called forms, to take guided notes. The author believes the note taking provides a valuable skill for future classes when it will be required. I love that several of the forms require pasting a black and white image (included) for visual reference. Mapping activities are included with each lesson as well. There are even review pages provided for each lesson, which could count as quizzes or tests as you see fit. Once the entire workbook is completed, you have a fantastic compilation of history from the Civil War through the 21st century!

The Teacher’s Guide and Answer Key is not to be missed! At the end of each lesson, the student’s are given four questions for further study. If you’re teaching a middle school student, she suggests assigning one or two of these. A high school student should answer all four. These are research-style questions that require in-depth answers. The teacher’s guide provides those in-depth answers for you!

Not only that, but the teacher’s guide also provides ideas for unit projects, book lists for additional reading, timeline and mapping information, games to play for reviewing material and more! I don’t always suggest teacher’s guides, but this one is a must!

Ms. Rakes gives you very clear instructions for using the curriculum “as is” and adapting it for younger students or co-op classes. Although it’s marketed as appropriate for grades 6-12, she admits that it was originally intended for middle school students. However, with just a little tweaking – additional literature, requiring all research questions and assigning the suggested unit projects – she helps you bump it up easily for high school credit.

My older children and I have thoroughly enjoyed this study! All American History Volume 1 is available, too.

-Written by Cindy, an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3 from KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies at Shining Dawn Books.

(Cindy was supplied a review copy of this product upon request. As always, her review reflects only her honest opinions.)

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Consumer Math Success Kit

Economics, High School, Highschool, Mathematics 2 Responses »

Sep 302011

Consumer Math Success Kit by David Newton is a gem for high school students! This one semester course (53 lessons – some of which can be used more than one day or extended into real-life practice) includes practical math your child will need in the future.

Bank accounts, loans, credit cards, taxes, home costs, budgeting, insurance and planning for the future are some of the 27 topics covered. What I like best is that every single lesson is very real. There isn’t a lot of wordiness to the teaching, but very concise explanations are given with practical problems following. Some people may feel like there isn’t enough teaching and may find the book to be more appropriate as a “workbook” to go along with a consumer math textbook.

The lessons assume your child has a fair background in mathematics. He needs to understand and be able to complete such things as multiplication, division, ratios, percents, fractions, decimals and conversions. The average high school student should already have a well-rounded math background to successfully use this curriculum.

The book also assumes that the teacher has a fair background in mathematics and consumer experiences since there is no teacher’s guide for you. For each section, there are teacher’s notes that supply you with pertinent vocabulary, related math topics, mathematical skills required and a few teaching suggestions, but no “how to teach notes”. And, although there is an answer key, there are no step-by-step solutions provided. For me, neither of these factors have proven to be a problem.

There aren’t an abundance of practice problems (only 5-12 per lesson), but they are sufficient for understanding the concept in most instances. I’ve found it easy to assign a real problem related to our own family to extend the lesson and “bring it home” when necessary.

In conclusion, I have really enjoyed this book as 1/2 credit for high school math. Both my husband and I feel comfortable with consumer math, so we haven’t felt slighted with the lack of teacher’s helps. We also haven’t felt it necessary for our daughter to read additional information on the subject. When needed, we’ve simply talked through some of the topics on a personal level.

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three from Kentucky. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies at Shining Dawn Books.

{Cindy received Consumer Math Success Kit free for review. As always, her review reflects her honest opinions about the product.}

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Analytical Grammar

Grammar, High School, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts, Middle School No Responses »

Sep 282011

“I am a woman on a mission to convince parents that they don’t need to be ‘doing’ a grammar worksheet every day, all year long, for years and years! If grammar is taught sequentially and logically, there is no need for so much repetition.” ~Robin Finley

Analytical Grammar by Robin Finley and contributing author Erin Karl is just what the quote above suggests – concise, systematic, thorough and completed in three simple “seasons”.

Meant to be taught in middle school during ten weeks of the 6th grade year, eight weeks of the 7th grade year and 17 weeks of the 8th grade year, the three seasons can be easily modified and completed in one or two years time as desired. However, I’ll be discussing the plan as intended since this is how I am using it with my 6th grade son.

