I think it is about time for me to share a bit more about the new guide!
For this sneak peek, I've chosen to share our thoughts on an area that I know can be one of great worry and concern as your kiddos head into the upper grades! 
Composition and writing...This is why we've chosen to use Write with the Best II for Missions to Modern Marvels.
Write with the Best II lays a strong foundation in the composition skills needed to be successful in high school and beyond. The program says it is suitable for grades 6-12, but with the rigor of the included examples in WWTB II and the focus of the lessons, we feel it is best suited for grades 7 on up. The units included in the program are as follows: Writing Poetry
Writing a Business Letter
Taking Notes - Writing Outlines - Writing Summaries
Writing Essays - Persuasive and Expository
Writing a Literary Critique and a Book Review
Writing a Newspaper Article
Writing a Speech
Writing a Dramatic Monologue
We will be omitting several of the units to keep the program in balance with the rest of the writing that we will be requiring across the curriculum in MTMM.
The units to be omitted are Writing Poetry (which we have covered very well throughout HOD and Rod and Staff), Writing a Business Letter (which is also well-covered through Rod and Staff), and Writing a Dramatic Monologue (which we feel is more of a high school level assignment). Link to See Inside: http://www.edudps.com/WRITE-WITH-THE-BEST-Vol-2.pdfWrite with the Best will be scheduled twice weekly. In addition DITHR will be scheduled 3 times a week, dictation will be scheduled 3 times a week, and Rod and Staff will be scheduled daily (with the goal of completing English 6 by the end of MTMM).
For those student who are in high school, we will recommend doing Rod and Staff 7 and 8 at half-speed through high school in order to get through level 8 by graduation. Dictation goes through Level 8, which we will encourage all students to complete (however many years that takes them). This means that some students will still be doing dictation throughout high school to accomplish this goal, while others will be done earlier. To give you an idea of how well prepared students who use Write with the Best will be for high school/college, I'll share a personal story that will hopefully encourage you from my older sister and her family. First a little background for the story... My older sister has a journalism degree and a degree to teach literature, composition, and grammar at the secondary level. She was a high school teacher in those areas for several years before homeschooling her own kiddos. She has 7 kiddos. At my recommendation years ago, she used both Write with the Best 1 and 2 with her own two oldest kiddos (who were homeschooled all the way up until high school). Her oldest two were very well-prepared for high school and did outstanding in composition and grammar (according to their public school teachers). Assignments for her son's sophomore year of composition at the public high school were almost an identical mirror to the topics we'll be covering in WWTB II. Both of my sister's kiddos scored off the charts in their SAT's in these areas, as well as graduating second in their classes of 645 kiddos each. Her daughter headed to college to be a technical writer. Her son is currently in college studying to be an egineer. Both said very little actual instruction was ever given to them on "how" to write these types of composition assignments during their high school years, but rather that the various types of writing were just assigned. Her kiddos used the "How-To" sheets from WWTBII to help them with their assignments and were so thankful to have had that instruction previously.
I share this not to point out how wonderful my sister's kids have done, but rather to give you assurance that these writing topics and lessons are great preparation for high school/college no matter what your child's educational path turns out to be. The Lord definitely gifts each child individually, so likely not all kiddos are destined to become terrific writers. However, all kiddos will be prepared and have the tools in place needed for good writing through using the combination of resources we will be scheduling in this area in MTMM.
We desire to prepare kiddos to answer whatever call the Lord has for their lives. We feel that the written word is so important, otherwise the Lord would never have chosen to convey Himself to us in His Word. This is why we have taken such care to design a balanced composition and language arts path that we feel will prepare your child well in this area without overwhelming him/her. Blessings,
Carrie
I'm excited to being using the second volume in the new guide.
I loved WWTB I in CTC last year and I look forward to doing WWTB II in MtMM. Wonderful choice, as usual!