Review: The Write Foundation Sentence to Paragraph Writing AND Essay Writing

The Write Foundation
Level 1~Sentence to Paragraph (Lessons 1-15)
Level 3~Essay Writing (Lessons 1-15)
The Write FoundationAges:  11-13 /  14-17
Price: $100 30 lessons OR Lessons 1-15 or 15-30 $65 each.  Student worksheets: One set are included in the curriculum, but additional sets are $25 for year or $15 per 15 lessons.
I say:  Good!

Writing IS my most challenging subject to teach for various reasons, and the subjectivity of grading and knowing just how to break the process down has been a daunting task for me.  I've really struggled in knowing HOW to take both my writers where they need to go.  When I got the information I was reviewing The Write Foundation, it's as if God smiled upon me.  I was so excited, and began researching the curriculum to decide which level to chose to best suit my writers.  I have two VARIED writers.  One who takes to it like a fish to water and the other like a fish OUT OF the water~I made a call to Rebecca Celsor who spent time hearing all about my writers and offered me encouragement as well as her personal insights and guidance over choosing the proper levels.  This is why you see two complete levels.  It was her opinion that my children would both be best served by the different levels.  I give Mrs. Celsor a HUGE thumbs up for taking her time (over an hour!) and effort to assure that we got just what we needed in the first place.  It was her sincere desire that we find what would really and truly WORK for us~she certainly didn't have to offer two sets of her curriculum for this reviewer to work through! I do believe that this is a peak into the kind of honest and caring customer service her clients will receive.  She was a wealth of information and insights~SHE KNOWS her stuff!  For me, it was invaluable! Short days our call, I got an email from her husband (This is a homeschool family who have used these materials that Mrs. Celsor created and has taught for quite a few years at home with her own children and in their local homeschool co-op setting) who gave me the shipping information with tracking information.  When my sealed nicely cardboard box arrived, my materials were beautiful having received Sentence Level 1 and Essay Level 3 levels complete with additional student worksheet sets! They also arrived in a timely manner from the receipt of that email.

In short order I began looking them over. Now, you have to realize that I am a little challenged where teaching writing is concerned.  While I've learned to write some, I certainly have no idea how to adequately teach it~AND so this blessing having arrived was mine to read and study so I could offer it up to my children.

I began studying and even made a trip to Office Depot to purchase the needed supplies.  Included is a supply list which includes:
Three ring binder (one for each student)
Highlighters (yellow, blue, orange, pink, green,...multiple colors)
Page dividers

Suggested in the curriculum: Mind Benders (Critical Thinking Co) puzzle logic building skills workbooks~I ordered this via our local curriculum store.
Notebook paper
Computer with word processing program (essential to have student type papers for MLA format)
I purchased page protectors and ring tabs to protect our pages. NOT on the list, but useful for us~who wants pages coming out?? LOL!! (I KNOW my kids and me..we definitely use these!)

I was ready to go! I felt really confident...but then as I began reading, a little anxiety hit because I was unable to totally follow the directions that I needed to share with my children and also what I needed to know as I presented the materials.  I began to research further and even went to the website where a sample lesson is available to note that it didn't help me.  I made a call and spoke at length to Mrs. Celsor's daughter this time who walked me through the processes and took notes of my input and observations.  I found this contact very helpful~so it was then that I went forward and began teaching each level.

As I've worked through the materials, on occasion I found myself researching  definitions for items like "participles" and some of the types of poetry so that I could not just have them do the exercises, but because I DIDN'T KNOW or even understand, I had to find this information first in another source.  Another area of difficulty is that this curriculum is really designed for a co-op  setting with a once a week teaching structure where children go home to do daily lessons.  Well, daily lessons works great for us, and in all actuality, we really did do it daily, it's just that I had to really figure out how to meter it out in order to meet our needs.  Maybe it's me, but I had a little trouble, but the lessons themselves are simple and very incremental. There are copies of teacher presentations sheets which are essentially what the student will need to do so you can show them by examples for a few and then let them try to master the concept. I REALLY like the simplistic incremental aspect of these materials! I needed something that would take us by each little step.  There are check sheets for the writing and a "NO LIST" which I love! These check sheets really put some easily identifiable self regulation  into my kid's own hands and will best prepare them for their university careers!

While I had some difficulty within the curriculum, first I KNOW that I can call upon the developer to help me~THIS IN INVALUABLE! AND that it's really thorough in it's sequential presentations of the process of writing.  I intend to continue The Write Foundation with my son who IS the reluctant writer and who will need this kind of curriculum to teach the basics.

Here's some insights from the website:

Many writing curricula focus on the different types of writing, such as creative writing, story writing, poetry writing, persuasive writing, argumentative writing, informative writing, descriptive writing, book writing, fiction writing, novel writing, but the basic foundation of writing is assumed. The Write Foundation begins with the writing process, how a student formulates a topic, then a thesis, then supporting points, and by incremental teaching drills in the basics. In most grammatical subjects, we have found that failure is almost totally because the basics have not been learned. 

The Write Foundation writing curriculum is a result of 8 years of successfully teaching homeschooled students in a one-day-per-week co-op setting. It has been adapted for a homeschool and used by numerous homeschooling parents to give their own children the tools of how to quickly organize and write an  essay with excellence.

Join the discussion or ask questions with the NEW yahoo group!