In season one (ten weeks of 6th grade), the student is taught (at a pretty fast pace) mostly about parts of speech. Don’t be fooled – the parts of speech are rather in-depth and cover such things as interrogative pronouns, antecedents, modifiers of prepositional phrases and the like. For each new concept, there is a teaching sheet that you go over with your child. Following, there are at least two or three practice worksheets where your child is expected to label and/or diagram sentences. At the end of each concept’s set of worksheets, there is a test to administer and grade. Each concept’s lessons and test should be completed within one week’s time. Additionally, there is a writing assignment during the week where your child is asked to paraphrase a paragraph in his own words to promote both reading comprehension and writing skills.

(If you would like to use the program with an older child, you may move at a faster pace during the week or allow him to test out of various concepts.)

During season two (eight weeks of 7th grade), grammar takes a further dive into the world of participial phrases, gerund phrases, infinitive phrases, appositive phrases, adjective and adverb clauses and more. Again, sentence labeling, diagramming and rewriting are the main modes of practice, with tests following each covered concept.

During season three (17 weeks of 8th grade), your student will use his prior knowledge of grammar to begin understanding and using punctuation well. Commas, quotations, colons and semicolons, possessives and more are covered. Trust me when I say that this is far more than a review from 3rd grade punctuation lessons. However, I have found this section to be a “breather” from the intense grammar lessons from season two.

The program comes with two very nice 1 1/2″ binders. One for the student and one for the teacher. The teacher’s guide is almost exactly like the student book, except with all the answers filled in for you! You don’t need additional teaching material because the lesson teaching sheets are meant to be read by the student and are self-explanatory. In fact, the authors suggest removing completed worksheets from the notebook as it’s completed leaving only the lesson notes. In the end, you’re left with a nice grammar reference guide.

Oh, and I ought to mention that even though the lessons can be pretty intense at times, an open-note policy is suggested – even for tests. Yeah, my kids really like that idea, too.

What do you do the rest of the year if the grammar lessons only last for so many weeks? If you like, you may keep grammar skills sharp by using Reinforcement and Review Worksheets. This book of worksheet and answer keys consists of 28 lessons that can be completed once per week. Simple paragraphs from literature and poetry are read, parsed (labeled for parts of speech) and paraphrased. Five additional sentences are supplied with each lesson for more parsing practice if needed. These lessons once a week should keep skills sharp until the next “season” rolls around.

Besides using this program (slower than suggested) with my 6th grade son, I’m doing a faster tour through the book with my 9th grader as part of her English 1 credit. I’m excited to use the High School Reinforcement book, The Great American Authors as a follow-up, too. Similar to the Reinforcement and Review Worksheets for middle school, the high school reinforcement book supplies parsing, diagramming, punctuation and usage practice using biographical information about famous American authors. As we read through some of the works of these authors during her high school years, she’ll already be familiar with the authors! (These are available for British authors, World Authors and Shakespeare’s plays, too.)

In conclusion, Analytical Grammar is no easy-peasy course. In fact, at times, it can be pretty intense. However, it’s very incremental, and the directions and explanations are clear. In the end, your student will have an excellent knowledge and usage of grammar and punctuation!

Before I end, you ought to know that there is a Jr. Analytical Grammar program available to introduce your 4th or 5th grader to the world of grammar. While the authors don’t feel it’s necessary to begin grammar early, they created this program for younger children after many parent requests.

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of a 9th grader, 6th grader and K4. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies and other creative curricula at Shining Dawn Books.

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Primary Arts of Language: Reading

Elementary, Language Arts, Phonics, Preschool, Reading 1 Response »

Sep 142011

Wow. What a curriculum! Primary Arts of Language: Reading by Jill Pike of Excellence in Writing has put together a fantastic set of materials for teaching reading to your little one.

Using the “blended sound-sight” method of phonics skills and sight words-based education with a playful, game-like approach, children are intended to have fun and progress rapidly at the same time.

