Free inexpensive writing program for incoming 9th grade

Parents Forum
1

<p>D2 asked me to sign up for some writing class for the summer. She does not think she is a good writer so she needs to improve her writing skills. I was wondering, is there anything similar to the MIT OpenCourseware below for writing that she can self-study in the summer. I’m aware of CTY/EPGY program but these programs also cost money.</p>

<p><a href=“http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/index.htm[/url]”>http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mathematics/index.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2

<p>Do you have any relatives who write well and enjoy it? Perhaps your daughter could commit to writing a regular letter? The best way to improve your writing is to write a lot and read a lot. Taking courses is nice but not necessary.</p>

3

<p>D1 is a good writer. D2 loves to read but won’t touch newspapers like Wall Street journal nor NYT because the some of the subjects are dry. I was hoping for something more structure that she can follow and write more regularly in the summer, then I can ask D1 to review D2’s writing.</p>

4

<p>My kids used A Writer’s Notebook: Unlocking the Writer Within You (Paperback)
by Ralph Fletcher (Author).</p>

<p>You might also look at Craft Lessons 2nd Edition (Paperback)
by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi
and What a Writer Needs (Paperback)
by Ralph Fletcher </p>

<p>Barry Lane has a bunch of books and videos also.</p>

5

<p>we’ve used Jensen’s writing - my 17 yo dd has enjoyed the writing assignments.</p>

<p>[Jensen’s</a> Format Writing Lesson Book](<a href=“http://www.howtotutor.com/formback.htm]Jensen’s”>http://www.howtotutor.com/formback.htm)</p>

6

<p>Here is something that I happened upon:</p>

<p>[Hoagies</a>’ Gifted: (Free) Online High School Courses](<a href=“http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/online_hs.htm]Hoagies”>(Free) Online High School Courses | Hoagies' Gifted)</p>

<p>Hope that it helps! I was thinking about trying this for my DS this summer.</p>

7

<p>Would she qualify for need based aid? There are some wonderful summer writing programs at prep schools with generous aid. The one at Choate is wonderful.</p>

8

<p>Read, read, read</p>

<p>No better way to imporve your writing.</p>

9

<p>hmom5, she would not qualify for aid and I’m a little worried to let her go far away. She is 13 but not as mature. She has suggested that some of her friends are taking summer school so I will look into the creative writing class for her.
Thank you for all your suggestions.</p>

10

<p>Our local community college offers a whole series of summer courses, for students in K-12, as well as weekend “Kid’s College” classes during the school year. Is anything like that available where you are?</p>