The Curriculum Choice

Life Lessons: Sponsor a Child

Bible, Geography, Hands On, Writing 1 Response »

Jul 222011

Our family sponsors two children with Compassion International.

It isn’t exactly a curriculum, but my family is receiving an education through it.

The educational benefits are numerous:

1. Geography becomes a real, living subject rather than a flat, oddly shaped spot on a globe. Someone lives there! Someone who writes you letters! You send letters back! Geography lives.

2. The study of geography extends to cultural study, based on a real person, a child, just like your child. Although this picture may emerge slowly, it is, at its base, more real than any book could portray.

3. Financial stewardship and generous giving become a reality in your family. This giving is not just for adults. Children must see giving in action to understand it. Sponsorship allows for that. Beyond sending the money, writing letters and daily praying for the child(ren) that you sponsor teaches a true concern for the welfare of those that you serve with your finances. Giving becomes a family affair, one that is more than lip service or check-writing.

4. Writing skills are honed through the exchange of letters between children. Even if the adult acts as an intermediary, parent and child can write the sponsored child together. In sharing details of life through writing, children learn how to share themselves in their writing.

5. Humility and discipline are brought to the forefront when sponsored children share their experiences. The kids that we sponsor are poor, poorer than we can really understand, but their gratitude, humility, and commitment to disciplined living shine a light into our lives.

6. Family prayer has an outward focus. We pray daily for our sponsored children. Do you think that I remember to pray for them every day? Hardly. My eight, six, and four-year old are on the ball, though. It is a beautiful thing when children pray for each other.

7. The fabric of the body of Christ is woven in a tangible way. Even my youngsters can understand that through our prayers, service, and love we are connected to people on other continents. This is the kingdom of God and it is alive.

There are so many reasons to use our wealth to sponsor children of poverty. In light of the extreme circumstances of the children served through programs like Compassion International, it seems selfish to list the ways that sponsorship benefits me. In my experience, though, God is a God of double blessing: He uses relationships to bless those who receive and those who give. The reasons listed above may not be the primary reasons to become a giver, but they are a part of the blessing of sharing with others and a sign of God’s goodness and love for all.

Perhaps sponsorship seems insufficient, even paltry, due to the distance between your money and the very real difficulties of the children. A few minutes spent perusing the websites of organizations that create child sponsorships quickly reveal that the help is as real as the need. Compassion and groups like them have become adept at creating a cycle of giving that truly helps children and families.

Sponsorship makes a life for children of poverty in a way that empowers families. It is real and lovely.

And as an added bonus for the homeschooling family, it is an education.

Susan is a homeschooling mom of three—a preschooler, a first grader, and a third grader. They spend their days reading on the couch, playing with numbers, and making big, fun messes in a Spirit-led, Well-Trained Mind-inspired classical-Charlotte Mason-traditional model of home education.

Epi Kardia

Bible, Biblical Principle Approach, Charlotte Mason, Elementary, Hands On, High School, History, Middle School, Phonics, Reading, Science, Unit study resources, Writing 4 Responses »

Jul 152011

Epi Kardia.

In Greek, it means “at the heart.”

To me, this curriculum gets right to the heart of what we want homeschooling to be in our family – a Christ-centered relationship and discipleship between parents and their children.

My Family’s Story

I’m continuously searching for the “best” curriculum for our needs, which are ever-changing. Unfortunately, my small town leaves a lot desired when it comes to curriculum availability. And, because I’m an incredibly visual and hands-on person, it’s hard for me to commit to buying things that I can’t thumb through.

I was recently given the chance to take a sneak peak at the Epi Kardia curriculum by the company. It, along with a few others, had been bookmarked in my “check out later” file – so when the chance came along, I was giddy. No lie.

