Welcome to Our Writing Life: Learn to Write Well Homeschool Course

Course Sample for Our Writing Life: Learn to Write Well Homeschool Course

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UNIT 1
Introduction to Writing: Writing for Life, for school, and for basic skills

Week 1: The importance of writing well in all walks of life

Welcome! You are starting a year-long curriculum that will help prepare you for your future careers in two ways:

1. Writing with publication in mind: becoming a professional writer
2. Writing well: good written skills will improve your performance in whatever career you choose

Let’s start with point #2. The better you can express yourself verbally and in writing, the further your career can progress. You can speak for yourself, sell your product, train others, verbalize ideas, write reports, make sense of statistics, or even prepare a speech that helps a candidate win an election.

The written word also increases your chances for success at school. As you complete high school, and possibly go on to college and graduate school, you will do more and more writing. We’ll spend a week in this unit reviewing writing skills needed for a successful education.

Before we learn how to write better, however, we have to begin at the starting line. You probably already have the first two writing tools in your possession. First, a writer must first read, read, read. Secondly, a writer must write, write, write.

More About Our Writing Life: Learn to Write Well Homeschool Course

This 34-week writing course in five units is designed to open the students’ eyes to the importance of writing whatever lifepath they take and then to look more closely at the three major genres: nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. It concludes with a final project in the genre of their choice. The student will be required to keep a daily journal, and each unit includes instructional material, writing assignments, required learning activities, learning activities for extra credit, and optional enhanced learning activities, often outside the home. Students are also provided with a booklet that contains additional resources such as interviews, book report forms, and unit tests. The answers are given in a just-for-teacher answer booklet.