There are four stages to the program:

Foundations – Phonics rules and sight words are introduced through games and manipulatives. This stage is very parent-led with mom or dad teaching how to play the games, use the manipulatives and use time wisely. Later in the program, your child will become a more independent learner through the intensive training you offer during this stage.
Activity Time – This stage continues in adding new phonics rules and sight words to your child’s “arsenal”, but also expects independent and partner time to practice the games and manipulatives previously learned.
Discovery – This stage comes after your child has a good grasp of phonetic decoding skills. Your child is given small stacks of word cards daily and asked to independently work on decoding (reading) the words. Once decoded, he comes to you to read them aloud.
The Library – In this final stage, you simply provide appropriate books from a list of easy, medium and hard books for your child to read. He is expected to read the book aloud with you and again on his own at first, until progressing to simply reading on his own or aloud to siblings.

As all of the stages are progressing, there is a general theme of daily activities followed: poetry, journal, phonics and printing/composition. A poem becomes the “centerpiece” of each lesson with the same poem being used for several days. During this time your child will develop rich language, comprehension strategies, memorization skills and begin to internalize writing techniques. Phonics skills are taught and practiced in a variety of ways:

The Phonetic Farm is a full-color folder picturing a farm in which your child adds sticker characters to help remember and organize all the phonics rules he’ll learn throughout the program. (It’s super-cute and lots of fun adding the stickers to the folder!)
Phonics Games of all sorts are provided for lessons and independent practice of phonics rules. You’ll find the games printed in the back of the teacher’s manual for your to cut, color and paste. So that putting together all the games isn’t overwhelming, you’re encouraged to create the games with your child as each is introduced.
The Sight Word Card Game is created by you on index cards and used in various ways suggested through the lessons to increase your child’s sight word recognition.

The author has also written The Primary Arts of Language: Writing (which I’ll review at another time for you) that should be used concurrently with this curriculum if your child is old enough to learn to print – around five. She suggests that you use the two programs concurrently even if your child is a little younger, limiting the handwriting expected if necessary. The journal and printing/composition portions of daily lessons come from the writing curriculum.

You are provided with a Teacher’s Manual that includes very clear and concise daily lessons plans for 80 lessons. It also includes appendixes of a scope and sequence chart, phonogram chart, poems used in the lessons, alphabetical list of words used in readers, homophones list, chart of words in each discovery card pack, and a list of readers to check out or purchase. The discovery cards are also printed on green card stock in the back of the book for you to cut apart.

A book of Phonetic Games provides you with “game boards” printed on regular paper that you cut, color and paste into folders. Game pieces for each game are printed on card stock. Again, you must cut and color the pieces, then decide how you will affix the pieces to the game board for use over and over again. (A baggie or envelope attached to the back of the folders works well.) You make the games as they are introduced in the lessons, so the construction isn’t overwhelming, and in the end you have an arsenal of phonetic games that your child will be expected to practice throughout the program.

The curriculum set also comes with a DVD-ROM including the author walking you through the program step-by-step as well as many extras like MP3 seminars. But, the best part is two full PDF books of 200+ student worksheets to supplement the daily lessons, as well as four printable early readers.

I tell ya, even with the extra bit of effort it takes to put together the games and print off the student pages from the DVD-ROM, this curriculum is worth it! My little guy is in K4 (will be five in a few months) and is responding well so far. We’re taking it slower than her suggested schedule but he’s doing great and loving the games!

Watch for my review of the companion writing program soon!

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three kids in high school, middle school and K4. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers and other creative curriculum at Shining Dawn Books.

(Cindy was given a free copy of this curriculum for review upon her request. As always, she shares only her honest opinion.)

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Wonders of Old: Medieval Timeline App

History, Technology 3 Responses »

Aug 292011

I’ll admit that I’m very new to the world of apps. My son saved up his own money this past winter to purchase an iPod Touch. I had no idea how incredibly cool that little palm-sized piece of technology could be. When Terri Johnson of Knowledge Quest and App-School asked if I’d like to review her newest educational app, I was very excited!

The Wonders of Old: Medieval Timeline App is exactly what the name suggests: a timeline of Medieval historical events and people on a downloadable app for whatever device you own that utilizes apps – iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone, etc. It’s second of a four-part series of apps that cover Ancient history through modern times.

