To go on to RS 7 or do something else?

[Stirsmommy]

Dd is rapidly coming to the end of RS 6 and I am suddenly unsure if I want to order 7. She is doing fine with the RS. She does well on the tests getting at least a 90 but to me it seems light on writing especially when it doesn't seem that what she is learning is getting translated in to knowledge when it comes to writing. I am thinking that it is time for a writing program but what? IEW? WriteShop? Do I add this to RS or do I need to supplement it with something else or are they all inclusive?
TIA
Melissa

[Tina Duke]

we did R&S from 2nd through 6th (English I mean)... we really liked it. This year (7th) we took a grammar break (have to say that I miss it)... I've decided to use Our Mother Tongue for 8th grade... not sure if I'll spread it out into 9th as well... I'll also be adding in Literature studies for more analytical study and writing. Are you using a writing program as well? We didn't do all of R&S's writing... we used Writing STrands for 6th grade.. this year we are using Jump In by Apologia. I still don't feel like it's enough writing .. it's good for teaching it but he's not doing enough papers in my opinion... so I've added in some writing assignments from Truthquest and Biblioplan... this way he's using what he's learning with Jump In more. I"m also going to let him do a research paper of his choosing (he's decided to research Bionicles and how they began (go figure)... I really feel like it's time to step up the writing process and expect more. We haven't been doing outlining (except where it taught it in R&S).. so we'll be adding that in every couple weeks and an occasional book report...
edited to add: I would keep doing Grammar and add a writing program if I were you...

[MIch elle]

is what we are using this year for grade 8. They make a great combo for us. Read the high school board for my comments on IEW.

[Stirsmommy]

Right now we are doing just the writing from RS and then writings from her history (HO) but no it really isn't cutting it. I am thinking it is time to start writing more with just once a week grammar or something. I just don't know what. We are going to go with a literature curriculum this year and had one picked out and forgot what it is. Maybe it is time to start that and that will give me time to start figuring out the writing and grammar thing.
melissa

[Beth in TN]

You are at the point we were when we switched to another program. I loved R & S, but my dd did not. It was torture for her, so we took it really slow so that she would have success. After the first 2 years we stopped doing the writing assignments and I began using IEW. I didn't find that the grammar she was learning translated to her writing skills. After completing R & S 6 we switched to Analytical Grammar. Once my dd saw the sample videos on their website, she was sold on using the program. It is easy to implement and teaching things once with plenty of review. We have continued to using IEW for writing.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My dd will finish R&S6 in a couple of weeks. I'm going to focus on writing for the rest of the year. I'm looking at IEW and Classical Writing.

I do plan on doing R&S7. We'll see how the writing is going. I might want to alternate writing with grammar in the future, or we might be able to do both simultaneously. I'm playing the wait-and-see game for now.

[Stirsmommy]

I just watched the AG videos and am really considering it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Melissa

[Beth in Central TX]

I plan to use the CW series until we complete it or my sons graduate, whichever comes first. I also plan to continue using R&S Grammar (along with CW) until we finish their 8th grade book. At that point, I'll move my boys into more literature analysis so that they can apply the grammar they've learned all of these years.

[Lori in MS]

I am also changing from R&S to Analytical Grammar next year. We will do IEW for my older children and SWB"S new book for grammar stage.