Goals for Writing

One of my goals for this year was to expand my general homeschooling goals into more specific goals in some areas. One of these areas was writing. Writing occupies a prime place in my overall goals, but I wanted to break it down further, into the "nitty-gritty." For example, one of the ones I have so far is "To be fully comfortable with the editing process, and use it well."

I have six specific goals so far, but I feel as if there is something missing. Naturally, then, I turn to the internet. Help me, internetz, you're my only hope! ;)

So - what are your specific goals with regards to writing?

Tomorrow Is A New Day. And A New Writing Program.

Just before our Thanksgiving break, EG finished Writing Tales 2. She's zoomed through both it and Writing Tales 1 since the beginning of this calendar year. Therefore, it's time to plod ever onward.

Into Classical Writing: Homer.

In an attempt to be prepared, I had bought all of the materials over the summer. I spent several days reading through the materials and felt that I had a good grasp on the program. I then put the materials away, and went about the rest of our homeschooling year.

The last two weeks have been... hectic, to say the least. As I referenced in a previous post, I've been feeling mentally down this past week, and between Wednesday night and Friday afternoon, several more things were added to the weight on my mind. Somewhere in between the summer and now, combined with the possibility of moving and every day life, I forgot that there was a need to, well, prepare for Homer. That there was something called a "Preparation Week."

Oops?

Luckily, it doesn't look like it's really an entire week of work, so we should be okay to move cautiously forward. I like how thorough the program is and honestly, I'm eager for EG to get started.

That said, I've been thinking over the past several months about the possible value of two writing programs. Many people use multiple approaches to math; since math and writing are, in my opinion, the two most important areas, why not two writing programs? Yes, it could lead to a high volume of required output, especially as a student grows older, but...

So?

Homeschoolers talk the talk about wanting to produce excellent writers, but there's also a lot of talk about not requiring too much too soon. No, it's not a good plan to turn a six year old from writing with ridiculous expectations. EG's not a six year old, though.

In practice, she was pursuing two different writing programs this autumn, since one of her co-op classes was creative writing. The two different aspects of writing were different enough in focus that she didn't seem to have a problem with doing "writing" twice. Actually, some weeks, she was doing it more like thrice, as we attempted to use IEW's Geography-Based Lessons.

I don't know what I might have her use in partnership with Classical Writing, or if I will continue to let a more creative writing be the secondary focus, but it's a thought that keeps persisting.

EG's Latest Writing Project (from Writing Tales)

This is EG's rewrite of "The Story of Regulus." She had to work hard at not accidentally writing the original phrasing during the rewrite. A lot of use of synonyms here!



     Once, across the sea from Rome, there was a large city called Carthage. The Romans didn’t like the Carthaginians, and finally war began between them. At first it was very difficult to determine who was stronger. The war went on for a long time.
     The Romans had a general named Regulus. He was taken prisoner. He was very ill and dreamed of his home. He knew he would probably not return. While he had been captured, as a general, he knew that the Romans were making progress towards winning the war.
     One of the rulers of Carthage came to talk to him. “I want to make peace with Rome,” he said. “I will let you go if you do what I say.”
     “What is that?” asked Regulus.
     “You must try to make your rulers make peace, and if they won’t, you must come back,” the ruler said.
     The ruler let Regulus go back to Rome, for he knew a Roman would keep his word.
     When Regulus got to Rome, the people of Rome rejoiced to see him again. The rulers of Rome, called Fathers, asked him about the war.
     “I was sent to plead with you to make an accord, but that wouldn’t be smart,” he said.
     The Fathers tried but didn’t succeed in getting him to stay. His family asked him to stay.
     “No,” Regulus said. “I will not break my promise.” He went courageously back to jail, and was indeed killed.
     This is the type of courage that built the greatest city of ancient times.