homeschool essay writing

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Homeschool Essay Curriculum for ANY Kind of Writer

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Essay writing is an essential skill for homeschoolers these days- for high school students and even for those in middle school.

Homeschool Essay Curriculum

Too many students are either bored or intimidated by the challenge of writing essays.

Those who are intimidated need a homeschool essay curriculum that will explain the process clearly and in a friendly way. They need assignments broken down into manageable pieces so they don’t feel overwhelmed. They need to understand the thinking process that is required for developing good support for an essay thesis.

Those who are bored need topics that are meaningful to them personally. They need the freedom (even the encouragement!) to write with passion, to write with humor, to write with examples that are out of the ordinary.

Homeschool essay curriculum from 7sistershomeschool.com is designed to meet the needs of the intimidated as well as the bored student…and students who actually don’t MIND essay writing enjoy it, too!

Geared to give your student a successful experience, our  Guides to Essay Writing , by Marilyn Groop, will introduce essays to your homeschool in this user-friendly, no-busywork format.

Presented in a 10-week, 4 days per week, format these downloadable pdf  guides will teach your homeschooler the steps to writing a coherent essay including:

-Basic essay format -Persuasive essays -Literary analysis -Compare/contrast essays -Editorials/letters to the editor -Tips for taking a short-answer essay test)

The Guides include 3 essay rubrics that you can use to grade the essays, as well as an answer key to the short-answer essay test.

For more posts about essay writing, check these out:

Middles School guide to Essay Writing 

Middle School Essay Writing Help for Your Homeschool 

Take advantage of the great writing resources Vicki Tillman has pinned to her High School Writing Pinterest Board , too!

Click here to see what the Washington Post has to say about why Americans can’t write.

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Sabrina Justison

Hi Ashley, That’s an excellent question. If your 8th grader needs some remediation, it might be good to start with a freebie: Reluctant Writer Research Paper (it teaches young folks a report-style format). Homeschool moms and struggling writers have been working through the project together with good result. https://www.7sistershomeschool.com/product/research-paper-help-reluctant-writers-homeschool/ Then have some fun with Middle School Fairy Tale Writing Guide $7.99 https://www.7sistershomeschool.com/product/middle-school-short-story-writing-guide-fairy-tales/ Or Research Paper Readiness for more serious academics: $9.99 https://www.7sistershomeschool.com/product/research-writing-readiness/ Also, don’t forget to join 7SistersHomeschool Facebook group where you can share questions and experiences.

I have an 8th grader that needs some writing remediation. How much is your program?

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Homeschool Writing Curriculum: 17 Actually Engaging Options

The specifics of a writing curriculum will vary, but a comprehensive curriculum should cover a progression of skills, increasing in complexity and sophistication from elementary to high school. Here's which homeschool writing programs best prepare kids to be great writers.

Prisma is the world’s most engaging virtual school that combines a fun, real-world curriculum with powerful mentorship from experienced coaches and a supportive peer community.

The Power of Being a Great Writer  

Living in an era dominated by rapid technological advances and artificial intelligence, it’s harder than ever, as educators and homeschooling parents, to figure out what skills kids will need to succeed in the future.

For example, why should we care about writing in the age of AI? Will technology make traditional skills like writing obsolete? On the contrary, at Prisma we believe the rise of AI makes writing more important than ever . While AI can generate text and even mimic human-like writing, it lacks the nuance, critical thinking, and empathy that are the hallmarks of human communication. The best human writers will always be able to use their command of language arts to influence others.

Plus, the practice of writing skills is important for children’s brain development. As Flannery O’Connor aptly stated, "I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say." The writing process enables us to crystallize our thoughts, stimulating disciplined and critical thinking —a skill that remains irreplaceable by AI. Whether it's a scientist explaining a complicated theory or an entrepreneur pitching their company to investors, the ability to articulate thoughts clearly & with originality is indispensable.

Moreover, writing fosters empathy . Writing, especially creative writing, allows us to imagine and understand different perspectives—an emotional skill that even the most advanced AI lacks. Empathy is vital for personal relationships, teamwork, and any profession involving human interaction.

Furthermore, writing teaches resilience . It's a journey filled with trials and errors. Children learn to handle setbacks, receive criticism, while continuously revising their work, skills that instill adaptability and persistence.

And it's a skill where we see a worrisome trend. According to a recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report, only 27% of students in America achieved or exceeded proficiency in writing. This statistic rings alarm bells about the declining writing skills among our children.

As we guide our children's learning paths at home, our responsibility extends beyond teaching writing. Our aim is to help them appreciate writing as a tool for thinking, empathizing, and persevering. Despite the rise of AI, the art of writing is here to stay. It's not just a skill, it's a compass—a compass that will guide our learners to navigate the evolving landscape of the future with thoughtfulness, empathy, and resilience.

Selecting a Homeschool Writing Curriculum: Key Factors

Choosing a homeschool writing curriculum is a crucial decision, as it will greatly impact your child's development of writing skills. Here are some key factors to consider:

• Your Child’s Interest in Writing: Is your child a very reluctant writer who may need an online app with gamified elements or lots of varied, hands-on worksheets to stay interested? Or is your child a voracious reader & enthusiastic future author who might do better with open-ended journaling, creative writing prompts , and research papers on topics they’re interested in?
• Your Child’s Learning Needs & Style: If your child has any learning differences, such as dyslexia , ADHD, or autism, you should evaluate any possible curriculum for accommodations and supports. Also consider the way your child prefers to learn. Do they like variety or lots of structure? Pen and paper or digital? Visual, audio, or hands-on?
• Level of Interaction: Consider the level of interaction the curriculum offers. Does it provide opportunities for discussions, peer review, or one-on-one feedback sessions? Interaction can often boost motivation and improve learning outcomes. You could even look for programs that offer live online instruction (we share a few options below).
• Alignment with Goals: What are your goals for your child's writing education? Do you want them to homeschool permanently, or do you hope to have them transition to a more traditional high school or college? If so, make sure the curriculum you choose prepares your learner to write aligned to Common Core standards , and make sure you feel comfortable supporting them.
• Flexibility: Look for a curriculum that allows flexibility in pace and approach. Every child is unique and might not fit into a rigid learning structure.
• Incorporation of Writing Process: The curriculum should teach the writing process – brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. This will help your child understand that good writing often involves rewriting and refining.
• Grammar and Mechanics: While the primary focus might be on developing expressive and organized writing, the curriculum should also help your child learn the grammar and mechanics necessary for clarity and correctness. But we personally feel at Prisma that too many grammar drills can be counterproductive, and many writing experts recommend teaching grammar mostly in the context of a real writing assignment after elementary age.
• Integration with Other Subjects: Writing is a skill that can and should be integrated into other subject areas. A curriculum that encourages writing across subjects can foster more meaningful learning experiences. At Prisma, all writing happens in the context of our fun interdisciplinary themes , like Cities of the Future (where kids wrote a speech proposing a new law for their dream city), Build a Business (where kids wrote a business pitch), and Unsolved Mysteries (where kids wrote research-driven podcast & video scripts for a real life mystery).

Writing Curriculum Guidelines by Grade Level

The specifics of a writing curriculum will vary, but a comprehensive curriculum should cover a progression of skills, increasing in complexity and sophistication from elementary to high school. Here's a broad guideline to assess curriculum options, or if you feel like building your own curriculum from scratch:

Elementary School Writing Curriculum

‍ At Prisma, elementary school writers focus on developing key skills in our live Literacy Labs & completing writing missions connected to our project-based themes. Content covers:

• Sentence Structure: Understanding the basic elements of a sentence, like nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and how to construct simple sentences.
• Paragraph Writing: Introduce the concept of a paragraph, topic sentences, and supporting sentences. Graphic organizers often help in this process.
• Basic Grammar and Punctuation: Understanding the rules of capitalization, the usage of periods, question marks, and exclamation points.
• Story Writing: Introduction to narrative writing, creating simple stories with a beginning, middle, and end.
• Writing for Different Purposes: Practice writing informative, persuasive, and narrative pieces.

Middle School Writing Curriculum

‍ Middle school Prisma learners build up to longer writing assignments to prepare for high school writing, and increasingly complete multiple revisions and use peer feedback to perfect their work. They build skills of:

• Advanced Grammar and Punctuation: Dive deeper into the intricacies of grammar and the use of more advanced punctuation marks like semicolons and colons.
• Essay Writing: Understanding essay structure, crafting thesis statements, and creating coherent arguments.
• Narrative Writing: Developing complex narrative techniques, such as point of view, character development, plot structure, and dialogue.
• Research Skills: Learning how to conduct research, evaluate sources, and incorporate evidence into their writing.
• Revision and Editing: Strengthening the ability to revise and edit their own work for clarity, coherence, and correctness.

High School Writing Curriculum

‍ Prisma high school students develop real-world writing assignments for real audiences, preparing to share their writing with the world and developing college-ready writing skills:

• Advanced Essay Writing: Enhancing argumentative, expository, and analytical writing skills. Practice writing longer, more complex essays.
• Literary Analysis: Writing essays that analyze literature for theme, symbolism, and other literary devices.
• Research Papers: Learning to write comprehensive research papers with proper citation and referencing.
• Persuasive Writing: Developing the ability to write persuasively, shaping arguments and using evidence effectively.
• Creative Writing: Exploring different creative writing genres like poetry, short stories, and script writing.
• College Application Essays: Learning to write personal essays that can be used for college applications.
• Critical Thinking: Developing the ability to critique, analyze, and evaluate arguments in writing.

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• Prisma is an accredited, project-based, online program for grades 4-12.
• Our personalized curriculum builds love of learning and prepares kids to thrive.
• Our middle school , high school , and parent-coach programs provide 1:1 coaching and supportive peer cohorts .

Online Homeschool Writing Programs

Live online writing courses.

If you don’t feel comfortable teaching or designing writing curriculum yourself, an online course can be a great way to give your learner an interactive, high-quality language arts curriculum.

In a nutshell: Marketplace for online courses in all subjects, including writing. You can read teacher reviews and course descriptions to get a good feel of which classes will work best for your child (and try a bunch to see what works!)

Grade Levels: K-12 and above

Cost: Depends on the length, format, and teacher. Expect to pay around $10/class for most offerings, and up to $50/class for private, 1-to-1 tutoring.

Format: Depends on the class and instructor. Some courses may only be live sessions, and others may include asynchronous materials like worksheets, rubrics, and journal prompts.

Pros: Low-lift for parents, high interactivity; and often fun, engaging topics like Comic Strip Stories or Fan Fiction

Cons: If you switch instructors frequently, your child may have gaps in their knowledge or struggle to build momentum with one writing process

Written Out Loud

In a nutshell: Written Out Loud’s three core principles are transforming how kids learn - and love - to write. Prisma partnered with this organization the past two years and we can say that kids LOVE learning to write with this program. Kids write a whole book as part of a team.

Grade Levels: Ages 10+

Cost: Fee per class or camp. Current summer camp offerings are $529.

Format: In virtual courses (or in-person if a homeschool group reaches out to form a class together), kids work in teams to “break” a story in the style of Hollywood writers (decide verbally as a team what the story will look like) and then write their portions, ending in the publication of a full-length book!

Pros: Helps kids love writing, low-lift for parents, high interactivity

Cons: Doesn’t teach more traditional or “academic” forms of writing, so likely will need to be a supplement.

Prisma & Other Online Private Schools

Some homeschooling families choose to enroll in comprehensive online schools like Prisma, especially as their children get older and need more teacher support or rigorous curriculum. Although these options do charge tuition, they offer a comprehensive, intentional, expert-driven approach to academics (including writing) while still offering the personalization, flexibility, and environment of homeschooling.

Best Online Writing Apps & Websites for Homeschoolers  

Choosing an online program is great if you want something your learner can do at their own pace with minimal supervision from you. These programs can also be great at motivating learners by providing gamified elements (like points, badges, and achievements).

Essentials in Writing

In a nutshell: Former schoolteacher Matthew Stephens’ popular online program delivers direct instruction & writing practice aligned with the traditional way of teaching writing.

Grade Levels: K-12

Cost: $69-89

Format: A video-based online course with corresponding workbooks

Pros: Low-lift for parents with a consistent structure

Cons: May not be enough variety or interactivity for easily bored learners

Night Zookeeper

In a nutshell: A highly engaging game-based online world for kids to explore writing through mini games, interesting writing prompts, and drills

Grade Levels: Ages 6-12

Cost: Subscription costing about $9-13/month, depending on if you pay annually or monthly

Format: Learners sign on to the platform and explore the online activities freely. Parents can view insights into their progress on the back-end.

Pros: Both reluctant and enthusiastic writers tend to LOVE this platform, and the subscription model makes it easy to try out.

Cons: Doesn’t offer as much instruction as more traditional programs.

In a nutshell: No Red Ink is used in 60% of school districts and although the platform is primarily built for teachers, homeschool parents can register for teacher accounts and provide their children access to this interactive, comprehensive writing program.

Grade Levels: Grades 3-12

Cost: Free version, plus a premium version with additional features

Format: A mix of targeted exercises to help students master sentence structure & grammar, scaffolded writing and revising activities for a range of genres, and diagnostics & quizzes to assess your learner’s skills

Pros: Research-driven, interactive, and incorporates learner interests (kids take a fun quiz at the beginning to tailor the curriculum to what they like to write about), plus built-in assessment (a rarity for writing platforms!)

Cons: Since it’s built for teachers, may not be user-friendly for solo homeschooling parents

Online Grammar & Comprehension Practice

At Prisma, we use grammar apps to supplement our more in-depth writing assignments. Some of our favorites are:

• IXL : We like their initial diagnostic and that you can assign individual skills to learners to practice. The format is not the most exciting or engaging, though.
• Freckle : Elementary school-age writers enjoy the gamified elements of this math & language arts platform.
• Quill : Built around the research-backed strategy of sentence combining & revising as a way to learn key grammar and mechanics, this tool is both free and highly effective (though it may get boring if used too often!).

Best Traditional Homeschool Writing Curricula

Brave writer.

In a nutshell: Brave Writer is a writing curriculum designed to help children discover their own unique voice in writing. It emphasizes creativity and individuality, incorporating various elements of language arts such as grammar, spelling, literature, and writing. This curriculum is by far the most popular one with Prisma parents!

Grade Levels : Pre-K to 12th grade

Cost: Individual online classes range from $99 to $199 per course. Home study courses are available from $79 to $149.

Format: Online classes, home study courses with lesson plans and teacher’s guides, and resources for self-study. The courses take a unique approach, focusing on having lots of conversations before getting writing out on the page.

Pros: The curriculum is flexible and customizable to meet the needs of each student. It also encourages a positive attitude towards writing, reducing stress and resistance. It’s great for engaging and empowering young writers.

Cons: The less structured format may not work for all families. Parents may need to be more involved and excited about teaching writing to ensure progress and there is no built-in evaluation or assessment.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)

In a nutshell: IEW is a tried-and-true homeschool curriculum option that employs a method that builds writing confidence and competence. It uses a structured and systematic approach, focused on helping students create quality writing pieces.

Grade Levels: K to 12th grade

Cost: The cost can range from $19 for single items up to $249 for a comprehensive level course.

Format: Mostly DVD-based courses, workbooks, and some online classes.

Pros: Provides clear instruction and step-by-step methods that are easy to follow. It is suitable for a variety of learning styles and abilities. The curriculum covers a broad range of writing styles.

Cons: It can be perceived as rigid by some and may stifle creativity for others. It is more traditional, we have found, than many Prisma parents are looking for. It might be too intensive for students who are not used to structured learning.

Classical Composition

In a nutshell: Based on the ancient principles of storytelling and rhetoric, Classical Composition is a rigorous writing program that leads students step-by-step through the process of writing. If you resonate with the classical approach to homeschooling, you’ll likely be drawn in by this approach.

Grade Levels: 4th to 12th grade

Cost: The cost can vary, but most books range from $15 to $30. DVDs range from $55 to $85.

Format: Textbooks and DVDs.

Pros: It provides a thorough, rigorous program that can help students become proficient writers. It's ideal for parents who prefer a traditional, structured approach to teaching writing, similarly to IEW.

Cons: According to curriculum reviews, it can be challenging and time-consuming. Some students may find it too rigorous or not creative enough.

In a nutshell: WriteShop is a writing curriculum that helps parents teach writing to their children in a step-by-step manner. It focuses on both the creative and mechanical aspects of writing.

Cost: Books and resources range from $7 to $50. Full-set curriculum kits range from $120 to $160.

Format: Books, digital downloads, and online resources.

Pros: The curriculum is easy to use and provides parents with detailed lesson plans. It encourages more creativity than some of the traditional options above while still teaching the technical aspects of writing.

Cons: Some parents have found it to be too teacher-intensive. It requires more preparation than other programs.

Writing Strands

In a nutshell: Writing Strands provides a step-by-step approach to teaching writing, focusing on a broad range of skills such as creative writing, report writing, composition, and critical thinking.

Grade Levels: 2nd to 12th grade

Cost: Individual books cost about $20 each.

Format : Books.

Pros: Even though it’s step-by-step, it is flexible and can be adapted to suit individual student needs. It's also affordable.

Cons: It lacks extensive grammar instruction, and some parents find it lacks depth in certain writing skills. The book-only format may not work for some kids who need more varied types of assignments.

New York Times Writing Curriculum

In a nutshell: This is a modern, real-world-focused curriculum, drawing from The New York Times resources. It emphasizes critical thinking, research, and journalistic writing skills.

Grade Levels: Middle school to high school

Cost: The online resources from The New York Times are often free, but for detailed curriculum materials, cost can vary.

Format: Online, leveraging articles, essays, and multimedia from The New York Times.

Pros: It offers contemporary, engaging, and relevant content. It helps students understand and engage with current events. Great for developing research and critical thinking skills.

Cons: Less emphasis on creative writing. The content might be advanced for younger students. Parental guidance might be necessary due to potentially sensitive topics.

BJU Press Writing & Grammar

In a nutshell: BJU Press Writing & Grammar is a Christian-oriented program that emphasizes grammar and the writing process, incorporating both traditional and creative assignments.

Grade Levels: 1st to 12th grade

Cost: Subject kits can range from $100 to $150, while individual books can range from $15 to $40.

Format: Textbooks, workbooks, and tests.

Pros: The program provides a comprehensive approach to teaching grammar and writing. It's straightforward and structured, providing detailed lesson plans.

Cons: Some parents have found the curriculum to be too rigid and not engaging enough. The Christian worldview integrated throughout the material may not be appealing to everyone.

Well-Trained Mind

In a nutshell: Based on classical education principles, the Well-Trained Mind approach guides parents in crafting a rigorous, comprehensive homeschool curriculum.

Cost: The core book "The Well-Trained Mind" costs around $20 - $30. Other resources' costs vary.

Format: Books and online resources.

Pros: It provides a detailed, rigorous roadmap for classical education at home. It is highly customizable, allowing parents to adapt to their children's learning style and interests.

Cons: It requires significant time and effort from parents. The approach may be too rigorous or structured for some students.

Does Your Writing Curriculum Prepare Your Kids for the Real World? 

At Prisma, one of our learning values is that education should prepare learners for the real world . 98% of Prisma parents say that our school does a better job preparing their learner for the real world than their last school. “The real world problem solving the learners do is unlike anything they do in more conventional schools,” says one parent. “If anyone tells you kids aren't ‘ready’ to consider meaningful topics like the world refugee crisis, neurodiversity, building a business, or scientific research, don't listen!”

When kids see why what they’re learning matters, they’re much more motivated and engaged . When we compartmentalize subjects, we make it unclear for learners how those subjects are used in the real world. When the only writing assignments you are given in school are to write 5-paragraph essays only your English teacher (or parent!) will read, you’re unlikely to grasp why writing is an essential skill in so many careers. Imagine if, instead, you’re asked to write a product pitch for an invention you developed to solve a real-world sustainability problem, like our learners did for the Biomimicry Youth Design Challenge in our interdisciplinary theme Wild Inventions . Prisma learners are still taught foundational writing skills, they’re just asked to apply them to real world problem-solving in an interdisciplinary way.

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Homeschool Writing Curriculums

Your guide to the best homeschool writing curriculums and learning ideas.

Top 5 Homeschool Writing Curriculums - Voted by YOU!

Our Homeschool Writing and Grammar Curriculum Course guide is based on real feedback and input from people just like you—homeschool parents, moms, and dads.

We have received thousands of votes from our homeschool families and have our top 5 winners for elementary, middle and high school programs.

Click below to download your FREE copy!

Top 5 Elementary Writing Curriculums

• Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)
• Easy Grammar
• Language Lessons for a Living Education
• Fix-It Grammar from IEW
• Rod & Staff

Learn about our top five elementary school homeschool writing curriculums ranked by our homeschool family community—people just like you and me— who have experienced these curriculums first hand.

This top five guide is a helpful roadmap to help you navigate the best of the best courses on the market today whether you are seeking information about homeschooling, are a new home school educator, or are a successful and experienced homeschool educator.

Top 5 Middle School Writing Curriculums

• Writing Strands
• Essentials in Writing

Writing curriculum programs for middle school homeschooling are not a one size fits all; and, as a home educator, it is ultimately up to you to make the best decision.

We have pooled our resources and asked our homeschool audience of teachers and students to come up with the top 5 middle school writing curriculums to help you on your journey.

Top 5 High School Writing Curriculums

• Analytical Grammar
• Jensen's Grammar
• BJU Press Grammar & Writing

Research papers, essay writing, grammar, and communication are several of the critical writing skills that are learned in high school. What is the best writing curriculum for home school high school students?

We have our top ranked 1-5 publishers and providers that will help you match up with a curriculum that will be a perfect fit for your home-based student.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) is an easy, fun, flexible, and structured writing curriculum that has a lifetime guarantee.

IEW’s framework for structure and style will give your student the tools he or she needs to excel in all areas of writing starting with elementary age programs all the way through high school.

According to many home school educator reviews, Easy Grammar is an easy and effective tool for home school families. The students are able to easily retain the concepts because the instructions are to the point and in an easy to understand format.

Students that have struggled with grammar in the past find Easy Grammar’s teaching method to be a no-stress, fun way to learn and feel successful.

Essentials in Writing offers a complete writing curriculum for grades 1-12 that includes text books and video instruction.

One of the many benefits of Essentials in Writing is that it is student led and there is little prep time for the teacher (parent) for each lesson.

Also, Essentials in Writing offers online classes for college prep as well as creative writing.

Analytical grammar offers a middle and high school homeschool program focusing primarily on grammar. The other two key components are punctuation and usage.

This course offers a flexible learning style and can be used for students who are struggling in grammar as well for more advanced students.

Teachers love this course and find the teacher’s guide to be very thorough and easy to follow.

MasterBooks Writing’s writing program, Writing Strands, is a composition writing course that incorporates grammar lessons and Bible-based content throughout the course.

MasterBooks writing offers course from Kindergarten through 12th grade.

There are several other wonderful writing and grammar curriculums for home school students like One Year Adventure Novel for high school writing. Many of the curriculums are broad based and cover a wide range of topics.

There are also other writing and grammar curriculums that drill down to a specific writing topic like Handwriting without Tears for elementary students.

Homeschool Writing Resources

The power of developing quality communication skills | 185.

We talk a lot about Heart Schooling—or discipleship-focused homeschooling. So, this week, David and I are going to look specifically at what Heart Schooling really entails and give you some ideas to start putting some of these concepts into action right now.

Free LIFEPAC Writing Lesson from AOP

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Top 10 Homeschooling High School Writing Curriculum Choices For 2021

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Top 10 Homeschooling Middle School Writing Curriculum Choices For 2021

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Top 10 Homeschooling Elementary Handwriting Curriculum Choices For 2021

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Top 10 Elementary Writing Curriculum Choices For 2021

Writing curriculum programs are not a one size fits all; and, as a home educator, it is ultimately up to you to make the best

Top 10 Homeschooling Elementary Handwriting Curriculum Choices

*This page may contain affiliate links. For more information please see our disclosure page/privacy statement for more information. One thing that binds every homeschooling subject

Help Your Child Unleash their Creativity in Writing

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Six Online Writing Classes Homeschoolers Can Start Now

Editor’s note: Since this article was originally published, I’ve made changes over time because some of the original resources no longer exist. 

As many homeschooling parents know, writing can be a difficult subject to teach. Even if your student understands grammar and can write well, many children simply do not like writing, resulting in poor content and a lot of complaining. It can be hard to teach writing if your student does not like it, or if you do not enjoy the subject either, for that matter.

Grammar is a tedious but important subject. Why not hand over some of the responsibility to an online classroom where your students can engage in grammar and writing assignments and even take quizzes?

You can rest assured knowing they are learning grammar rules correctly. They might be more motivated when they have to turn in assignments to someone other than their parent.

While this is not a replacement for your teaching, it is a great supplement. Of course, checking their homework and adding any additional writing work you feel necessary is still required.

At Grammarly, where I work, we grammar-check hundreds of documents of all types. I often look at online writing classes to see how they’re teaching. This helps me see how people best learn English so I can improve our product strategy.

I often see writing classes for homeschoolers that impress me. Here are some of the best I’ve come across:

Institute for Excellence in Writing

IEW is known for its robust writing curriculum. Many homeschooling families have used their textbooks and home videos to teach writing, grammar, structure, and style. Their online classes are taught by master teachers and are perfect for busy homeschooling families or parents who aren’t as confident teaching writing.

