Cathy Duffy Reviews home > Composition & Grammar > Essentials in Writing

Essentials in Writing

Publisher: Essentials in Writing
Author: Matthew Stephens
Review last updated: November 2011
 Instant KeyPublishers InfoPricing

Essentials in Writing

Essentials in Writing is a complete language arts program for grades 1 through 12 with teaching presented on DVDs. Grades 1 through 7 are available as I write this review (November 2011).

Instructor Matthew Stephens is energetic, interacting with an unseen classroom of students for each grade level. He continually works on a whiteboard while teaching. DVD lessons vary in length depending upon the topic to be covered. Students watch a segment then shift to worksheet activity, completing one or more pages between DVD presentations. Sometimes students will watch a DVD lesson then work on worksheet assignments for one, two, or three days. While most of the teaching is done for you via the DVDs, some parent interaction will be necessary, especially for younger children and for composition work at all levels.

The combination of DVD lessons and worksheets is equivalent in amount of content to other comprehensive language arts courses, and instruction on composition skills is more advanced than in most other programs. Composition skills are developed beginning in first grade. Parts of speech (but not diagramming skills) are introduced gradually, beginning in first grade. I noticed a few minor grammar errors but these should not be a significant problem. (Such errors are typical of the first versions of new programs, and since Stephens is able to produce these on demand, the errors are quickly being corrected.)

The sequence of topics is somewhat similar from level to level, beginning each level with instruction on sentence structure and grammar, shifting toward more composition work, and generally concluding with poetry. There is enough repetition that you might even be able to skip a year once or twice.

I mentioned that composition instruction is advanced, but Stephens teaches in increments that are manageable for children to handle, walking students through the steps of the writing process on most assignments. So while it might be more advanced, it is not more difficult. Stephens also uses graphic organizers at different points to make it easy for students to organize their ideas before beginning to write. Check list forms are included for students to verify they have met the requirements of an assignment.

While there is repetition from year to year, much more time is spent developing writing skills rather than reviewing grammar. This means these courses are likely to appeal to students who might be bored with other courses that spend a great deal of time on grammar review each year.

The publisher's website lists the table of contents for each course for grades 1-7 and includes the number of class periods the course should require, the number of video lessons, the number of worksheets, and a list of each lesson's title. This information is not on the DVDs or CD-ROMs.

Each level comes complete within a single DVD case. First grade has one DVD with the lesson presentations. Grades 2 through 6 have two lesson DVDs each, and grade 7 has three. Each level also has one CD-ROM with printable PDF worksheets. Worksheets are printed with a large font, plenty of space to write (even for some composition activities), and some clipart illustrations. Answer keys are included at the end of each worksheet “book.” You should probably print the entire collection out and have it accessible since the worksheets themselves make it clear when they are to be used; this information is not presented on the DVDs. You may purchase pre-printed workbooks for $20 each if you find that more convenient.

Grade 1

First grade begins with review of proper letter formation then moves into beginning sentence formation, punctuation, capitalization, and other introductory grammar. It introduces nouns and their use as subjects as well as action verbs. Students learn to write paragraphs, letters, and poems. (76 pages)

Grade 2

The course for second grade teaches sentences, subjects, predicates, nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, plurals, capitalization, and punctuation. For composition, it introduces the writing process, teaching students how to write narratives, paragraphs, notes, journaling, invitations, and poetry. (89 pages)

Grade 3

The third grade course covers sentences, complete subjects and complete predicates, plurals pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, predicate adjectives, possessives, capitalization and punctuation, and alphabetical order. Working through the writing process, children learn to write friendly letters, paragraphs, narratives, descriptive paragraphs, thank you notes, invitations, journal entries, informational reports, and poetry. It even introduces the creation of a bibliography with a fill-in-the-blanks approach in lesson 51. (116 pages)

Grade 4

Fourth graders review subjects and predicates, adding compound subjects and predicates. They expand their learning about sentences to include more complex sentence forms as well as independent and dependent clauses. Nouns, pronouns, and verbs are reviewed. Composition work includes writing letters, narratives, descriptive paragraphs, persuasive paragraphs, informational reports with source documentation, poetry, and other forms of writing. (155 pages)

Grade 5

Grade 5 reviews sentences, subjects, predicates, clauses, nouns , pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, with additional work with prepositions, prepositional phrases. It teaches about the use of figurative language as well as how to write dialogue, narratives, letters, descriptive paragraphs, persuasive paragraphs, comparison/contrast essays, summaries, informational reports, and poetry. (194 pages)

Grade 6

Sixth grade covers most of the same topics again, adding appositives, writing with a point of view, expository essays, persuasive letters, and a research project, spending significantly more time on expository essays and the research project in comparison to other topics. (213 pages)

Grade 7

Grade 7 is similar in content to the sixth grade course with the addition of an intensive grammar review at the conclusion of the course. However, these grammar lessons are optional and there are no worksheets for the grammar review. Because of this, there are fewer worksheets for this level (143 pages) than you might expect given the gradually increasing number from level to level. Stephens suggests showing these lessons to students at the beginning of the school year, then coming back and reviewing the lessons if or when needed. I applaud Stephens’ choice to make these lessons optional since most students have had sufficient grammar at this point and should spend more time on composition work. Writing assignments at this level are challenging enough that this course could also be used by older students who haven’t yet mastered the skills taught in these lessons. Grading Rubrics are added beginning with this seventh grade course so that parents can actually score the compositions if they so desire.

Grade 8 High School Research, and High School Essay courses will be ready for the 2012-2013 school year. High School Technical Writing and High School Creative Writing courses are expected to be complete midway through the 2012-2013 school year or 2013-2014 school year.

Essentials in Writing courses free up parents’ time by providing the instruction along with worksheets and writing assignments. Courses require little to no preparation time and are very easy to use. The price is very reasonable for courses that include both DVD instruction and the worksheets. Even better, Stephens offers free support via phone or email.

Pricing

$40 per course
$20 each for preprinted workbooks (optional)

Instant Key

  • Suitable for: independent study
    Need for parent/teacher instruction: low to moderate; parents need to evaluate student work and possibly help from time to time
    Prep time needed: none other than having worksheets selected and printed.
    Teacher's manual: N/A
    Educational philosophy: traditional
    Religious perspective: secular but "Christian friendly"

Publisher's Info