Informative Writing Workshop: An Effective Online Homeschool Course for Christian Families (Review)

In our homeschool, we take a somewhat casual approach to writing in the elementary years. We enjoy many good books, use notebooking, and practice narration (oral and written) for composition skills.

Around middle school, I introduce more formal writing resources. What we use depends on what each child needs and what material they are most interested in. One of the blessings of homeschooling is creating a custom education for each of our children that best fits their needs!

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This past year, one of my middle schoolers took a fun online writing course called Informative Writing Workshop from the Biblical Classical Community. It was just what she needed to build her skills and gain more confidence in writing!

Informative Writing Workshop – A Review

The Informative Writing Workshop is a 12-week online class for homeschooled students ages 10-14 (approximately grades 4-8). It is designed to introduce step-by-step skills in writing paragraphs and simple essays. It is perfect for students who are struggling in this area or who, like my daughter, could just benefit from some guided practice.

How the Workshop Works

The course is self-paced and includes 12 weekly recorded lessons by the instructor, Raquel Werk. Because it is self-paced, you can take breaks for vacations or spread the lessons out as needed.

The weekly lesson videos introduce a new skill and instruct your child on how to practice it in their writing exercises for the week. Each week, your child will have access to a copy of an online document that includes a summary of the lesson, the writing assignment instructions, and a place to organize and develop their writing. While the instructor gives no grades, you can submit their assignments for feedback if you’d like, and can ask questions anytime.

Here’s what’s included in the course:

Biblical principles for writing
Basic paragraph skills (choosing topics, including support, writing conclusions)
Paragraph style (transitions, descriptors, figurative language)
Multi-paragraphs (research, order, coherence)

What We Enjoyed About the Informative Writing Workshop

The Informative Writing Workshop course was a win for our homeschool. It was just the right length, provided just the right amount of practice, and was enjoyable for my daughter.

Here’s what we enjoyed most about it:

Practice building good sentences, paragraphs, and simple essays.
Gentle instruction set her up for success, growing her confidence in her writing.
Lessons are step by step and easy to understand, which cuts down on any overwhelm or confusion.
It’s only 12 weeks long, so it can be used as a boost or supplement to whatever else you’re doing.
Presents the skill of writing with biblical principles and a Christian worldview.
It gives me, as the parent, a structure to help walk my student through writing lessons.

I particularly loved how the instructor called out the biblical principles for writing skills. In the course description, it says that students will:

Know how biblical principles apply to writing
See how important good communication is as a form of redemption, restoring what was lost in sin’s curse
Understand its necessity for successful and intelligent living.

It was so refreshing and interesting to discuss those ideas with my daughter!

Although the course could be done independently for some children, for us, I knew that my daughter would need me to guide her through it and provide feedback and suggestions along the way. The most significant benefit of the course for us was that it served as an efficient and helpful aid for ME as the teaching parent. It made it easy to be consistent and intentional with her writing instruction, which is a HUGE win for this busy homeschool mom!

Learn more about the Informative Writing Workshop here.