English Grammar 101

English Grammar 101 provides free online grammar lessons, with a special program tailored to homeschoolers. As the website says, “writing and grammar skills are essential in any line of work, at any age,” so help your students get started with the free lessons on English Grammar 101. For further instruction, the website offers teaching materials and an e-book.

Time 4 Learning

Time 4 Writing is a good source for busy homeschool parents. It has a variety of lessons, from beginning grammar to essay writing, and tailors to each grade. If you’re teaching students of multiple ages, this is a nice way to give each student the information and work he or she needs, so you have time to focus on answering questions and helping with homework.

Home 2 Teach

Home 2 Teach offers college-prep writing classes for students aged 8-18. Sessions are six weeks and offered four times per year. It is exclusively for homeschoolers, and students must submit a writing sample for placement. These courses are a great way to give your advanced writing student an edge.

San Diego Scribblers

San Diego Scribblers offers online classes for different age groups. These classes are not comprehensive but based on a theme. For grades four through eight, there is a short story writing class, and high school students can take a journalism class. The online courses do not teach grammar but are a fun addition to your writing curriculum. Assignments are given each week and teachers provide detailed critiques of each student’s work.

Harvard Extension School

Harvard Extension School is exactly what it sounds like—an extension of the Ivy League university. While this option is only for older students, it is a vigorous program that will set your child apart. Homeschool students can earn credits that will count toward high school graduation or an undergraduate degree. An online writing center is included, where students can attend virtual writing seminars and workshops.

Nikolas Baron discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children’s novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to reunite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.

The views and opinions expressed in any guest post featured on this site are those of the guest author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Wired Homeschool.

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John Wilkerson combines over 20 years of professional experience in the computer industry with 17 years of homeschooling 7 children to give parents easy to understand advice on the application of technology in their homes.

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Homeschool High School Writing — Tips and Curriculum Reviews

Overview: Read my best homeschool high school writing curriculum recommendations and tips for how to grade your teen's writing and how to approach SAT / ACT essays. Note: May contain referral links.

Writing has been a sore spot in my career as a homeschool teacher since day one.  It's hard to be objective about your little one's poem about a flower; you know what I mean?

And it only gets worse as they get older and the writing assignments become more in depth — and the writing itself becomes more personal. It's like you're reading a bit of their heart. How is it possible to take a red pen to that?

And actually giving a grade that has any authority behind it? Forget it! I'm too busy giggling as my teen tries to persuade me via a five-paragraph essay that they should receive an ipod for Christmas. Or I'm battling tears as they describe a favorite event from their childhood.

I've often felt like I could not give them any meaningful feedback about their high school writing, because I was too closely connected to them — and therefore to it. Ya know?

Over the years, however, we've come across a few gems of curriculum that have helped with this dilemma, and I'd like to share them with you today.

But first, some general suggestions about homeschool high school writing:

Let me first just say that since all of our homeschool graduates who have gone to college so far did successfully complete college freshman writing courses — despite my limitations — I have come to the conclusion that (no shocker here, if you know me at all) high school writing doesn't have to be that hard.

1) The big thing is just to get the student to write and to play with language. Help them to not be afraid of writing by giving them many opportunities to put their thoughts on paper.

Related: Episode 51 — How to Make Writing More Fun for Your Homeschooled Teen

2) Also, make sure they have access to lots of great books , so they are exposed to great writing all. the. time. It does rub off, believe it or not.

3) I will also say for the record that I do think thorough and fairly demanding grammar instruction — yes, into the high school years — is definitely in order.  No one can be a great writer who cannot handle grammar and spelling. More on that a little further down the page.

4) When it comes to GRADING the writing, you don't have to get super specific.   These days I often just assign a number of total points for a given assignment and deduct as I see things that are not working — such as poor grammar/spelling, a flimsy introduction or conclusion, not supporting their opinion, poor transitions, etc.

But mostly I am fairly generous; in fact, I have been known to add points for a particularly effective turn of phrase or creative spin. Obviously, in high school there is a certain minimum standard to expect from their writing; but on the whole I want it to be a positive experience so that they will continue to enjoy putting their thoughts on paper.

UPDATE: After writing this article, I discovered an amazing thing called a RUBRIC. More on that in a minute.

Now for some homeschool high school writing curriculum we've used successfully:

WriteShop is a homeschool high school writing option that is VERY user-friendly. It helps your teen work on the writing process step-by-step, and it also provides a LOT of support for whoever is doing the grading (that's you, mom!).

WriteShop provides a rubric (i.e., grading checklist) for each assignment, so there is no more guessing about how to grade your precious little lamb's writing. I love this, because it removes the subjectivity that we moms tend to have towards our own kids and gives us a very objective way to evaluate their work.

WriteShop also provides UMPTEEN other resources to help both mom and kid feel confident about the writing instruction that is happening in your homeschool.

The high school level curricula for WriteShop is WriteShop I & II. You can see them here: Write Shop I and II for high school.  

Also, I've written an in-depth review of the WriteShop curriculum for high school which includes two videos so you can see the product and hear me wax eloquent about it, LOL. Click here: Write Shop Curriculum for Homeschool High School .

Bravewriter — Help for High School

This course is specifically geared towards homeschool high school students and has been a big help for us. We found it after my eldest, who has a great vocabulary and grammar, received only a so-so score on her ACT writing. I realized it was because she didn't use the format that they were expecting to see.

Help for High School  remedied that. It teaches the student how to write an expository essay.

What's so neat is the way it's done. The first several chapters are called “Preparation for Essay Writing”, and they are filled with ideas and exercises designed to get your child to just start writing. Topics are ones the kid is familiar with, such as his own life experiences, and these chapters guide the student in getting something on paper that has creative words and sentence structures. The student also learns to look at different sides of an argument. And one of the neatest things is that they learn to look at their own writing and communicate about it.

The second and larger section of the book gives them the tools they need to craft an expository essay. They learn how to choose a topic and analyze it, how to write a thesis statement, how to design and execute supporting paragraphs, and how to write an effective introduction and conclusion.

The entire course is written to the student , so it is suitable for independent learning — although the parent will need to give feedback on writing samples on a regular basis.

And therein would be my one difficulty with the course:  there is not a lot of information for how the parent is to evaluate the student's efforts. There was a rubric about how to comment on your child's work, but I confess that I was hoping for something a little more concrete.

I did write the author about this at one point, and she was very helpful. She told me to not stress too much about the grades but to concentrate on looking at the overall quality of the given paper. The examples in the book were A papers, and I could compare my child's to those, if that was helpful.

I do see this as a valid grading philosophy, but for myself I prefer the objectivity of a rubric such as is found in WriteShop .

Rod & Staff 9 & 10 (Communicating Effective ly Boo ks 1 & 2)

These are  primarily a grammar curriculum .  As I said, I think grammar is über-important, even at this age. (We love this curriculum .  See my mini-review here .)

However, they do also include writing. There are several chapters (alternating with the chapters that focus on grammar) that deal with different types of writing — persuasive, descriptive, etc. These contain thorough instructions about how to write each genre.  

What I really like is they provide a detailed grading scale for the teacher AND the student. So the teacher knows exactly what to look for, and the student knows what to work towards.

If you are new to Rod & Staff, though, it might be best to start at a lower level.  The 9th and 10th grade books might be a bit overwhelming if you have not already been using their grammar curriculum . Their 7th and 8th grade books are both very high level grammar, also, and to my mind they would be sufficient for a solid grammar foundation.

And we know that as homeschoolers we don't have to be dependent on a number to tell us what level is best for our child. If it is challenging to your high schooler and they spend an appropriate amount of time on it, you can count it as high school credit. :-)

Lightning Literatur e

Any of Hewitt's Lightning Literature courses are a great way to include literature (which is often required by colleges) in your child's high school curriculum . (I've written short reviews on two of their courses here .)

Lightning Literature courses don't FOCUS on writing, but most of the assignments given require some type of writing.  What I like is how creative they get with their assignments. They might ask the student to write a poem about a theme in the book, or describe the setting in their own words, or write a scene from a different character's perspective. In this way the student is not bored, so they tend to write more creatively and spontaneously.

Again, there's not much help with the grading end of it; but I focused mostly on whether the child got their point across, used language in a colorful and effective way, and avoided grammatical errors.

More on conquering the SAT/ACT essay:

I confess that when my eldest got that mediocre score on her ACT writing, I was somewhat surprised. I read her essay, and while it wasn't amazingly fantasmagorical, it wasn't super poor, either, like they seemed to think.

But the fact is that those scorers truly are looking for a very specific format and for very specific literary devices; and if you don't do it their way, they don't like you. Which is ridiculous, really, but we must be practical and realize that these scores, however stupidly come by, are important to colleges, for whatever reason!

Related: Episode 52: How to Prepare your Homeschooled Teen for College Writing

So we did a google search on “how to write an SAT [or ACT] essay.” There are a gazillion articles out there that are very helpful with concrete, specific tips for how to conquer the beast. To practice with these tips, I had my kids take a sample SAT prompt and write an essay with a 25-minute timer at least twice a week during the last part of the semester that they took the Bravewriter course mentioned above.

UPDATE: We have since learned even more about how to write the type of essay the ACT/SAT scorers are looking for. Read The Five-Paragraph Essay: What, Why, and How for Homeschoolers for more information.

Teaching writing in your high school homeschool isn't necessarily easy — but it doesn't have to be difficult, either. I hope these suggestions have helped! 

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6 thoughts on “Homeschool High School Writing — Tips and Curriculum Reviews”

The quest for finding the perfect writing homeschool curriculum requires a great deal of research to determine the best one for you and your kids. Great share, thank you

You’re welcome, Lisa. Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Thank you for all of the information that you provided. I was wondering if you used Brave Writer, Rod and Staff and Lightning Literature as one combined course for English that would give one credit?

Hi Susan, Great question. NO I DID NOT. It is not necessary to pile on all the different aspects of Language Arts, all of which alone might be worth a credit in themselves, and then call the conglomeration only one credit. BraveWriter was a half credit, Rod and Staff was a full credit, and Lightning Lit was a half credit. Sometimes my kids were taking two English courses at the same time, which means they were earning more than one credit at a time. More on this whole question of what constitutes an English credit here: https://www.notthathardtohomeschool.com/homeschool-high-school-english-curriculum/ . Hope this helps, and thanks for stopping by!

Thank you so much for responding. Thank you for clearing up the credit question and I guess I’m still confused on the 3 parts of Language Arts. I hear so much about needing the literature portion as well as reading the classics. My son has been doing the IEW and Fix It for the past two years and I had him read literary classics from our Notgrass history and he did the questions they provided. I counted all of that as one credit each year. My son is not interested in college but wants to attend a trade school. He is not interested in the literature learning but has enjoyed some of the books. This fall is his senior year and do I need to even included a literature curriculum? It is not something he is interested in and not a strength of his for sure. Most of the language curriculum I’m interested in seems to be a full credit so I don’t want to overwhelm him. I will check out the link you provided and really appreciate all of the resources that you have provided. It has been extremely helpful. :).

Susan, maybe this is what you need: What does a high school English credit include?

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How to use writing prompts to teach homeschool writing & essays

by Kim Kautzer | Sep 2, 2019 | High school , Teaching Homeschool Writing , Writing & Journal Prompts

Have you ever wondered how to use writing prompts to teach homeschool writing?

Writing Prompts vs. Free Choice

Prompts encourage daily journaling..

Writing prompts and StoryBuilders  offer story starters or topics to stimulate writing. They encourage kids to have fun playing with ideas and express themselves creatively. And they’re a great way to keep ’em writing every day .

Even better, writing with prompts lets them explore different topics without judgment or correction—and without any expectation that their responses have to be shaped into a polished piece.

Prompts provide direction.

Why use writing prompts at all? Isn’t it better to tell your child: “ Write about whatever you want “?

Though this works well with confident children who are spilling over with ideas, kids more often complain that they can’t think of anything to write about . 

When you ask them to pick their own topics, it’s like dropping them by helicopter into the middle of the ocean and telling them to swim for shore. They don’t know how far away land is, or even which direction to head! By the time they make up their minds and start moving, they’re already worn out and discouraged. 

A writing prompt makes a better option for timid writers . Instead of struggling to come up with their own ideas, they can rely on a prompt for a topic that points them “towards shore.”

TIP: If you let them, your young homeschoolers can fritter away the whole morning just picking a topic! So giving 2-4 prompts to choose from will more quickly set them on the road to writing.

Writing Prompts vs. Writing Curriculum

Homeschool writing programs are more intentional than prompts..

Unlike a writing prompt, a homeschool writing curriculum teaches the hows and whys of writing:

• why writing is a process ; and
• how to brainstorm , write a rough draft, edit , and revise. 

