WriteShop: An Incremental Writing Program and WriteShop Primary

WriteShop: An Incremental Writing Program

by Kim Kautzer and Debra Oldar

WriteShop

This is one of my 100 Top Picks!

See the complete reviews in 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum.

WriteShop is a great resource for homeschoolers because it's written for the teacher who knows nothing about teaching writing. It features detailed, daily lesson plans along with student worksheets that cover not only the lessons, but also evaluation and grading.

There are two student volumes: WriteShop I and WriteShop II. The first is recomemnded for grades 7 through 10 and the second for grades 8 through 12. But you might be able to begin the first volume with fifth or sixth graders since it starts with sentence and paragraph structure before tackling lengthier writing projects. A single teacher's manual covers both student volumes.

The program is designed to build in increments, with lessons dependent upon those that came before. So lessons should be taught in order. WriteShop works especially well for parents working with one or more of their own children, but it also works well for group classes. It DOES need to be taught. While students will do lots of writing on their own, this is not designed for independent learning.

"Skill Builder" exercises, built into the lessons, help students to work on particular skills, usually related to grammar or vocabulary. The Skill Builders feed directly into the broader lesson so that they are applying what they are learning.

The first volume covers description and narration, short reports, brief biographies, and news articles. Students use copying and dictation techniques in some of the lessons.

The second volume adds extensive work on essay writing.

The two volumes might take anywhere from one to three years to complete. Older high school students might be able to complete both in one year, while younger students should move at a much slower pace. The average pace would be to complete one volume per year.

While WriteShop is written from a Christian point of view, it's not evident aside from a few biblical references.

WriteShop Primary, Books A, B, and C

by Nancy I. Sanders

WriteShop Primary, designed for grades K-3, was written by a different author than the original WriteShop. It has many of the same elements that make both programs good choices for homeschoolers. It provides thorough lesson plans for the novice parent/teacher to follow. It is designed as a very interactive program. While it can be used in a classroom with multiple students, it is really best in a one-on-one situation since many lessons flow from the child's comments and responses.

WriteShop Primary, teaches the writing process from the very beginning steps. Using conversation to elicit the child's ideas, the parent uses "Guided Writing Practice" to help the child gradually develop composition skills. At first, the parent prompts the child to respond with complete sentences which the parent writes in large print. Children gradually take responsibility for writing their own words. They go on to editing and revising their work, as well as "publishing" their final product in an attractive format. As they learn to write (very) short stories they develop skills in sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization, vocabulary, and spelling. (Note: Because of the skills taught in this program, it really does not stretch beyond third grade level.)

The program uses a "whole language" approach in that it incorporates story books and art activities into lessons, each of which revolves around a theme such as animals or friends. There is a single course book for each of levels A, B, and C. Each book contains the step-by-step lesson plans and instructions. Students write on a variety of materials (e.g., large pads, art projects, lined paper, etc.) rather than in a workbook or notebook. An Activity Set Worksheet Pack for each of the three books provides about 20 pages of worksheets for reinforcement and extended activities plus evaluation forms (at two levels) for parents to use with the lessons. (Activity sheet packets are available in either printed packets or as ebooks.)

Almost all K through second grade students will begin with Book A; second and third graders might start in Books B or C if they already have developed basic skills. Kindergartners will move much more slowly through the program, completing one book in a year. First graders might be able to complete one and a half books in a year. Second graders might complete one and half or two books per year. Third graders might complete two or three books. Suggested scheduling options are explained in the books.

WriteShop Primary is a "parent-intensive" program. It requires some preplanning to gather resources and materials. Lessons require parental presentation. Kindergarten and first grade students will likely need assistance through most of their work, while older students might be able to complete some activities on their own.

There are numerous arts-and-crafts type activities in the program. Some of these might be skipped if they do not suit a child's learning style, but the composition component of these activities should still be completed, even if on plain paper. The program is likely to be most appealing to children who like the arts and crafts activities as well as those who like the storybook connections.

The religious perspective in these books is neutral. WriteShop Primary could be used in government schools without objection.