Time4Writing is an online, one-to-one writing programme with a certified teacher giving live feedback.
The courses are divided into eight weeks and each week contains a number of assignments (typically 15 mins). Your child can either read or listen to their lesson. There are interactive quizzes which are graded automatically so your student receives instant feedback on their work. The writing assignments are graded by the teacher, usually within 24 hours (except weekends), with personalised feedback on their writing in the form of comments, any improvements that could be made and grades. The teacher also provides support and is available to answer any questions they have.
The assignment instructions were easy to understand, and Rose was able to do most of the assignments without any help from me. Each time the teacher graded an assignment, I received an email, so I could log in and check her progress. Of course, I can always log in to check, but it was nice to get an email reminder.
Time4writing have a number of courses available and provide a course placement tool to help determine the correct level for your child. They also have some amazing free resources on their writing resources page.
Rose is part way through an 8 week course entitled Essay Exploration - this is an elementary course on essay writing. As an aspiring writer, Rose has loved this course. She has written an expository paragraph about fridges, a persuasive paragraph about the benefits of winter and is currently learning about vivid verbs.
She has loved all the different elements of the course and getting graded work back has really boosted her confidence in her writing skills. She does get a bit frustrated when she makes a mistake and has to wait for it to be re-graded before she can move onto the next assignment, more because she is so eager to progress than anything else.
I loved seeing how her writing has improved and having a third party give input into how she writes has made a real difference. I have really enjoyed seeing her expand her skills by picking unusual topics for her writing assignments and her excitement when she aces an exercise. So far this has been an amazing programme and is definitely something we will explore further as she grows. Being confined to a time frame of 8 weeks is a bit frustrating as life doesn't always allow for strict time frames (we are currently in the middle of a house move so Internet connection is fun).
The courses are targeted at elementary through high school and are priced at $99. Although this is fairly expensive it does come with a 14 money back / change the course offer.
You can see what my crewmates thought at the TOS Blog
Disclaimer: I was provided with a free 8 week course so I could provide an open and honest review.
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