Take Five! for Language Arts

One of hardest subjects for me to teach is writing, especially creative writing. As a long time homeschooling mom, I appreciate that I don’t know everything about everything.  Two of my children are gifted writers and it has always been a challenge to offer them interesting writing programs, stimulating them to tap into their creative juices. Finding a resource that meets my high expectations is like finding a treasure!

I received Take Five! for Language Arts as an electronic download to review. I knew immediately upon opening the file that I was going to be able to use this with my high school age son AND he was going to enjoy the simple but imaginative assignments.

• The assignments are actually written for practice in critical thinking and just happen to include creative thinking and writing as well. These are not your usual hum-drum writing assignments.  Some of the prompts have you make a list or chart, sometimes you actually do a quick sketch before writing, or some of the prompts build on each other from day to day.
• Each activity is intended to be done in five minutes so they are easily worked into an otherwise busy high school schedule.
• The price is a little high at $23.95 but since the target age group for this book is grades 6 – 12. I could have used this as a resource making it a part of a larger language arts program in middle and high school making it a good investment.
• This book would complement many styles of homeschooling including classical, Charlotte Mason, eclectic, or even unschooling.
• There is just enough variety to make it interesting, leaving the writer wondering what tomorrow’s assignment will be. Yes, anticipation for the next assignment!

Things to note:

1. Sometimes you need more than pencil and paper to complete an activity but never anything you wouldn’t already have in a well-stocked homeschool.
2. I found that Take Five! for Language Arts was really something I needed to be involved in, reading the narrative, prompt, and extensions together with my son. This way we could adapt the assignment if needed or go a little farther if we found it was a “bell ringer” of a topic.
3. I do not assign a score or grade with these assignments. The task is always to complete the prompt, share it, and receive feedback. I think this gives my son a little more freedom to write or create in a way that fits him.
4. There is an index at the back of the book categorizing the prompts by language arts skills involved and I found that to be very helpful. For example, if I was looking for a prompt that used persuasive writing, I could scroll to that section and read down the list of prompts working on that genre of writing.
5. You can download the Table of Contents and a Sample Activity from the publishers website: Maupin House.

My teenage creative writer and I give this program a big thumbs up!

Written by Barb-Harmony Art Mom.  I blog at Harmony Art Mom and am the creator of  Harmony Fine Arts. I would love for you to join us for the Outdoor Hour Challenges at the Handbook of Nature Study.