Hi Ania,
DS13 & DS11 both took an EPGY Writing Class (Intermediate Writing I) this spring. It was pretty intense (with all that we had going on at the same time) and expensive. But both boys thought it was excellent. They really believe it improved their writing and taught them a lot. Their last two essays were terrific. They would be in the virtual class for one hour, once a week with the instructor & other students. They would have weekly assignments that took between 2-4 hrs, sometimes a little more), readings, etc. They covered character development, literary analysis/symbolism, Point of View, essay writing, allusion, compare/contrast, peer commentary, personal narratives. It was short (10 weeks) which I really like and I wouldn't hesitate to sign up for subsequent courses, if it weren't for: cost, some technical difficulties we experienced (they say they're upgrading virtual class program), and our own schedule constraints. The exciting thing was to read the work of other students (age 11-13, but with qualifying SAT scores, so obviously very bright). DS11 has always thought he's a great writer (and he is, or at least he has the ability to become one), but when he read what another very able kid wrote, he understood he has some work to do. I think it's important to expose high ability kids to other high ability kids so that they don't expect a life of coasting. The class was also a little humbling because they're used to getting straight A's but DS13 got a B and DS11 got a B+. Each of them failed an assignment (failing is B-)...I read the work of other kids and thought it was amazing, and my kids improved their writing.
