Teach Your Teen Writing

Homeschooling middle and high school doesn’t need to be scary! If you ask me, it’s actually really fun. :) But you don’t need to feel guilty for outsourcing some of it. There are many resources, online programs, and curricula that you could use to help you teach any subject that you don’t feel confident in – including writing! I’ll also give you my recommendations for middle school writing curriculum as well as high school writing curriculum and resources we’ve used and loved. So let’s talk about how to teach your teen writing!

Do I need to be an expert to teach writing?

No!

You don’t have to be an expert at all. You just need to give your kids the opportunities and provide the resources. If you don’t know how to teach your child to write a biography, you can find a curriculum or a printable pack to help you. If you don’t know all the grammar rules, consult a resource book. Everyone can support their child as they learn how to write. You definitely don’t need to be an expert.

What type of writing should my teen learn?

There are many types of writing that your teen can – and should – learn. These are just a few:

• persuasive
• fiction
• biographies
• poetry
• expository (informative)
• letters

While your teen should learn all types of writing, it’s important that your child writes things they enjoy too! If all you do in your homeschool is have your child write non-fiction essays and reports, but they aren’t interested in that writing at all, you are doing your child a huge disservice. Kids learn so much more when they actually enjoy what they’re studying. So make sure that you balance the things you have to do with the things they want to do.

The type of writing your teen learns may also depend on their career goals. If your child wants to go to college, they will need to learn to write research papers. If they want to be an engineer, they will need to learn technical writing. If your child wants to be an author, they can explore whatever type of writing they like. ;)

But no matter what career your child chooses, being able to communicate well is a valuable and needed skill. Whether writing an email to a client, a letter to the city, or a report for the CEO of your company, writing is part of nearly every job or just everyday life!

Best resources to teach your teen writing

Read, Think, Write

As my kids started getting into the middle and high school years, we’ve tried out a few language arts programs. But all of them felt very rigid, most were worksheet based, and none of them allowed kids to choose the books they wanted to read. So I created a language arts program, for fiction and non-fiction books, that incorporates all types of writing, doesn’t use worksheets, and lets kids pick the books they want to read (or you can choose books too).

The Read, Think, Write program includes 100+ activity cards to choose from, giving kids multiple ways to respond to books they’re reading – through different forms of writing (including research papers/reports if you chose to do so), art, drama, graphic design, and more. The activity cards can also be used as discussion prompts to practice narrations or just have good conversations about books! Your middle and high school kids will be challenged to think critically about and analyze literature, not just answer comprehension questions.

You can see a walkthrough of the Read, Think, Write program in this video at 21:32.

Young Writer’s Workshop

My two oldest boys (who are currently 16 and 14) have both gone through the YWW program, and it has been incredibly impactful! My oldest has gone from a basic enjoyment of writing to spending nearly all his free time writing novels, researching plot lines, and studying the art of writing. This program has definitely made him into a writer!

The Young Writer’s Workshop program has monthly courses to teach new skills, gives kids opportunities to get their writing questions answered, and provides lessons from experts – published authors! They have a fiction or non-fiction track, and you can upgrade to the academic track for high school creative writing or non-fiction writing credit. They even a program that takes the place of college or as a gap year program for young adults who are interested in pursuing writing as a profession!

The Young Writer’s Workshop is a subscription based program. We were gifted access to this program originally, but have paid for continued access, because my older boys have enjoyed it and learned so much.

My oldest did a year of the academic program, and it impacted his writing skills so much. YWW is his favorite thing he does in his homeschool day. I have been so impressed with this program, and can confidently and highly recommend it!

Write Your Own book series

My middle schoolers love the Write Your Own book series:

• Write and Draw Your Own Comic Books
• Write Your Own Poems
• Write Your Own Scripts
• Write and Design Your Own Magazines
• Write Your Own Story Word Book

Picture Books

Picture books are an excellent way to teach grammar, sentence structure, and literary concepts – even in the older years! Paragraphs & Picture Books is a collection of family-style lessons that do exactly that! It’s designed to teach multiple ages at the same time, so your older kids can use it alongside your littles. If you just have big kids, you have an excuse to pull the picture books out again!

Resource Books

Here are a few of my favorite resource books for middle and high school:

• Writer’s Inc. – this is my favorite resource for high school writing – make sure you look for a used copy, as they are much less expensive!
• Checking Your Grammar – this is a great resource for middle schoolers
• Word of the Day – any word of the day calendar or book is a great addition to your teen’s language arts program, as it expands their vocabulary

Brave Writer

The Brave Writer program has both online and at-home options; we’ve tried a couple of their home-based programs, and while they didn’t end up being a great fit for us, I do really love the Brave Writer philosophy. This is not a worksheet-based program, and it invites more discussion and critical thinking than other writing programs.

Printable resources for writing: