The Write Stuff Adventure: Exploring the Art of Writing
Author: Dean Rea
Publisher: Great Expectations Book Company
For more information or to order: www.gebconline.com

Let's face it - for most homeschool families, teaching the art of writing is sometimes a bit of a challenge.  I have found it is useful to have a variety of "tools" on my shelf that I can refer to as my children progress developmentally and need additional instruction or reinforcement in the area of composition.  The Write Stuff Adventure is just that type of tool.  Though it can be used as your writing curriculum, I feel it is best used as a source of great ideas and encouragement for writers of various ages and abilities. 

Written by a retired newspaper editor and university professor, The Write Stuff Adventure provides lessons on a variety of topics including the basics of writing simple, descriptive sentences and letters to Grandma, to essays and photojournalism.  In fact, it is the emphasis on journalism, including interviewing, organizing information and writing articles, that appeals to me the most.  The Write Stuff Adventure is written directly to the student and the author, Dean Rea, gleans from his years of experience in the field of writing and journalism, coupled with his experience as a dad and grandfather to produce a warm, non-threatening teaching style.  Moms will appreciate his "Note to Teacher" section in each lesson, which guides them through the ups and downs of teaching and evaluating writing.

The Write Stuff Adventure is organized into 6 sections, Simple Things, Personal and Family History, The Essay Made Easy, Interviewing and the Non-Fiction Article, News, Advertising and Photography, and Writing the Short Story.  There are about 100 lessons spread throughout the sections, some can be completed in a day, while others may take a week or more.  There are no daily lesson plans and, for the most part, you may pick and choose what lessons to use based on the ages/abilities of your student(s).  Originally written for his grandchildren and a class of homeschool students, The Write Stuff Adventure would make a great text for a co-op class.  It would be especially fun to use the sections on Interviewing, Non-Fiction Articles and News, Advertising and Photography in a class setting to create and share a "newspaper" showcasing each student's work.

Although the lessons are written to the students, this really is a teacher's manual.  The teacher will be presenting the lesson material and selecting the appropriate pace of the course.  Some activities are quite challenging (writing letters to the editor, interviewing others, writing feature articles, essays, etc.) and provide a great way for high school students to apply all of the writing instruction they have received over the years. The publisher recommends The Write Stuff Adventure be used with students in grades 5 and up.  Although the first section does deal with some grammar and punctuation, younger students who have not had much grammar instruction will need a separate course to learn/refine those skills.  If you have a student interested in journalism, you will definitely want to give this program a try.  It is the only writing program I know of with so much emphasis on writing for the media.  The last section has projects covering writing radio scripts, editorial cartoons and photojournalism - all topics not typically covered in most writing courses for school-aged students.

The Write Stuff Adventure: Exploring the Art of Writing, certainly does live up to its title.  There are so many ways to express yourself, and this well-written course exposes students to a wide variety of creative activities so they can explore and discover, first hand, how to utilize the art of written communication. 

Making the grade: A
Cost: $19.99
Value for your homeschool dollar: 9
Reviewed by Cindy Prechtel, Editor