I must say, in our homeschool, we’re a little fussy about choosing any formal curriculum or program. Perhaps it’s because I’m very picky about what we spend money on, or perhaps my high expectations for a good program, or perhaps it’s my perfectionism. But, all that to say, I don’t purchase curriculum very often as not many things seem to pass the test.
After looking into a variety of writing programs, I wasn’t happy with anything that I found and nothing seemed to work for our family. So, when we finally found something wonderful, I was SUPER excited to share it with you:
Let me introduce to you ‘Cover Story’ Writing Program from Clear Water Press. https://clearwaterpress.com/product-category/cover-story-writing/
This is an online video – based program suitable for children loosely in grades 6-9, but can be enjoyed by older children also. Students use a workbook to accompany the online videos. Under the creative direction of Mr S through engaging and short videos, students are coached through the process of creating their very own magazine! They have the freedom to choose the theme for their magazine which allows them to personalise their work and explore their passions.
Mr. S. skilfully breaks down the overwhelming task of writing a complete magazine into bite sized pieces for the students to work through over the year. Each lesson, or group of lessons guides students to compose a variety of genres from haiku poems to letters to the editor to ballads.
In fact, the list of writing pieces is enormous: haiku, senryu, free verse, acrostic poems, articles, procedure, review, retell, letters, humorous piece, short stories. . .
It’s certainly no easy task, but students will become confident in their writing and have a high sense of accomplishment.
These pieces are broken down into steps for students to follow along easily in their workbooks. My children’s personal favourite was the task of interviewing an expert on their chosen topic and converting the interview into an article.
Towards the end of the program, children choose the pieces of writing they wish to include and have fun creating their very own magazine on a theme of their choice. Once complete, my children were thrilled to print their magazines to share with family and friends.
Through Cover Story, my children have grown in excitement, independence and ownership over their writing. It’s been highly motivating for them to create pieces of writing in a theme of their choice. Meeting in a small group of other homeschool writers, students have had the opportunity to share and learn from one another. They are very proud of their magazine and are wanting to do Cover Story all over again! So that is certainly saying something!
Cover Story is the homeschool writing curriculum that you have been waiting for. It’s easy to use and gently supports and guides students to love writing.
To purchase Cover Story and check out the other highly acclaimed writing curriculum from Clear Water Press, visit: clearwaterpress.com. You will sign up for an online cloud access to the videos and will also need to purchase a hard copy of the student workbook. If you have any queries, the friendly staff will be very ready to help you find a good fit for your kids and get them on their way to writing success.
Thank you Mr. S. and the team at Clear Water Press for creating a spectacular program.
We will certainly be checking out their other writing programs:One Year Adventure Novel and Byline.
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