I think I can confidently state that most, if not all, homeschoolers have heard of Apologia Educational Ministries… affectionately referred to as just “Apologia” to the homeschool world.
I think when most think of Apologia, they think of their science curriculums. Did you know that they have other curriculum as well???
One of their newest set of books is a language arts curriculum with a focus on writing called Writers in Residence. It was written by Debra Bell… another well known name in the homeschool world!
The program is geared towards students in grade 4 through 8. The set of books that are currently available are volume 1. There will eventually be 4 volumes. So, at some point, families will be able to start this curriculum in 4th grade and continue it for 4 consecutive years. It is recommended that when the student starts with volume 1, that they are reading chapter books independently.
With this program your child will complete writing assignments, while also learning about:
- sentence structure
- the parts of speech
- punctuation
- capitalization
- usage
One of the things I noticed about this program right off that bat was the schedule. There is a 32 week lesson that plans out what your child should do. And, the best part for us was that it is a four day a week schedule. We go to homeschool enrichment and tutorial on Mondays, so we only do school four days a week at home. Any curriculum I can do four days a week and actually stay on schedule is a major plus for our family.
Two more major wins for this curriculum for me is that it comes with rubrics so you know how to grade the papers and there is very little prep time for the teacher/parent!!!
Also, for those of you that go to a homeschool co-op or tutorial, this program works well with that type of situation.
You would still just follow the 4 day a week schedule at home and then on the one day a week that you meet, you can share what you wrote, the teacher can provide feedback, and you can go over next week’s assignments.
When you get this program, you will get two books. The student text and workbook is quite large. The answer key is substantially smaller, but is still jam packed with information.
The daily schedule I talked about is in both books. This gives the student some independence and responsibility, while the teacher/parent is still able keep up with what is going on! My son likes the independence!
I found that labeling the answer key was helpful! It just makes things easier when you are trying to find what you need.
I was happy about reviewing this curriculum because my son has been resistant to writing. With the daily practice and teaching with this curriculum, it has helped him to be less resistant of it! AND… he isn’t just learning “writing”… he is learning about word usage, punctuation, capitalization and, in general, just how to put his thoughts together in the written word. I love that! Grammar is usually not a fun subject for kids, but if there is reason given to it (like there is when you can see it in a piece of written work), then it makes it more tolerable!
We will continue to use this on a daily basis to keep the momentum going!
Information at a glance:
What is it? A writing curriculum by Debra Bell, put out by Apologia, called Writers in Residence.
For whom? Kids in grade 4 through 8
How much is it? It is $89 for the Volume 1 Answer Key and All in One Student Text and Workbook
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