Your writing program is a tool for teaching writing skills , so each assignment should include different steps and take several days or weeks. The goal is to plan, write, polish—and eventually publish a final draft.

On the other hand, a writing prompt is just for fun. Usually, there’s no editing or revising involved; it’s simply  freewriting , and it keeps those creative juices flowing.

That said, many moms use both! They may teach from a writing curriculum such as WriteShop , but from time to time they’ll give their kids fun writing prompts too.

Consider your level of confidence.

Many homeschooling moms feel insecure about teaching and grading writing. If this is you, you’ll probably want to use a writing program so you feel better equipped.

Even if writing comes naturally to you, you may not know how to teach those skills to your kids. That’s why even strong writers depend on a writing curriculum to help you direct and guide your children .

Maybe you’re the confident mom who’s comfortable tying writing to different areas of study —whether or not you use a formal curriculum . And if you feel at ease with teaching the writing process, you can turn anything into a lesson .

• Instead of letting children jump in and “just write,” purposefully guide them to brainstorm , write, and make corrections —no matter what the topic.
• A biography about George Washington, a book report , a report about photosynthesis, or even a  silly writing prompt about a monkey on a cruise ship can all be used to teach writing in your homeschool.

If this fits your teaching style, writing across the curriculum is a great option.

Whatever your level of confidence, consider settling on a combination of informal writing prompts and structured curriculum . If you’re still not sure what’s best for you , check out Do I really need a writing curriculum?  

How to Use Writing Prompts to Teach Homeschool Writing and Essays

Whether you depend on a writing curriculum or do your own thing, you can still appreciate these ideas for using writing prompts to teach important skills.

1. Plug writing prompts into a current writing assignment.

A solid homeschool writing program will teach different kinds of writing. But even with a good curriculum, kids may need help coming up with topics . No matter what subject they’re writing about , you can guide them toward prompts that fit with their lesson.

Are you teaching any of these subjects in your homeschool right now? There’s a prompt for that!

• Technology and flight
• Art and music
• Literature and books
• Descriptive writing
• Historical newspaper
• Mystery stories
• Science fiction stories
• Historical fiction

2. Use writing prompts as essay topics.

When teaching homeschoolers how to write essays, offer out-of-the-box writing topics so those middle or high schooler students can practice different kinds of essays, including:

• Narrative essay prompts
• Persuasive essay prompts
• Cause and effect essay prompts
• Compare and contrast essay prompts
• Expository essay prompts

If you need extra help getting started with teaching 5-paragraph essays and persuasive writing,  WriteShop II  offers a solid introduction to opinion writing, definition essays, compare and contrast essays, and timed essays.

3. Use writing prompts as a vehicle to teach writing skills.

Though it’s important to let kids freewrite or journal without worrying about spelling or grammar, it’s also necessary to teach them how  to write .  

If you’re not using a writing curriculum, it’s easy to forget writing is a process that must go through many steps . To ensure your kids are learning and applying these steps (and improving their written use of grammar ), use any writing prompt to walk them through this process.

4. Build a homeschool high school essay course around writing prompts.

Even without a curriculum, it’s possible to use interesting, thought-provoking, controversial, or creative prompts as the basis for an actual homeschool essay course for high school credit . This requires some planning and prep on your part in order to fulfill the requirements of 65 hours for ½ credit. Additionally, it must be challenging enough to qualify as a high-school-level course.

How to beef up a series of prompts into a full-blown writing course

• Teach your student how to write different kinds of essays .
• Ensure each essay goes through the writing process .
• Have prewriting discussions to help teens consider different facets of a subject. If developing a particular topic into an essay is your goal for students, discussions help stimulate ideas and give them more to write about.
• Provide graphic organizers to plan out their essays.
• Lay out requirements for each assignment, such as how many points to develop, additional ideas to include, or a set number of sentences or paragraphs to write.
• Decide how to handle evaluating each essay. For the editing stage , options include self-editing checklists for students and teacher rubrics for providing feedback. If you’re teaching writing in a homeschool co-op or class setting , consider peer editing. To evaluate the final draft , use a rubric to help you grade the essay .

So many ideas … so little time! If you’re organized and confident, you’ll love using writing prompts to teach writing ! But if the idea of creating your own writing course feels overwhelming, by all means invest in a homeschool writing curriculum that’s easy to teach .

Now that you know how to use writing prompts to teach homeschool writing, you need a great resource! Our printable Journal All Year Teen Writing Prompt Calendar  provides you with a full academic year of argumentative, persuasive, creative, expository, and reflective essay prompts at a bargain price! 

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Teaching paragraph writing to kids can be a really frustrating process. 

Even with all of the correct information, curriculum, worksheets, encouragement, and practice – it can still be a significant uphill challenge.

This is especially true if you are dealing with reluctant writers or kids with perfectionist tendencies (and I’ve got both of those!).

I am a homeschool mom of three girls – currently in 6th grade, 3rd grade, and 1st grade – so I have a first-hand look into the struggle.

With my oldest child, we have gone from writing resistance complete with tears to writing paragraphs with confidence!

I want to share with you the VERY EASY thing I did to navigate this path and help you and your child do the same thing.

In this blog post you will find:

• My Own Writing Experience
• The Typical Way to Teach Paragraph Writing
• The Disconnect For Many Kids
• Why We Love Paragraph Writing For Kids
• Results We’ve Seen 
• My One Complaint 

My Own Paragraph Writing Experience

Upfront, I was an overachieving student who probably took school a little too seriously.

I did well in school and excelled in my college writing classes. I even taught some of my roommates how to write 5 paragraph essays during my freshman year.

Today, I am a professional writer and I still really enjoy everything about putting my thoughts into written form. 

My oldest daughter, who I’ve homeschooled since 1st grade, is an outstanding creative writer.

I have reviewed tons of homeschool writing curriculum , and I feel comfortable teaching writing & grammar – parts of speech, complete sentences, brainstorming, punctuation, journaling, etc.

With all of these points, I thought for sure that teaching paragraphs would be a walk in the park.

In fact, please cue the frustrated groans of an 11-year-old who has just been told she needs to write a paragraph about Native American culture.

The Typical Way To Teach Paragraph Writing

Long before that writing assignment for my child, I went through the standard paragraph writing steps below:

• Paragraph structure worksheets about identifying topic sentences, supporting sentences, and concluding sentences
• Instruction on how to identify supporting ideas that “don’t belong” between the top bun (introduction sentence) and bottom bun (closing sentence)
• Brainstorming maps or graphic organizers to come up with ideas, topics, and supporting details
• Reviewing the correct steps of the writing process, including editing and revising after the first draft of the paragraph is written
• Ensure all verb tenses match
• We even wrote paragraphs together, with me writing side by side with my student
• I attempted to create a low-stress environment by telling my student to “just start writing.” I told her we have to “make the playdough” today. Tomorrow we’ll take it and mold it into a finished product.
• Encouragement and positive feedback were always sandwiched around any criticisms that I had to make about the writing.

Sounds like a recipe for a well-written paragraph, right? 

Well…

The Disconnect For Many Kids When It Comes To Writing Paragraphs

There are some kids that can do the above steps and be completely fine, writing good paragraphs with minimal guidance or additional instruction.

But there are others who get to the end of the lessons and still feel paralyzed by the idea of writing a paragraph on their own. Similar to how some people get a mathematical concept right away, and others need much more explanation and practice.

The typical paragraph writing lessons are simply not enough information, structure, or time to feel confident with writing an effective paragraph.

Younger students feel overwhelmed with coming up with a single topic, choosing details, putting the details in order, and unraveling the confounding mystery of an introductory and conclusion sentence. 

Instructions like, “Write a sentence about the main idea of the paragraph,” or, “Write a concluding sentence that brings a sense of closure to the paragraph,” can be infuriatingly vague to kids.

Kids are also disheartened by how subjective writing can be.

With math, questions are either right or wrong. Writing has so much more “gray area” that always has room for improvement.

The Easy Way To Success In Paragraph Writing

I knew we needed help when I assigned my child to write a brief essay about the history topic we had covered over the last few weeks.

She had tons of information to work with, and she seemed genuinely interested in the topic.

But no matter how much support I gave her, she just seemed to be lost. Paralyzed. Confused. Stuck.

I got online that day to look for resources because I was out of ideas. My first stop was of course Common Sense Press . They put out such high-quality products, and we love their Language Arts Curriculum . 

Thankfully, they had exactly what we needed – Paragraph Writing For Kids !

I ordered it right away and we stopped all other writing assignments while she worked through the material.

The workbook consists of 55 lessons – 11 lessons each to teach informative, narrative, persuasive, expository (how to), and comparative paragraphs.

What I Love About Paragraph Writing For Kids

1. Completely Independent

As I said earlier, I have three kids in my homeschool, so having a curriculum that can be done independently is always a winner for me.

The material is written directly to the student in an easy to understand – often funny – manner. My daughter is able to sit down and do the lessons, complete simple worksheets, make outlines, and write paragraphs without me.

I do look over her work and talk with her about any questions, but that has taken a minimal amount of time so far.

2. Very Budget Friendly

There is some writing curriculum out there that will blow your budget socks off. 

Paragraph Writing For Kids is currently only $18 for the printed version and $13 for the E-book . 

To top that off, the Answer Key is a free download from the Common Sense Press Website.

You really can’t beat that for a high-qualty writing supplement.

3. Step-By-Step Process With Tons of Examples

Each style of paragraph is taught through 11 separate lessons.

The student is taken through simple steps as they learn how to choose the topic, make an outline, come up with specific details, put those details in order, build an introductory sentence, and come up with a fantastic closer.

Throughout each step, young writers are taught what they need to do with interesting paragraphs written by other children. Many lessons have multiple paragraphs for the student to read and learn from.

I never heard from my child, “I don’t know what to do!” or “I don’t understand this!” It is laid out in such a slow, progressive formula style that every lesson seems short and simple. 

The end result is a well-organized paragraph and a lot of confidence for the student.

4. Fantastic Tips On Introductory And Closing Sentences

As I flipped through the lessons and reviewed my child’s work, I was nearly slack-jawed looking at the formulas the workbook offers for introduction and closing sentences.

I grew up with very broad instructions like, “Just write a sentence that introduces your topic, and then the last sentence should bring the paragraph to a close.”

Um…to an elementary-level kid that can be really challenging and confusing.

But the Paragraph Writing for Kids formula is so much more direct and helpful. I honestly wished I had something like this available to me as a kid.

5. Lessons Are Written In A Conversational Tone

These lessons are written to the student, and you can tell that the author took the time to make the lesson engaging and fun to read.

My daughter and I still laugh about one of the lessons that centered around a community Easter Egg Hunt gone wrong. I thought it was so clever and interesting!

Definitely not dry, complicated material that kids will have to struggle through. 

6. Goes Through Five Different Types of Paragraphs

Paragraph Writing for Kids teaches informative, narrative, persuasive, expository, and comparative paragraphs.

It honestly did not even occur to me before buying this curriculum supplement how different each of these styles really is.

The basic paragraph writing instruction I mentioned earlier only really applies to the informative or narrative paragraphs.

I love that this curriculum takes a very thorough, step-by-step approach to explaining each of these types of paragraphs and provides an easy-to-follow formula for writing all of them. 

I feel like my daughter is going to be so prepared for future middle school wiritng assingments and we will definitely be keeping the book to reference back to.

7. Easily Added To Any Language Arts/Writing Curriculum

Because the workbook is only 55 lessons, you can very easily customize it to fit your lesson plan and schedule.

You can stretch it over a year by only doing a couple of lessons a week. There is also the option to go straight through the book and finish it in less than three months. 

And of course, you could do something in-between those two options.

We have been working fairly quickly through the curriculum, but it’s nice to take days off when we’re rushed for other things.

8. It’s So Easy To Use In My Homeschool

This whole article is about how to teach paragraph writing the easy way – and I can’t imagine anything that is easier, more streamlined, or more effective than Paragraph Writing For Kids.

I am so pleased with the material, writing formulas, length of lessons, and the number of lessons. I love that my child can do it mostly on her own.

I will definitely be purchasing more for my younger kids when they get to the paragraph writing point.

Results We’ve Seen From Paragraph Writing For Kids

I knew I had to write this review when my daughter first handed me a three-paragraph essay she wrote for her language arts curriculum .

There was no complaining. It took a reasonable amount of time.

And the results were shocking to me.

Her introductory and closing sentences were flawless.

The detail sentences were completely on point. 

The paragraphs weren’t too long or too short.

And there were no tear stains on her cheeks. I literally saved it to go into her end-of-the-year portfolio to prove we did something besides creative writing this year.

As we continue to work through this curriculum, my daughter has been challenged, but she now feels like she has tools to help her write.

I also like that she and I now have a shared language to work through the writing process together.