Epi Kardia is a literature based Charlotte Mason approach to homeschooling. What does that mean? Well, Epi Kardia uses the Bible to take your student through history. But, wait. If you think your student is just going to be memorizing passages, you are so wrong. The folks at Epi Kardia have broken down a structured learning plan for each grade. For example, if you choose the first set in the 1st Grade plan, you’re child will be learning about: The Ancients, Middle Ages, Renaissance & Reformation.

With each topic, the Bible along with a variety of other christian and non-christian (but approved by Epi Kardia) books are used to help teach your child more about the subject he or she is supposed to be learning. Because of it’s Charlotte Mason approach, Epi Kardia also includes a lot of copy-work and handwriting exercises. It’s so impressive to see how they’ve really brought a myriad of important subjects (Bible, History/Reading, Science, English/Phonics, Arts) together in a wonderful education plan.

Quick Breakdown

The Pros-

Teaches Bible, History/Reading, Science, English/Phonics, Arts (some programs similar to this one do not teach science)
Included is a book list, complete with ISBN numbers
The plans leave plenty of time for “projects”
Costs about the same as its competitors’ programs ($250 for printed, $200 for CD)
Requires little planning as it’s all done for you!

The Cons-

It’s a Charlotte Mason approach, so if your child doesn’t learn well with this method, it may not be right for them. (Although, if you’ve never tried it, I’d recommend it!)
It didn’t have quite as many projects as I’d like – I’m VERY hands on and project-oriented, as is my oldest. But, this is easily remedied, and an extra project or two can be added to our schedule. However, for those of you who aren’t insane about crafting and projects the way I am, they have the perfect amount. Enough to teach a point without being overbearing for your schedule.
You’re actually going to have to go to the library or amazon.com to get the books. Everything you need is not included in these plans (meaning, you’ll have to buy or borrow books from their book-lists).
The website can be a little confusing (navigation and figuring out which package entails what).

Would I use it?

Yes, yes I would.

Learn More:

To learn more, you can visit their website, check out their scope and sequence, or view a sample.

Written by Ashley. Find more of Ashley’s writings and reflections on motherhood, marriage and life on her blog.

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.

Tapestry of Grace

Classical, Elementary, Geography, Hands On, High School, History, Lapbooks, Literature, Middle School, Reading, Unit study resources, Writing 19 Responses »

Jun 132011

Have you found a curriculum you and your children absolutely love? One that is a perfect fit for everyone’s learning style? A nice match for the age range of your household? That, my friends, is how I feel about Tapestry of Grace.

I am fresh from representing Tapestry in a booth at my local homeschool convention. The three of us booth hostesses were not selling Tapestry that weekend. We were simply there to help, to answer questions and to share how we use the curriculum in our homes. Three days worth of talking Tapestry with fellow homeschoolers! So, what I am sharing here is not only my family’s years of experience with Tapestry but also what I learned were the biggest questions for newcomers to this curriculum.

Those that walked up to the booth, brand new to Tapestry or those who had never heard of it before asked this most often: What is it? Will you explain it?

Tapestry of Grace is a classical approach, Biblically-based, unit study curriculum for the whole family. Tapestry covers eight subjects. Everyone learning together – each child on their own learning and skill level. Here are the subjects Tapestry covers:

History
Writing
Literature
Geography
Fine Arts
Church History
Philosophy
Government

So you need to add: Math, Grammar and Science

Tapestry of Grace is a unit study approach. Four eras or year plans of history. Four units each year. Everyone studying the same topics. The history cycle (from the Tapestry site):

Year 1 covers the Ancient World.
Year 2 covers the Medieval World through the American Revolution.
Year 3 covers the 1800′s
Year 4 begins in 1900 and ends with current events.

Weekly plans: Kristen does a wonderful job of describing how the weekly plans are presented in her Review of Tapestry of Grace. She describes each section: the threads, reading assignments, weekly overview, writing assignments, student activity pages, teacher notes and glance into next week.

