WriteShop: The Only High School Writing Curriculum You’ll Ever Need

Need an easy, but effective way to teach writing skills to your homeschooled teen? I have the solution for you and it’s the only high school writing curriculum you’ll ever need!

This post contains affiliate links and is a sponsored post. Also, I received WriteShop I for review purposes, but was not required to write a positive review. As always, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure statement for further details.

My son and I went into his 9th grade year knowing we would have to figure out some of our plan for high school language arts as we went along.

We were happy with the primary language arts curriculum we used up until that point, but the high school editions are no longer in print and are becoming difficult to find. Ready or not, that meant we had to be open to something new for language arts. 

The good news about this forced curriculum change is that it lead us to some great solutions for literature and grammar. Writing, on the other hand, was a different story at the beginning of the year.

We dipped our toes into a popular writing approach and discovered we needed more. Don’t get me wrong. The ideas from this writing lifestyle were helpful, but ideas alone weren’t enough for my aspiring writer.

The other approach was too relaxed for him. Instead, he requires concrete instructions, defined expectations, and a clear path for growth in order to strengthen his writing skills. 

The Only Homeschool Writing Curriculum You’ll Need

That’s where WriteShop comes into the picture for us. We didn’t start our year with this homeschool writing curriculum, but I’m glad we found it along the way.

But before I jump into what we’re loving about WriteShop, it will help to know more about the program and the overall vision for writing instruction.

Let’s face it: writing isn’t an easy subject to teach. Even if you’re a capable writer, it’s hard to explain what may come naturally to you to a student who doesn’t always grasp all the complexities involved.

Those complexities are exactly why homeschooling parents need tools like WriteShop, tools that teach students to write, but also help parents teach.

WriteShop does this with step-by-step lessons that help elementary, middle, and high school students become familiar with the building blocks of the writing process.

All of this happens through WriteShop Primary for K-3rd grades, WriteShop Junior for 3-6th grades, and WriteShop I and II for teens. (I’m using WriteShop I with my 13 year old.)

WriteShop’s High School Writing Curriculum

Here’s what’s included in the bundle we’re using:

• Teacher’s manual
• WriteShop I student book
• The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation (My kiddo loves this guide! I find him consulting it when he’s writing fan fiction.)
• WriteShop copywork and dictation exercises
• 8.5 x 11 writing process poster

WriteShop I focuses on building a solid foundation in writing. After that, students move on to WriteShop II and dig into advanced writing concepts.

Through these volumes, teen writers develop and fine-tune their editing and grammar skills while working through writing assignments that gradually increase in difficulty. These assignments provide opportunities to practice narrative, creative, persuasive, and expository writing.

The best part is that you don’t have to wait to try WriteShop in the high school years of homeschooling like we did! Since WriteShop is available to help your kiddos from elementary through high school, you can stick with it throughout your homeschool journey.

Yep, you can totally bypass the unexpected curriculum roadblock we experienced this year. That literally makes this the only homeschool writing program you’ll ever need. Amazing, right?

Why We’ll Choose WriteShop Again

Now that you know some basics about WriteShop, here’s why we’ve found the best high school writing curriculum to meet our needs:

1. The WriteShop Teachers Manual

I don’t generally spend a lot of time working with teacher’s manuals at this point in our homeschool journey, but the WriteShop manual makes things easy for me. The lesson plans are thorough, easy to follow, and leave me feeling confident about my role as writing mentor.

Along with detailed lesson plans, the WriteShop teacher’s manual has recommendations for scheduling the curriculum for a standard two-year track or an accelerated pace. That flexibility goes a long way in customizing homeschool plans to meet your specific goals for high school.

The teacher’s manual also includes help for editing and evaluating, addressing errors, writing samples, answer keys, supplemental activities, and reference notes.

2. The Student Workbook

I’m not sure I ever expected to be grateful for workbook pages, but here we are.

Keep in mind that the student workbook pages arrive unbound in a folder. At first, this was stressful for me. In fact, it felt clumsy and almost impossible to find what we needed for upcoming lessons.

But then we grabbed a binder, placed the pages inside, and used the workbook the way it was designed to be used. 😉 That simple change made all the difference.

Since then, we’ve learned to appreciate the student workbook for several reasons. Like the teacher’s manual, the student workbook is detailed in a way that equips and prepares students to write well. This is perfect for my writer because he wants examples and tips to help him hone his craft.

He also appreciates the skill building activities and brainstorming sheets. These sheets give him plenty of opportunities to practice and think through his writing assignments.

3. The Lesson Structure

My kiddo’s favorite thing about WriteShop thus far is the lesson structure.

Remember how I mentioned that he wants concrete instructions, defined expectations, and a clear path for growth? The lesson structure provides this for him in a way that helps him thrive.

The lessons themselves are spread out over a week for the advanced track and two weeks for the standard. We’re doing the standard track.

Here are some of the daily components involved in a standard lesson:

• Day 1 – Pre-writing
• Day 2 – Practice 
• Day 3 – Brainstorming
• Day 4 – Rough draft
• Day 5 – Dictation
• Day 6 – Revision
• Day 7 – Teacher review and editing
• Day 8 – Final draft 
• Day 9 – Assessment and dictation
• Day 10 – Second final draft if needed

My son loves this schedule because he knows what’s expected of him each day. The goals and skill building activities change from lesson to lesson, but the structure stays the same. That keeps him from feeling overwhelmed and happy to focus on writing.

Where to Find WriteShop

WriteShop has been exactly what I needed for teaching writing in our homeschool. I feel more equipped than ever to help my kids write and I love the confidence and growth I’m seeing in my high schooler.

Ready to learn more? You can check out the WriteShop I Starter Bundle (what we’re using now), WriteShop’s scope and sequence, and skills covered for the various levels at WriteShop.com.

While you’re there, take a look at the sample lessons and placement quiz. Those are a huge help in determining where to start with WriteShop.

Better still, you could win* this fantastic high school writing curriculum for your homeschool! Use the widget below to enter:

*American resident 18 years or older are eligible to win.

Do you have experience using WriteShop in your homeschool? We would love to hear your thoughts about it in the comments below.

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