Overview of Curricula Offered

WAC

Writing Across the Curriculum across all grade levels

Humans are the only species that learn to write because this is one of the most productive ways for us to learn anything. When we incorporate different modalities and integrate thinking by association, it results in optimal learning with superior retention. WAC engages, inspires, and transfers the skills learned in Language Arts Class across all other disciplines. Writing this way empowers students to create and excel. It is the optimal approach to gain mastery and life-long benefits for students, especially those who favor science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

This strategy facilitates integration across the complement of subjects that are studied in school and transfers directly to tertiary education. Using WAC in lessons that were designed for problem-based learning, provides students ample opportunity to achieve content mastery while exercising critical and analytical thinking skills, communicating their ideas, and writing their findings. Because this approach is well-suited for problem-based learning, it elevates students' higher-order thinking skills, and allows for gaining meta-knowledge about the knowledge they discovered. At the end of the day, not every student is destined to become an English major, and it is exactly the group of candidates who are well-positioned for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) that reap enormous benefits. Through the use of WAC methods, all students are well practiced and positioned to transfer their writing skills to any discipline and ensure that it is curated and tailored to their audience or purpose. The long-term benefits are well-documented in scholarly articles. WAC practices are slow in filtering downwards to secondary- and elementary level education.

Overall, Write Across the Curriculum fosters academic growth, critical thinking, effective communication, and transferable skills. By integrating writing into various subject areas, educators help students become more proficient and confident writers while deepening their understanding of subject matter across the curriculum.

IEW

Institute for Excellence in Writing

IEW is the #1 award-winning home school writing curriculum that has found a footing in public and private schools too. Its Structure and Style for Students® is an excellent option to mobilize writers. It works well for those who seem to avoid writing activities. Three different levels of the core IEW Curriculum are offered here. Consisting of nine-unit studies, it provides a structure that scaffolds students while teaching stylistic techniques to enhance assignments. All IEW classes include FixIt! Grammar. All classes offered here augment the IEW curricula with poetry analysis and memorization as well as Latin and Greek root word studies.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing authored an award-winning curriculum, built on the life-long work of Mrs. Anna Ingram. This is the Blended Sight and Sound System for teaching phonics that was adopted in Canada for which she received the Order of Canada. Her nephew, Prof. J. B. Webster who taught at a university in Nova Scotia became quite a drawcard for students that wanted to learn how to write although his expertise was in African history. Mr. Pudewa is a teacher and entrepreneur who updated and commercialized the work of the aforementioned. IEW's methodology consists of nine-unit studies and are acclaimed among homeschool- and public-school teachers.

Creative Writing - Unlocking the Power of Expression

Powerful Paragraphs

Students are led to explore different styles of paragraphs that are used for specific purposes. Intent in writing is considered in every project, and students learn its cardinal importance, ultimately responsible for the effectiveness of the discourse. Learning how to write thirty different types of paragraphs opens a floodgate of possibilities for selecting the most appropriate structure applicable to every task. Students who completed this writing and moved into notable tertiary institutions reported that they attributed their writing successes to possessing these thinking and planning skills.

Writing for College and Beyond

The Bedford Reader

Students in their senior year, destined for college, can arrive well-prepared for writing that awaits. The study of The Bedford Reader and Student Companion for the Bedford Reader can be thought of as a journey grounded in critical and analytical thinking with ample inference, synthesis, evaluation, and reflection across diverse genres. The multitude of texts included provides practice for critical reading, thinking, and writing activities while honing classical rhetoric principles all at once!

The student workbook scaffolds the academic environment with practical insight into how to succeed in college by building confidence, implementing time management strategies, and avoiding common distractions. Journaling at this level and how to keep it organized are practiced weekly in the workbook and in a separate log.