I agreed to support my son's desire, since we both figured that using BetterRhetor would help him gain skills for the long run while framing an essay that might double as the basis for his competitive platform speech this year.
I also hoped College-Ready Writing Essentials™ would offer my son structure, flexibility, and top-notch teaching as he gains more skills to put into his personal writing toolkit. For, while I could help him improve his writing prowess myself, he does not want me to do so.
My son has articulated that this year he would like to learn from the that books he reads, online programs, or "teachers besides Mom". So, I am trying to support that and BetterRhetor is helping me to do so.
What is College-Ready Writing Essentials™?
College-Ready Writing Essentials™ from BetterRhetor is a self-guided online resource with lifetime access that is targeted to high school juniors and seniors and recent high school grads, which can also be helpful for sophomores who would like to run through the program once now and, perhaps, again, as seniors.
The program, developed by William Bryant, PhD, is offered in the form of two paid packages: Full or Premium (with the main difference being that, with the Premium package Dr. Bryant, offers personal essay feedback).
Both packages take you through 25 lessons initially designed to be completed within five weeks. However, with lifetime access to the self-paced platform, families at home can follow the step-by-step instructions to develop a first-rate academic persuasive essay at whatever speed life and learning allow. This is good news for homeschool families like mine that have a child who is young for the program, but desires to try it or for those that have children with special needs or simply have a life that often takes turns which temporarily derail planned studies. (Yes, I am still referring to families like mine.)
With the lifetime access, College-Ready Writing Essentials™ certainly offers flexibility and sound teaching. These are true plusses of what BetterRhetor has to offer in my book!
My Son's Experience
As I said, my son is several years "young" for College-Ready Writing Essentials™, but wanted to give it a go. So, right from the start, we knew he'd take the course at a much slower pace.
He has been doing so, and this is what he has to say:
I saw this and was like 'Yes! more credits!?' (I want to finish high school early.)
For, of course, BetterRhetor gives you credits, but it also teaches you how to write persuasive essays.
Though BetterRhetor is not the most exciting course, it does some things extremely well.
For one, it does not assign you uninteresting topics to write about. Instead, it allows you to choose your own topics - an extremely helpful thing since I am in a speech and debate club.
For another, it does not have you write out multi-paragraph essays for each lesson. Rather, you focus on developing one main essay using an easy step-by-step platform.
Finally, it is concise. It does not use an extensive amount of adjectives to describe a simple and sometimes unnecessary point that no one can use or care about - which is what I sometimes do. Instead, it guides you directly, giving you something concrete to do with each lesson.
I have worked on BetterRhetor consistently and, though I sometimes find myself drifting to other thoughts, I understand that BetterRhetor is a valuable tool toward helping my future. So, I draw my attention back and do the next thing.
That means I need to read and watch the material...
Then, download the next assignment...
and complete it.
This process is challenging for me, because I have an extremely short attention span, that probably, if it were put out on a table, would not even make a few inches, and each lesson takes at least 30 minutes. So, often, I stop a lesson midway and get back to it.
So, I warn you now that BetterRhetor is only for those ready to embark on a long and hard, but rewarding journey. For simple is not always easy.
BetterRhetor is simple to use, but hard to finish. It teaches challenging skills and does it well
As you can see, my son has struggled with stepping up to high school level with his focus and skills, but desires to do so and, thus, persists in his efforts. He has not had a easy time with BetterRhetor and is going through the program much more slowly than a typical student would, but we both agree that the program is a quality one and will be fruitful for him in the long-run as it tpresents
We both recommend the program to any high school level student that needs to level up with writing skills. (There is a 30-day money back guarantee.)
- 25 step-by-step lessons
- targeted exercises and worksheets
- strategies, models, and examples of writing
- links to helpful resources
- a reference sheet of key terms and phrases
- a discussion forum and interactive comments
- a certificate of completion (to prove he's earned that credit he so wants!)
We both recommend the program to any high school level student that needs to level up with writing skills. (There is a 30-day money back guarantee.)
Learn More
Thirty-one Homeschool Review Crew families have had children working on writing using BetterRhetor. Read about their experiences moving towards student success with college readiness and academic writing.
