Learn The Habits of Great Writers with Silverdale Press {Curriculum Review}

Join me as I review Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers from Silverdale Press LLC.

Writing has become one of those aspects of education that I am really striving to improve with my children. Teaching great writing can happen in many ways, and last year I began working to ensure I was surrounding my children with the items they needed to harness their inner writer to become great writers.

It hasn’t always been an easy task. Yet, we kept going. In fact, I set out expecting many hiccups along the way because they are simply part of the journey – part of the process.

See, one thing I have learned is that becoming a good writer doesn’t just happen overnight. And good pieces of writing don’t just happen either. Both need to be cultivated, allowed to grow and bloom. Free to fail and start over. They need to be surrounded with opportunities to write, tools to write with, and materials from which to draw inspiration.

Thankfully, what I have found, is that Silverdale Press LLC also approaches writing in this way. In fact, even though the Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers course is geared towards high school students, I found myself completely engrossed in the material.

But First, A Little Convincing

As much as I am passionate about teaching my writing, my oldest son is, well, not. He has not found his voice yet and because of that, he has struggled with writing. We’ve tried a lot, but we have yet to find what works.

However, we have learned that he is a fabulous story-teller so there’s still hope!

When I first talked to him about reviewing this material he was less than impressed with me. Yet, I asked him to try. To simply commit to the review period. Then, we could reevaluate the curriculum and see if it fit into our plans.

That short-term commitment was one he could agree with – so I set off to print.

Getting Started

I’ll admit, I love new curriculum. I love looking at it and checking it out. I love all the possibilities a new one comes with.

This one did not disappoint! The full Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers curriculum is made up of three parts – the lesson book, the reader, and the workbook – plus the answer key is also included. Each one is packed with everything your child needs to complete the series, learn the habits, and succeed.

Better still, it’s written to be used independently by the student. In fact, unless you are reviewing the weekly writing assignments or there is a particularly challenging question, your student should be able to work the 36-week program without needing a lot of guidance from you at all.

The Three Habits of Great Writers

The biggest draw this curriculum had for me was what they called the “Three Habits of Great Writers.” These three habits resonated with me so much that I knew I not only needed to know more, I needed to check this curriculum out for myself.

As outlined in the beginning of the lesson book, great writers do three things: they write, they read, and they think. This may seem a tad elementary to you and yes, the idea is quite simple. Yet, this is the framework of the whole curriculum.

Each week your student is given the opportunity to read about great writers and read great writing. My son had the opportunity to learn about Patrick Henry, John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, and Wendell Berry. He was able to read some of the great writings by these men including the Liberty or Death Speech (1775), the Rice Stadium Speech (1962), and the We Shall Fight On the Beaches Speech (1940).

And this was just in the first four weeks!

In these first weeks, my son was given the opportunity to read great examples of writing from history. Not only that, he was taught about the elements that made that writing great. Elements such as rhetoric and its purpose, creating habits that allow you to cultivate your own writing, the need for invention, how to use claim and appeals, the importance of proper research and how to identify a debatable subject.

A Wonderful Addition

In addition to easily laid out lessons, great examples of writing to inspire your student, and questions designed to get their brain thinking about what they are learning you will also find a section called, “Profiles in Rhetoric.” These profiles are designed to help the student understand the person behind the writing. They help your student understand why the writer took the stance they did. Why the wrote the piece they wrote.

Historically accurate, and quite intriguing, I found myself contemplating all sorts of ways to adapt this program. To use the profiles in addition to the writings to show history and make it relevant. To make our history align with the writing material and lessons. As a homeschooler, I love combining subjects! Not only does it makes my role easier, it also helps to cement the learning.

My Sons’ Honest Thoughts

One of the best things about reviewing a curriculum with an older student is the opportunity to have them give feedback. To let them assess the program as a student. While my younger children can certainly tell me if they liked a particular program or not, the older ones can dig deeper. They can use reasoning and critical thinking skills to not only tell me if they liked working with this company, if they enjoyed the material, and if they thought it worked the way it was advertised. They can look beyond a simple like or dislike and offer constructive criticism in a way the younger kids cannot.

While he did not love this particular program, it was not because of the curriculum. As he puts it, he just doesn’t care for writing. He did, however, think the material was presented in a way that was easy to understand and apply. The lessons, written to be used independently, were simple enough for him to use yet challenging enough to push him to improve.

Better yet, he does feel that his writing improved over the few weeks we worked with Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers, and as the teacher and parent I agree. Over the course of the four weeks, I could see that he was applying the lessons that were taught in his writing.

He also enjoyed the format of the program. Each week follows a consistent pattern and a week’s worth of lessons is just four days. This is perfect for homeschoolers who follow a four-day school week. Or, you could use the last day for review or catching-up if you missed a day.

Looking Forward

For the immediate future, we have decided to pause on using this program. However, we are saving it for down the road. This is definitely something I want to see my son working on as part of his high school curriculum. While we were able to complete the introduction section of the program and begin working on invention, there is a lot more material available. As a complete writing course, this program covers elements such as research, formulating a persuasive argument, how to properly arrange your writing for effective use, emotional and ethical appeals, refuting potential claims against your writing, developing style, and much more.

Yet, even with all of the teaching available and all of the lessons, the one biggest reason I want to come back to this program in the future is the fact that this program leaves ample room for creativity within the writing process. So often writing programs are so strict and stringent in their rules it can take the joy out of collecting your thoughts and presenting them. Writing often becomes boring, dry, and passionless, which to me, are the opposite of the purpose of writing.

If you are looking for a writing course for your high school student then check out the Persuasive Writing & Classical Rhetoric: Practicing the Habits of Great Writers program from Silverdale Press LLC for yourself.

You can read more Silverdale Press LLC reviews, including the White House Holidays Unit Studies for grades k-8, here!