Here’s a peek at how Tapestry works in our home: When we first started with Tapestry of Grace I had a 5th, 4th and 1st grader. Plus a three-year-old and an infant. We spread one year of learning over two years. I love this pace. Especially with little ones under foot and older ones needing to concentrate on independent work. Tapestry gave us “a map for the journey.” The following words are from Marcia’s Somerville’s blog, Love the Journey, several years ago.

This was us before Tapestry: “…using traditional homeschooling curricula, instead of preserving family unity, each child is put into his own little car and travels each day his individual roads. Mom becomes more of a traffic cop trying to keep all the bumper cars on their tracks than the driver of the family van.
After: Using Tapestry, everyone travels together and explores the landscape of Classical Education from a Christian perspective in one family van that mom and dad really do drive.“

Everyone learning together. Really? Yes. This year, I had a 7th, 6th and 3rd grader. Plus, of course the preschoolers learning as well. One week the older two had a shared writing assignment. They were to write a radio show. Set in the early 1900s, they worked together on a story of the Wright brothers. They recruited their two younger sisters as additional characters and sound effects technicians. Sixth grader used the radio equipment that was his great-grandfather’s. (Do you see?)

Tapestry addresses all our different learning styles:

Hands on projects: I have one child that particularly flourishes when she gets to do a book report on a display board. Woven throughout Tapestry assignments are art and activity projects for individual students as well as for the whole family. The lapbook supplements are wonderful for those that enjoy hands on learning as well.

Auditory learners – can listen to audio books for literature and history studies. Many of these we borrow from the library.
Independent learning – My eldest likes to load up her books and tuck herself off in a corner. There are plenty of opportunities for those that work best on their own – which is the aim for the transition from dialectic (roughly middle school) to rhetoric (high school).

Even learning for mom and dad! Marcia Somerville explains Tapestry this way: Picture your family getting in the family van and heading out on a cross-country trek. There is something on the journey for everyone. For mom, extensive, weekly teacher notes give you all you would ever need for grades K-12 all the years of your homeschooling journey. For dad, a Pop Quiz. This CD is easy to listen to on a work commute, giving an overview and highlights of the learning going on at home.

If you are new to Tapestry, their website is a wonderful place to start:

Download a free, three-week trial of Tapestry. Explore Egypt with your family and explore Tapestry of Grace at the same time. This is what we did when considering Tapestry. It helped me, as the teacher, see how the curriculum works. And it got the children all excited!
Marcia Somerville’s video explanation of the map of humanities. Hear directly from Tapestry creator and author about the journey of Tapestry of Grace. She regularly posts on her blog specific Tapestry information as well as general homeschool encouragement.
Also on the Tapestry of Grace site, under the Explore Tapestry tab, you can view explanations of the cyclical plans, weekly plans. learning levels, the three big ideas. Pull up a chair and spend some time here.

Learn from fellow Tapestry users:

An extensive online community – forum, photo gallery, find a co-op, find a friend.
Harmony Art Mom – a friend and mom using Tapestry of Grace through high school. She shares all of her practical Tapestry tips, topics, techniques. How much I have learned from Barb! Please read her review Sonlight vs. Tapestry of Grace here on the Curriculum Choice as well as other Curriculum Choice reviews.
More on the day to day Tapestry of Grace in our home, including preparing for a new Tapestry of Grace year, here.

But I feel overwhelmed by Tapestry of Grace. How do I make it work? Never have we ever done all of the subjects each week. Tapestry is truly a smorgasbord. When I open that week plan, I zone in on the learning levels for my children and ignore the rest. Even then, depending on the week, we may choose to only tackle the core history assignment. Other weeks, as we are wrapping up a unit, we may concentrate more on the arts and activities, doing assignments and larger projects together as a family.

We never finish up each and every assignment for the week. This curriculum serves you and your needs, matching the season of your life. There is so much to choose from! You don’t have to check it all off. Yet, that is also one of the beautiful benefits of Tapestry. You can tailor it by topic for your family, changing it to your children’s needs, matching the books you already have on your shelf. Dig deep or skim the surface. Rich learning either way.

