Writing Helps – DIY Homeschooler

Activity: Words That Describe

26 Apr 202226 Apr 2022

One of the best ways to become a good writer is by making it a practice to read good writing. If you want to take this to the next level,…

Activity: Describe ~ Free Form

23 Mar 202211 May 2022

One of the marks of a good writer is the ability to paint a picture in the reader's mind of what is happening. Instead of simply telling what happened, by…

Activity: Storytelling Prompts

9 Mar 202211 May 2022

Storytelling is a great way to dip a toe into creative writing. It borrows from narrating, and redirects the process from retelling the story of someone else to telling your…

Activity: Rhyming Couplets

16 Sep 202120 Sep 2021

Over time we will be adding activities that focus on helping your child/student write something every day. Let's start off with something really simple: rhyming couplets. Rhyming couplets are two…

How-To

7 Lessons for Teaching Writing

As Ruth Beechick says, we learn to speak by listening and speaking. So the analogy is: we learn to write by reading and writing. This natural method of learning to…

How-To

10 Steps to Writing a Research Paper

25 Sep 201927 Aug 2021

Putting together a research paper is the culmination of a student's previous experience: skills, interests, and writing background. Writing a research paper can appear daunting, but it doesn't have to…

Activity: Creative Writing with the Random Word Generator

22 Jul 20196 Jun 2022

It's summer. While keeping things light, you do want your children to keep those skills sharp (math and writing come to mind here). Try using a random word generator to…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Poetry

14 May 201911 May 2022

Writing poetry may seem like an odd place to start when encouraging a young writer, but some students will find it an easier task than many other forms of writing.…

Persuasion Map for Persuasive Essays {Free Interactive}

Here is another great tool at ReadWriteThink.org: A free persuasion map interactive that walks a student through the process of creating a persuasive essay. The interactive is easy and intuitive…

Letter Generator Interactive {Free}

After a child is able to write comfortably, he will need things to write. We have suggested 8 writing activities for the younger student — one of which is writing…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Persuasive Essay

8 Nov 201823 Oct 2021

What is a Persuasive Essay? Just as it sounds, a persuasive essay seeks to change opinions on a topic. It reflects the opinion of the writer. It is similar to…

How-To

20 Ways to Choose a Creative Writing Topic

25 Oct 201818 Oct 2021

We've all been there. We are given an assignment: write about ____________. Of course, the topic is either something we know nothing about (and probably are not at all interested…

The Century Handbook of Writing {Free eBook}

Here is one we actually have on the shelf, so it is particularly nice to see it available as a free download. The Century Handbook of Writing by Garland Greever…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Descriptive Narrative

20 Sep 201720 Aug 2021

What is a Descriptive Narrative Essay? Narrative essays usually tell us how something happened. They are typically written in chronological order and use transition words such as first, before, later,…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Note-Taking

16 Nov 201620 Aug 2021

Note-taking is one skill older students of all types need to perfect. There are several benefits of being a great note-taker: Forces you to think while you read.Encourages you to…

English Grammar & Composition {Free eBook}

18 Oct 201619 Jan 2022

If you spend any time on this site at all, you know we strongly advocate the natural way of walking our children through language arts. Spending each successive year drilling…

How-To

16 Tips: Building a Better Writer

18 May 201613 May 2022

Around here we obviously believe that a "writing curriculum" isn't going to help your student learn to write well. We prefer more natural ways — ways most adults use —…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Dictation

We started by reading to our child, familiarizing him with language. At some point we had him narrate to us what was read, absorbing the language. Our child traced his…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Copying

Once a child is comfortable holding a pencil, he can begin copying. Rather than starting with copywork, some prefer to start with tracing. Probably your child's first writing lesson was…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Narrating

21 Apr 201621 Oct 2021

I remember when we first started homeschooling our oldest. I, fortunately, didn't know any better than to just pull together those materials I thought we needed. One of these gems…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Reading

Most great writers are great readers. That makes sense if you consider that, by reading, an authors' words and the way they are used are input, and "copied" when we…

How-To

Language Arts the Natural Way: Introduction

Before your child reaches school age, does he know how to talk? How did he learn? Did you pull out the flashcards, go over grammar, show him diagrams of how…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: News Story

2 Feb 201620 Aug 2021

There are several benefits of learning to write a news story: You learn to be concise.You learn to keep your opinion out of the way.You learn to look for answers.It…

How-To

10 Ways to Become a Better Editor of Your Child’s Writing

20 Jan 201630 Dec 2021

So you have your children writing every day. Great! Now, of course, you need to become their editor. Here is where some find a challenge in the natural approach to…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Book Review

2 Sep 201527 Aug 2021

There are several reasons to have students write a review of a book they have read: To interact with the book and glean more from the read.To practice thinking critically…

How-To

14 Forms of Writing for the Older Student: Character Sketch

19 Mar 201520 Aug 2021

There are several reasons to have students write character sketches: To summarize or narrate a book read.As a prewriting exercise before writing a work of fiction or a biography.To understand…

Don't Miss a Thing!

Subscribe to receive the latest content by email:

[jetpack_subscription_form show_subscribers_total="false" button_on_newline="true" submit_button_text="Go!" custom_background_button_color="#a71055" custom_font_size="16px" custom_border_radius="6" custom_border_weight="1" custom_border_color="#a71055" custom_padding="15" custom_spacing="10" submit_button_classes="" email_field_classes="" show_only_email_and_button="true" success_message="Success! An email was just sent to confirm your subscription. Please find the email now and click 'Confirm Follow' to start subscribing. Thanks!"]