Great Source Write Away: Handbook Grade 2 (Write Source 2000 Revision)

This book is a wonderful resource for parents wanting to help their children learn and practice how to write. There are different sections on how to write, the forms of writing, the things we use to learn, a proofreader's guide, and a small almanac section. The pictures are fun and the book is formatted in a way that is easy to read, but not too distracting for children. It is a fun book to look at! It is written at a second grade level and would be perfect for 2nd or 3rd graders, but if your first grader really loves to write, they might like it. Write One is the similar book for first graders, which I would also recommend. It is more appropriate for 1st graders. I know this book will be very handy next year when my daughter is in second grade.

My children were very inspired by this book when we used it last year in our home-education curriculum for 1st and 3rd grade. Write Away is written on a second grade reading level, with language that draws the kids in, and gets them interested enough to read on. It starts with a four chapter section on the process of writing, where it covers such fundamentals as pre-writing and drafting, revising and checking, and sentences and paragraphs. The second section covers various forms of writing with an introduction to each new form of writing, and then an example, using a cartoon student for your child to identify with as the "author", and finally, a step by step guide for your child to walk through as they try their hand at it. The third section of the book is entitled, "Tools of Learning", and concisely covers basic reading skills, introduces ideas about speaking and listening, and basically gets a student's feet wet with new terms and ideas such as "getting organised", "working in groups", and "taking tests". Next, there is a section on proofreading, followed by a student almanac. All in all, it's a simple, yet thorough coverage of writing concepts for the young elementary aged student. My children and I spent most of our time enjoying the Forms of Writing section. They loved the easy to understand, friendly language, and had fun trying all the different forms presented, there favourite was the "circle story". I was very impressed with this book, simply because my children learned a lot, and had fun doing it. I'll be using it again next year with my second grader.

This is one of the best all around resource books for younger elementary children that I have ever come across. It covers many areas in many subjects in the simplest way possible. My granddaughter uses it for all of her classes and she is home schooled.