If you are like me and have kids who need the basics of writing whatever the level in a sequential and incremental way, you will not be disappointed, and the customer care is absolutely GREAT!

Check out what the CREW says...

LIKE to win prizes? I have a contest to win a FITNESS BALL as part of the Progresso Healthier You Prize Pack~ENDS 11:59 TONIGHT!!
I received The Write Foundation's Level 1 Sentence to Paragraph Writing (Lessons 1-15) and Level 3 Essay Writing (Lessons 1-15) as part of the Old Schoolhouse Crew for review purposes.  My opinions are my own, and I received no monetary compensation.

Ah...THAT MATH Question Again

Oh boy~I'm REVISITING math again this year~well, let me explain...

I have two teens who are now going to 9th and 10th grades.  For four years (but not totally) we have used Teaching Textbooks with an interlude of time with our daughter using ALEKS of which I had written a review and she wanted to try.  She did.  She found that it was not preparing her in a way that her pie was becoming filled in a timely fashion as she worked almost a year~albeit with times that her computer wouldn't load the program AND times when ALEKS did not record her work~yes, this happened...so this mama took matters BACK and put bought Algebra I for her, and we began AGAIN...

My friend who is a high school math teacher but also now teaches middle school visited us last week and because I had asked many questions about math when we need to find something that will teach it and my child will GET it, she said she would "work" with them a little bit to see what was going on.  After several sessions my friend told me that my children have good mental math skills, which is a testament to the hard work in their younger grades. Whohoo!

She evaluated their Teaching Textbooks PreAlgebra and Algebra I in light of a few things she knew would show up on the CRCT for 8th grade in her state and the high school graduation exam (GRE).  She advised me to look at the state standards here in our state and compare them line by line to the scope and sequence of our curriculum.  If I find things not present then she advised me to find a way to teach them so my kids will be prepared for the ACT/SAT when they take it in preparation for college entrance. 

Well, there are things not present in the Alg I but I need to see if they are in Alg 2 and Trig or Geometry.  I honestly don't know, but it's a huge question since we are in the ninth hour of our educations.  I think I need to develop a good plan to address this.

I will look into the state standards of my state for the CRCT/GRE and compare~make some notes...

I plan to call Teaching Textbooks and speak with a curriculum specialist or whoever they have who can help me to discover what the courses in the future will hold according to our needs...

I can appreciate other thoughtful parents considering this question of a good math education for their children,
Books /'n Other Stuff has a good analysis of her research and findings which I plan to follow.

This is a pretty big question for me and stay tuned for the MATHATHON in deciding just how to address this issue...

WHAT would you do? H E L P!!!

GiveAway: Backseat Drawing Game for kids to 6th grade

LSG is hosting a giveAway for this neat game. Ends 6/23.

Writing Stategy #1

I've told you a bit about where we are coming from in this world "differences" where language learning is concerned in the earlier post. Today I want you to know what I believe is the MOST important thing any parent can do when teaching or beginning home education with their child where the academics are concerned!  It's so simple, but profound. 

START where your child is ~ or on the level where your child functions. 

There are several ways to find out "what" that level is for your child, but academic testing for an older child is useful, but if you prefer, you can do your own testing.  Do a pretest of basic skills.  Can your child count 1-100 or write all his letters or add and subtract, count by 2,3,4,5,6,...and so on? What is the age of your child? Are you bound by "what is taught when" kinds of thinking? Remember that grades are for the masses and you are not dealing in numbers any larger than your own home!  Grades meaning grade levels, like first, second, fifth, ninth and so on...I in no way am against giving 'grades' for work with objective and subjective criteria for assigning the grades~whoa, this is a whole NUTHER post!

FREE language arts/writing accessments for K-12... Placement Test~Language Arts/Writing
Note there is a link on the upper right for a math placement also...through pre-algebra!

After you have given the test, and be sure to praise your child for his efforts! Don't place undue stress on him for his inabilities! Let him and encourage him to do his best...this is just a tool to measure where he is so you can progress forward.

Testing is only a measurement and not an indictment!
Remember that you want to know your child's level, so you can plan a strategy for teaching and improving the difficulties.  Always remain positive, and I've never shared the test scores and CERTAINLY never compared my children in this way! Each child is God given in their strengths and weaknesses~which are really just needs.  Needs are areas we parents can work on with our children! Remember no matter where your child is or where you think he should be, you now know where to begin TEACHING incramentally what he needs to learn. 

Needing to learn information is one thing, and giving it is a different matter!  I remember feeling quite ill equipped over my son's difficulties.  You may also be feeling the same with your child.  Take heart! God has instilled in each creature of His design a learning meachanism whereby learning occurs! It's our job to figure out how to reach our child with a METHOD that will work for him.

This took trial and error for me.  I don't believe that even if I had been a professional teacher that the effort I expended for him could have been any greater! Mothers want the best and we make a way! I dug and dug looking...I used THREE phonics programs and a fourth was used in professional speech/language pathology classes to remediate disarticulation issues.  But the phonics extended beyond just seeing, recognizing and saying, but also to the connection of all three.  We had to instill the sense of the sound through kinesthetic (movement) means!  Our last recourse was to use an air tracing method from Linda Mood-Bell learning systems. THIS WORKED! We had gotten really far with the others, but somehow this worked!

Don't give up! Keep seeking so that you and your child will find!
Remeber that finding out where he is and then begining to devise and implement strategy for rememdy is the only way!
blessings