The Incredible importance of Writing to have Reliable Homeschooling

Many high school student curriculum often have one 5-6 page paper assigned one or two times per year, with several smaller papers in between. In public school, students are usually expected to write one or two papers like that per year. I personally expected my children to write 500-1000 words per week when they were in 11th and 12th grade. That was around 1-2 pages typed and single spaced, most weeks of the year. It was not all "English" as often the papers were for History, or French, or Art.

This may feel like too much to you, yet the reason our writing program was effective was due to the fact I educated my children at their level, not to mention I understood how much to push them so they would not break. Which is why homeschooling is effective. If you have them write AT THEIR LEVEL, they can learn. If you have them write too much, then they will get overwhelmed, upset, or worse, rebel. I know I had my kids write a great deal, and I understand it was more than most. That is what my kids did since they were capable, and both ended up to be excellent writers. However the reason it was successful was not due to how much I had them write, it was because I expected them to work at their level.

Trust yourself on that. If you are involved with a writing program, and the demands are killing you - STOP! You are going to discover that each child in your family may be unique, as well. Perhaps if you contemplate having them write for, say, an hour a day, that would be a more realistic measure for high school. If you believe that your child is being expected to do too much, then I am 100% positive that it is too much.

Have them write every day, and have them write various things. Good writing is all about practice, so they do need to do some writing each day. But do not push them so hard that they do not like writing. Keep a "five year plan" in mind, where they have a love of learning at the conclusion of this fantastic homeschooling.