My Only Complaint About Paragraph Writing For Kids

Both my daughter and I were hoping that Common Sense Press offered another level of this curriculum that focused on essay writing.

We would love to see the same incremental, formulaic approach to writing introductory paragraphs, concluding paragraphs, and transition sentences for a multi-paragraph essay or research report.

This is a huge struggle for many middle school students and high school students, so please don’t leave us hanging, Common Sense Press!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. how many lessons are there.

There are 55 lessons in the workbook.

11 lessons each for 5 different styles of paragraphs.

2. How long does it take to get through a lesson?

The lessons have been about 10-30 minutes, depending on what the lessons are about.

Some require more reading and writing. Others have simple worksheets. 

My daughter considers it to be one of the easy parts of her day, so it has not been a struggle or drain on her energy.

3. Do I need a teacher’s guide?

Nope! The workbook is written to the student, so you do not have to teach these lessons. Depending on how well your child works independently, I would recommend reading through the lessons yourself. 

This will help you give the student any additional support they might need.

I would also recommend bookmarking the online answer key for easy grading.

4. What ages is it intended for?

Paragraph Writing For Kids is appropriate for 4th grade – 6th grade.

If you have an older student who needs some help or review, I would just rip the cover off the book that lists the grade level.

5. Where do I buy Paragraph Writing For Kids?

You can purchase the workbook at the Common Sense Press website .

They also offer an eBook version, if you don’t mind printing it yourself.

6. What if my kid is a really resistant writer?

I have dealt with a very resistant writer, so you have my sympathy.

In my experience, there were some things that made an enormous difference. 

The first and biggest thing I did was have my child do online typing lessons, and I allowed her to type all of her work. That caused the writing floodgates to open for her. For this workbook, she does write her outlines by hand, but she types most everything else.

If your kid struggles with spelling, that could very well be affecting their attitude about writing. Switching to All About Spelling helped my daughter feel much more confident about the words she was writing.

Lastly, encourage a love of creative writing before getting too crazy about more academic writing and paragraphs. Try daily journal writing or look into these amazing picture writing prompts to get your child excited about writing!

Recap Teaching Paragraph Writing To Kids

Are you hoping to find a tool that will help your kids become better writers?

If you are looking to work with your student on the basic structure of a strong paragraph, informational writing, narrative writing, descriptive paragraphs, persuasive paragraphs, or comparative paragraphs, this writing skills supplement is a fantastic tool to get you there.

I truly believe that Teaching Paragraph Writing to Kids is the best way to help elementary school students nail down the key components of writing in a fun, easy-to-understand way.

As a huge bonus, it’s inexpensive and doesn’t require a significant time investment from you. 

If you have more questions, please drop them in the comments below! I’d be happy to answer all your paragraph writing questions!

Happy Writing!

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Teaching Essay Writing - Where do I start?

The Write Foundation is a tried and proven homeschool writing curriculum that lays a solid writing foundation and develops competent, confident writers, even with students who were clueless on how to write. Students learn organizational groundwork for writing simple paragraphs and then advance to college level essays. With a variety of topics and types of paragraphs this curriculum guides you as you teach how to logically and easily write formal papers that “Wow!” professors.

Every lesson in TWF is arranged with detailed, specific guidelines, and gives you the necessary tools to teach the lessons and assist students while they complete their independent work. The Write Foundation provides detailed lesson plans for you to easily follow.

• Daily Schedules : every lesson divided into instruction groups.
• Teacher Presentation : pages for you to use when presenting the lesson (included in the instruction manual and separately in digital format to be used to fit your situation)
• Student Worksheets : 1 set is provided with each level of instruction.Pages which guide students both during the lesson and their independent work. Student Assignments: extra instruction and reminders to guide students as they complete their independent work. Checklists for students to use to edit their work.

The instruction manuals provide:

• Step-by-step teaching instruction for you to follow.
• Examples of possible correct answers.
• Example brainstorms, outlines and paragraphs.

Additional Resources are also sent to you with the following and more:

• Games: instructions for 1 or more students
• Grading Checklists: to help you grade their work.
• Grading System: if you need help with record keeping.

When a student is working on the correct level, intensive teacher instruction drops significantly as the year progresses.

• Students understand and retain more when they work at a level where learning comes easily for them.
• Some students need more teacher help for a while, but many others become more independent quickly.
• Students gain independence as good writing habits are solidified and they are on their way to becoming independent proficient writers.

Mom’s work load is determined by placing students on the right level. Try the free sample lessons before you purchase the curriculum to help determine which level is right for your students.

Entry Level Creating Sentences: Students use fun educational games and activities, while learning to compose and develop sentences by putting words and phrases together like pieces in a puzzle. Students will not be asking, “But what do I write about?”

Sentence to Paragraph Level 1 : Students learn to write better sentences, which describe and inform, while they learn the core basics of writing simple paragraphs using the writing process.

Paragraph Writing Level 2 : Students continue to develop their sentence and paragraph writing skills using the writing process, while advancing to multi-paragraph formal writing.

Essay Writing Level 3 : Students fine tune and develop mature writing skills, so they can easily write a well organized multi-paragraph college level essay that “Wows!” everyone.

See Suggested Age Levels for Homeschool Writing for more specific guidelines for each level.

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Essay Writing 101

Welcome to Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

What is the best way to prepare your students for more advanced writing? Essay Writing 101 explains the writing process and standard essay forms to sixth- through tenth-grade students. After the first unit teaches the writing process and basic essay structure, students explore six more units covering the most common types of essays: expository, biographical, descriptive, personal experience, eyewitness report, and cause and effect. With text-based lessons and writing assignments, students investigate the purpose and elements of each essay form.

Getting Started with Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

This Essay Writing 101 homeschool language arts course begins with a look at the writing process and then continues with a study of common essay forms including expository, biographical, descriptive, personal experience, eyewitness report, and cause and effect. Homeschool middle school and high school students explore the purpose and elements of each essay form. Rubrics are provided for self-evaluation.

• 28 weeks, 3 days per week
• Includes downloadable lessons, writing assignments, and grading rubrics
• Grades: 6-10

Supplies Needed

Corresponding lessons on SchoolhouseTeachers.com; journal for notetaking and research

Go to Class Lessons and download the lesson plan and lessons file. Start with the Day 1 reading assignment. Follow the instructions each day on the lesson plan and check them off when completed. Close Course Sample

Course Sample for Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

Essay Writing 101 Unit One: The Writing Process Lesson Two

In this lesson, we will learn what may be the most important part of the writing process—the planning, or prewriting, process. Why is planning important?

Why not just start writing and see where it leads? How much planning is necessary? Well, let’s think about those two points for a minute. Why not just start writing? Actually, free writing can be part of the process, but free writing without some sort of plan may lead to an unorganized paper. I will discuss free writing later on in this lesson.

How much planning is necessary? The answer is as much as you feel comfortable with. Perhaps you need enough planning to know what your main points are. Or maybe you need so much structure that you need a detailed outline.

The planning process begins with choosing a topic. The best topics will, of course, come from your own interests. Are you familiar with the topic? Do you enjoy doing it or reading about it? Is the topic something you’re not familiar with but want to learn more about? Is the topic a personal experience you want to share? If you don’t find the topic enjoyable or at least interesting, you will not enjoy the writing process and will not produce your best work.

One way to choose a topic is to make a list of those people, events, or experiences you would like to write about. Another way is to write down the first five nouns and verbs that you can think of. What ideas do those words give you?

After you have chosen a topic (or two), you will need to narrow it down. Why is this important? Why can’t you just start writing? Several years ago, I taught English in a small Christian school. When it came time to write essays or term papers, each and every one of my students had the same problem—none of them knew how to narrow down their topics. One student wanted to write about George Washington from the cradle to grave. Another, a diabetic, wanted to write everything she knew about diabetes. I also had a horse lover, a future meteorologist, and a future vulcanologist (scientist who studies volcanoes) among my students. Those students who did not narrow down their topics gave me a lot of facts crammed into a short paper but didn’t really tell me anything. Those students who took the time to narrow their topics gave me much better papers. How did I help my students narrow their topics and write better papers?

One method is by making a list. Begin with your broad topic and then make a list of everything you can think of about that topic. As an example, here is a list for the topic “hurricanes.”

To view a full sample of this course, click here . Close Transcript Information

Transcript Information for Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

Upon successful completion of this Essay Writing 101 homeschool language arts course, the student may earn 0.5 language arts credit.

• Finding out your state’s academic requirements.
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Course Outline for Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

Seven Essay Writing 101 homeschool language arts units introduce homeschool middle school and high school students to basic essay structure and common types of essays.

• Unit One (Lessons 1-4):  The Writing Process
• Unit Two (Lessons 5-8):  The Expository Essay
• Unit Three (Lessons 9-12):  The Biographical Essay
• Unit Four (Lessons 13-16):  The Descriptive Essay
• Unit Five (Lessons 17-20):  The Personal Experience Essay
• Unit Six (Lessons 21-24):  The Eyewitness Report
• Unit Seven (Lessons 25-28):  The Cause and Effect Essay

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More About Our Essay Writing 101 Homeschool Language Arts Course

Welcome to the Essay Writing 101 homeschool language arts course! Throughout these lessons, homeschool middle school and high school students explore the writing process and apply it to six different essay forms. Students will learn to edit their own work and evaluate their work based on standard rubrics. The essay forms covered are: expository, biographical, descriptive, personal experience, eyewitness report, and cause and effect.

External links may be included within the course content; they do not constitute an endorsement or an approval by SchoolhouseTeachers.com of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation, organization, or individual. Contact the external site for answers to questions regarding its content. Parents may wish to preview all links because third-party websites include ads that may change over time. 

Length:   28 weeks Content type: Text based Grades: 6-10

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Karen Robuck

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Karen Robuck is a homeschooling mother who lives in Mississippi with her husband, two children, and…

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Easy to Use Homeschool Writing Curriculum for Teaching Practical Writing Skills for High Schoolers

Homeschool writing curriculum choices can run the gamut from creative writing to essay writing. Students can learn a five-paragraph essay format in the hopes of preparing for college. Or they can take creative writing courses where they put their narrative writing skills to work. So what kind of writing course should your student take? Is there a form or method of writing that will benefit them in the long run? And will it be difficult for you to teach high school writing if you’re not a writer?

My high schoolers and I were excited to take a look at a great curriculum that answers these questions. It’s an easy-to-use homeschool writing curriculum that will prepare your student for writing for life with practical skills. (Keep reading for a discount and giveaway!)

Disclosure: I received curricula and compensation for this post. All opinions are always my own.

Common Sense Press offers a high school writing curriculum that will help your kids learn the practical writing skills they’ll need throughout life. This curriculum- Wordsmith Craftsman – is part of their Wordsmith writing series. And it’s an easy-to-use course that your student can use independently to learn writing skills…even if you don’t consider yourself a strong writer.

Why Your Homeschool Writing Curriculum Should Teach Practical Writing Skills

As a mom of two homeschool graduates and a former traditional school teacher, I can affirm that practical writing skills are critical to a child’s future success. Whether you have a student headed to college or one who is starting a career right out of high school, these skills are important.

Students Need to Know How to Use Practical Writing Skills to Organize Their Lives and Days

Yes, we can all use digital tools for planning and organizing now. But should we? Sometimes it helps to be able to write goals and plans out on paper.

Wordsmith Craftsman begins with the basics. In the opening lessons, students are taught how to make lists and how to plan their days. Assignments guide them in setting up a notebook that will help them plan out everyday routines as well as set goals for the future.

Students Need Writing Skills to Get Into College…or Apply for a Job

Sometimes we think about college applications but assume that kids who don’t go to a four-year college won’t need the skill of applying to a college. But applying for a job requires similar skills. Students need to know how to organize their thoughts. And they need to know how to craft a formal letter that introduces themselves.

In the Wordsmith Craftsman curriculum students are taught how to write a business letter. They’re taught how to sound respectful and clear in their writing. They’re specifically taught about what a letter requesting employment needs to include and the style it should be written in.

Students Need to Know How to Take Notes and Paraphrase

These are also skills we sometimes assume are limited to students in college. And students in college certainly need to know this. (I’m constantly surprised when college kids don’t understand that they need to take notes!) But students entering the workforce need to know this as well. They may not be required to write out notes or paraphrase. But they may need to read training materials for a job. And practicing these skills in writing can help them to mentally take notes and summarize information when they’re learning a new skill or getting instructions from an employer.

In the Wordsmith Craftsman curriculum students will learn how to take notes and how to organize that information and paraphrase. They’re taught how to pick out relevant information and how to get the general idea of a long passage of writing. And they are taught that creating a summary can be a good tool to hone comprehension of the material they’ve read.

