WriteShop Review: A Thorough and ENGAGING Writing Curriculum

I can’t stop talking about WriteShop this year, and I’m so excited to share this review! It’s a phenomenal program focused on writing and the writing process. What’s more, it really makes learning fun – no small task when teaching writing. It’s the first writing curriculum I’ve used that my son (a 4th grader) actually looks forward to using.

Watch our WriteShop review on the video podcast, below, or scroll down to read the post.

I approached WriteShop about reviewing their product and received our copies free of charge. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this program for your language arts curriculum. You won’t be dissapointed!!

• Take a placement test
• WriteShop Junior program info
• More about WriteShop on The Homeschool Resource Room

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WriteShop Review: The WriteShop Junior Program

This WriteShop review focuses on WriteShop Junior Book E. Junior includes three levels, D, E, and F. You can use them starting around 3rd grade all the way up to 7th grade. The levels are designed to meet your child where they are, so you don’t want to choose based on grade level. Instead, the company offers an online placement test to help you decide where your child should start.

A Little Background on WriteShop

WriteShop offers programs for kindergarteners all the way up to teens in high school, making it a good option for the entirety of your child’s homeschooling. 

One of my favorite things is that it was developed for kids who struggle with writing or who don’t enjoy writing. I feel like writing is always a pain point for many kids – it seems like they’d rather do anything but write.

The style is similar to most unit studies. They break down these units into activity sets (your daily lesson) where you explore different topics/genres like adventure stories, poetry, and folk tales. You’ll read some examples, learn a little about structure, and then your kids will write their own. 

The program includes a teacher guide, worksheets, interactive notebooks, and hands-on activities and games. With each unit, your child will create a finished piece of writing based on the writing process.

WriteShop Review: What makes it a solid program?   

WriteShop allows you to focus completely on the writing process. When teaching writing, you may feel intimidated by the writing process while still knowing that it’s an important skill to learn. WriteShop Junior breaks the process down into smaller steps that are easier to teach and easier for your child to master. It really helps students walk through the writing process while learning new concepts with each activity set.

The program is also low-pressure. The expectation is to improve, not write perfectly the first time. I also like that you use skill builders are you go through each activity set so your child can practice the skills before writing the final story. It really takes the intimidation out of writing.

What Makes WriteShop Stand Out?

Here are my top three reasons WriteShop stands out from the pack of all the writing curriculum on the market:

Approach to Grammar: Firstly, WriteShop Junior uses Fold-and-Go interactive lessons for grammar. You may know this system as lapbooking or interactive notebooking. These lessons are fun and colorful, with questions and games – much better than basic grammar worksheets. One is included at the start of every new activity set, making it a great hook to get kids interested in starting something new.

Focus on Fun: Next, WriteShop focuses on having fun with writing while getting creative. They present concepts in an engaging way with games like silly story starter Go Fish. (You and your child take turns picking a story prompt from the pile and then tell a silly story.) Games like this get you thinking and laughing together through the brainstorming process. Brainstorming or starting a story is often the hardest part of writing, and WriteShop makes it easy. It makes my son look forward to the writing he’s going to do, which makes the rest of the activity set go more smoothly.

Easy to Teach: Finally, WriteShop Junior is truly open-and-go. I have zero prep time – I can literally sit down with the materials and everything is in place and ready to use. The Teacher Edition gives you a loose script that helps you teach, and gives you the freedom to talk to your child and involve them in the lesson. 

Recommendations

I would recommend WriteShop Junior to anyone who wants their child to have a solid foundation in the writing process. It’s especially great for parents with kids who are reluctant writers or who really don’t enjoy writing. It’s even good for kids who struggle with reading or handwriting. We continually work on fine motor skills, so I love that my son isn’t forced to handwrite for a long time with each lesson. There are different activities about building writing and grammar skills that don’t involve sitting down and writing for 20 minutes straight. 

WriteShop does a lot of hand-holding to guide kids through the writing process. You and your child will be sitting side by side during these (roughly) 20-minute lessons.  I think WriteShop would really work for any kid – however, if you don’t have the time or inclination to sit down and teach one-on-one three to four times a week, then WriteShop might feel like a lot for you, the parent. However, if you really want to focus on improving your kid’s writing skills, this program is definitely worth it.

For more information about WriteShop or WriteShop Junior:

• Take a placement test
• WriteShop Junior program info
• More about WriteShop on The Homeschool Resource Room