Online writing/grammar class for rising 5th grader

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have an online class that they like for writing and grammar enrichment for this summer?

My son is currently a 4th grader. He reads very well and has a strong vocabulary but his writing (sentence structure, paragraph organization, etc) is well below grade level.

He is embarrassed by this and asked me to arrange for some tutoring this summer and I don’t know where to start. Friends say to try Outschool and I’m finding classes for budding novelists, but not much for kids who just need help with the basics.

He will be in camp most of the summer so ideally we’d find something he could do about 2x/week in the evenings. He even says that he’d be happy to do homework so I think a “boring” (traditional) curriculum would be fine.

If anyone has suggestions for an online class that focuses on the nuts and bolts of writing, I’d really appreciate them!

Ps—I tried teaching him myself and he was willing but I’m not a trained teacher and it just didn’t click for him.

[Anonymous]

Try "No Red Ink." Schools use it, but you can sign up for a parent account: https://noredink.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203729905-Using-NoRedInk-as-a-parent-or-homeschool-teacher

[Anonymous]

Have you discussed with his teacher getting extra help at school? If he is running behind I would think it’s their responsibility to help him catch up.

Why would he be embarrassed? At this age students are all over the place in terms of where they are academically.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks to the person who suggested "No Red Ink"! I will check it out.

And to the pp at 21:29: The school is unhelpful and they say he has to fall below 10th percentile for them to consider providing extra support. Rather than continuing to fight them, I'd rather just pay for the outside tutoring.

If anyone else has suggestions, I'd appreciate them!

[Anonymous]

Buy the book The Writing Revolution and you can teach him yourself.

[Anonymous]

There is a terrific and fun site called Night Zookeeper that encourages kids to write in a very creative way.

[Anonymous]

Outschool would be great for this

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the Night Zoo and Writing Revolution ideas. They look great!

[Anonymous]

I didn't like night zoo...too many games, not enough work. We use IEW-- they have classes and certified tutors. I send my kid to public school but consider the weekly tutoring and homework to be her true writong instruction which her mcps school has been abysmal at.