Quite simply, a timeline appears on your device which is “clickable” on each century from the 5th – 16th centuries. Upon clicking on a century icon, various important events and people are shown by date. Clicking on any of these lands you into a “page” of text and/or graphics and/or maps on the subject. Depending on the subject, there are one to four paragraphs of information to read.

Terri suggests the app for children 7 and older. The information is brief, but in-depth – if that makes sense – so your student needs to be a good reader. Our iPod Touch has a small screen, so we had a little trouble viewing the detail of most of the maps. Although we have the capability to magnify our images, doing so meant we had to “scroll around” to see the entire map. That’s not really the problem of the app, but instead the limitations of using an app such as this on a small screen.

This is a great little tool to add to the understanding of the Medieval era. My kids have had fun with it and I’ve enjoyed learning both the educational information and how to use apps to enhance our learning.

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three (high school, middle school, and K4) from Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers series and other creative curriculum at Shining Dawn Books.

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Art of the Argument

Classical, High School, Logic, Middle School 1 Response »

Aug 152011

By now, y’all know I love logic. Whether the more mathematical side of logic puzzlers or the more formal side of logical thinking, I’m on board (and so are my kids!) And I’m on a mission to get your family excited about this important subject.

This time around, I’m reviewing Art of the Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies by Aaron Lawson and Joelle Hodge.

Written for middle school students, I’ve found it to be appropriate for many high school aged students as well. (Especially considering my 9th grader is the child currently using it.) In approximately 50 lessons, your child will cover 28 fallacies of irrelevance, presumption and clarity.

An informal fallacy is when an argument does not support itself. (Not an angry argument, mind you, but any time someone takes a position in a conversation.) For example, I might say, “My dog sheds like crazy in the spring, so all dogs must do the same.” I have committed the fallacy of generalization – taking my experience with one dog and transferring it to the entire population of dogs.

Everywhere you look, you can find informal fallacies – commercials, newscasts, political campaigns, and even in churches. When we aren’t aware of fallacies or don’t take the time to evaluate whether statements are well supported, we set ourselves up to believe whatever we hear. In today’s world, we simply cannot allow our children to grow up without the knowledge and encouragement to think clearly, lest they be pulled farther and farther away from the only real Truth that exists.

Now that I’ve gotten all serious on you, I’ll tell you that the program is far from serious and stuffy. Your children will have fun learning how to argue correctly and recognize fallacies. A series of dialogues between Socrates and two college students is sprinkled throughout the book and are both humorous and enlightening. Lessons are clear and concise with several illustrated examples to drive home the meaning of each fallacy. Socrates often comes in at the end of a lesson, too, to challenge your child to think about real-life fallacies and/or complete brief assignments.

Although the lessons are brief (15-20 minutes most days), your child will still get lots of experience recognizing fallacies, rewriting fallacies, noting definitions and answering short essay questions. At the end of each chapter, there is a review; and at the end of each unit, there is a cumulative review. A glossary at the end of the book as well as charts on the inside of the covers serve as reminders of each fallacy and its definition.

The Teacher’s Guide is exactly like the Student Workbook, except it includes all the answers AND supplies you with tests for each chapter and unit, with a final exam, too.

You’ll notice my review of The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox by the Bluedorn’s below. Both are written for the same age level and concentrate on informal fallacies. How do they compare? Both cover similar material, with the Bluedorn’s possibly covering a tad more. However, the Bluedorn books are far more casual. While they include lots of oral questions, there is not much writing involved and no reviews or quizzes. I think both are extremely valuable in the middle/high school years! I recommend starting with The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox (in that order), reading them together with your child and answering the oral questions together. Then, move into The Art of the Argument, allowing your child to take the reigns without as much direct involvement by you. (If anyone else has an opinion on this, please comment!)

We LOVE our time exploring logic and hope you do, too!

Find my other logic reviews:

The Fallacy Detective and The Thinking Toolbox

Lollipop Logic

Logic Games

Prufrock Press Logic Resources

-Written by Cindy, an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three (high school, middle school, K4) in Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers series and other creative curricula at Shining Dawn Books.

