Writing and Rhetoric

I love this. My girls have really enjoyed it and their writing has improved so much. They've also learned vocabulary and literary terms. Skills in the first book such as narration, simplification, and amplification are invaluable. Can't wait until we can purchase the second book!

This really has worked remarkably well for my daughter. Copying the style and technique of great writing has made her into a beautiful little writer for her age--I was quite surprised at how much improvement we saw, even after just the first book!

The only thing I've been disappointed by is that the grammar is terribly simplistic, so I'm not sure it helps to even have it in there. We find that the narrations are also kind of a waste of time--I feel Writing with Ease has a much better approach to narration and to building a child's ability to hold ideas and thoughts in the mind while they attempt to write.

But, the actual writing techniques have been absolutely fantastic for my daughter! I cannot wait to follow this program all the way through the higher grades. What a blessing to have discovered this program!

i am pleased with this writing program because it is thorough. It includes narration, dictation, a little grammar, amplification, and more. It is more interesting than other writing curricula than we've used. My son especially liked the Fable book. He does not love the necessary creativity in the writing exercises, but I like that it stretches him by forcing him to come up with more descriptive adjectives or better verbs. I'm excited about getting into the new levels as they come out!

I LOVE Writing and Rhetoric!

Creative writing is kind of a hobby in our household. An author myself, I love to see my children enjoying writing, but I also want them to get a solid foundation in the craft. Many of the writing programs I tried with my older children felt dry and stale and allowed little room for creativity. I purchased Writing & Rhetoric for my daughter this year, and have been blown away by the completeness of this program. Good literature. Analysis. Vocabulary. Dictation. Narration. Summarization. Amplification. Basically, the student is given a piece of writing and led through various exercises that develop a well-rounded sense of story and a firmer grasp on the English language and the art of story-telling (and consequently, good writing).

I don't mean to gush, but I LOVE Writing and Rhetoric!

I firmly believe in teaching writing, but classical writing curriculum can often be a little dull. This one really allows my son to use his creative imagination along with the mechanics of writing. He enjoys finding new ways to say something and enhance his writing. This writing curriculum has a lot of fun stories and goes very deep into developing a good writer. The Teacher's manual contains the complete student manual with notes, explanations and some scripted parts. I love that it includes copy work and dictation but goes even further into actually writing your own creativity. The only con I have is that some of the lessons can be a little long for a third grader. My son's creativity can be hampered by having to write too much, and he will look for ways to make the assignment as short as possible because of his hand cramps. I adapt this by allowing him two days to work on the writing or allow him to narrate it some, but I would love it if this book eased into things for a few lessons more before they started with summaries and amplifications. The only other con is that they ask you to read your writing to each other, which doesn't happen as much in homeschooling. I have him read it to me or his Dad though and offer feedback. The lessons are not broken into daily lessons, but you can plan to stop and start as you see fit. They offer a suggested schedule of what to do each day, but we modify. Overall, I love that it includes dictation, narration and copy work, but it goes beyond that to understand writing and approach it creatively.