A Curriculum that Works for Us ~ Draw Write Now

We love the series Draw Write Now. There are eight books in the program. I used this curriculum for my (now grown) homeschooled son and he loved it. Our oldest daughter, Goldilocks, used it for independent study last year. She really liked seeing her notebook grow with more drawings each day . Now, I am using it again for Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Sawyer. I am starting this program a bit late with them. We just couldn't consistently prioritize it before now. This program will help repair some printing mistakes the kids developed over the years that will make cursive more difficult to learn. I plan on running them through all eight books without stopping and then moving them to Draw and Write Through History (which is cursive).

What we love about it ~ 

• The step-by-step instructions help the most challenged drawer to succeed. The instructions are given in little tiny bites.
• The copy work gives just a few sentences of facts that are easy to copy.
• Each lesson comes with a question about the drawing to help pique the curiosity of the child and to enhance learning opportunities.
• Each book has a theme, such as Farms and Story Book Characters, The Polar Regions, The United States, etc.
• The back of the book has some great teaching tips for helping kids form letters correctly.

How we use it ~

Tom Sawyer and Little Red Riding Hood have been exposed to this curriculum for years. I often pulled it out to have them draw and write about a particular thing that went with whatever we were studying. Now we are doing one new lesson each day in order, starting with the first book. The kids draw the step-by-step picture and then do the copy work. Next, they color their drawing and draw in a landscape. To finish, they personalize their drawing by adding quotes, jokes or any other extra details. This takes them about 15 minutes each morning and is an enjoyable, gentle way to get our school day underway.

I want to share some of the things that have worked for us over the last 16+ years, so I'm hoping to write weekly about what curricula we are using. 

Blessings, Dawn