(Cindy received a copy of Art of the Argument free in exchange for her honest opinion.)

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The Nature Game

Nature Study, Science 2 Responses »

Aug 012011

Kendra from the blog, Aussie Pumpkin Patch, has developed a fun game that nature lovers everywhere will get excited about! She originally asked me to review this for Shining Dawn Books since our main line is the NaturExplorers series, but I thought it deserved the attention of The Curriculum Choice instead.

The Nature Game comes to you as two PDF flies. On one file, you get directions for creating your own game board and game pieces, as well as directions for play. The other file includes a “starter pack” of game cards, which you will copy from your printer and cut to play. (Kendra has plans to create other themed game card packs in the future, which is why the first set is called the starter pack.)

Now for the fun part…Picture yourself sitting on a blanket under a shade tree in your yard or a local park. You and your children surround the game board with a few nature field guides off to the side. Each person draws a nature card on his turn and is asked to complete a nature task right then and there.

Find and identify two or more birds in three minutes.

Find something bumpy and describe it with your eyes closed.

Find something in nature for each color of the rainbow.

To complete the tasks, you might need to get up and move around or pull out a field guide. Upon successful completion, the nature card tells you how many acorns (beads) to collect. The more you collect, the better your chance of winning in the end! Never fear, though, if you can’t successfully complete a task, there’s no penalty other than not collecting acorns. Otherwise, the play is very friendly and positive – and even cooperative if you like.

There might be a card or two you need to put aside during certain times of the year or in certain nature spots, but there should still be plenty to keep the game rolling. Also, since the cards are very generic, there is no need to be in a particular part of the world or a particular nature setting. As long as there are trees, flowers and active critters (insects, birds, etc.), most of the cards can be used anywhere.

The only stumper I can find to this wonderful game idea is in creating your own game board. Kendra gives you very detailed directions, but the fact still remains that you must make the game board in order to play as directed. I just know some of you creative parents will think of shortcuts if you’d rather not spend the time making a board. (Like playing until the cards run out and only worrying with collecting acorns, for instance. Yeah, I’m kind of creative like that.)

The bottom line: The Nature Game is a very creative way to spend some quality time with your children studying nature!

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3 from Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers series at Shining Dawn Books.

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Medieval Alliance Game

Classical, Elementary, High School, History, Middle School, Unit study resources 3 Responses »

Jul 272011

We’re jumping into the Middle Ages for history again this year! I love following a four-year repeating cycle of history and science. Each time we dive back into a subject with so much more breadth and depth, we find ourselves completely enthralled {yet again} in the subject matter.

Besides using Romans, Reformers and Revolutionaries and TruthQuest History as our spine curricula, I’ve found a few “extras” that have been wonderful additions for studying the time period. The Medieval Alliance Board Game from Jett Educational Games is one of those fun extras.

Our family loves a good game anyway, but even more when it purposely fits into something we’re studying. And even more again when the game acts as a “teacher” besides just being fun. Medieval Alliance is all of these: fun, fitting and very instructional!

Each player becomes a knight serving a particular king or queen during the late Middle Ages. His or her goal is to be the first knight to form an alliance with the King of Agrafor by collecting precious gifts to give to the king in his castle.

Each knight earns money for purchasing gifts by collecting income from land holdings (feudalism). As money is collected, knights travel throughout the land to find the armor smith, weapon smith, shrine and market where gifts can be purchased. (Beautiful photos of actual medieval artifacts and art are included.) Once all required gifts are purchased, the knight must beware the king’s guard in the castle as he or she strives to reach the king.

During journeys through the kingdom, other knights can challenge you to a joust which means you might lose valuable money and turns. Chance cards have to be drawn sometimes, too, which can prove to benefit or set back your journey. Either way, though, the chance cards provide a wealth of valuable information about the time period! You’ll be introduced to:

lifestyles
customs
hygiene
famous people
battles
markets
artwork
tools and weapons
occupations
and more!

What better way to learn about a time period than to dive right in and become part of it?

