“But how can I teach writing to my students?”

If there is one question I get asked the most, it is this question:

How do you teach writing, especially to high school students?

What is interesting to me about this question is that there is more to being fluent in English than simply being able to write, yet we as home educators worry about writing more than just about any skill our children will develop. Just a random thought there.

I’ve finally come out of the closet, and I’m sharing my unusual approach to teaching English skills to my high schoolers, who happen to be self-teaching. My five high school graduates to date have achieved extraordinary scores on their SATs and ACTs as a result of the way they have approached their English study. I know what works and what doesn’t work. I hate busywork personally, and I never give busywork to my kids.

Sooooooo, I could post my process here, or I can simply let you know that on my Website I now have a page chronicling the manner in which I’ve tackled teaching English FLUENCY through the years. Fluency means ability to read, write, and speak/think well. I don’t just want my students to write well. There is so much more to being fluent in English!

The answer to how I’ve taught writing to my middle school and high school students is found here, on this page:  The Fluency Trilogy.

I should warn you that the method is SIMPLE, and there is a MINDSET that goes along with the methodology.

If you wonder what is the best way to teach writing and language skills to students across the board, I don’t have an answer for you. I would never say I have found the absolute BEST way.

What I can tell you is what I’ve done with my students that has OVER prepared them for college and for real life. The answer may surprise you.  And hopefully it will RELAX you as well. 🙂

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About the Author

Joanne Calderwood has been called America’s Homeschool Mom. She is an underwhelmed Mom of eight great kids, owner of URtheMOM.com, and an author and columnist. Her best-selling book, The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent’s Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence, enables parents to teach their kids to teach themselves with excellence in any educational setting.

 

Pet Peeves of College Admissions Officers

Recently I happened upon a cool piece about what it is that irritates the fire out of college admissions officers. I can’t promise that this list will be exhaustive, nor can I promise that all AO’s everywhere share the exact same irritations, but if I was an AO, the list I’m about to share contains stuff that would absolutely get my proverbial goat.

Here is my revised and shortened list for college-bound students of what NOT to do.

When it comes to submitting college applications, DON’T:

1. Be someone you’re not.

2. Be rude on the phone.

3. Write about the wrong school while filling out an app. (bahahahaha!)

4. Provide vague recommendations.

5. Email or phone admissions officers with stupid questions you can figure out yourself from the website.

6. Be careless with social media.  (If it ain’t fit for your granny to see, don’t put it on facebook.)

7. Disrespect staff members in the admissions office.

8. Go overboard trying to curry favor with AO’s.  (Would really like to hear some of THOSE stories!)

9. Disregard directions.

10. Miss deadlines.

Got it? You may want to bookmark this post and refer to it while in college-application mode. 🙂

http://tinyurl.com/92jvceu

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About the Author

Joanne Calderwood has been called America’s Homeschool Mom. She is an underwhelmed Mom of eight great kids, owner of URtheMOM.com, and an author and columnist. Her new book, The Self-Propelled Advantage: The Parent’s Guide to Raising Independent, Motivated Kids Who Learn with Excellence, enables parents to teach their kids to teach themselves with excellence.