Students Need to be Able to Communicate Ideas in Writing

Whether or not students end up writing for a grade in a college class, they need to know how to express themselves in writing. Could they explain in an essay why they wanted to attend a certain college or obtain a certain job? Could they write a statement in an online space backing up a belief or opinion? Do they know how to evaluate and edit what they’ve written?

Wordsmith Craftsman teaches students how to start with gathering information, organizing that information, and then writing effectively. The curriculum teaches students about using language effectively. It covers different types of essays. And students learn how to evaluate and edit their writing.

How This Homeschool Writing Curriculum Teaches Practical Writing Skills

The Wordsmith series from Common Sense Press is a writing series that teaches students writing skills from basic to complex. The series includes books for three levels that cover 4th-12th grade. Common Sense Press is often known for its Learning Language Arts Through Literature series . And this writing series is a perfect accompaniment to that literature series. The series begins with the basics of grammar review and then moves to sentence writing, paragraph writing, and essay writing.

Wordsmith Craftsman is intended for 9th-12th graders. The first part of the course covers practical writing. Part two reviews grammar skills and composition skills. And part three covers formal essay writing. Students can begin using the curriculum in 9th grade. Or you can adapt the material to fit into one to three years. The front of the book has a suggested schedule for these different options.

This course is self-paced. It is designed for students to read through the sections and then complete the assignments independently. In the first section when students are learning to make notes and to-do lists the curriculum teaches them how to break up and plan assignments. There are some shorter exercises and then longer assignments as well. Most of the assignments are writing assignments with no right or wrong answers. But there are some exercises in the second section that need to be checked. The Appendix includes answers to these.

Why Wordsmith Craftsman is the Homeschool Writing Curriculum You Need

So why do you need Wordsmith Craftsman in your homeschool? There are a few features I really liked, and I think you’ll love as well.

• This course is self-paced. Homeschooling is all about flexibility . There are a number of different ways that you can pace this course depending on the needs of your student.
• Students can complete the course independently. Are you homeschooling other kids? Cleaning the house? Cooking food? Taking care of little ones? Working from home ? If you are doing any or all of the above, at least your high schooler can work on this course independently.
• This course covers the writing basics that kids will need to know for life as well as for college. Not all kids will go to college. Some high school writing courses focus only on preparing high schoolers for college. Wordsmith Craftsman can help your student with that as well. But students who aren’t headed to college can also learn important skills that will help them in day-to-day writing.
• This writing course isn’t extremely intensive, and it can fit in with your other language arts curricula. The course is specially designed to use in conjunction with Common Sense Press’ literature course. Sometimes I’ve tried a writing curriculum that’s so intensive that it’s hard to use in addition to a literature course that also might have writing. Wordsmith Craftsman avoids that.

Ready to check out Wordsmith Craftsman? You can use code Summer2021 for 15% off through July 31, 2021. You can also enter the giveaway below to win a choice of a literature or science curriculum from Common Sense Press. (See those courses here!)

About the author

Leah Courtney is a former school teacher turned homeschool mom. She has homeschooled her four children since birth and is now the mother of two homeschool graduates. She blogs at As We Walk Along the Road, posting literature-based homeschooling resources and encouragement for other homeschooling mamas. She’s also the author of several ebooks and unit study resources for homeschoolers.

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Essentials in Writing

Where learning to write well has never been so easy

Essentials in Writing Level 9

EIW™ Level 9 provides high school students who are now homeschooling the writing skills needed for high school and university writing, the SAT, college application, and beyond. Our writing curriculum for high school students contains step-by-step guidance throughout the program and is relatively self-contained between the workbook and online video lessons. Essentials in Literature is a high-school literature curriculum focused 100% on teaching students how to analyze fiction, non-fiction, poetry and figurative language.

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EIW Level 9 provides high school students who are now homeschooling with the writing skills needed for high school and university writing, the SAT, college applications, and beyond.

CORE FOCUSES

• SENTENCE STRUCTURE – Dependent and Independent Clause; Simple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentence; and Address Sentence Error (Fragment, Run On, and Comma Splice)
• FORMAL PARAGRAPH – Structure; Expository, Persuasive, Compare/Contrast and Descriptive
• THE WRITING PROCESS – In-Depth Study of Each Part of the Writing Process; Practice the Writing Process with Each Multi-Paragraph Composition
• ESSAYS (Formal and Informal) – Detailed Instruction and Step by Step Process for Personal, Expository, Persuasive and Compare/Contrast Essays
• RESEARCH PAPER (Project) – Detailed Instruction and Step by Step Process to Conduct and Write a Research Paper (EXPOSITORY)

Sample Lesson Video – Level 9

Level 9 – Sample PDFs

• LEVEL 9 TEXTBOOK SAMPLE
• Level 9 34-Week Plan
• Alternative Instructional Strategies – PDF

Frequently Asked Questions About Level 9 Writing Curriculum

How old are 9th level students.

The general age for students completing Level 9 is 14 or 15 years old. The age can vary depending on if a child has started school early, on time, or is repeating a grade. The age of the student does not delegate if a child can complete this writing course. Instead, we recommend that students have a basic understanding of spelling, grammar, sentence, composition, and the skills taught in Level 8 before beginning.

What is taught in Level 9?

Level 9 continues to work on and to advance sentence structure with dependent and independent clauses; simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences; and common sentence errors like comma splices or sentence fragments. Students will develop their formal writing for business or research situations with compare/contrast, persuasive, descriptive, and expository stylings. The writing process will play a significant role as students practice with multi-paragraph composition and a full, step-by-step research project.

What is included in the Workbook and Scoring?

The Textbook helps the student follow along with the video lessons and complete the lesson activities.

The Textbook includes:

* Lesson content that accompanies the video lesson

* Lesson activities that accompany the video lesson

* Writing graphic organizers that accompany the video lesson

* How to use the program

* Sample lesson planning

* Sample answers for each lesson (written as samples in the textbook)

The Essentials in Writing Scoring Service is an optional add-on service that takes the scoring burden off your mind! Our Scoring Team includes a variety of qualified individuals including long-time educators, librarians, and professionals with Bachelor’s degrees in English, and they are ready to take the burden of grading compositions away from you.

Parents of students completing Levels 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 of Essentials in Writing are eligible to purchase this service. Offered from September 1 to June 15 of each school year, one composition for each EIW assignment may be submitted for scoring. If purchased after the September 1 start date, services still expire on June 15 of the following year.

The scoring system includes:

* Online access through Canvas by Instructure where the Scoring Services are conducted

* One final composition from each lesson of Essentials in Writing to submit for scoring

* Feedback in the form of a rubric with a score as well as a one-paragraph write-up from their scorer complementing strengths and sharing areas to improve, plus, detailed comments and suggestions within the composition

Can I grade my student papers myself?

Yes. Essentials in Writing provides both scoring checklist and rubrics for your convenience as well as effective and ineffective composition samples for each composition.

What if I have multiple students?

Additional 9th level writing workbooks can be purchased to provide a workbook for another child/student. The workbook does not have additional information and is just another core workbook for another student so that each student has their own workbook to use.

Does each course come with worksheets and tests?

The textbook provides students and parents/teachers with effective and ineffective composition samples. There are no worksheets or tests.

How much time will students need to complete this course?

The time needed to complete the 9th level writing curriculum is a typical academic year (34 weeks). If students follow the 34-week plan included, they will complete individual lessons and activities during the week; however, because the lessons are broken up into small, daily mini-lessons, students can double up on some lessons and activities and complete the entire course sooner. Each day, students will spend between 15 and 40 minutes on writing each day.

Does the Workbook include a daily/weekly course planner?

Essentials in Writing Level 9 includes a 34-week suggested, yet optional, course planner geared for high school level learning.

Is online help available for additional questions?

Essentials in Writing offers 100% free curriculum support through texting, Facebook Messenger, online chat, email, and phone calls.

The Difference Between Digital and Print Textbook/Workbook

The online version of the curriculum includes all of the required materials for completing a level of Essentials in Writing or Essentials in Literature, but in a digital format. With the online version, all of your materials are in one spot within the member’s dashboard for you to view and print!

The required online materials include:

• Student Workbook/Textbook
• Lesson Videos
• Teacher Handbook (EIW Levels 1-8 and EIL 7-9)

For EIW Levels 1-8, you can get a digital Assessment/Resource Booklet as well!

How does this compare to the print version? The print version of the curriculum includes all the online access to the digital materials AND the printed, physical, tangible version of the textbooks. The printed books are great for students who prefer to complete their assignments directly within an organized, bound book.

It simply comes down to personal preference. Now, families have the added convenience of being able to access their materials in different formats.

Additional Student Level Textbook/Workbook

Additional Workbook is compatible only with second edition Essentials in Writing video instruction. This is only a Student Workbook for an ADDITIONAL student using the same level of video instruction. Please note that the Workbook is not functional without the related video instruction.

About The Scoring Service

Let Essentials in Writing take the scoring burden off your mind! Our Scoring Team includes a variety of qualified individuals, including long-time educators, librarians, and professionals with Bachelor’s degrees in English, and they are ready to take the burden of grading compositions away from you.

Parents of students completing levels 6*, 7*, 8*, 9, 10, 11, or 12 of Essentials in Writing are eligible to purchase this service. (*Second Editions only.) Offered from September 1 to June 15 of each school year, one composition for each EIW assignment may be submitted for scoring. If purchased after September 1 start date, services still expire on June 15 the following year.

How Do The Scoring Services Work?

• Available from September 1 to June 15 (one school year).
• One final composition from each composition lesson of Essentials in Writing may be presented for scoring.
• Students receive a rubric with a score as well as a one-paragraph write-up from their scorer complimenting strengths and sharing areas to improve, plus, detailed comments and suggestions within the composition.
• Scoring Services will be conducted online through Gradient, Essentials in Writing’s online grading platform.

PLEASE NOTE: Scoring services are for Essentials in Writing only and are not eligible for unconditional money back guarantee.

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Essentials in writing comes with online streaming video instruction.

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Essentials in Literature is a high-school literature curriculum focused 100% on teaching students how to analyze fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and figurative language.

Unit 1: Fiction (Short Stories)

• Fiction unit terms and explanation
• 6 short stories (application)
• 1 summative assessment

Unit 2: Nonfiction (Short Literary Works)

• Nonfiction unit terms and explanation
• 4 nonfiction works (application)

Unit 3: Novel

• 1 novel (literary analysis application)
• 1 major writing activity

Unit 4: Figurative Language/Poetry

• Figurative Language/Poetry Unit terms and explanation
• 7 sections of up to 11 literary works (application)

• Level 9 Textbook Sample
• Level 9 Literary Works

Frequently Asked Questions About Level 9 Essentials in Literature

What is included in the course.

Essentials in Literature Level 9 breaks down into four units with each unit focusing on a different aspect of literature.

* Unit One uses short story fiction to explain fiction terms and includes six short stories (application) and one summative assessment.

* Unit Two uses short nonfiction works to define terms and includes four nonfiction works (application) and one summative assessment.

* Unit Three centers around one novel (literary analysis application) with one summative assessment and one major writing activity.

* Unit Four is the Figurative Language/Poetry Unit with a full explanation of terms, seven units of up to eleven literary works (application), and one summative assessment.

How are tests and assignments graded for Essentials in Literature?

The literature curriculum provides parents with scoring guides found in the answer key that include sample answers for each activity.

The Essentials in Literature material follows the same 34-week timeline as Essentials in Writing, but students can work faster than the intended timeline to finish the course sooner. Each day, students will spend 20-40 minutes on literature.

Does the Workbook include a daily/weekly curriculum planner?

Essentials in Literature Level 9 includes a 34-week suggested, yet optional, lesson planner geared for secondary level learning.

Will I need to purchase additional reading material for this curriculum?

Shorter works for Units One, Two, and Four can be found online. Instructions are given in the Parent/Teacher Handbook. The chosen novel for Unit Three is included with the purchase of Essentials in Literature Level 9.

How can I assess their proficiency?

By purchasing the scoring service add-on, parents/teachers will receive the necessary feedback from scorers to determine proficiency in writing.

What is included in the bundle?

The bundle for Level 9 includes both Essentials in Writing and Essentials in Literature. The textbook, workbook, and video content are included in the bundle price.

What’s the difference between the writing workbook and literature workbook?

Essentials in Writing textbook/workbook is the writing component whereas Essentials in Literature textbook/workbook is the literary analysis component in order to earn an English credit at the high school level.

Scoring Services are for Essentials in Writing only.

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Composition and Grammar

Parent resources.

• Any Child Can Write
• How to Write Clearly: The Meaning Approach
• The Three R's

Ungraded, Multi-level Resources - Comprehensive

• Aesop's Fables: My Book About Reading, Writing, Thinking
• Ancient History: Adam to Messiah
• Bridgeway English 1 and 2
• Character Quality Language Arts (CQLA)
• Christian Cottage Unit Studies, Volumes I-IV
• Classical Writing
• Connecting With History: World History through Catholic Principles
• Constructing the House of Language: A Helpful Workbook of Essential Language Skills
• Emma Serl's Language Lessons from Hillside Education
• English for the Thoughtful Child, Volumes 1 and 2
• Girls of American History Curriculum
• Go Phonics Reading Program, 2nd edition
• Grammar for Writers
• Grammar Galaxy
• Guest Hollow’s Language Arts
• Handbook for Writers
• KONOS Character Curriculum
• Language Lessons
• Learning Adventures Unit Studies
• The Logic of English Essentials
• Loving Literature Grammar Packs
• Movies as Literature
• Online Book Clubs for Middle School - High School
• The Prairie Primer
• Primary Arts of Language: Reading & Writing
• Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons
• ShillerLearning Language Arts
• Simply Classical Writing, Step-By-Step Sentences
• Sonlight Language Arts J
• Spell to Write and Read
• Structure and Style for Students
• Tapestry of Grace
• Trail Guide to Learning
• WinterPromise Curriculum
• Wonders of Science Writing Lessons
• Writing Aids
• Writing Strands
• Writing Through History series

Ungraded, Multi-level Resources - Grammar

• Advancing Through Grammar
• The Aesop for Children: Story and D’Nealian Copywork Books
• All-in-One Straightforward English Series Master Book
• Alphabet Woods Game
• Analytical Grammar
• Basic English (Power Basics series)
• Beowulf’s Grammar
• Beyond the Book Report
• The Big Bad Grammar Slammer
• Caught'ya!: Grammar with a Giggle
• Claritas Publishing Memory Work Program
• Classical Writing Primer Series
• Clover Leap Game
• Cross Seven Classically Based Memory Work
• Daily Grammar website
• Easy Grammar series
• Egumpp - Electronic Grammar Usage Mechanics Proficiency Program
• Elephango Curriculum Companion Website
• English Grammar Recitation, Workbooks One - Three
• The First Whole Book of Diagrams
• Fix It! Grammar Series
• Get Smart: Grammar Through Sentence Diagramming
• The Grammar Ace
• Grammar Castle and the Kingdom of Writing
• Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind
• The Grammar Key (online)
• Grammar Songs
• GrammarFlip.com
• Grammaropolis
• GrammarPlanet
• The Great Editing Adventure Series, Volumes 1 and 2
• Great Explorations in Editing
• The Great Grammar Book: Mastering Grammar Usage and the Essentials of Composition, second edition
• Harvey's Revised English Grammar
• How to Diagram Any Sentence: Exercises to Accompany the Diagramming Dictionary
• How To Series
• I Laid an Egg on Aunt Ruth's Head
• Introduction to English Grammar
• Jensen's Grammar
• Jensen's Punctuation
• Language and Thinking for Young Children
• Learning English with the Bible series
• Learning Grammar Through Writing
• Life of Fred Language Arts Series
• Night Zookeeper (online writing and language arts)
• Painless Grammar
• Rules of the Game
• Script-n-Scribe Cursive Courses
• Simply Grammar
• SimplyFun Games
• Take 5! for Language Arts
• Treehouse Town Parts of Speech Game and Companion Books
• Well-Ordered Language: The Curious Child’s Guide to Grammar
• Winston Grammar
• Write from the Heart: A Resource Guide to Engage Writers

Ungraded, Multi-level Resources - Composition

• 1001 Writing Projects for Students
• American Literature: The Westward Journey Course
• The Art of Poetry
• The Baran Method: Writing for Success
• Bible-Based Writing Lessons in Structure and Style
• Big Book of Writing Prompts for Kids, Vol. 1
• Blackbird & Company Literature Discovery Guides
• Building Writing Skills Series
• Byline essay writing course
• College-Ready Writing Essentials
• Compass Classroom Membership
• Complete Writing Lessons For the Middle Grades
• Composition One and Two (Veritas Press)
• Comprehensive Composition
• Cover Story Middle School Writing Curriculum
• The Creative Writer
• Creative Writing Made Easy! series
• Creative Writing through Literature-Online Writing Courses
• Drawn into the Heart of Reading
• Easy Writing
• The Elegant Essay Writing Lessons: Building Blocks for Analytical Writing
• The Elements of Style Workbook
• Emma Serl's Language Lessons from Living Books Press
• The Essay: Intermediate and Advanced Composition Courses
• Excellence in Literature: English I - V
• The Exciting World of Creative Writing
• Exploring Poetry: A Journey Through the Forms and Fundamentals of Poetry
• Fitting Words Classical Rhetoric
• Getting Your Point Across in Writing: How to Write Essays That Have Impact
• Here to Help Learning’s Writing Program
• History-Based Writing Lessons In Structure and Style
• In Their Sandals
• Intro to Composition: The Essay, Volumes 1-3
• Introduction to Composition
• Jensen's Format Writing
• Journalism Basics: An Introduction to Print Journalism, second edition
• Jump In: Middle School Composition
• Learn to Write the Novel Way
• Lightning Lit & Comp - Speech
• The Lost Tools of Writing
• Meaningful Composition
• My First Reports
• NotebookingPages.com
• One Year Adventure Novel
• Operation Lexicon Series
• Paragraph Writing for Kids
• Philosophy Adventure
• The Power in Your Hands: Writing Nonfiction in High School
• Research Discovery Guide Series
• Rhetoric Alive!
• Rhetoric Alive! Senior Thesis Student Workbook
• A Rhetoric of Love
• Story Starters
• Storymaker Series
• Taxonomy of Living Things: The Five Kingdoms
• Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Writing Seminar
• Tell Me A Story - Journaling One Day At A Time: For the Budding Writer
• Total Language Plus (Study Guides for Novels)
• The Word Artist: A Beginner's Guide to Writing Poetry and Bookbinding
• A Word Write Now: A Thematic Thesaurus for Stylized Writing
• Wordsmith series
• Write By Number
• The Write Stuff Adventure: Exploring the Art of Writing
• Write with the Best: Modeling Writing after Great Works of World Literature
• Write with World
• Write Your Own Book
• Writer’s Gold Mine and Writer’s Roundup
• The Writer's Jungle: A Survivor's Guide to Writing With Kids
• WriteShop: An Incremental Writing Program, 5th edition
• WriteShop Primary, Books A, B, and C and WriteShop Junior, Books D, E, and F
• Writing a Research Paper, second edition
• Writing for 100 Days & Fairview's Guide to Composition and Essay Writing
• Writing for Today

Writing & Rhetoric Series

Graded language arts curricula.

• Abeka Language series
• Adventures in Pine Hollow - Reading and Language Arts
• Age 6-8 Reading
• Alpha Omega Language Arts 1
• The American Language Series
• Applications of Grammar, Books 1 through 6
• Beginnings K5
• Building Christian English series
• Christian Light Reading and Language Arts Courses
• Classical Composition
• The Complete Writer: Writing With Ease
• The Complete Writer: Writing With Skill
• Daily 6-Trait Writing series
• Daily Grammar Practice
• Discover! Curriculum and Blended Online Courses
• English (A.C.E.) high school level
• English and Spelling 3 course (E115)
• English for Young Catholics series for grades 1-8
• English I - IV (Landmark's Freedom Baptist Curriculum)
• English Lessons Through Literature
• Essentials in Writing
• Evan-Moor Language Arts Workbooks
• First Language Lessons
• g.u.m. drops (Grammar, Usage, & Mechanics)
• The Good and the Beautiful High School Language Arts
• The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Level Eight
• The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts: Levels 3 through 5
• The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts Levels 6 and 7
• Great Books Homeschool
• Growing with Grammar
• Hatchling Discover: Reading, Writing, and Phonics
• Heart of Dakota Program (Prek - 8)
• Implications of Literature Language Arts Courses
• Khan Academy Courses
• Language Arts LIFEPAC curriculum (grades 9-12)
• Language Lessons for a Living Education
• Language Lessons for Today
• Language of God series
• Language Smarts
• Learning Language Arts through Literature
• Learning Language Arts through Literature - The Blue Book
• Lepanto Grammar
• Lighted Lanterns: A Catholic Language Arts Program
• Lightning Lit & Comp Courses - High School Level
• Lightning Lit & Comp Courses - Junior High Level
• Lightning Literature and Composition - Grades 1-6
• Literature and Creative Writing PACE courses
• McRuffy Language Arts Programs
• Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts
• Moving Beyond the Page
• Moving Beyond the Page High School Language Arts
• Pinwheels (Rooted in Language)
• Plain and Not So Plain Curriculum
• Saxon Grammar and Writing Series
• Shurley English
• Sonlight Curriculum
• Sonlight Grammar 5 and 6
• Sonlight Language Arts 2
• Sonlight Phonics K Program
• Study.com for Homeschool
• TeacherFileBox
• Thoughtful Learning Language Arts
• Writing and Grammar 7 and 8, third editions
• Writing and Grammar 9, 10, 11, and 12 (third editions)
• Writing Skills for Today
• Copy the Classics
• Komodo Math and Language Arts
• Play by the Rules
• Sound Speech: Public Speaking & Communication Studies

Core Curricula

• Art & Music
• Bible & Religion
• Catholic Curricula
• Early Learning / Preschool
• Foreign Language
• Handwriting
• History & Geography
• Grade Level Packages & Courses
• Math Supplements
• Phonics & Reading
• Spelling & Vocabulary
• Unit Studies & All-In-One Programs

Featured Ungraded, Multi-level Resources - Composition Resource

The goal of the Writing & Rhetoric series is “to prepare students for rhetoric, which is the art of writing well and speaking persuasively” ( Writing & Rhetoric: Fable , p. x). Many classical educators have begun to implement the progymnasmata , the ancient classical exercises for teaching writing and speaking skills. In the Writing & Rhetoric series, author Paul Kortepeter builds on the foundation of the progymnasmata  and updates it with methods such as those recommended by Charlotte Mason . The progymnasmata are based on the idea that children should learn how to write by working from exemplary models rather than by dreaming up their own ideas. So students work through models of various forms of writing, beginning with narratives and working up through expository, descriptive, and persuasive writing. Students simultaneously develop public speaking skills.

Read full review for Writing & Rhetoric Series

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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services that I believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guidelines Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

• Clear Water Press
• Writing Programs:
• Cover Story
• One Year Novel
• Other Worlds

Student Journalists Cover Events from History!

A writing curriculum crafted to transform essay writing—from the creators of the one year adventure novel and cover story.

Byline turns students into time-traveling reporters who practice journalism in the forgotten corners of history. Under the video tutelage of Mr. S., editor of the fictional  Metropolitan World , your cub reporter will learn more than just how to write a terrific paper. By studying the work of great journalists, students uncover techniques of persuasion and propaganda that are widely used in media today. As students enjoy their reporter’s journey,  Byline is teaching them to write essays!

• 72 video lessons on DVD or online streaming
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• Grades 9–12

Byline in Three Minutes:

Optional Half-Credit of History Too!

Byline is 1 high school English credit , but with a little extra work, you can also list it for a half-credit of high school History! (Completely optional.)

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93 Homeschooling Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best homeschooling topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ good research topics about homeschooling, 📝 simple & easy homeschooling essay titles, ❓ homeschooling research questions.