Cost: One time investment. When you buy a year or even a unit of Tapestry of Grace you have it to use over and over again. Cycling through with each child. Your youngest ones have the chance to learn at the different levels up to four times.

How do you like your curriculum? Tapestry is available in print or digital form. Or, you can purchase both for each unit. I made the transition from print to digital last year. I found it easy to have everything on my computer to click on and reach – all in one spot. However, my two new Tapestry hostess friends both preferred having the digital version on their computers AND the print version to hold and flip through.

What about all those books? Oh the books we read! Each unit is rich with living books. Buying all the books for each unit is an option. However, I can purchase the ‘spine’ resource we will be using that year or that unit and reserve the rest at the library. Most of the books are available there. If not the first resource listed, then I usually already have the books listed on the alternate resource page in each week’s reading. Or can find them at the library. For years 3 and 4, Story of the World was listed as an alternate resource. Already had that on my shelf!

Bookshelf Central is the spot to load your cart up on books. You can select the books you need for all learning levels the entire year. Or you can fill your cart with just the books you will need for your grammar students for unit one. The online cartoon character, Grace, leads you through the Buying Guide step by step.

Optional Supplements:

Lapbooks: available for each unit, either on disc for you to print. Or pre-printed on colored paper for you and your child to assemble. Some families purchase a lapbook for each child. In our family, we use the lapbook as a review at the end of the unit. Each child picks several topics to work on and research. Click here.

Pop Quiz: Dad can listen on his commute to work. Supper time discussion can be about all the learning going on at home. The children and I have also used Pop Quiz CDs ourselves as an overview – in the car – going from place to place during the week. Click here for more information.
Map Aids: all the maps you need to print for one year in one place. Available in disc form or as an add on to Tapestry DE. Click here.

Writing Aids: A resource for all ages. One time purchase to be used as a supplement to Tapestry writing assignments or as an independent writing handbook. We turn to this guide to see what is expected in an assignment. What is a book report? How do you organize a display board? All types of writing graphs, wheels, diagrams and more to print to aid in the writing process. Click here.
Evaluations: Tests and quizzes to see how much your children are absorbing. The Tapestry site says, “Evaluations are unique because they test in keeping with the Tapestry style–integrated and multi-sensory!” Click here.
Government Elective: Available for rhetoric students. Key documents for further study. Click here.
Online Classes: for dialectic and rhetoric students. Click here.

Unit Celebrations: a celebration brings closure to a unit of study. These can be extensive or simple. Children can dress as a character from the time period they’ve studied and put on a play. Invite grandparents, friends and neighbors to view display boards, reports and school work. Celebrate all you’ve learned. Here’s an example of a unit study from our Year 4 studies and our Year 2 studies.

Continuing Education: I feel that continuing education and encouragement for mom is important. I look forward to the sessions at homeschool convention each year. As well as just seeing the sheer number of homeschoolers that fill that convention hall! With Tapestry of Grace, I’m learning right along with my children. All the resources I need to teach them at my fingertips. Extensive teacher notes from K all the way through high school.

As one heading into our fourth year of Tapestry, let me suggest: Take a summer or holiday break to get to know Tapestry. Take your time navigating their website. Download the free, three-week trial and have fun trying it out with your children. Trying it on is how we all find out if it fits.

In summary: Tapestry brings us all together for learning. As a family we are learning history – HIS Story – beginning with creation and leading to present times. And, when we are all learning together that means less work for mom. I’m not teaching those eight subjects times my five children. I’m teaching them once. Tapestry reaches the needs of all my children and gradually builds independent learners. All it takes is a few steps into the buffet of options available each unit, and the children are off and running on their own.

This year, as I officially start one more of my children on the Tapestry road and transition another into high school, I have the confidence and tools I need. I’m looking forward to teaching my kindergartener, 4th, 7th and 8th graders all together. And I’m sure the three-year-old will be joining in often. So, yes, I’d agree with the Tapestry of Grace slogan, Love the Journey.

