Both my 7th graders have a relative weakness with language usage/mechanics. On the SAT, the ERW (evidence-based Reading and Writing) scores were significantly diluted by much lower Writing subscores. Furthermore, while the Writing subscores were comfortably above average compared to college bound seniors, the language usage/mechanics sections are almost but not quite "college ready".

Part of the problem has to do with the fact that our elementary and middle schools do not actively teach language mechanics anymore. The other issue may be that most writing at home and at school are done on the computer which has automatic spelling and grammar check. I also suspect that both kids may actually "know" more language usage/mechanics than testing shows but in a time crunch exhausting test situation, they may not have been able to apply what they know only superficially in an optimal manner. Their Writing subscores on two practice tests were substantially higher, more so than can be accounted for by the common practice to real test comparisons. It is likely that with just normal practice in writing over the years, their mastery will automatically improve. However, it can be beneficial to bring this specific area up closer to the level of their verbal and language skills.

Anyhow, they clearly have room to grow in the area of language usage/mechanics. What have you tried or what would you recommend?

Does this need to be "fixed" now? Are they applying for early college or anything like that? Barring LDs or anything like that, I would expect that reading high-level books and continuing to develop along their current trajectories will take care of this issue. If their general writing scores are already college-ready, they're obviously doing pretty well in this general area.

You certainly can get reliant on spellcheck, but I doubt that's the issue (there's no spelling on the SAT, surely?) MS Word's grammar checker is a pretty useless thing, so relying on that probably isn't the problem either.

I wouldn't waste my time on learning technical grammar rules, personally. If I wanted to improve mechanics, I'd probably give my child some writing containing errors to rewrite/"correct." My second-grader gets worksheets like these, so I know they exist. I think this is a nice organic way to get an idea of what a student knows as far as mechanics. You may need to back this up with some light grammar study, but possibly not. Many students will be able to learn the patterns without a lot of rote rule-learning.

Have you considered getting them books on editing their own writing? I'm thinking of ones like "The Elements of Style" or "On Writing Well."

Are you familiar with Royal Fireworks Press?If not see the link below, they have a great ELA curriculum with grammar as the foundation http://www.rfwp.com/

You are correct that it doesn't need to be fixed now. However, it would be a big advantage to master language usage/mechanics now. They need to write essays under time constraints for high school magnet assessments next winter. Even in the past year, they have had to knock out essays for scholarship awards and club membership opportunities (NJHS, etc.). It is increasingly evident to me how critical writing skills are at an increasingly younger age.

There is no spelling per se on the SAT Writing but I think correct word usage sometimes comes down to spelling. I never learned grammar rules (preempted by GT classes in middle school) and sometimes lack even the vocabulary to describe usage/mechanic errors. I guess while I have absorbed the patterns without learning the actual rules, I can't help but think that there must be some benefit to actually learning the rules.

It's funny but the Element of Style was my primary authority through school and I still have my copy on my bookcase. It's very thin though so really bare bones and I think that I already wrote well by the time I started using it. On the other hand, DS/DD do write well already with just sporadic usage/mechanic issues so the Element of Style might be appropriate now.

Thanks - I am not familiar with Royal Fireworks Press. I see that they sell Michael Clay Thompson's books for grammar, which have been recommended by other posters in the past, at least the earlier books in the series.

I see that the grammar books only go up to 7th grade and appear to build on earlier books in the series. Do you think that it would be appropriate for almost 8th graders who are probably more at a "typical" (not advanced) late high school level? Do you think it would work to start at that last (7th grade) book or is it necessay to go back further?