what do you use for writing curriculum..

[MochaMel]

my 4th grader is doing the Alpha Omega Lifepacs for L.A. and Easy Grammar by Wanda C Phillips (she is doing both, b/c i don't see much in AOL for grammar and the spelling well let's just say i'm adding a supplement - i thought it would be geared for more writing assignments, but so far i am not so impressed and what they do have is written under the assumption she already knows certain things.. How can she know it if it's never been introduced before.... :twitch

i am hating this new curriculum i spent extra cash on to make my and her life easier this year.. I want to add something - b/c i know wiht my oldest we did not do enough writing and now that he is in public HS he has struggled a bit and would like to avoid this problem with my dd - and i am not so creative with it and please nothing that is going to require me to be a writing whiz and prepare lots of teacher work - the 2 year old is taking up way too much time for me to give myself more work right now..:faint

any suggestions??? thanks in advance, i am worried - b/c she too will go to regular school either next year or the year after.. and i don't want her struggling --

[lisaann]

I use Writing Strands, Easy Grammar and Sequential Spelling.

I've heard a lot of good said about Institute for Excellence in Writing. I'm going to check it out next year.

[seeHimsoon]

I use the Write Stuff Adventure.

[MochaMel]

thank you for the replies - i will check both of those out!:hug

[hsmom23]

We just started using a workbook from Apologia, called "Jump In: A workbook for reluctant and eager writers". My 6th grader hates writing, but so far so good!!

[MochaMel]

^^ yes my dd is very reluctant - it's like pulling teeth and of course I am having a hard time being creative with ideas; so i thought maybe we should invest in something this year.. lol -

[NORAD]

I use Writing Strands, Easy Grammar and Sequential Spelling.

I've heard a lot of good said about Institute for Excellence in Writing. I'm going to check it out next year.

Lisa, you use Sequential... what do you think of it and what age are you using it for? I have been looking at it...:thinking

[lisaann]

Lisa, you use Sequential... what do you think of it and what age are you using it for? I have been looking at it...:thinking

I started using it with my son about two years ago when he was in 4th grade. It's basic premise works beautifully with both of my children but it tends to move way too fast so I've modified it to suit us. I love it and am so thankful for this method! :yeah

Their set up is to have a separate list of words for 4 days out of the week that teaches them to use a basic word pattern in different words and with prefixes and suffixes. Like this:
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
pawn pawns pawned pawning
yawn yawns yawned yawning

I followed this for a few months but found ds wasn't really learning the words so I've slowed it down to using Day 1's list the first week, Day 2's list the second week, Day 3's list the third week ect. It works much better for him this way.

Dd has an audio processing disorder so letter sounds are very difficult for her to "get". I use the exact same process in Sequential spelling but on much simpler words. It is working extremely well with her as well.

[NORAD]

Great! Thanks LA - I think I may try it in a while (they are k-1 ish):lol2

[MochaMel]

Well for now we are using the Spectrum workbooks for writing - dd hates writing but so far she is liking this.. i am hopeful this will give her ideas and help her be more creative.. We are going slow.... lol