And, once more I strongly suggest you download a free, three-week trial of Tapestry. See how it works for your family by actually using it. Print it out and hold it in your hand. We did it that one summer and then knew it was for us.

How about you? Have you already attended or do you plan to attend a homeschool convention? What questions do you have about Tapestry of Grace?

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She regularly shares about Tapestry of Grace at Hodgepodge. She also contributes a blend of writing at parenting, homeschool, frugal living and allergy sites.

Pin It

Rod and Staff English

Bible, Classical, Elementary, Language Arts, Middle School, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing 10 Responses »

May 092011

I was reminded again why we’ll be heading into our sixth year enjoying Rod and Staff English. Yesterday, third grader and I read…

How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

The assignment to emphasize that when we read God’s word we “should be careful to get all the good sweetness we can…

…We must not read so quickly that we miss the important truths God wants to teach us. Nor should we read so slowly that our minds wander and bits of truth slip away.”

Further on the assignment was to copy and memorize the above verse. I adore that we are using God’s word to study English.

Just the day before we read sentences, pictured above. Do you see the names of Biblical cities? Goshen. Tarshish. Some of these might be difficult for a third grader to read. But why shy away from them? Practice pronouncing them now for confidence later.

In our home, many times we do the lessons orally. The curriculum is written for a classroom, so we adapt. The children and I can read through the written exercises together. Other times I ask that they do a writing assignment. There is a nice variation of poetry, writing and good old diagramming (in older grades). We simply buy a spiral notebook to accompany the grade – so all written assignments are in one spot.

We also don’t begin grammar lessons until mid way through the second grade year. Even then we may only do a couple lessons a week. So far each of our children have enjoyed this series so much that they have each asked to do more. Now, my older three children head into their 4th, 7th and 8th grade years with Rod and Staff.

“I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.” Psalm 77:12 – from inside cover of Preparing to Build, English 2

The verse we found at the bottom of another lesson, illustrated with clouds, butterflies and mushrooms….

Whatsoever things are true,

Whatsoever things are honest,

Whatsoever things are just,

Whatsoever things are pure,

Whatsoever things are lovely,

Whatsoever things are of good report;

think on these things.

–Philippians 4:8–

For a detailed listing of specific levels available and ordering information, please see Annie Kate’s review: Rod and Staff Grammar or Kristen’s review: Rod and Staff English.

~Tricia faces a daily dose of chaos homeschooling five children. She contributes a blend of writing at parenting and homeschool sites as well as her own daily Hodgepodge.

Research in Increments

High School, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts, Middle School, Writing 3 Responses »

Apr 042011

Research in Increments by Susan Kemmerer is a wonderful tool for your students who are learning to write a research paper. Written directly to the student, the lessons lead your child through a step-by-step process of:

choosing a research topic
narrowing down the topic’s direction
using index cards to keep track of sources and information gathered
creating a bibliography
interviewing people
including graphics
creating an outline
adding endnotes and footnotes
and more!

Ms. Kemmerer also teaches your student how to use creative writing skills to make the research paper interesting by teaching such things as hooking the reader and adding finishing touches. In fact, she stresses to both the parents and student that a good research paper really must include not only the research skills, but creative writing as well.

I love how the book can be used in various ways. You can choose to simply read through the 17 steps and apply them as you please. Or you can go through each lesson in order and allow your child to actually write notes and rough drafts in the spaces provided in the book. Or you can even choose to follow the provided lesson plan guide – this will take 63 days, but your child should come to the end with a masterpiece!

For those children who tend to draw a blank when it comes to writing, the author has included a large list of research topics to choose from. She also does a great job guiding the ideas during each step of writing the paper.

