When I asked my daughter which of her writing projects was her favorite she picked this one. The title is supposed to be My Favorite Animal, but apparently I left the title off for some reason. We started with Write Shop Primary A for my eight-year-old daughter a couple months ago. We have not done any formal writing lessons with Anna before now because her fine motor skills are so poor due to developmental delays and learning disabilities. I finally decided I would have her narrate her stories to me and I would write them down. I purchased this journaling notebook at Target at the beginning of the school year with that thought in mind but we had not used it yet when I received Write Shop Primary A a few months ago to review. The notebook has worked out perfectly because she loves to draw pictures about her writing projects. Write Shop Primary A has worked out perfectly because it is a gentle yet detailed approach to introducing writing.
Each lesson has a theme and 8 lessons. The first theme was animals, the second theme is all about me, and so on. The teacher’s guide explains three different possible schedules to make these 8 lessons last for two weeks, three weeks, or even one week if you want to move more quickly. Guided writing assignments are balanced with pre-writing activities, and editing/publishing activities. So the child starts with a pre-writing activity such as reading a story about animals, and then goes through a guided writing project. You ask your child three or more questions and your child phrases each answer as a sentence, which becomes her writing project. You can either write the sentences down or have your child write them. After this you might edit the same project the next day, or “publish” it through a variety of mediums. You might publish it by making it onto a homemade kite for instance. The book has activity sheets which are a part of each lesson (once out of every 8 days of work) as well. Each day’s work takes us about 20 minutes.
My Bottom Line: I love how simple and straightforward Write Shop Primary is to use. I got a little confused reading the teacher’s introductory material, but after I started looking over the lessons, it all clicked into place. This level of writing instruction has worked out to be perfect for us. I love how the questions get more advanced and increase in number very gradually throughout the course. We are finishing up this book this summer and are already making plans to purchase the next book. This will be our permanent writing curriculum for Anna, and also for her younger brother Caleb who is six. I will start him in Book A as soon as Anna finishes it.
How to Purchase Write Shop products: Primary A is available in ebook format ($24.95) and in printed format ($26.95). The activity sheet pack is an additional $4.95. You can purchase either format and view the other products available at WriteShop. You can also get 15% off any WriteShop Primary and Junior products in the WriteShop store https://www.writeshop.com/store(including e-books) using coupon code CREW15 at checkout. Offer valid through June 15, 2012.
Disclaimer: I received Write Shop Primary A as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review on my blog. Here you have it. To see what my other crew members have to say about Write Shop products, visit the crew.
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