TOS Crew Review of Writers in Residence

 

Apologia Educational Ministries is always a favorite in my homeschool. I was excited to have an opportunity to review a new homeschool writing curriculum program Writers in Residence. I received a physical copy of All-In-One Student Text and Workbook and the Answer Key.

 

Apologia Educational Ministries has a wide range of subject from K-12. Everything you need for your homeschool from a creation based science curriculum, Bible, language arts, planners, and so much more.

Writers in Residence is a consumable workbook. You will need a workbook for each child. This is a spiral bound book with 576 pages.  This is Volume 1 Apprentice. It's a 32 week program written by Debra Bell.

It has six units. Each unit is broken down in modules. One neat feature that we enjoyed was the "Spotlight" which is six different Christian authors who talk about writing and encouragement. My son really liked this part.

The six units are broken down in I Remember, I Imagine, I Investigate, and I think. The concept is to create topics that pertain to you and not a topic that is unfamiliar. This was actually very easy for my son to write off of this concept.

Writers in Residence Answer Key is a soft bound book with 144 pages. The Answer Key has directions on how to implement the homeschool writing curriculum. It also includes a suggestive convenient 4 day schedule. You can also easily break it down to work with your schedule.

A rubric for grading your child's work is also provided. You also have examples to help check your child's work.

How did I use this in my Homeschool?

I was excited to get Little Man started after I read through everything. He is 10 and in 4th grade. We worked through this 3-4 times a week. 

Little Man enjoyed Writers in Residence. He actually enjoyed the writing assignments.

I usually read out loud to him to make sure he understood the assignment. This can be an independent program or you can do it the way I did it. I wanted to make sure he understood the writing process. At the same time I am learning to be a better teacher for him writing. Honestly, teaching writing is a skill that I don't have a lot of confidence in my ability. The layout and the way it is presented was extremely helpful and user friendly!

I love that this is an all-in one language arts program. It does a wonderful job teaching grammar, parts of speech, and so much more. Teaching writing and language arts is a brilliant combination. It just makes sense to do these together. 

There is a lot of space provided in the workbook to write. The pages are colorful and not busy. Lots of charts and check list to work with. My son liked all the detailed examples as it gave him an idea of what to expect with the assignment.

My son enjoyed this! I want to shout it out! My jaw still hangs open for awhile when I say that. That speaks volumes to me. I know that we will continue using this in our homeschool. 

The only downside is that I didn't like was the size of the workbook. It's not very practical when you are on the go. Unfortunately, we are on the go a lot. Not to mention when my son has to lug it around in his backpack. I would love it if the workbook was broken down in two books. I keep thinking I should tear it apart and make it into two volumes myself. That's just a lot of extra work and time that I don't have.

I would highly recommend Writers in Residence. I have already showed several friends that have in on their list for next year.

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Don't forget to stop by the other Schoolhouse Crew Review team and see what they think.