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Learning to write well is a multifaceted process involving many skills, from reading to penmanship to understanding proper grammar. Writing instruction is also a particularly important component of children’s elementary language arts education, as it prepares them for the more advanced writing assignments that will be asked of them in the secondary school years. If a student can write well when she enters middle and especially high school, she will have an easier time succeeding in all the subjects she studies; after all, nearly every subject requires students to communicate their knowledge through solid writing skills.
Our three picks for best writing curriculums for homeschooled elementary students are listed here. Scroll down to read more about each of these programs.
- Best Traditional: Writing With Ease, Susan Wise Bauer
- Best Classical and Charlotte Mason Style: Write From History series, Kimberly Garcia
- Best Video-Based: Here to Help Learning Writing Programs
If you have an older or younger student, check out our related articles, Best Homeschool Writing Curriculum for High School and Best Homeschool Writing Curriculum for Middle School.
Best Traditional
Writing With Ease, Susan Wise Bauer
If you are looking for a solid and straightforward writing curriculum for your homeschooled elementary student, we recommend the Writing With Ease series by Susan Wise Bauer. This program follows the thorough, mastery-based instructional philosophy outlined in Bauer’s popular The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, providing an excellent comprehensive elementary writing program that will complement many different homeschool styles.
The series consists of four volumes, each of which can be completed over the course of one school year. Level 1 is generally begun in first grade but may also be started in second grade. The program focuses on developing the student’s writing ability through copywork and narration. Each level consists of one student workbook, which is broken down into very short daily assignments (designed around a four day/week schedule). These short assignments require no preparation on the part of the parent and can often be completed in less than five minutes; if a day is missed, therefore, it is easy to double up during the next lesson. A typical lesson might include copying a sentence on one of the provided student pages or listening to a short literature passage and orally answering included questions about it.
Writing With Ease: Level 1
Writing With Ease: Level 2
The four Writing With Ease student books teach many writing fundamentals using short passages from classic literature – students either copy sentences from the passages or answer questions about them. If you want to make use of this program’s excellent approach to writing but would rather choose your own literature selections, we recommend you purchase the Writing With Ease: Strong Fundamentals guide. Also by Bauer, this guide will help you design your own elementary writing curriculum based on the methodology of Writing With Ease. The Strong Fundamentals guide can also be used in combination with the four Writing With Ease workbooks to give your child an even richer introduction to writing.
Writing With Ease: Level 3
Writing With Ease: Level 4
Writing With Ease: Strong Fundamentals
Writing With Ease is focused on expository writing and therefore not a complete language arts curriculum. It should thus be complimented with other programs that include instruction in spelling, penmanship, phonics, and grammar. When it comes to grammar instruction, an excellent compliment to Writing With Ease is Bauer’s Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind series.
The four Writing With Ease levels along with the Strong Fundamentals guide can be purchased here:
- Writing With Ease: Level 1 Workbook
- Writing With Ease: Level 2 Workbook
- Writing With Ease: Level 3 Workbook
- Writing With Ease: Level 4 Workbook
- Writing With Ease: Strong Fundamentals
Best Classical and Charlotte Mason Style
Write From History series, Kimberly Garcia
If you are looking for a homeschool elementary writing program that can be smoothly integrated into your student’s other subject areas, Kimberly Garcia’s Write From History series will be an inspiring and rewarding choice. It follows a thoroughly Charlotte Mason-style model, incorporating narration, copywork, and dictation exercises into an interdisciplinary and flexible program. Yet many classical homeschoolers will also want to use this series, as it perfectly compliments the traditional classical approach to studying history in four chronological periods (ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern) over the course of four years.
Accordingly, the series begins with Writing Through Ancient History and progresses onto Writing Through Medieval History, Writing Through Early Modern History, and Writing Through Modern History. Each of these courses is available at two levels – Level 1 for grades 1-2 and Level 2 for grades 3-5. Additionally, each book is available with either cursive or manuscript (non-cursive) handwriting models.
Writing Through Ancient History
Writing Through Medieval History
Each of these courses takes about 30 weeks and can fit comfortably into a school year, leaving room for some supplementary activities. Although these courses may be taken in order, it is also fine to start any of them at any point. This program is therefore a good option for homeschool families with elementary students at different grade levels who want to work together on the same material.
The Write From History series will also be attractive to Christian homeschoolers. The program integrates writing study and history through a Bible-based, Christian worldview.
Writing Through Early Modern History
Writing Through Modern History
The following list includes all of the course books for the Write From History series. Please note, however, that your student should only need one of these books to complete one year of study. You will need to choose the time period (ancient, medieval, early modern, or modern), the level (Level 1 for grades 1-2, Level 2 for grades 3-5), and the handwriting model style (cursive or manuscript).
Ancient History
- Writing Through Ancient History Level 1 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Ancient History Level 1 “Cursive Models”
- Writing Through Ancient History Level 2 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Ancient History Level 2 “Cursive Models”
Medieval History
- Writing Through Medieval History Level 1 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Medieval History Level 1 “Cursive Models”
- Writing Through Medieval History Level 2 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Medieval History Level 2 “Cursive Models”
Modern History
- Writing Through Early Modern History Level 1 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Early Modern History Level 1 “Cursive Models”
- Writing Through Early Modern History Level 2 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Early Modern History Level 2 “Cursive Models”
- Writing Through Modern History Level 1 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Modern History Level 1 “Cursive Models”
- Writing Through Modern History Level 2 “Manuscript Models”
- Writing Through Modern History Level 2 “Cursive Models”
Best Video-Based
Here to Help Learning Writing Programs
If your homeschooled elementary student does well with video-based learning, we highly recommend the Here to Help Learning writing programs. Using the metaphor of aviation, each of the six one-year courses (essentially corresponding to grades 1-6) is called a “Flight”. Aviation terminology is used throughout the program to symbolize different writing exercises – “Take-off” might include a writing warm up, for example, while “Full Throttle” refers to the main lesson for the day. This creative approach to teaching writing is matched with an excellent, in-depth course of instruction that combines parent involvement with video-based learning. This program is Biblically-based and is thus another great option for Christian homeschoolers.
The first three Flights, which correspond to grades 1-3, focus on paragraph writing; the last three Flights, corresponding to grades 4-6, deal with essay writing. The materials for each Flight consist of a teacher’s guide, a student workbook, and six DVDs. For the most convenience, purchase all the materials for each Flight as a kit. The six kits are listed here:
- Flight 1: Paragraph Writing Teacher’s Kit
- Flight 2: Paragraph Writing Teacher’s Kit
- Flight 3: Paragraph Writing Teacher’s Kit
- Flight 1: Essay Writing Teacher’s Kit
- Flight 2: Essay Writing Teacher’s Kit
- Flight 3: Essay Writing Teacher’s Kit
Conclusion
It is imperative that children obtain a firm foundation in writing during their elementary years. Fortunately, there are many excellent homeschool writing curriculums available for elementary students. Because the writing courses described here are not all complete language arts programs, you will need to supplement them with appropriate literature study and instruction in grammar, spelling, phonics, and handwriting, as needed. If you have an older or younger student, check out our related articles, Best Homeschool Writing Curriculum for High School and Best Homeschool Writing Curriculum for Middle School. If you would like more information on homeschool writing programs for elementary students, please email us!