TOS Review- Essentials in Writing

This week I am reviewing Essay Writing/Research Paper from Essentials in Writing.  This is a 9th grade curriculum.  The program was designed by Matthew Stephens, a former middle school English teacher.

The 9th grade program is comprised of lessons on clauses, complex sentences, organizing and drafting paragraphs, planning and drafting essays, types of essays (expository, persuasive) and the steps of writing a research paper.  The course includes 75 video segments and it is recommended that it take approximately 150 class periods to complete, so this is an entire English course!  :-)

We received the DVD and worksheets on a CD-ROM.  Kiddo #1 worked on his lessons daily, watching a video and doing the accompanying worksheet.

The video segments were short enough to keep my almost 15 year old son's attention, but with enough substance to really demonstrate and teach each concept.  Mr. Stephens spends a great deal of time on how to organize and plan, something that I'm sure any mother of a teenager would appreciate.  :-)

The material was all self-explanatory, and Kiddo was able to work independently with an occasional question for mom.  :-)

The videos take the student step by step through the entire writing process, from sentences all the way to a completed essay.  I am looking forward to Kiddo #1's essay.  We did several lessons from each section of the course, not just the first few, so we could get a real feel for the program.

I liked that there is a 'personal essay scoring guide,' which is included.  It shows what the parent/teacher is to look for in order to give a grade.

To watch a video tutorial of how the scoring guide works, you can click here.

Overall, we liked the program.  The steps to writing were clearly presented and demonstrated on the video.  the sound on the video, however, was a problem.  While Kiddo struggled to hear Mr. Stephens, the piano interludes were quite loud.

In addition, the presenter rarely makes eye contact with the camera, and therefore his viewer(s).  This, to me, causes a lack of connectedness and it didn't feel as personal as it could have otherwise.

The cost of the program is $40 for 3 DVDs with all of the printables included.  This, in my opinion, is a good value for a full one-year high school level course.  The courses are available for grades 1-12.