TOS E-Books

I recently became aware that the The Old School House has affordable e-books on many topics ranging from throwing baby showers to living with rebellious kids.  Some of the topics are light while others deal with heavy issues such as intelligent design.   All of the books that I read are written from a Christian perspective.  Each of these e-books is written from the first hand experience of The Old School House writers.  The books are informative and relatable to many different people and situations.

Every homeschooling parent has subjects that are harder to teach than others.  In our house the Math’s and Sciences are much easier for me than any of the Language Arts.  It may be because math and science are so precise; there is little room for interpretation.  It might also be because there is so much to cover in order to become a good writer.  There’s vocabulary, syntax, and diction, not to mention a sound plot or thesis behind the work.  On top of that, how do I decide what is a decent piece of writing for a third grader or a sixth grader.  It can be quite overwhelming to this mother of five.

The Writer’s Workshop – Getting Children Excited About Writing, an e-book, by Maggie Hogan, explains in simple and basic steps how to not only get your child excited about writing but also how to help them become better writers all under the guise of fun.  One of my favorite sentences in the e-book is “Set the tone for fun, but realize there is real writing going on here”
She explains that parents should set clear guidelines including the group’s purpose, what are appropriate writing topics, responsibilities to the group, and consideration for fellow writers.  Hogan outlines how she runs her workshops.  She starts with teaching mini-lessons and group writing, followed by individual author’s sharing their work with the audience and at the end of the session conferencing about work. Hogan also encourages workshops to have an event to celebrate how far the writer has come, things like making books and writer’s teas.

Overall this brief overview on how to run a writer’s workshop was very informative.  The practical advise and real world examples made running a writers workshop seem doable to even the most hesitant writing teacher.