Create Better Writers

Create Better Writers is a comprehensive writing curriculum for grades 3-12.  Our family has been using the How to Teach the Paragraph, How to Teach the Five Paragraph Essay, and Homeschool Writing Action Plan e-books for the past couple of months.  As a mom of many kids, I have often wanted a writing curriculum that could be used with all of my children at the same time.  Create Better Writers curriculum is just that type of curriculum.  The Homeschool Writing Action Plan gives homeschooling parents a road map for every grade from third grade through twelfth grade, all in one convenient book. 

     Using the action plan, parents can implement a semester-by-semester program.  All books and materials necessary, including page numbers in those materials, are listed in the action plan.  The action plan is easy to use and is helpful in coordinating multiple grade levels. 

     We have been focusing mainly on the How to Teach the Five Paragraph Essay e-book.  I have a couple of high school children and thought this would be just the thing they needed to brush up their essay skills for their college entrance exams. Using the pacing chart provided in this book, we began by reviewing good paragraphing skills.  Since we had not used this curriculum before, we referred to the How to Teach the Paragraph e-book to review those skills.  We then moved into writing a 3-paragraph essay and writing different types of introductions.  I can’t say this is my kids favorite curriculum, because they really do not like writing; however, I have seen improvement in their essay writing skills.

     Honestly, this curriculum is high quality and very thorough; but, it is not a good fit for our family.  Having worked as a professional educator for many years before homeschooling, I have seen too many curricula that are basically scripted.  That is helpful for the teacher in a large classroom, but is not effective for most homeschooling parents.  I have my degree in English and know my kids better than any scripted curriculum knows them.  Therefore, I have had to implement the concepts presented in Create Better Writers curriculum while ignoring the scripting for the teacher.  For the homeschooling parent who is not confident in teaching writing, the scripting will be a good thing, though.  I think it would give that parent assurance that the methods were being taught correctly.  Many of the activities suggested are suggested for a classroom full of students, so, those activities have to be adjusted to fit each individual home.

     All of the Create Better Writers curriculum products can be purchased on the Create Better Writers website.  The Homeschool Writing Action Plan is available as an e-book for $15.95 or soft cover for $19.95.  How to Teach the Paragraph is available for $7.99, and How to Teach the Five Paragraph Essay is available for $17.95 for the e-book and $22.95 for the soft cover version. There are other products available as well on the Create Better Writers website.  Product bundles are also available for quite a good value.

     Many of the other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using and reviewing this same curriculum.  To read their honest reviews, visit the main crew blog post.

**Disclaimer:  As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the above mentioned products free of charge in exchange for my honest review.  No compensation was received.  All opinions expressed are my own.**