My 8th grade daughter had never written a “real” research report before. (Mostly because I was dreading it.) This was a painless (okay, as painless as a research paper can possibly be) method to teach her the process, and it will be a great resource for her when the next paper rolls around. I chose not to allow her to write in the book, so that I can use the guide with my two sons eventually.

Great resource!

-Cindy West in an eclectically Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom of three in Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers curricula at Shining Dawn Books. Research in Increments was given to her in exchange for her honest review.

Story Starters

Charlotte Mason, Elementary, High School, Middle School, Writing 3 Responses »

Jan 052011

Story Starters by Karen Andreola is a life saver - for you and your children! Mom will never again have to rack her brain for writing assignments. And students won’t have to sit hopelessly in front of a blank sheet of paper wondering where in the world to start any longer. Seriously!

You (or your 4th -8th grade child) can choose from one of 67 story starters. These are quite simply the beginnings of stories that will leave your children on the edge of their seats wondering what happens next. Best of all, they get to write the endings themselves. This is such a fun way to bring out the excitement for writing, not to mention giving imaginations a starting point!

Included with each story starter is a black and white illustration that is meant to further prompt your child’s imaginations about the story at hand.

Never fear – for those students who might still be “stuck” once the story is turned over to them, Ms. Andreola offers some leading questions that help pinpoint various directions the story could go.

On the other hand, children who really have no problems at all going forward with the stories are occasionally offered challenges to think more deeply about plot, characters or writing styles. Additionally, for all writers, end chapters are included to help build colorful vocabulary, and discuss writing in first, second and third person. A bonus section offers 24 extra illustrations that your writers can use as springboards to begin their own stories.

The author is an advocate for Charlotte Mason style homeschooling. While this book certainly fits that style, it’s a wonderful resource for any homeschool! We all strive to produce good writers, and more of us than care to admit struggle with writing in our homeschools. This is a great resource to get the words flowing!

-Cindy West is and eclectically Charlotte Mason homeschooling mom of three from Central KY. You can find her blogging at Our Journey Westward and find her NaturExplorers curricula at Shining Dawn Books. Cindy was offered a free copy of Story Starters in exchange for her honest review.

A Reason for Handwriting

Bible, Elementary, Handwriting, Language Arts, Writing No Responses »

Dec 102010

We started out this year with the intent to use a different curriculum for handwriting but, of course, life happens!

We ended up moving across country, leaving behind the majority of our home to be shipped at a later date. That means we left most of our curriculum as well! Basically starting from scratch, I stumbled across “A Reason for Handwriting”. I am so glad that I did!

We chose “A Reason for Handwriting, manuscript B”, which offers slightly smaller text than the traditional first grade books, technically book “B” is a second grade level book. I love that feature because it helps my son to really concentrate on what he is doing and it helps him develop better hand-eye coordination.

The book starts out with a review section to remind and reconnect, if necessary; then it jumps right into lesson plans. The lesson plans are easy to follow and already setup for each day’s worth of work. The lessons are short and the pages are colorful.

What I love the most is that the curriculum is primarily focused around Bible verses. The kids practice letters as well as whole words, which all tie into a bible verse. It reinforces neat, tidy penmanship, light reading along with easy memorizing of scripture!

A Reason for Handwriting is available as a set with a teachers guide and consumable student workbook, or as a single student workbook. We opted to just get the workbook which we are doing fine as a stand alone product. The set retails for $34.95; the individual workbook retails for $15.95. However, I have found the curriculum at discount on a few sites for a low $26.21 for the set and $11.96 individual.

Overall, I am really happy with the curriculum. My son loves to do the work and looks forward to learning new scripture verses as his lessons progress.

Teaching the Essay from Analytical Grammar

High School, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts, Literature, Middle School, Writing 3 Responses »

Nov 152010

My oldest child is in 8th grade this year and is taking a Literary Analysis class for the first time. The class involves writing many literary analysis essays. Rather than dive right into the Literary Analysis class, I thought it would be prudent and fruitful to first teach her how to write a literary analysis essay. Even though I feel confident in my own writing, I wasn’t sure how to go about teaching her how to write this specific type of essay. Therefore, I was completely delighted when I attended a presentation about Teaching the Essay by Analytical Grammar at last year’s MidWest Homeschool Convention.

