Pretty much anything that has her writing every day and thinking/talking about how to make her writing better is going to be a good program.

I have a couple of strategies I use with DS7. The one I use most frequently is to have him write down words he doesn't know from his reading and then use them to write anything he likes. Usually they wind up being really silly, but that's okay at his age. I just want 3 lines of writing every day. (Last year I required 2 lines and next year I'll require 4 or 5.) Then we discuss what he wrote. I try not to come at this conversation as a judge but as someone asking questions to encourage him to think critically about his own writing.

Other days I'll let him write absolutely anything he wants. Last year he wrote a book about Transformers. He would often write for an hour without stopping because he was so excited by his story. On these days, I don't require much critical thinking about his work. I just let him enjoy the process.

One other strategy I have rarely used with DS7 yet (he's still pretty young!) but often used with my college students was directed freewriting. It might be good for your older DD. It's a kind of brainstorming exercise. I think Bravewriter uses a form of this a lot, too, though her version may be more polished and less brainstorm. I'm not sure.

Anyway, freewriting involves asking a question and then having the student write as fast as possible about it for a short time--5 minutes, tops!--without stopping. Something along the lines of "What things scare you and why?" or "If you could solve one problem in the world, what would you pick and why?" The idea is to choose something meaty!

If the student runs out of ideas while freewriting, then s/he writes "I don't know what to say" or something like that, but the pencil doesn't stop moving until time is up! The student shouldn't worry AT ALL about spelling or grammar. S/he doesn't even have to write in complete sentences. This is a great way to generate ideas at the start of a larger project. It's not so much writing as it is thinking on paper.

From the freewrite, the student can then cull ideas for a more polished paper, taking time to think as needed. Multiple freewrites can be used to focus on various parts of the project. Ultimately, the goal is to move to a more organized arrangement of ideas. You should pay no attention to spelling or grammar, and you should discourage the student from worrying about them as well. (A good exercise for perfectionists! wink )

Revising the work to be sure the ideas are arranged logically and explained as fully and clearly as desired is next. Still, focus is on the ideas and the organization, not on mechanics.

Finally, proofreading should take care of grammatical and spelling errors. But there's no point in obsessing over how to phrase a sentence if the idea is crummy and is going to get cut from the paper! Sculptors don't polish until after they've cut away any stone they don't need. The writing process is very similar!

FWIW...


Kriston