Wordsmith / Janie B. Cheaney (3rd Ed.)

Written by a homeschooling mom, the presentation of topics and skills in this book is outstanding! Instructions are directed to the student and interesting assignments encourage even reluctant writers. Lessons build from focusing on interesting word usage to sentence construction, to scene-setting, characterization, and well-written dialogue, and culminate in the writing of a short story at the end. Students can complete the course in about a year, but you might want to alternate lessons with grammar instruction, other technical skills instruction, or other types of writing and "stretch out" the use of Wordsmith over a longer time period. The book allows ample room to write exercises in, but students can also use regular paper so that you can re-use with several children. This book has also been revised, and the new edition features additional exercises and examples, an expanded section on writing short stories, additional explanation and examples of revision, and review/practice quizzes. An inexpensive teacher's guide is available for parents who want the extra help in teaching creative writing and includes answers, lesson plans, teaching suggestions, and ideas for expanding the lessons. This guide has also been revised, and includes more explanation of the "philosophy" of writing, further tips on revising, and more ideas for additional writing assignments.

Lessons build from focusing on interesting word usage to sentence construction, to scene-setting, characterization, and well-written dialogue, and culminate in the writing of a short story at the end. Students can complete the course in about a year, but you might want to alternate lessons with grammar instruction, other technical skills instruction, or other types of writing and "stretch out" the use of Wordsmith over a longer time period.