Any Child Can Write

Rating:
Summary: A great addition to the home library
Review: As a home schooler of seven plus years, we have been using the suggestions and ideas in this book for the past couple of years and have found them most effective. Our children enjoy the activities and I have noticed an improvement in their writing skills which I am sure is due, in part, to these activities. The book itself is a very easy read and I would highly recommend this book to anyone. It's a great resource for those just beginning home schooling and, for those already established, provides some new ideas to add to their programme. For those not home schooling it will assist parents who are eager to help their children improve their writing skills. Well done Mr Wiener and thank you!

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful addition to the home library...
Review: As a homeschooling mother, this book has been a great addition to our home library. It's not one of those books that I spent money on just to have it sit on my bookshelf taking up precious space. The simple exercises and helpful ideas have become the backbone of our home writing program. This book is much less expensive than investing big money in a complete writing curriculum. The ideas in this book would also provide easy supplemental writing activities for parents to do with non-homeschooled children, as well.

Rating:
Summary: Great Writing Advice and Ideas
Review: Descriptive, creative expression is the focus of Wiener's book. He gives many concrete examples of how to improve the quality of one's writing. This book is full of fun activities to encourage lively, precise writing--yet it has none of those ghastly, contrived writing assignments.

Instead the author states: "A better synonym for creative writing is 'autobiography.' Those countless moments in an individual's life--brief, intense stretches of time--stud a child's day and glitter in his mind like diamonds long after the moments pass. By recalling those moments of experience through sensory language--specific, exact, sharply drawn--the young writer can practice the vital skills of writing. ...you should mine the riches of experiences in every child's world, riches for the pen or pencil to transform into record."

My children refer to the lists of tips I copied from "Any Child Can Write" as they write about their experiences, or a book they read, or a painting they studied. The lists help them write a description of a place or person or event. They also use more descriptive vocabulary as they write about a photo to place in their scrapbook. We find our writing has improved from our time with Mr. Wiener.

Rating:
Summary: Typical dumbing-down example
Review: Despite the fact that the author styles himself an expert in the field of educating children, this book is a clear example of the dumbing-down of education in America. The author suggests that parents can stimulate writing in their children by giving them examples to follow. What are the examples he gives? Doing shopping lists and crossword puzzles. The writing samples he gives are atrocious, but they are supposed to express the individual creativity of the child. By the way, I found several examples of grammatical errors. As a professional writer myself, I recommend you stay away from this book. I recommend "The Writing Road to Reading" by Romalda Spaulding as a good alternative.

Rating:
Summary: I wouldn't suggest this book
Review: I recently bought this book, and then promptly returned it. The opening line of the preface is an unclear, run-on sentence, which concerned me right from the start, and the book is generally overwritten, devoid of proper punctuation, and repetitive. As a result, I feel that using this book to teach writing might be like getting your cat to teach you how to swim. My family did have fun suggesting alternative titles before settling on "Any Child Can Write As Well As Me Do".