After listening to the representative explain the Teaching the Essay unit, I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for to teach my daughter how to write a literary analysis essay. More than anything, the very best way to describe Teaching the Essay is CLEAR. Even if you have absolutely no background in expository writing, Teaching the Essay will teach you, the parent-teacher, how to teach your child to write a 5 paragraph expository essay focusing on literary analysis. Teaching the Essay is designed for the secondary student – junior high age and above.

As Robin Finley, the author of Teaching the Essay, asserts, writing a literary analysis essay involves fluency, mechanics, and structure. Fluency has to do with the “gift of gab” and the ability to put words on paper. Some children are natural writers and will find fluency easier than those who struggle to put words on paper but ALL children become more fluent writers with practice. Mechanics has to do with grammar and is taught separately from this unit by whatever grammar curriculum you choose. Lastly, writing a literary analysis essay involves STRUCTURE and Teaching the Essay focuses on the structure of a 5 paragraph essay. After finishing this teaching unit, your child should have no doubt about what a literary analysis actually is and how one should look.

Teaching the Essay comes with all of the notes and reproducible hand-outs you will need to teach a 4 – 8 week course on writing literary essays. My daughter is a fluent writer and was able to catch on to the concepts fairly easily so we completed the unit in 5 weeks. Depending on your child, you may need more or less time to finish the unit. In addition, a CD is included for the teacher. Listening to the whole CD gives you a big picture overview of the whole teaching unit so that you feel prepared about how to go about teaching the unit. As well, the CD is divided into tracks by teaching days so that you can listen to the specific teaching day that you are on to prepare for that day’s teaching.

How does this teaching unit work?

In this teaching unit, all students start with reading The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. Then, a thesis statement is given to the child to build a literary analysis essay around. For this first essay, the parent-teacher and student work together every step of the way to complete this first essay.
For the second essay, the child reads “Wheldon the Weed” first. Then the student is given a choice of three thesis statements to choose from that correspond to the included short story. This essay is completed more independently with the parent-teacher giving help as needed.
For the third essay, the child reads “Bargain” first. Then the student is given a choice of three thesis statements to choose from that correspond to the included short story. This essay is completed more independently with the parent-teacher giving help as needed.
Lastly, the student chooses his or her own short story and thesis statement. This last essay is written independently.

After writing four essays in this unit, the student should feel comfortable writing other literary essays. In my own experience, after writing the essays, my daughter was able to easily apply the knowledge and the structure to her writing assignments in her literary analysis course. If the student needs more or less practice, the teaching unit can be easily adjusted to the needs of the student.

In addition to all of the detailed instructions given on the CD, Teaching the Essay also includes the following tools to help teach the unit:

A very clearly written hand-out titled “What is a Literary Essay?”
A graphic organizer hand-out to further explain the structure of a literary essay titled “The Keyhole Structure of the Literary Essay”
A completed literary essay of the Tell-Tale Heart for the teacher
An outline hand-out of the whole writing process for a literary essay – “How to Write a Perfect Essay: It’s All in the Process!”
Teaching the Essay teaching notes - A Step by Step Guide for the Teacher
All the needed texts for the literary essays written in the unit (The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, Bargain by A. B. Guthrie,Jr., and Wheldon the Weed by Peter Jones)
Reproducible worksheets to help the student write each part of the essay
Very detailed grading rubric.

To learn more about Teaching the Essay, you can visit their website and watch an informational video about the teaching unit by Robin Finley. As well, I have found the representatives from Analytical Grammar very easy to talk to and quick to respond to e-mails. I am sure that they would be glad to answer any additional questions you may have about Teaching the Essay. Teaching the Essay is available online for $15.00.

