Disclaimer: This method of teaching writing expects the high school student to already understand basic principles of writing and be familiar with fundamental writing “tools.”
Are you wondering whether your high school student needs a formal writing curriculum? Can you teach them how to write well without having one?
I personally love textbooks and am a firm believer in writing curricula. They provide the student with writing tools, give your lessons a structure and save much of the teacher’s time. However, there are moments when you just have to consider other options.
Why We Didn’t Use a Writing Curriculum in High School
Our family ran into a situation in 10th grade when our favorite writing curriculum, Institute for Excellent in Writing (IEW for short) was not available. (They had a gap year between publishing their high school curricula and we happened to fall into it.) Because of this, we were presented with a choice: Shall we turn to another curriculum or shall we just do something on our own?
As we already followed IEW methodology for a number of years, we decided to create our own “curricula” and purely focus on “practicing” writing. Writing, like any other skill, gets better and more natural with more practice. So what did we do in the 10th grade? We spent our time doing research projects as well as writing a variety of articles and book reviews.
It was a year well-lived in our writing world. I could tell that my son’s writing skills very much profited from continuous practice even without a formal curriculum. Following are a few samples of our projects:
- Principles of the Automobile
- The Causes of WWI
- The Causes of WWII
- Taking CLEP Exams in High School
- Mover of Men and Mountains by R.G. LeTourneau (book review)
Was There Any Plan or Schedule for Homeschool Writing Without a Curriculum?
You may wonder whether we had any prepared plan or schedule that I could recommend to you. I must admit we didn’t. When one of us (a student or a teacher) got an idea, it became the foundation for the next research project. The history articles coincided with the Western Civilization II CLEP my son was taking at the time; the Mover of Men and Mountains book review was requested by a family friend who does regular Bible devotionals with my son; the Taking CLEP Exams in High School came along when I was running out of time for writing my own blog post.
RELATED: How to Teach Your Child Writing Skills (for younger children)
Why Is It Important to Keep Writing Even When You Don’t Have a Curriculum?
Writing is a beautiful skill that is so much needed in all levels of life. Some people are naturally gifted but most of us have to work hard in order to achieve any level of proficiency. Following are just a few benefits of pursuing good writing skills:
- Writing develops thinking skills
- Writing improves communication skills
- Writing improves creativity
- Writing helps students to increase their general knowledge
- Writing is fundamental for success in higher education
Whether you are using a formal curriculum in your high school this year, or whether you are creating your own, please make sure that your student practices writing as much as possible. They will thank you once they enter college and/or their work life.
Do you have any suggestions for writing without curriculum in high school? Please let us know in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you!
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