Why Choose WriteAtHome?
Those who visit this blog regularly (thank you, by the way) know that I rarely use this space to promote the services of WriteAtHome. The purpose of the blog is to provide useful, entertaining material about writing and the English language.
But we at WriteAtHome are closing in on the start of another school year and we’d love to fill up the remaining slots in our courses, so today’s post is about why I think WriteAtHome is a great option for writing skills development.
1 WriteAtHome is worth the investment.
There are many less expensive writing curricula out there. I understand when a homeschooling family thinks twice about paying $400 or more for a writing program. But what you get with WriteAtHome is more than just a curriculum. You get a structured writing program plus a personal writing tutor. It’s the tutoring aspect of a WriteAtHome class that pushes up the cost. We have to pay our coaches. And trust me; they are worth every penny.
Think of it this way. Depending on your location, the going rate for a tutor is between $40-80 an hour. With a WriteAtHome annual course, you pay about $15 per week for not only services of a personal writing coach, but our full curriculum. And because it’s a web-based service, we come to you on your schedule.
2 WriteAtHome is guaranteed.
We think WriteAtHome is worth the investment, but we understand that it’s still an investment. That’s why we make sure there is no risk to you. If you don’t like what you get, we’ll refund your full tuition. We give you 100 days — more than three months — to consider the value of an annual course. Thirty days for an 8-week workshop. If in that time, you don’t think WriteAtHome is all it’s cracked up to be, just let us know. We’ll withdraw your student and return your money. Simple.
And if you need to drop out of a class at some point in the year we’ll prorate your tuition. Our commitment is that every WriteAtHome family gets their money’s worth. No risk.
We make these promises, by the way, because we can. WriteAtHome works. We’ve seen it work with thousands of young people for more than ten years. We know there will be a handful whose expectations we don’t meet each year, but the vast majority with see their writing skills grow, and in some cases, their love of writing too.
3 WriteAtHome employs a proven method.
If you wanted to get better at a musical instrument — say the accordion — what would you do? I bet you’d get an accordion and find an accordion teacher. You’d sign up for regular classes, probably weekly.
If you wanted to get better at some athletic activity — say badminton — what would you do? You’d probably find a beginners badminton class or team. You’d find someone to help you with badminton strategy and technique and you’d practice.
You see where I’m going. Writing isn’t a content subject like biology or U.S. history. It’s a foundational skill. It’s a craft like accordion playing or badminton. It’s complex and subjective and the only way to improve is through some combination of instruction and practice.
And that, of course, is what WriteAtHome provides — weekly instruction on some aspect of writing, and the opportunity to practice under the tutelage of a patient, encouraging, experienced writing coach. It’s a simple approach, but we firmly believe it’s the most effective approach in the world.
Writing practice is necessary, but writing practice with a gifted coach guiding and pushing you along the way is just the best way to grow as a writer.
I’ve been teaching high school English in one form or another for more than twenty years, but I’ve put all four of my homeschooled daughters through the WriteAtHome program. They like it and they learn from it. My oldest daughter is starting college next week on a large scholarship. Her writing skills played an important role in that. Sure, maybe she inherited some writing sense from me. But whatever innate talent she has was developed under wonderful coaches in the WriteAtHome program. I didn’t just create it. I use it, too.
Have you decided what to do about writing this school year? If you haven’t, check out what we offer at WriteAtHome. It’s a risk-free investment you won’t regret.
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Comments? Suggestions? Please leave them below!
First, Mary, let me congratulate you on so successfully getting through 7/8s of your homeschooling work! Well done. I can only imagine the temptation to coast with number 8, so I also commend your desire to “finish well.”
In fact, as a homeschooling dad with just one down and three to go, I should probably be the one asking YOUR advice, not the other way around! 🙂
But, since you asked, WriteAtHome helps by providing opportunity for students to work on papers throughout a school year in conjunction with a personal writing tutor — whom we call a writing coach. We cover all the major “purposes” for writing in a given year — narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive. The work is steady — a draft every week — but not burdensome. Students work on papers over three drafts (one draft due on each of three different weeks) and each draft gets thorough response from a writing coach. Together, coach and student work toward a sharp final draft with instruction taking place along the way. Final drafts get a formal evaluation score using a six-trait rubric.
It’s an all-in-one solution. We provide the assignments, print lessons, and a coach to guide and evaluate.
Our coaches are great at positive reinforcement, pointing out what students do well in addition to the customary corrective comments. They are wonderful at building rapport with their students. This is all done through comments on student papers and occasional emails.
We have always subscribed to the adage that the only way to improve as a writer is to write. And we believe that writing under the encouraging eye of a writing coach is all the more effective.
Our track record with reluctant-writer boys is particularly good. There’s something about an anonymous third-party (a not-mom) evaluator that seems to bring out the best in young men. They tend to like the pace and the technology as well.
If you have any particular questions, I’m happy to answer them here, or by email at brian-at-writeathome-dot-com. I hope you’ll consider enrolling number eight with us this year!
-Brian Wasko
Dear Mr. Wasko,
I have homeschooled eight children over the last 20 + years. Five have completed college and have been very successful. Two are presently in college. However, teaching writing in our home school (and doing enough of it) has always been a huge challenge. I insisted on grammar study and taught the writing process, but actually having my children write a lot never happened. I now have one high schooler to go, and must admit that I have fallen down on the job. He will start 10th grade in a couple of weeks and has written little in his schooling adventure. He is not an avid reader as most of his sibs were, and seems to process slower (though is quite bright). I want to finish well and would like to know how your program can help.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Mary Cincotta
Dear Mary,
I know just where you’re coming from! We’ve home educated all 6 of ours, but teaching writing was my weak point (even though I always did well at it in school myself). I didn’t discover Write @ Home until my 4th was in 9th grade. Until then, getting any of the boys to even write their names at the top of their other work, was a major undertaking ~ forget trying to get any kind of written assignment out of them. That year we put the last two boys in W@H (9th & 6th grades); what a turn around for both boys! They discovered that they not only could write, but that they were good at it and enjoyed it. 🙂 When our youngest daughter was old enough to begin 6th grade composition (#4 had just graduated), we put her in the program, even though she had been writing stories on her own for years. Because our daughter always liked to write, this year (11th grade) we are using the Pay Per Paper option with our Literature course; that way, we still have the wonderful W@H coaches and it’s one less assignment I’ll have to correct each time. I can’t recommend W@H too highly ~ it has been worth every penny! All is grace, Kay
Wow, Kay, thanks so much for the kind reply to Mary!