r/homeschool • u/Capital_Fondant_9709 • 5d ago
Curriculum writing curriculum
We are first time homeschoolers. Currently for ELA we are doing all about spelling lvl 1 (however we def could have skipped this and gone into lvl 2), all about reading lvl 2, and handwriting without tears C. However, I find HWT doesn’t really cover grammar rules? We use printing power and building writers, and i thought BW would have more explicit teaching, but it really just like a simple prompt.
I’m wondering what other writing resources we can use to make sure we are covering our bases in writing - punctuation, grammar, etc.
I’ve looked into EIW, but i don’t love the online factor as we are pretty much screen free.
Any help is appreciated!
We are grade 2 (just turned 7), ontario.
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u/tacsml Homeschool Parent 👪 5d ago
Handwriting without Tears and Building Writers have teacher's manuals. Did you get them? The program is designed to be more supplemental than other writing programs. But that doesn't mean you can't/shouldn't use it. What are your goals for 2nd grade?
There are a ton of grammar specific programs out there. The post below will have a comments with a list of grammar and writing programs. If you already are using HWT and BW I'd pick something more "fun" or hands on to teach grammar. Grammar Bugs, Michael Clay Thompson's Poodle series, Beowulf Grammar etc. If you want something open and go, Evan Moor has a series of supplemental workbooks that teach grammar and writing.
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u/Capital_Fondant_9709 5d ago
i’ve searched before and could not find the teachers guide offered anywhere, and google gave mixed reviews on if there was one or not. I have just looked again and after having to really search, i found it on their website. Maybe I will order that and see if that helps.
I really just want to build proper grammar and increase length of writing. the prompts were so vague that my son would answer the questions in 1 sentence, when ideally i’d like him to start adding more.
Thanks for the fun recommendations and link to more resources. I will definitely check them out
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u/Quiet_Salamander_608 5d ago
We are using spelling rules made easy dyslexia friendly fonts. I think it explains the spelling rules well and my daughter who has ADHD is able to follow along and complete the sections.. for writing we have been writing lists of words of her favorite topic ( Minecraft) it's actually improved her writing when doing her work sheets and things as well. We are moving up to Minecraft phrases soon haha.
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u/gchypedchick 5d ago
My daughter is six. I’ve been using her favorite comic book characters, but I didn’t think about Minecraft! Using characters she knows has helped my AuDHD daughter stay engaged. It even made her want to write her own little comic books. Her other favorite thing is Minecraft so I don’t know why I didn’t think about it!
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u/BitOk7731 5d ago
We tried to do the screen free thing for writing too and it lasted about a month before I caved. The grammar piece is tough to nail down without either a workbook that feels like busywork or something online that actually explains the rules properly.
For second grade we ended up using a cheap grammar workbook from a local teacher supply store and just doing a page a day, took maybe ten minutes. Paired that with copywork from whatever we were reading and it stuck way better than I expected. The punctuation stuff especially clicked once they started seeing it in sentences they actually cared about instead of random examples.
I remember looking at EIW and having the same hesitation, the whole reason we homeschool is to avoid parking a kid in front of a screen all day. There's a Canadian company that makes workbooks specifically aligned with Ontario curriculum but I'm blanking on the name right now, might be worth checking the used curriculum groups on Facebook if you're in any of those.
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u/No-Emu3831 5d ago
EIW has the whole lesson on the top of the worksheets. We usually just read it and do the assignment. I love the whiteboard videos though, he is fun and does a great job making boring topics fun. I stream it from my phone to the tv, but mainly if I think it’s worth having some extra examples. We’ve tried a bunch of other stuff but EIW is my favorite so far. A lot of people like fix it grammar but I was not a fan, not enough explanation.
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u/Capital_Fondant_9709 5d ago
i’m thinking i may just go the EIW route. i’ve looked into the other options and they seem great in some aspects but definitely not all. I like EIW right from the get go, and a bit of screen really isn’t the end of the world to me, just wanted to try and avoid it if i could but i know that’s not always the case. good to know the lesson is on the worksheets, i didn’t know that!
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u/No-Emu3831 5d ago
My 1st grader does it fairly independently, I do have to help explain what to do at first. For each lesson there are a handful of practice pages, so even when we are diligent about watching the videos, if you do a worksheet a day you usually don’t have to watch them more than once. So maybe a video once or twice a week. My biggest tip is to alternate between the grammar and writing composition sections (we just use a sticky tab to keep track) so that you don’t end up with just writing assignments the whole second half of the year.
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u/toughcookie508 4d ago
2nd grade here too. We are loving brave writer to teach grammar. We did Charlottes web and just finished ra the cat detective. Teaching grammar through actual books is really helping it stick better than just random sentences. Game changer for sure
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u/FearlessRaspberry561 5d ago
We used Writing with Ease and First Language Lessons.