Writing is one of the most important skills a student will ever learn. It affects how they communicate, how they think, how they perform academically, and eventually, how they function in college, careers, and everyday life. Yet for many students, writing is also one of the most frustrating subjects. They stare at a blank page….
Essential Conversations
This blog is devoted to all aspects of writing, literature, and teaching. We are excited to partner with you on your homeschool journey and provide you with helpful and quality content in our blog posts.
Discover why Essentials in Writing’s systematic approach, standards-based Scope and Sequence, and Alternative Instructional Strategies help struggling, reluctant, advanced, and neurodiverse students become confident writers.
The Best Writing Curriculum Doesn’t Just Teach Students What to Write—It Teaches Them How to Think, How to Build, and How to Become Better Writers A student can memorize grammar rules and still struggle to write. A student can complete worksheets and still not understand how to organize an essay. A student can know what…
The Great Education Myth: Why Gen Z Isn’t the “Most Educated Generation Ever”—and How Critical Thinking + Real Writing Skills Can Save the Next Wave
Search engines and social feeds still push the comforting headline: Gen Z is the most educated generation in history. College enrollment rates are higher. High school completion is up. More young people hold credentials than any prior cohort. On paper it looks impressive. In practice, the claim collapses under scrutiny. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/u-spent-30-billion-ditch-110200869.html?guccounter=1 Standardized measures of cognitive…
Parents Want Education, Not Politics: Why More Families Are Choosing Essentials in Writing Homeschool Writing and Literature Curricula
Parents from every background share one common goal: they want their children to receive an excellent education. Regardless of political beliefs, most families want schools to prioritize reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, and the skills students need to become capable adults. Increasingly, however, many parents believe classrooms are spending more time on social, cultural, and…
Why AI Homeschool Programs Are a Terrible Idea (Critical Thinking Cannot Be Automated)
Artificial intelligence is changing education at an astonishing pace. Students can ask AI to write essays, solve math problems, summarize books, answer questions, and even complete entire assignments within seconds. It sounds impressive. But there’s one enormous problem: AI can generate answers. It cannot teach children how to think. For homeschool families, that’s a distinction…
Why Thousands of Homeschool Families Are Switching to Neurodiverse-Friendly Writing Curriculum (And Why Reluctant Writers Are Finally Succeeding): Modern Homeschool
For years, homeschooling parents have searched for one answer: “Why does my child hate writing?” It’s one of the most common questions asked in homeschooling forums, Facebook groups, Reddit communities, and co-ops. The answer usually isn’t that children dislike writing. It’s that they’ve never been taught how to write in a way their brains naturally…







