If you’ve ever wondered whether Excellence in Literature needed a few multiple choice questions to make it “better,” this delightful essay by my friend and publisher Andrew Pudewa will make our position clear. Like comprehension questions, another pernicious evil, multiple-choice...
How to use the correct word when peeking at a peak.
Join us for a great Carnival of Homeschooling, featuring articles on time and what to do with it, words, nature, celebrations, and more.
One of the best ways you can teach writing is to share good models. I especially like working with excellent essays, as they tend to expand not only vocabulary and usage skills, but also because they expand thought. Here’s an example.
Here is a biographical approach paper format you may use to write about authors or other significant people. Approach papers help students think through the things they study in a deeper way, so this can be useful not only for Excellence in Literature, but also for any subject.
The Keyhole Essay Organizer appears in many forms across the Web. It can be a very helpful visual reminder of what goes into a basic essay–introduction, body, conclusion, plus some helpful tips.
There are five stages in learning language arts, and each stage has a different focus. This graphic will help you remember what to do when.
I’ve seen good results from students who have used these writing programs. Choose based on the student’s learning style for best results.
By using classics and models and learning by doing, it’s natural and possible to learn to write well while using Excellence in Literature.
The power of a text is different when it is read from when it is copied out. Only the copied text thus commands the soul of him who is occupied with it, whereas the mere reader never discovers the new...
As I post the books we offer, I try to answer all the questions I can think of. Inevitably, others think of questions that would never cross my mind, and I try to add them to the FAQ page to...
When evaluating a student’s schoolwork, it can be a challenge to find the right balance between being helpful and nitpicking. Here are a few things to consider.
Dear Readers, I sometimes come upon a thought so well expressed that I just have to share it! Today’s guest post on freedom, homeschool, and writing was the editor’s letter from a Writing-World.com newsletter, and it’s reprinted here with the kind...
Preface Welcome to this hundred-and-umpteenth Carnival of Homeschooling! Because November is National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo or nano), and I’m over 10,000 words into the writing process (and can’t think of anything but writing, writing, and more...
Okay, students, put on your party hats! It’s time to celebrate the not-so-lowly punctuation mark. We’re a little late to join the baking contest planned as part of the celebration, but there nothing stopping us from using commas, periods, apostrophes,...
I just came across another informative review of Excellence in Literature! Kerry Beck of Curriculum Connection has written a great review, and posted a video that walks you through the entire book. At the convention this past weekend, so many...
I’m always happy to get a good review of one or more of my books, and this morning I came across a very nice review on The Old Schoolhouse website. Kathy Gelzer has done a beautiful job of outlining the...
If you have enjoyed IEW’s materials, or if you have a teen who loves to read or write, I think you’ll find that Excellence in Literature is an ideal next step for your motivated teens. I’ll let Andrew tell you all about it in this brief video!
I received an e-mail this morning from a co-op leader, inquiring about the Excellence in Literature (EIL) curriculum. When I receive detailed questions like these, I know that others are probably wondering some of the same of the same things,...
I believe that Charlotte Mason‘s method for teaching language arts provides an excellent foundation for future language arts learning. Copywork is the step that begins the process of learning to write. First, read the entire poem aloud, using appropriate inflection....
I was sitting at a sidewalk table last week, enjoying a cup of coffee, when I overheard a group of twenty-somethings at the next table talking about the writers’ conference that was starting over the weekend. The conversation turned to...
As your students move toward high school and college, reading skills become increasingly important. A student who grows up hearing and reading a wide variety of literature, both old and new, tends to be well prepared to be a strong...
Benjamin Franklin learned to write better by studying, copying, and re-writing articles from The Spectator, a high-quality magazine of his day. His writing, seen in his autobiography and other work, bears witness to the skill he gained. Learning to write...
As I talk to homeschool parents at conventions and via e-mail, I am often asked, “How many years of grammar should I be requiring of my student?” or “Does the Grammar Made Easy: Writing a Step Above (sadly, this excellent book...
“O, like a book of sport thou’lt read me o’er; But there’s more in me than thou understand’st.” ~ William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida The balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth’s fateful meeting with the three witches on the...
I’ve been putting together a worktext to go with the three-hour audio workshop I recorded in April, and all the pieces are finally coming together. The thing that has taken the longest is getting the live audio mastered into the...
Whenever I speak on writing, I ask students whether they like to write. There are always a few, usually sitting on the front row taking copious notes, who respond eagerly that they LOVE to write. A few, usually sitting in...
National Grammar Day, sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), is celebrated annually on March 4. I’m sure that someone somewhere has scheduled an event with party hats and noisemakers. I thought perhaps we’d content ourselves...
I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-gray, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their...
Reviewing Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins I have a weakness for books with funny titles — especially if they are about writing, grammar, style, and usage. Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins: The Careful Writer’s Guide to the Taboos, Bugbears and Outmoded Rules of English Usage by...