Samantha has been homeschooling for 8 years and currently is homeschooling her 8th grade daughter, 6th grade son, and 4th grade son. Samantha is an eclectic homeschooler using a wide variety of curriculum to best meet the ever-changing needs of her children. Samantha writes about homeschooling and family life at To Be Busy at Home.

Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons from IEW

Elementary, History, Junior High Language Arts, Language Arts, Middle School, Vocabulary, Writing No Responses »

Oct 062010

After trying many different writing programs, I am using a writing curriculum this year with my 4th and 6th grade sons that I KNOW I will continue using year after year. I am absolutely thrilled with the writing curriculum I purchased from the Institute for Excellence in Writing. More specifically, we are using Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons. Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons is one of many theme-based writing programs available from IEW. While this review will focus exclusively on Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons, the use of this curriculum assumes that the parent/teacher has attended (either live or via DVD) IEW’s Basic Seminar on Teaching Writing Structure and Style. An overview and review of IEW’s Basic Seminar can also be found here at Curriculum Choice.

Basically, Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons takes the nine units of writing instruction covered in Teaching Writing: Structure and Style and applies them to specific writing assignments that pertain directly to Ancient History topics. For example, three lessons cover IEW Units I and II (Note Making and Summarizing from Notes). More specifically, three lessons focus on writing from key-word outlines using articles about ziggurats, the Sumerians, and ”The Epic of Gilgamesh” story. Within those three lessons, several aspects of writing style are practiced as well:

creating titles
sentence openers (starting with an -ly word and very short sentences)
appealing to five senses

A wide variety of writing assignments are given in this curriculum including:

Poems
Writing paragraphs from key-word outlines
Writing narrative stories
Writing critiques
Research reports
Formal essays and reports
Writing from pictures
Creative writing.

To learn more about the writing skills and history topics covered in Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons, the entire Table of Contents and the Scope and Sequence can be viewed.

The program consists of a Student Book and a Teacher Book. Not only do I highly recommend purchasing both components, I highly recommend purchasing a Student Book for each student. To make things even more convenient, it would be beneficial for the parent/teacher to have a copy of the Student Book as well. Much of the material in the Student Book is simply not included in the Teacher Book.

Advantages

The program meshes very well with our history studies in Ancient History. I adore that the boys’ writing lessons are related to and reinforce the topics they are learning about in history.
Many of the assignments include a picture as part of the assignment. This element particularly appeals to my artistic sons.

The expectations for the assignments are clearly given in Final Checklists. My boys appreciate knowing exactly what they need to do to do well on their writing assignments.
Four vocabulary words are introduced almost every week. The cardstock vocabulary cards with pictures on the front and definitions on the back are wonderful for learning the new words. Since the program encourages the vocabulary words to be used in the writing projects and quizzes are included, my sons are internalizing the vocabulary words.
The program can easily be used with multiple grades at one time. Instructions and suggestions are given for Level A students (3rd-5th grade) and Level B students (6th-8th grade). As well, the lessons can be adjusted according to the readiness level of the child rather than the grade level. For example, I am teaching this course to my 4th and 6th grade boys this year but they are both working at Level A.
The Student Book includes many very helpful pages in the Appendix including: Stylistic techniques chart, Quality adjectives, Strong verbs, -ly words, Five-senses words, Proofreading marks, and Vocabulary words.

The program does require quite a bit of parent/teacher involvement but I am finding that the time investment is paying rich dividends in improved writing skills for my sons. After years of searching for a writing program that is a perfect fit for our family, I feel confident that I’ve finally found a great fit with IEW’s Theme Based Programs.

For the 2010-2011 school year Samantha is teaching her 4th, 6th, and 8th grade children at home. Samantha writes about homeschooling and family life at To Be Busy At Home. In addition to her own blog, she writes for The Homeschool Classroom, Curriculum Choice, and is a member of the TOS Review Crew.