Writing & Rhetoric Book 6: Commonplace Student

I have now used the Writing and Rhetoric series from Books 1 through 7 with my four daughters over the past two years. (This is a review of the entire series more than for any one specific book.) Two of my children are "reluctant writers," and for that reason I am especially impressed with this series. Even those two kids have completed all the work, as expected, with minimal difficulty. The amount of writing output from my "reluctant" 9th grader, who is now is Book 7, has amazed me. She started in Book 5, and I am glad that I trusted the process and that we got to where we are today. On the other hand, my oldest daughter is a natural writer, and has been creating a flow of stories ever since she could hold a pencil. This series has been a challenge for her to learn to think logically, organize her thoughts ahead of time, and use more advanced writing techniques (hyperbole, etc). So this is in NO WAY an easy or dumbed-down course. For both those reasons, I pretty much recommend this to anyone who asks me about writing curriculum now. As to specifics, I find this series ramps up quickly in difficulty. I used Books 1 and 2 in 4th grade, 3 and 4 in 5th grade, and after that I dropped to only one book a year. At this rate this series will last me all the way through high school, and I personally feel that it is high school level work! I am using a history course that also requires a decent amount of writing, and plowing through two of these books a year was just too much to handle when there is also writing in another course. If you do drop to one book a year, I would also recommend skipping Book 6. It's pretty much a repeat of Book 5. Doing both in one year (as scheduled) would make for good practice, but my oldest informed me that she felt like she wasted an entire year and didn't advance with it, and I had to agree with her. The rest of my daughters will skip Book 6. My youngest child has never done any other writing course beside this one, and I am was pleased that she could begin Book 1 with no prior instruction, and it took her step-by-step through everything she needed to know from the very beginning. I also appreciated the "reading comprehension" work that included every lesson. Good writing comes from good understanding! I personally love writing myself, and have not gotten any teacher guides to date. I would recommend the teacher's guides for those who might not love to write, as some assignments do require quite a bit of explaining on my part and deep thinking on the part of the students. Mostly the books are very independent, which I also hugely appreciate. My kids have done all the work on their own unless they get stuck on an assignment. I consider this course to be "hands off, with occasional tutoring needed." Well done! While this is not a grammar course, aspects of grammar -- like adverbs and prepositional phrases -- are occasionally highlighted as a way to improve writing. That part is very well done and very appreciated as a way of connecting writing and grammar. (I tried CAP grammar for one year because I liked the grammar in these books, and thought it was a terrible course. Bummer!)