Easy-to-Use Middle School Writing Curriculum

Struggling to teach writing in your homeschool? This middle school writing curriculum includes sanity-saving videos, checklists, and rubrics to take the guesswork out of teaching writing!

Writing is, without a doubt, the most challenging subject in our homeschool. And let’s be real here: the challenge comes from the fact that I am not confident in teaching writing.

I don’t feel like I explain writing techniques well. I don’t know how much to require from my kids. And I certainly am not comfortable grading writing assignments.

I was recently introduced to a homeschool writing curriculum that solves every single one of my teaching challenges. With videos to teach writing skills, checklists for editing assignments, and rubrics for grading finished projects, I can now teach writing confidently and yes, EASILY.

Easy-to-Use Middle School Writing Curriculum

WriteShop I is an incremental writing program for homeschool students in grades 6-10. This program provides the solid writing foundation that students need before they begin an advanced writing course in the upper grades.

The spiral-bound Teacher’s Manual gives parents tips for helping students through every step of the writing process. It includes suggested schedules, lesson plans, answer keys, and tips for editing and grading.

The Teacher’s Manual is more than just a lesson guide or answer key, though. In fact, it is actually more like an easily-digestible reference book for teaching writing effectively. Every homeschool parent who is teaching middle school writing will benefit from this handy book.

The Student Workbook is written directly to the student and contains step-by-step instructions for each lesson. Independent learners (and busy homeschool moms!) will appreciate how this makes it possible for students to do much of the work on their own.

The workbook also include detailed editing checklists and evaluation forms for each lesson. This takes all the guesswork out of editing and grading. Super helpful!

Note: While the workbook is written directly to the student, the Teacher’s Manual is still needed to teach the course.

Teaching Middle School Writing with WriteShop I

Incremental approach

With WriteShop’s incremental approach to writing, lessons gradually increase in difficulty while regularly reviewing previously learned skills.

First, students learn to pick suitable writing topics (and honestly, isn’t that the hardest part for a lot of middle schoolers?). Then they learn to develop their topic one step at a time through a specific writing process.

Flexible schedule

WriteShop I includes 16 writing lessons. Each lesson can take anywhere from one to four weeks, depending on your schedule and needs. Most students spend about two weeks on each lesson and complete the entire book in one school year.

I appreciate the flexibility to allow reluctant or struggling writers to take more time, completing the book in two years instead of just one.

Step-by-step writing process

Want your student to understand and be able to use the writing process effectively? WriteShop has you covered!

WriteShop I teaches students to use a four-step writing process:

• brainstorming
• writing
• editing
• revising

The included checklists help students learn to edit and revise their own writing. Editing and revising are huge stumbling blocks for many middle schoolers, so these checklists are worth their weight in gold!

Writing structure and style

In WriteShop I, students learn to apply their knowledge of grammar while also learning important elements of writing style and structure.

One thing I especially love is that WriteShop teaches students to write concisely. As a freelance editor, I’ve found that excessive wordiness is the single most common mistake that writers make. Your teen will gain a strong advantage by mastering concise writing skills at this stage.

Teaching Middle School Writing with WriteShop’s Video Course

If you feel unsure about teaching writing or if your time is limited, you’ll love WriteShop’s video course! The course encourages independent learning by teaching the lessons directly to the student.

The updated WriteShop I video course includes:

• a streamlined interface
• improved course navigation
• better visual appeal with fresh graphics
• more concise teaching time
• faster loading technology
• fun examples and lots of humor
• relevance for today’s teens
• additional self-editing tips

All of the videos correspond seamlessly with the fifth edition of the workbook, and they still work with earlier versions as well.

My son found the video helpful and was also pleased that it was brief and to-the-point.

I was delighted to learn that purchase of the video course includes lifetime access! You can use them for as long as you need, even if your teen stretches the course out over two years. No rush to finish by the end of the school year!

WriteShop video course options:

• Purchase video course ONLY (for those who already have the books)
• Purchase the video course BUNDLE (includes the required books)