I recommend that families use a comprehensive writing program alongside EWS at least through Level F (US grade 5).
EWS is a world literature curriculum, not an all-in-one language arts program. While it does teach prewriting and writing skills explicitly, students at all levels need to practice those skills on a daily basis, with varied subject matter, not just during their literature lessons.
Young students benefit from regular practice in narration, copywork, and dictation to prepare them for academic writing in the later grades. Writing with Ease provides this practice in an open-and-go format, making it the perfect complement to EWS in grades 1-2.
Students in grades 3-5 also benefit from the explicit instruction and practice a dedicated writing curriculum provides. I recommend Write By Number, a K-12 mastery-based writing curriculum that allows families to tailor writing instruction to the student’s level. A less expensive alternative is Sprouts: A Gentle Writing System, which integrates strategies from The Writing Revolution and can be used with students ages 7-11. Both of these programs are designed to be paired with the content your student is learning in social studies, science, and other subjects, so they can practice writing across the curriculum.
If students have successfully followed this curricular progression from K-5 and are comfortable writing informational and expository paragraphs in all the major content areas, they may be able to dispense with a separate writing curriculum and learn essay-writing with the advanced levels of EWS.
There are, however, two circumstances in which a student at this level might still want or need a dedicated writing program in addition to EWS:
(1) The student needs continued support in sentence- and paragraph-level composition, in which case I recommend WBN or Sprouts along with Stone Soup Press writing supplements.
(2) The student is an able writer, ready to delve into specialized academic writing tasks. Here I recommend Writing with Skill, which can be used in grades 7-10.
Copyright 2025 by Drew Campbell, Ph.D. All rights reserved.
Drew Campbell, Ph.D., has worked in education since the 1980s and holds degrees in German literature and language from Bennington College and Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Campbell is the author of Living Memory, I Speak Latin, and Exploring the World through Story, and co-author of How to Homeschool the Kids You Have. A former homeschooling parent, classroom teacher, and school administrator, she now works as an independent curriculum developer at Stone Soup Press.