[Ben Crist]

We’re so excited you’re exploring our new site…and have joined the Writing group! We hope this provides a community for sharing questions, techniques, and resources for writing to support your homeschool.

Reply to this post and introduce yourself, and let’s get started! How could we make this group a useful resource for you?

Feel free to reach out to me at any time about:

• this group,
• technical issues on the site, or
• more information about Grammar for Writers or Creative Writing with Jonathan Rogers.

Sincerely,

Ben Crist

Director of Curriculum And Content

[Austin]

Hey, I’m Austin/Keb, and I’m an aspiring author, song writer, and video game designer. I’ve built a universe where my books and games will take place, and I’m currently writing a book called Oniimark, taking place on the eastern-themed world Orin-Shaya, translating from their old language as “Shaya’s World”.

[Jake]

Austin I am a aspiring author to do you think you can give me tips on world building

[Austin]

Sure! I’ll make a discussion for it.

[Jake]

thanks

[Tricia]

Where do I find the discussion thread mentioned here?

[Ben Crist]

Click “Discussions” near the top of this group (under the picture of the fountain pen) to get to the main threads.

Here is a direct link.

[David]

Hi Ben! I’ve been going through the entire Writing with Jonathan Rogers series this semester and am finishing up today with Writing with the Bog Owl. On Lesson 15, the video stops at timestamp 8:50. I just want to check if this is a technical issue that needs to be fixed on my side.

Thanks!

David

[Ben Crist]

Hi David! Congrats on making it that far. That definitely shouldn’t happen so let me check our source links and re-upload if necessary. I’ll be back in touch.

I’d love to hear more of your thoughts…once you officially finish!

[Ben Crist]

Hmm. I don’t see anything wrong on our end. Can you try logging out, clearing your browser cache, and logging back in? The video should be 19:35 long as in this screenshot. Does the scrollbar show more available and the video just chokes?

[David]

It’s playing through now! Thanks!

[Ben Crist]

Excellent!

[Valerie A]

Hi Ben,

Do you have any suggestions on how to assign grades to the writing exercises for the Writing with Jonathan Rogers series?

Thanks,

Valerie

[Ben Crist]

Hi @valerie-a-easton ,

I’d be happy to help with suggestions. How old is your student, how strong of a writer is he or she, how much time are you devoting to the course content, and how does it fit into the rest of your ‘English’ credit?

Feel free to respond via private message if you prefer.

[Valerie A]

Thanks for your reply. I can’t figure out how to connect with PM.

My child is in 12th grade and is completing all four of the Writing with Jonathan Rogers series this year as we emphasize creative writing. She is a fairly strong writer.

In addition to the creative writing, her English credit this year also includes literature and written narrations (evaluated for grammar, style, and content). She says it usually takes her about an hour or a little over an hour to complete each video and associated writing exercise.

[Valerie A]

Ben, thank you for your reply in my messages. I think I can definitely utilize your suggestions.

At the top of the PM from you it says, “You can no longer send replies to this thread as you are restricted from sending messages to this member.” When I went to your profile page the only option was to “connect” but not to message.

[Ben Crist]

Glad that helped! I am looking into the unexpected messaging behavior; one-sided chats are no fun! 😆

[Andrew]

Hello, I’m Andrew and I’m working on writing a 60-something thousand-word novel in the Sci-Fi genre.

[Ben Crist]

Welcome, Andrew! Love the ambitious project. Who are some of the influences on your work?

[Andrew]

My main influences are Chuck Black and Joel C. Rosenberg. I haven’t come across anything like I’m trying to do though, so I’m kind of reinventing the wheel in my plan.

[Ben Crist]

Go for it!

[Jennifer]

Hi Ben!

I’m very new to Compass Classroom and learning my way around, but have hopes/plan to use a lot on this site to continue homeschooling my twin 10th grade boys. Both are reluctant writers and haven’t done much writing. We/I have tried many curriculums; I want them to be able to learn to write well for whatever they may need to use it for in the future, even if it’s not their ‘passion’. Where would you suggest I start? Is the Grammar for writing a good starting point?

Thanks so much!

[Ben Crist]

Hi Jennifer!

Dr. Rogers does a really good job in Grammar for Writers balancing the ‘rules’ with the practical consideration of presenting your ideas in a clear manner so that others can understand your writing. Having taught 9th/10th composition, most boys want it straight: “sure, this is the rule, but why do I have to do it this way?”

Dr. Rogers—a published author himself—naturally directs students into a more ‘muscular’ style as opposed to a ‘flowery’ style. He focuses on clear subject+verb “main lines.”

The best way to gauge for yourself is to try our sample videos directly in the course here.

Unless I misunderstood you and you are wanting more of a creative writing product.

[Jennifer]

This is great. I just watched the intro for the Grammar for Writers, so good timing. How do we best utilize Compass classroom under the family subscription? Or if there’s another place I should get clarification on this, just let me know. Does each student just download the app and join under the account I created?

Thank you!

[Ben Crist]

Great question. You can do that, but if you want them to be able to mark lessons complete independent of one another, you should set them up with separate accounts by inviting them to your “family”. We have an FAQ page here that explains things a bit more.

Since you are just starting out with our platform, I would love your honest feedback on how it works, how easy it is to use, and whether you like our products. You can send me a direct email ben at compassclassroom.com

[Jennifer]

Thank you so much for the help and direction; I’ll be working on helping them set up their accounts over the weekend!