The Write Foundation is a Christian writing curriculum for ages 11-17 written by a veteran home educator and tested extensively in individual and group settings. It has proven effective in enabling average writers to improve their writing skills, as well as energizing reluctant writers. The entire system will teach your student how to effectively plan and write a quality essay from scratch, developing confidence in their writing ability.
The curriculum is designed with daily lesson plans and grading specifics. It can easily be utilized for average writers, as well as adapted for reluctant writers or the student who loves and excels in writing.
Website: The Write Foundation
(2 Reviews)
Before investing in any homeschooling resources, please read "How to Choose the Best Homeschool Curriculum."
Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: took me some time to understand the way the program is laid out
Grades Used: There are 3 levels. I bought the first two levels.
My sons are both in public school and both struggle with writing. I purchased this curriculum to supplement their schoolwork. I really love it. It took me a little time to figure out how it is organized, but it was well worth it. It's funny, creative, and gets to the heart of the skills that people need to be able to organize their ideas and get them on paper. It also provides the perfect environment for kids to develop creativity and flare to make their writing engaging and vivid. It's also a huge help that the author of the program is very responsive and helpful if you have any questions. Great program!
Cons: Expensive shipping to Canada (though that may change)
Grades Used: Ages 11-17
The Write Foundation offers Christian writing curricula for ages 11-17. They are designed for use either one-on-one in your homeschool or in a co-op environment. There are three Levels available:
* Level 1: Sentence to Paragraph: Suggested for ages 11-13, focuses on the sentence — constructing a basic sentence, improving sentence structure, and moving on to combining sentences into a solid paragraph, or even a two-paragraph paper.
* Level 2: Paragraph Writing: Suggested for ages 12-15, starts with writing a basic paragraph, adding new sentence structures and styles with each lesson, moving on into 2-4 paragraph papers, ending with the introduction of the five-paragraph essay.
* Level 3: Essay Writing: Suggested for ages 14-17, starts with 3-4 paragraph papers with a focus on brainstorming, outlining, rough drafts, and editing, then moving into the five-paragraph essay, and progressing to longer essays as well as a research paper and timed essays.
After thoroughly reading through the 3 Levels offered by The Write Foundation, I determined that Level 3: Essay Writing would be most suited to my son’s level. He may only be 11, but he has been writing stories and novels since he was 8. We received Lessons 1-15. The Write Shop recommends each lesson be covered in one week or spread out into two weeks. We chose to spread it out into two weeks, and thus were able to complete the first 3 lessons.
My son enjoyed using the highlighters to highlight the different parts of both the example essays and his own essays. He also loved the essay topics: writing his own version of the prodigal son and his own myth, for example, really captivated his imagination.
I LOVE how this curriculum incorporates using The Critical Thinking Co’s Mind Benders, sold separately through The Critical Thinking Co. We’re big fans of Mind Benders and have been using them for years. As a result, I just had my son continue on in the Mind Bender books he’s working on, instead of the A1 book suggested. I also love how writing poetry is incorporated into each lesson, along with essay writing. This is something I have neglected in my homeschool and it was great to have something give us a nudge in that direction. It starts with the Haiku of course, which shows children just how simple poetry can be! It helped that my son was already interested in Haiku’s after he saw his friend wearing a Haiku t-shirt a few days earlier…
Haiku’s are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator
LOL. He had fun coming up with some of his own, and I enjoyed them myself.
This is a great curriculum. We were able to pick it right up, without having worked through Levels 1 or 2, and with very little preparation. We only had one moment of confusion, in Lesson 1, where the final sentence in the outline seemed to be marked as its own paragraph. Leafing through the rest of the lessons in the package, I’m looking forward to the Christmas themed writing. We’re going to have to pick up the second package of Lessons 16-30 when we’re done the first half!
The complete curriculum package for each level includes a spiral instruction manual for the teacher, loose leaf student worksheets, and an additional resources CD. As I mentioned before, this curriculum can also be used in a co-op, and there are many extra games and resources included for use in a classroom situation.
Each Curriculum package is available for $100 US plus $20 shipping across Canada (although the vendor says the shipping price may come down, so you may wish to contact the vendor to confirm) and $10 for US addresses. You can also choose to split up the package and get Lessons 1-15 or 16-30 for $65 US each. The Write Foundation also offers a grading service, $15 US for each lesson.
Love, Luck &
Laughter,
Kimberly