Write With World - a review

Paul has always loved writing. He was writing stories well in the first grade. Before he could print his letters he would dictate stories to me and I would write them and he would draw pictures. I knew he needed to take his writing to the next level and was debating which program to use to move to a "middle-school level" of writing. We have used some that are super intense and though he liked them at first they quickly became too much for him as well as for me. I knew there was an easier way to get him writing at the next level.


Write with World is a writing program designed for middle-schoolers. The creators of "God's World News" and "WORLD" Magazine have published this writing curriculum to help students become stronger writers, and not just produce the typical 5-paragraph essay. The creators of this curriculum want to teach students "to think and make choices, not just follow a formula. We don't want to tell students always to combine sentences [or] start a new paragraph after five sentences."

"The underlying message is that writing is hard work but it should also bring pleasure: 'Let students compose sentences that are funny.'"

The program is broken down in to Units, Lessons, and then Capsules. There are 4 Units with 4 lessons in each Unit and 4-6 capsules within each lesson. You can do as little as one capsule each day, which is what we do, or you can work through it more quickly if you would like. You can take a look at the complete table of contents on their website.

The capsules are fairly short and don't take a great deal of time but they are full of great information and really teach the child about writing. They also have grammar lessons within the lessons. They are not your typical grammar lessons with 20 sentences that you have to pick out the noun in. Instead the student uses his/her own writings to learn about grammar. Since this is a middle school level program it is assumed that the student has some basic knowledge of grammar. At the end of each capsule there are assignments for the student. Some days the assignment is as simple as writing a list of adjectives to describe a given picture. Other days the assignments are a bit longer and may involve writing a paragraph and eventually move toward writing several paragraphs or an essay.


Paul has enjoyed this program, especially the fact that the lessons are short. The goal is for the children to actually ENJOY writing. And Paul is doing that. Though that is of no shock because Paul has always enjoyed writing. I do think it would be a great program for reluctant writers as well, since the lessons are short, and intended to be a little more fun. Students are encouraged to have fun with what they write. The philosophy of the creators of this program is that typically if we enjoy reading something it's probably true that the writer actually enjoyed writing it. Writing should not be forced, it should be enjoyable.

We reviewed the first year of a two-year program. The program is designed to be used with middle school (6th-8th) students. However, Paul is a 5th grader and it has worked well for him. I think you could even use it with a 4th grader.

"Write With World" is brand-new! In fact we reviewed the pilot materials. The final production version with be printed and available to ship this summer. You can purchase the first year of the program which includes the student book as well as the teacher book for $95. If you would like to purchase both the first and second year books together for $165. When purchasing the curriculum you will also receive access to a website coming in September for users of the curriculum. The site will provide a place for students to publish their work as well as provide parents/teachers with additional writing topics.

Take a look at what other Crew Members have to say on the Homeschool Crew Blog

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this curriculum in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own honest opinion. No other compensation was given for this review.
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