Summer Writing Classes

Homeschool Connections is offering two summer writing courses, one for middle school and one for high school. These courses will help your students get the basics and be prepared for the school year. We want your child to be successful and our writing courses are a great step in that direction. See below for details and links to register.

Middle School Writing Essentials Bootcamp: Excellent Sentence and Paragraph Writing

(click on course title for registration page)

Class dates: August 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 13, 2013
Total classes: 6
Starting time: 10:30 AM Eastern (9:30 Central)
Duration: 45 minutes
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 6th to 8th grade
Fee: $75 for all 6 classes.
Instructor: Erin Brown Conroy
Course description: This is an essential writing course for all middle school students to make sure that your student has strong middle school writing foundations in place. Give your middle school student exactly what’s needed for writing well-crafted sentences and paragraphs—including the absolute “must-have” knowledge and practice for the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and prepositional phrases, and compound sentence structures, as well as capitalization, end punctuation, and the use of quoted material. Even if your student has learned the composition of a sentence and paragraph before (in elementary materials), the approach for this class is to use middle school vocabulary and structures that are more complex. Help your child finally master the details that are holding him or her back from writing well. Sentence constructions are designed to prepare your student for upper level middle school writing.
Course outline:
Class 1: Nouns, verbs, and capitalization in sentences
Class 2: Adjectives, adverbs, and end punctuation in sentences
Class 3: Prepositions, prepositional phrases, and compound sentence structures
Class 4: Using quotes in dialogue and academic writing
Class 5: Transitions and connectives in sentences
Class 6: Putting it all together: Transitions and linear sentences in paragraph writing
Course materials: Word 2007 or later version. eBook: Simplified Writing Foundations: Sentences and Paragraphs for Middle School Students by EB Conroy. Students may purchase the ebook on Amazon (plus download the Kindle app for free to use on any computer, iPad, iPod, or smart phone).
Homework: Approximately 45 minutes to one hour per day, reading and completing coursework.

High School Writing Essentials Bootcamp: Excellent Paragraph and Essay/Test Writing

(click on course title for registration page)

Class dates: August 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 13, 2013
Total classes: 6
Starting time: 11:45 AM Eastern (10:45 Central)
Duration: 1 hour
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 9th to 11th grade
Fee: $75 for all 6 classes.
Instructor: Erin Brown Conroy
Course description: This is an essential writing course for all high school students, to make sure that your student has critical high school writing foundations in place. Give your high school student exactly what’s needed for writing well-crafted sentences and paragraphs—including the absolute “must-have” knowledge, review, and practice for the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and prepositional phrases, and compound sentence structures, as well as transitions and connectives, the use of quoted material, summary, and paraphrase. Even if your student has learned foundational concepts before, the approach in his class is to use high school vocabulary and structures that are more complex and needed for upper-level writing. From mastering the details that are holding your student back from writing well to providing much-needed practice, help your student perfect the essential tools for high school writing.
Course outline:
Class 1: Using strong nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in well-constructed sentences
Class 2: Capitalization, punctuation, and using quotation marks in dialogue and academic writing; prepositions and prepositional phrases
Class 3: Linear writing, transitions, and connectives in sentences and paragraphs
Class 4: Writing with summary and paraphrase
Class 5: Answering essay questions: structure, form, and content I
Class 6: Answering essay questions: structure, form, and content 2
Course materials: Word 2007 or later version. eBook: Simplified Writing Essentials for High School Students by EB Conroy. Students may purchase the ebook on Amazon (plus download the Kindle app for free to use on any computer, iPad, iPod, or smart phone) after June 2013.
Homework: Approximately one hour per day, reading and completing coursework.

Instructor biography: Mrs. Conroy designed and taught writing and research as a professor for Patrick Henry College's Distance Learning program for six years, taught writing and leadership courses at Cornerstone University's Professional and Graduate Studies Division for seven years, and has been the course designer/Master Teacher for Patrick Henry College Prep Academy’s AP English Language and Composition courses for three years. She is an author of several non-fiction books, including Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets for College Writing Success. Professor Brown Conroy also speaks at conferences on the teaching of writing and is completing her Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) in Genre Fiction. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators and the American Christian Fiction Writers, she is also a fiction writing coach for high school and college students, has judged writing contests, and has been a freelance professional writer and ghostwriter for over 15 years. Professor Brown Conroy also authored True North Reading: The Complete Mastery Reading and Spelling Program, a five-level multisensory learn-to-read program for children ages 3 to 15 and has been homeschooling for 28 years. Mrs. Conroy enjoys walks with her dogs, playing the wooden flute, and homeschooling four of her 13 children who still live at home.


Equipment requirements: Classes are online, live, and interactive. Students are required to have a computer, high-speed internet, and a headset with microphone, which can be found as cheap as $12.
Misc:
Professor Brown Conroy will be available via email or phone in between classes for questions and comments.
Recordings of classes are provided to students within 24 hours and available for 6 months.
Homeschool Connections does not provide record keeping services.

 

NOTE: Students wishing to prepare for the 2013/2014 School Year can also take advantage of our Unlimited Access! program. These are recorded courses that can be taken at your own pace on your own schedule. Unlimited Access! is an independent-learning program that gives your whole family unlimited access to over 125 courses, including several designed for summer learning.