Writing and grammar adjustments

Since Brother Brass does SO WELL with his subjects in which the BJU teacher, Mrs. Vick, teaches him online, I've decided to have him do their 8th grade grammar/writing course as well.  It's only a semester-long course, which will allow for me to have some wiggle room concerning working more on his writing skills.  I was going to ditch grammar altogether for this year, in an effort to accomplish this goal, but I think he still needs it. The program we were currently using, ACE, is a full English curriculum, and is very thorough.  However, I want him doing a little more with writing for this year in order to rev it up for high school which is fast approaching.  I'm hoping BJU will provide what I'm looking for in terms of more consistent writing projects in addition to our other writing curriculm, which entails Hands On Essays http://www.handsonessays.com/  and Wordsmith http://www.commonsensepress.com/ .  When I reflect upon some of the best writing that Brother Brass has accomplished in his past, it was during his 4th grade year, when he used BJU's English DVD teacher.  I'm hoping it will still have the same effect on him, now that he's in 8th.  There's just something about that Mrs. Vick...maybe it's because she's ALWAYS so patient and gentle with him. 

In the meantime, he has just completed his first full official 5 paragraph expository essay.  HOE also includes a video teacher with very short, creative lessons that really helps the kids to get a sense of the 5 paragraph essay flow.  He's still working on being more creative with his wording and complex sentence structure, but at least he's beginning to really sense the flow and structure of writing.  Next he will do a descriptive essay.  He is starting to figure out that the more he writes regularly, getting more practice time in with bite-sized chunks, the easier it gets.  This is why I think he needs a more consistent writing program that will have him writing something meaningful all the time, rather than only when writing is scheduled into the English program. 

All I can say is...God bless Mrs. Vick and the other video teachers that we bring into our home to help us educate our children!  They have been such a blessing to our homeschool off and on over the years, and I have never regreted the times that we have used them.  Some may think they are too pricey, and I totally understand the need to put food on the table as a priority, but I guess I see it as being cheaper than a private Christian school, a personal tutor, or a couple of car payments...or some of the other frivilous, temporal things that we humans sometimes spend our money on.  I guess I see our children's education as an investment that has eternal value (not that it's *necessary* to spend a fortune, mind you), which leads to the reasons why we homeschool...but that's another post.  During this season of thanksgiving, I'm just very thankful for all of the tools that are out there to make home education doable for almost anyone and everyone.