Since there is a good deal of reading involved on the chance cards, it’s most easily played by children who are good readers. However, younger children can still play with help. Enjoy!

-Cindy West is an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3 from Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies at Shining Dawn Books.

(Medieval Alliance was provided to Cindy free for review. As always, she shares only her honest opinions.)

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Max Axiom Graphic Science Books

Elementary, Middle School, Science No Responses »

Jul 182011

I’m in love – or, better yet, my son is in love! We’ve had the opportunity to review graphic science books on all sorts of topics that are fun and easy to read. Comic book style science sounds really fluffy doesn’t it? Believe it or not, the Max Axiom series is full of “real” science that goes deep enough to be appropriate for any upper elementary/early middle school child.

My son is a less-than-zealous textbook reader. (Picture eyes glazing over and giant yawns.) After reading – or being read to – from a textbook, he recalls very little of the information. Over the years, I’ve turned science into hands-on unit studies and supplemented with lots of library books, which has worked quite well. During one of these unit study times, I came across Max Axiom and wanted to know more.

I found that Capstone Press offers many, many Max Axiom books, and boy were my son and I excited! Twenty-four books total cover the areas of biology/botany, chemistry, physical and earth science.

In each book, Max Axiom (a scientist with super powers), goes on an adventure to learn all about the topic at hand. He can shrink to the size of bacteria and whiz through the human body, or go back in time to learn more about a famous scientist of the past.

No matter the topic, in-depth concepts and terminology are tackled. For instance, in The World of Food Chains by Liam O’Donnell, the following concepts are covered:

energy
producers
consumers
primary/secondary/tertiary/top consumers
food chains – land and water
food pyramids
food webs
herbivores/carnivores/omnivores
predators/prey
decomposers
ecosystems

All of this in a 32 page comic book! (When I say comic book, don’t think of flimsy pages, these are “real” books.)

Warnings: Max Axiom is not a creationist. In some books, you will find references to “millions of years” or “Darwin”. Of the nine I’ve personally read, only one was too far from our creationist viewpoint to share with my son – A Journey into Adaptations by Agnieszka Biskup. Additionally, many of the books contain an environmental or human responsibility factor, especially toward the end. I haven’t found any of these to push my buttons too hard, but I want you to be aware.

-Written by Cindy, an eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of 3 from KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies at Shining Dawn Books.

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Wordsmith

High School, Middle School, Writing 1 Response »

Jul 082011

Wordsmith by Janie Cheaney is a creative writing course for 7-9^th grades. Written to the child in a casual, humorous tone, it gives encouragement that writing isn’t something to hate and shouldn’t be considered too hard.

Broken into three parts, lessons in parts 1 and 2 are incremental and break writing into doable steps which focus on various writing techniques. Even though the author begins at the beginning with such things as lively nouns and powerful verbs, the lessons are not babyish and relate well to 12-15 year-olds. It’s through these basics that your child will get a good concept of building strong sentences and thorough paragraphs which will turn into beautiful writings by the time part 3 rolls around.

In part 3, your child is taught how to “paint pictures” through words. These lessons focus on integrating sensory experiences, figures of speech, clear settings, detailed descriptions, sequencing (and more) into writings. Your child will try his hand at writing narratives, dialogues, points of view, and finally creative stories as part 3 progresses.

Self-evaluation and revising are taught and encouraged both throughout the lessons and specifically in a section about revision.

The student gets his own book, in which some of the work can be completed on the workbook pages. Mom gets her own teacher’s guide. In it there are notes about how to use the program, some tips and hints about writing, and suggested plans of study.

The curriculum can take as little as 3 months or as long as 9 months to complete. The suggested plan of study is based on 36 weeks. For each day of the week in the teacher’s guide, you are given the lesson to assign, as well as some teaching tips.

I have been using this with a reluctant 6^th grader and a happy-to-write 9^th grader since receiving it for review several months ago. Both are progressing well on their own levels!

There are two other Wordsmith products available – Wordsmith Apprentice for grades 4-6 and Wordsmith Craftsman for grades 10+.

-Written by Cindy West, eclectically Charlotte Mason mom of three from KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers studies at Shining Dawn Books.

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