I love to write, but writing takes me a lot of time to get it right. I'm not gifted at all. I write, rewrite and write again. I can't tell you how many times I change a sentence, add a word, take out a portion. It takes me a long time to get what I want written in a way I want it to say it.
This has caused me to have a hard time finding a writing curriculum for our home school over the years. We've tried several, some worked, some not so much.
This year we are trying out Wordsmith by Common Sense Press.
It starts off reviewing the parts of speech. That's always a bonus...to know what word to use where!
The first writing assignments are basically just changing generic words to more specific ones. This is to make your writing come alive....
Here is an example
When the knock came, Sally walked to the door and opened it. She looked at the stranger for a few seconds, then said, "Your'e too late. Horace left an hour ago." Without another word, she closed the door.
The student is asked to change specific words to show emotion.
Here are my daughter's edits:
When the knock came, Sally strolled to the door and opened it. She peered at the stranger for a few seconds, then sniffed, "You're too late. Horace left an hour ago." Without another word, she closed the door.
When the student has a feel for word usage and painting a picture with specific words, they move onto making the sentences stronger. This is done by switching words around to change the meaning or emphasize a particular portion.
The last section of the book gets down to types of writing; descriptive, narrative, dialogue, point of view etc. I am thinking by the time we get to this section my daughter will be confident and able to write anything asked of her.
We have only used this book for 2 weeks now, but I've got to admit that I do like it. The biggest plus so far is that I don't get the rolled eyes and groans when it's time to pull out Wordsmith, like I did with last year's writing curriculum I chose.
When I asked my 14 year old daughter what she thought of it, her response was:
"Way better than last year, for sure. AND I'm having fun with the thesaurus".
I received a copy of Wordsmith as part of Because Mom Said, Timberdoodle's review program, in exchange for my honest review.
This has caused me to have a hard time finding a writing curriculum for our home school over the years. We've tried several, some worked, some not so much.
This year we are trying out Wordsmith by Common Sense Press.
It starts off reviewing the parts of speech. That's always a bonus...to know what word to use where!
The first writing assignments are basically just changing generic words to more specific ones. This is to make your writing come alive....
Here is an example
When the knock came, Sally walked to the door and opened it. She looked at the stranger for a few seconds, then said, "Your'e too late. Horace left an hour ago." Without another word, she closed the door.
The student is asked to change specific words to show emotion.
Here are my daughter's edits:
When the knock came, Sally strolled to the door and opened it. She peered at the stranger for a few seconds, then sniffed, "You're too late. Horace left an hour ago." Without another word, she closed the door.
When the student has a feel for word usage and painting a picture with specific words, they move onto making the sentences stronger. This is done by switching words around to change the meaning or emphasize a particular portion.
The last section of the book gets down to types of writing; descriptive, narrative, dialogue, point of view etc. I am thinking by the time we get to this section my daughter will be confident and able to write anything asked of her.
We have only used this book for 2 weeks now, but I've got to admit that I do like it. The biggest plus so far is that I don't get the rolled eyes and groans when it's time to pull out Wordsmith, like I did with last year's writing curriculum I chose.
When I asked my 14 year old daughter what she thought of it, her response was:
"Way better than last year, for sure. AND I'm having fun with the thesaurus".
I received a copy of Wordsmith as part of Because Mom Said, Timberdoodle's review program, in exchange for my honest review.
that's awesome learning is more fun when you enjoy it
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