Book Review: Keys for Writers

This is my best friend. Okay, maybe not my best friend but I find it to be a valuable resource that I keep close by my desk.


Keys for Writers

One of my older children used it in a college writing class and they passed it along to me to use with Mr. A and Mr. B. It looks like there are lots and lots of used copies of this book at a reasonable price...it is the only way I would make the purchase. :)

If you click over to this document, page three has a table of contents to preview:
Keys for Writers.

I use this in several ways.

• We used the section on Common Sentence Problems to troubleshoot things that come up with our daily writing. I would plan one of the listed problems a week to go over with the boys. For instance: What is the difference between who and whom? When do you use lie or lay? These are the sorts of things that are nice to refresh in our memory from time to time.
• We used the section on MLA format to write our research reports this past term. There is information on how to note works cited and then sample documents to look at.
• We use the section on punctuation as a reference when we need a quick answer as we write. I find this to be a concise guide to punctuation and I use it when I am editing writing assignments.
• There is a section on plagiarism that I share with the boys each year. I know my boys do not knowingly plagiarize as they write but it helps to spell out what exactly it is so they can avoid doing it without knowing.

This book has so much more to offer. Our family has used it over and over. I expect to continue using it all through our high school years.