• Home School Versus Public School These two types of schools are also similar in that most of the subjects taught in public schools and home schools are the same.
• Homeschooling is a Viable Alternative to Public School General information: In public discourse, homeschooling can be seen as inferior to mainstream education and criticized as unregulated and ineffective from the standpoint of socialization.
• Is Homeschooling Better? The points forwarded by the proponents of homeschooling like flexibility, excellent performance and individualized learning should be disregarded since it is not in conformity with government’s policy on education.
• Home Schooling From the Nursing Perspective Much to the credit of both sides, one must admit that the proponents of homeschooling and the supporters of the traditional teaching approach act on behalf of the child and in the latter’s interests.
• Sociology: Home School Environment Homeschooling may also cause stress in a child because when the contents get tough, the child may have no peer to talk to, and the guardian is not suitable for such talks.
• Homeschooling Is Changing in America Such a publication seems to be relevant for the ongoing study because it sheds light on the diversity of homeschooling in the United States to a great extent.
• The Success of Homeschooling and How the Program Can Be Increased One of the first steps to undertake is to develop a proper assessment framework in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current homeschooling methods.
• Homeschooling Growth in the United States and Its Legalization In a recent study in America, it was found that eighty-five percent of parents enrolled their children in home schools because of fear about the environment of other schools.
• Selection of Literature on Homeschooling The main achievement is the explanation of the very essence of the term homeschooling. The current culture is fighting for the fulfilment of the educational standards.
• Home Schooling and Children’s Social Development Going back in time, the victory of the 13-years old Rebecca Sealfon in the contest Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1997, brought the attention of the country to the phenomenon that is called homeschooling.
• Homeschooled Kids in the U.S. The increase in the amount of interest is due to the increased number of homeschoolers in America. This paper aims to understand this growing trend in the US and the reason behind the increasing popularity […]
• Advantages Arguments of Homeschooling According to the Education Resource Centre, Home schooling is providing education to children based at home as opposed to public and private schools.
• Home Schooling and Public Schooling Comparison Before the introduction of compulsory education laws in the 19th century, education of children was conducted mainly in their homes and families.
• After-School Program and Homeschooling: Comparison Visits to cultural sites and memorials to encourage the knowledge of history and the education of spirituality an hour and a half.
• Public School Access for Homeschoolers First of all, there should be enough space for homeschool students in the class, and a teacher should be able to provide them all with the necessary materials.
• Homeschooling, Its Advantages and Disadvantages Nowadays, education is extremely important because it provides the representatives of the general public to receive the knowledge needed to live an independent life to the fullest.
• Homeschooling as a Valid Alternative to Formal Education One of the main questions that should be examined is the academic performance of children who were educated in this way.
• The Significance of Home Schooling This article examines the concept of home schooling. 4, 2002, p.197.
• The Arguments and Debates of the Home Schooling System The learner and the facilitator are able to twist or manipulate the learning times in a way that satisfies their comfort and schedule.
• Positive Development: Home School vs. Public School The decision on whether to home school or take a child to a public school is vital to the future of the child.
• Homeschooling Factors in America A number of people fathom that the only way to restore the value of education in reference to the requirements of Christianity is when people home school their children.
• Homeschooling as an Option for Formal Education This is because of some of the disadvantages that come with homeschooling. This is because of the challenges that come with it.
• Homeschooling and Depriving Children of Social Development
• Homeschooling vs. Public School: Which Is More Beneficial
• High School Kids and Homeschooling: Stereotypes and Perks
• Social Factors That Affect Homeschooling
• The Misconception About Homeschooling and the Benefits of Learning at Home
• Preference for Homeschooling Over Traditional Schooling
• Homeschooling: Alternative Education and Independent Study
• Compelling Reasons for Homeschooling
• Homeschooling: Left Behind, Jumping Ahead
• The Benefits of Homeschooling – Education and Public College
• Homeschooling: Academics, Socialization and College
• Homeschooling: Education and Supervision
• Ethical Questions Regarding Homeschooling
• Homeschooling Versus Public Schooling
• Reasons Why Parents Are Choosing Homeschooling
• Differences Between Homeschooling and Public Education
• Homeschooling Prepares Students for College
• Homeschooling and the Community
• Homeschooling and Family Education
• Technology Business Opportunity for Homeschooling
• Homeschooling and Saving Children From Destruction
• Homeschooling and Its Effect on Children
• The Benefits and Factors of Homeschooling
• The Legitimacy and Advantages of Homeschooling
• Good Homeschooling and Public School in the United States
• Homeschooling and Childhood Socialization
• Should Homeschooling Replace Regular Schooling
• Homeschooling: Are Parents Really Helping Their Children
• Homeschooling and Traditional Education: Advantages and Disadvantages
• Public Education and Homeschooling: The Best Known Techniques
• Homeschooling Advantages and Disadvantages
• Public Schools Should Take Ideas From Homeschooling
• Homeschooling Laws What You Should Know
• Tips for Successful Homeschooling
• What Homeschooling Can Do for Public Schooling
• Homeschooling Pros and Cons
• Positive and Negative Aspects of Homeschooling
• Homeschooling: Solution for Educating Girls in Afghanistan
• The Homeschooling: Mom Needs to Socialise Too
• Homeschooling – Not the Better Choice
• Does Homeschooling Deprive Children of Social Development?
• How Can Homeschooling Get You Into a Lot of Trouble?
• What Does Homeschooling Mean to Me?
• Homeschooling: Yes, No, Maybe So?
• What Are the Pros and Cons of Being Homeschooled?
• What Are the Disadvantages of Homeschooling?
• Is It a Good Idea to Be Homeschooled?
• What Is Homeschooling, and How Does It Work?
• Is Homeschool Expensive?
• Is Homeschooling Free?
• Why Shouldn’t You Homeschool Your Child?
• What Do Psychologists Say About Homeschooling?
• Are Homeschoolers Socially Awkward?
• Are Homeschooled Kids More Confident?
• Is Homeschooling Better for Mental Health?
• Are Homeschoolers Happier?
• Are Homeschoolers More Successful?
• Is It Too Late to Start Homeschooling?
• Is Homeschooling Difficult?
• What Are the Five Benefits of Homeschooling?
• Is Homeschool Better Than Public School?
• What Is the Biggest Challenge of Homeschooling?
• Are Homeschoolers Brighter Than Public Schoolers?
• Can You Go to Harvard if You Were Homeschooled?
• Do Colleges Prefer Homeschooled Students?
• Is Homeschooling Good for Anxiety?
• Why Is Homeschooling a Controversial Issue?
• Are Homeschoolers More Likely to Be Abused?
• Why Does Germany Not Allow Homeschooling?
• Why Do Parents Choose to Homeschool?
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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Educational System — Homeschooling

Essays on Homeschooling

When it comes to homeschooling, essay writing can be a valuable tool for students to develop critical thinking and communication skills. However, choosing the right topic is crucial to ensure that the essay is engaging, informative, and relevant to the homeschooling experience. In this article, we will discuss the importance of selecting appropriate homeschooling essay topics and provide a detailed list of recommended topics for students to consider.

Choosing the right homeschooling essay topic is essential for several reasons. Firstly, it allows students to explore and express their thoughts and opinions on relevant homeschooling issues, which can contribute to their personal and academic growth. Secondly, a well-chosen topic can make the writing process more enjoyable and meaningful for the student, leading to a higher quality of work. Lastly, the chosen topic should be relevant and engaging for the intended audience, whether it's the student's teacher, classmates, or the wider homeschooling community.

When selecting a homeschooling essay topic, students should consider their personal interests, experiences, and knowledge. It is essential to choose a topic that is meaningful and relevant to the student's homeschooling experience. Additionally, students should consider the audience and purpose of the essay, as well as the availability of credible sources and research materials. By carefully considering these factors, students can choose a topic that will allow them to showcase their critical thinking, writing, and research skills.

Recommended Homeschooling Essay Topics

If you are looking for some interesting homeschooling essay topics, you have come to the right place. Below is a list of 30 different topics structured by categories, to help you find the perfect topic for your essay.

Educational Benefits of Homeschooling

• The impact of individualized learning on homeschooling students
• The role of parents as educators in the homeschooling environment
• The benefits of homeschooling for students with special needs
• Comparing the academic achievements of homeschooled students to traditional school students
• The effectiveness of homeschooling in fostering creativity and critical thinking

Social and Emotional Development in Homeschooling

• The socialization of homeschooling students in comparison to traditional school students
• The impact of homeschooling on the development of social skills and emotional intelligence
• Addressing the misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding homeschooled students
• The role of extracurricular activities and community involvement in homeschooling
• The influence of the homeschooling environment on mental health and well-being

Homeschooling Curriculum and Methods

• Comparing different homeschooling curriculum options
• The benefits and challenges of online homeschooling programs
• The impact of technology on homeschooling education
• Exploring alternative teaching and learning methods in the homeschooling environment
• The role of field trips and hands-on learning in homeschooling

Homeschooling and Legal/Social Issues

• The legal requirements and regulations for homeschooling in different states
• The impact of homeschooling on the public education system
• The influence of cultural and societal attitudes towards homeschooling
• The rights and responsibilities of homeschooling parents and students
• The role of homeschooling advocacy and support groups

Personal Experiences and Reflections on Homeschooling

• The impact of homeschooling on family dynamics and relationships
• Challenges and successes of transitioning from traditional school to homeschooling
• The role of self-motivation and discipline in homeschooling education
• Personal growth and development through the homeschooling experience
• Addressing misconceptions and stereotypes about homeschooling through personal narratives

Global Perspectives on Homeschooling

• The prevalence and acceptance of homeschooling in different countries
• Comparing homeschooling practices and policies in different cultural and social contexts
• The impact of globalization and technology on homeschooling education
• Exploring the role of homeschooling in addressing educational inequality and access to quality education
• The influence of international trends and movements on the homeschooling community

Parental Involvement

• The role of parents as educators in homeschooling
• Challenges and benefits of homeschooling for parents
• Effective communication between parents and children in homeschooling
• Parental support for extracurricular activities in homeschooling
• Balancing work and homeschooling as a parent

Cultural and Diversity Perspectives

• Homeschooling in different cultural contexts
• The impact of homeschooling on religious and cultural beliefs
• Addressing diversity and inclusion in homeschooling
• Homeschooling and multicultural education
• The role of language and heritage in homeschooling

These essay topics should give you a good starting point for exploring the various aspects of homeschooling. By considering these categories and the suggested topics within each, students can identify a relevant and engaging topic for their homeschooling essay. Whether they choose to explore the educational benefits of homeschooling, reflect on their personal experiences, or delve into legal and social issues surrounding homeschooling, there are ample opportunities for students to showcase their critical thinking and writing skills in the context of homeschooling.

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Homeschooled kids face unique college challenges − here are 3 ways they can be overcome

Associate Professor of Elementary Education, Mississippi State University

Assistant Professor of School Psychology, Mississippi State University

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Homeschooling is the fastest-growing education setting in the United States. More than 3 million students were educated at home in the 2021-22 school year, up from 2.5 million in the spring of 2019. Current estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that there are 3.62 million students homeschooled in the United States . That’s a meteoric increase from about 1 million in 1997.

Some experts, including Harvard law professor Elizabeth Bartholet , find the increase a cause to call for greater regulation . University of Washington education policy professor David Knight agrees, citing a lack of accountability and measures of student progress. Knight also worries about an absence of certain disciplines such as social studies that public schools are required to teach.

For those of us who have researched the homeschool movement and studied its past, these are not new concerns. So what do we know about homeschooling and preparedness for college?

Data shows homeschooled students fare well

In 2020, we reviewed the evidence about how well homeschooling prepares people for college, career and life and published what we learned in a book chapter titled: “ Life after Homeschool .”

We found evidence that homeschooled students are just as prepared academically for higher education as traditionally schooled peers. In one study, researchers drew a sample of 825,672 students – including 732 students who had been homeschooled – and found the homeschooled group scored higher on several measures of college preparedness, including the SAT and first-year GPA in college.

Ave Maria University education professor Marc Snyder came to similar results in a 2013 study. Snyder compared homeschooled and traditional students at his Catholic university in Florida to find the average ACT scores for homeschooled students was 26. Public school students averaged 24.22, and students who attended Catholic schools averaged 24.53.

Snyder’s study reinforces data from the ACT itself. The testing outlet reported that from 2001-2019, the average ACT scores for homeschooled students trended up , while public school students’ scores declined slightly. In 2023, the national average on the ACT was 19.9 ; the average for homeschoolers was 22.8.

Areas of concern abound as homeschool growth accelerates

Still, calls for regulation persist because of a host of challenges homeschooled students present. The Coalition for Responsible Home Education wants states to require minimal qualifications of a high school diploma or GED for the parent providing primary instruction, instruction for students in the same subjects as in public schools, and annual standardized assessments. In some states, they note, parents don’t even have to tell their local school district of their intent to homeschool.

The pro-regulation side points to studies showing homeschooled students feel less prepared for college and are four times less likely to go to college after high school. Homeschool students also take an average of one fewer math and science course than traditional peers.

Homeschooled students also often lack resources and guidance provided in traditional high schools for college prep. And social challenges abound when these students transition; a study of seven homeschooled graduates in Pennsylvania found students struggling to maintain their existing moral beliefs related to drinking, drug use and sexual norms, with the majority admitting they changed some beliefs and practices.

There’s also data that shows homeschooled students find the more structured academic environment on university campuses to be difficult to adjust to after a more lax experience learning at home.

Still, efforts to regulate homeschooling face opposition from parents as well as advocacy groups such as the Home School Legal Defense Association . In March 2024, for example, these forces defeated an attempt in New Hampshire to require homeschool students to take a statewide exam.

3 ways to improve homeschooling

To help homeschooled students transition to college, we recommend parents take three steps to better prepare their kids.

Prioritize math and science to help address the math and science gap. Parents can use online courses offered through virtual high schools or employ tutors.

Enroll in dual-credit or community college courses to provide a taste of the structure of college life and to interact with peers from diverse backgrounds.

Talk to children about the diversity of perspectives they will encounter at college. This can help prepare them for how to negotiate and respect the opinions of others.

Homeschooled students can successfully transition to college and compete with their peers. The challenges they face are entirely foreseeable, which means they can be addressed easily.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.