Writing To God's Glory Curriculum

Author: Jill Bond

Called a comprehensive creative writing course from crayon to quill. This is the book that I finally decided upon using for my children. We had used many handwriting books from ABeka, Bob Jones, and several others. All of which were okay, but did not quite cover what I was wanting or needing. I have in my house what you would call a reluctant writer. (And that is an understatement!) My other kids don't mind daily writing assignments, copying Scripture, or creative writing. Ah but to get my son to write is a battle that takes him hours to accomplish even copy writing. His penmanship is actually good and he states that he does not mind writing. It is the creative part he says that he lacks and gets stumped on.

This curriculum - I would call it that - covers both the reluctant writer and the "Gee I can't think of anything to write". The creative writing process is covered from beginning to end. The lessons do start out at a very elementary age and do proceed through upper grade levels. Of course the Christian focus is a welcomed benefit of this book. This is not a grammar book however. You will still need to work on grammar either with a separate grammar course of by how you grade the writing lessons.

Perhaps you could focus in on using capitols correctly for this month on all writing assignments. Next month, it could be on proper punctuation etc. You can also take misspelled words in the writing to use as spelling words. Many times kids will start writing and go "Mom, how do I spell xxxxxxx?" This is where dictionary skills and spelling skills stem from.

Jill includes some good chapters in the beginning of the book for parents on how to grade writing, how not to kill your writer's potential, and a teachers guide for writing well section. Each student area also has a teacher guide section to help you the parent with the writing lessons to be learned. There are also worksheets that students can use as well as the basic writing.

Since this is a curriculum that you can use with several aged children all working at different points, this is well worth the cost. It is suggested to be used over a 2-year period of time. With that in mind, don't squint too much at the $34 price tag. I did however get mine for free along with 5 other selections when I joined the Conservative Book Clubs Homeschool division. You get a nice selection to choose from for your free picks, the requirement is only 3 more books in two years time (which in fact, what homeschooler won't buy 3 more books in 2 years?). If you are interested in joining them, drop me an email, usteach@aol.com, and I will tell you how to join. They have some really good creation science materials as well.