I started using WriteShop with our boys this week, and I'm happy with my purchase so far. Teaching writing to them has always been a huge struggle for me, and I've been saved by online writing tutors and co-op classes. This has actually been a big disappointment to me, because I enjoy writing and have tutored it at the college level.
At any rate, I had already decided to do writing with Bug at home because he was really burnt out on taking classes, and with us buying a house and moving locally, I wanted to save the money. And then Bee's writing class was cancelled, and the entire co-op disintegrated shortly after. Given the problems I have had in the past, I decided to look for a curriculum that would help us to be more successful.
So, the main issue that I've had in the past with both boys is that I give them something to write, and they claim it is too hard and refuse to do anything. Part of this is perhaps a relationship issue, but I think the main problem was my own failure to break down the assignments into small parts.
So, in my googling, I came upon WriteShop, a fairly popular program, originally written to be used with homeschool co-ops. The main complaints about the program is that the assignments are short with too many steps. This sounded perfect for us! Both the positive and the negative reviews pointed to this being exactly what our family needs.
Bug is in the fourth grade, and I ordered WriteShop Junior, Level D for him. I received the teacher's manual, student workbook, grammar pack, and timesaver pack (highly recommended!). They offer a digital version, but my printer is annoying, and ink is expensive, so I prefer to buy hard copies whenever possible. I must admit not being thrilled at having to assemble these Fold and Go grammar packs, but they weren't too hard. I am still making the bookmarks because I didn't have a good adhesive last weekend. Still, it only takes about an hour or two of preparation for the entire year.
This week, we began our program, and Bug responded really well to it! He seemed to enjoy his first grammar pack and the initial activities. I like how colorful and child-friendly the grammar packs are. Today, we did a mix-and-match exercise on the invitation letters, and that was fun, and it did the job of helping Bug to develop an awareness of the different parts of a letter.
With Bug, there are 10 writing assignments to be completed in this level. If we do one assignment most months and two in one month, we can be finished in time to take off November and December, as I hope to do. The program does require parent interaction, but it's very clear and easy.
Bee in in the eight grade, and I ordered WriteShop I for him, to complete this year, and the teacher's manual for me. If it works out well for him, I'll probably do WriteShop II with him next year. We've been working through the initial exercises, and Bee did his first "sloppy copy" today. He didn't seem to be radiating happiness during the skill builders, but he seemed relatively content doing the brainstorming and "sloppy copy" for his first assignment. This is in contrast to tears, screaming, and the dreaded blank page/screen that we have dealt with in the past.
For Bee, he has 16 assignments to complete this year (with multiple steps to an assignment), so we will do 8 in the first semester and 8 in the second semester, 2 a month. I think it's both a child and parent friendly program. The parent has to do some modeling and explaining and helping with revisions, but there is a lot of independent work as well. I like that it is very clear on what is expected for each assignment.
It's hard to tell if a program will continue to work for an entire school year, but I'm happy after a week. I'll try and report back later this semester and school year about if the program continued to be useful to us.
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