Are you looking for a writing curriculum for your middle schoolers? Here’s a video tour and Writing with Skill curriculum review to help you decide if this would work well in your homeschool.
We’ve been using Writing with Skill since 2013 and with five different kids, so we have a lot to share about this resource.
My posts included affiliate links.
Our Homeschool History using Writing with Skill
Our homeschool has always had some curriculum from the Well-Trained Mind on its bookshelves. When my oldest was in first grade, we started using First Language Lessons for grammar. Then we added Writing with Ease in the lower elementary years. When he was in middle school, we purchased Writing With Skill volume 1.
Over the years, we’ve now used all three levels of Writing with Skill with five kids in our homeschool.
Basic Overview of Writing with Skill
Writing with Skill is published through Peace Hill Press and written by Susan Wise Bauer, who you probably know from her popular history series, Story of the World.
WWS uses classically-based methodology as it grows writing skills through the imitation and analysis of great writers. You’ll love the literature selections that are used in WWS! All the source material is included, so no other books are needed.
It’s based on a 4-day per week schedule, which gives you lots of flexibility. WWS also includes rubrics for larger assignments, so you can objectively check your student’s work (or even better – use the rubric for them to self-evaluate).
FAQ for Writing with Skill
Here are the main questions parents want to know about this curriculum.
What age or grade level is appropriate for WWS?
WWS is designed for students in grades 5 through 8. However, it can also be suitable for older students who need to develop their composition skills.
Is WWS suitable for students who are not naturally inclined toward writing or who need more structure?
WWS provides detailed, week-by-week development of writing skills, which can benefit students who require more structure. The curriculum includes scripted dialogue and guidance for instructors to assist students facing difficulties.
Does WWS focus more on expository writing or creative writing?
WWS emphasizes expository writing, teaching students to construct basic literary essays on fiction and poetry, write chronological narratives, and research and document source material. This focus aligns with the idea that while not everyone needs to master creative writing, proficiency in expository writing is essential.
How much parental involvement is required with WWS?
While WWS encourages student independence, the instructor plays a crucial role in ensuring understanding, leading discussions, providing assistance, and evaluating work. Parents or teachers need to read through each lesson in advance to effectively support the student.
Weekly Structure of WWS
Here’s how the first part of WWS is structured during your 4-day week:
- Day 1: Original Narration Exercise – This helps with the “what should I write about” aspect of writing. Susan Wise Bauer realizes that writing involves coming up with what to write as well as the skill of actually communicating those thoughts on paper. So narration practice solves the writer’s block issue.
- Day 2: Outlining Exercise – These exercises help students to master the skill of organizing their thoughts before writing.
- Day 3: Analyzing the Topos – Topos is the Greek word from which we get our English word topic. These exercises teach students how to come up with topics to write about – descriptions, chronological narrative, cause and effect, etc.
- Day 4: Practicing the Topos
Once students are able to narrate with ease (a skill taught and practiced in First Language Lessons and Writing with Ease), they will stop working on narrations and progress to this structure:
- Day 1: Outlining Exercise
- Day 2: Analyzing the Topos
- Day 3: Practicing the Topos
- Day 4: Copia Exercise
Copia is a Latin word meaning abundance. In these exercises, students learn to write many different types and patterns of sentences to keep their writing interesting and fresh.
We just work on the next lesson each day, not worrying about fitting exactly four days into a typical school week.
Originally when I wrote this first review post (2018), my middle schoolers used WWS about three times each week, while alternating with Grammar. My high schooler spends at least an hour daily on WWS. You can read about our Language Arts Plan here.
I started my oldest on this curriculum in fifth grade. That was a tad early. I now start my kids with WWS Level 1 in 6th or 7th grade. You can see Susan Wise Bauer’s recommendations here.
Now with our fifth time through Writing with Skill (2024-2025), my sixth grader started with volume 1 and worked on this course 4x per week. In addition, she also uses Daily Grams to keep her grammar skills fresh, plus we’re finishing up level 7 of All About Spelling. She reads her favorite library finds as well!
I think the most helpful thing I can do is give you a tour of the student and teacher books, so here it is.
What Types of Writing Skills are Included in Level 1?
I think it’s helpful to browse the table of contents when you first pick up a homeschool resource. So, let me duplicate that here for you. Here are the various writing skills your student will work on during the first year of WWS.
Part I: Basic Skills
- Narration
- Outlining
Part II: Building Blocks for Composition
- Chronological Narratives
- Past Event
- Scientific Discovery
- Description of a Place
- Combining chronological narratives & descriptions
- Scientific Description
- Combining chronological narratives of scientific discovery and scientific description
Part III: Sentence Skills
- Description of a Person
- Biographical Sketch
- Sequence of a Natural Process
Part IV: Beginning Literary Criticism: Prose
- Writing About Stories
- Hero/villain; protagonist/antagonist
- Supporting characters
- Idea stories
Part V: Research
- Two-level outlining
- Documentation (footnotes, endnotes, in-text citations, notetaking)
- Writing from notes
Part VI: Beginning Literary Criticism – Poetry
Part VII: Final Project – final composition
Why we love WWS
There are so many good things to say about this curriculum. After using it for well over a decade and for five different kids with various learning styles, I’d still use it again and still recommend it.
Don’t be intimidated by the large size of the books! They’re large because the source material is included and it’s written for your student to follow along each day, mostly independently. The instructor’s manual includes scripted dialogue if your student ever gets stuck.
Here are just some of the reasons why we love Writing with Skill:
- rubrics for grading final work included
- the student works hard, not mom – that’s called active learning!
- written for 4 days a week, adding flexibility to your schedule
- written directly to the student to teach independent learning
- Scripted out parent book is easy to use IF your student is struggling
- reusable curriculum for multiple children
- teaches foundational writing principles and builds on them
- uses great literature as a model
We hope this Writing with Skill curriculum review was helpful in determining if it would be a good fit for your homeschool. Be sure to subscribe to the Homeschool with Moxie YouTube channel for more curriculum reviews.
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