Enroll in Live Course
Need help enrolling?
Watch our video tutorial.
- Thumbnail
-
- Course name
-
SIMPLIFIED WRITING FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL 3: Writing the Excellent Essay (MS 7/8-3)-Wednesday at 10:00 AM ET
- Summary
-
In this advanced-level essay writing course for middle school students, help your student master essay writing with advanced concepts leading the student into high school writing. Taking the concepts learned in the 7/8-1 and 7/8-2 courses, the successful student finishing this course has the tools and is ready for successful high school essay writing. Take the 7/8-4 course with this course to gain a full semester’s credit for writing.
Course Instructor: Natalie Schira
Course Grader: Ryan Starrett
Course Description: It’s time to help your student dive into longer essays and advanced writing concepts! In this course, your student will take the skills learned in the Simplified Writing 1 and 2 courses (7/8-1 and 7/8-2) to write short essays, receiving specific feedback and coaching regarding how your student’s writing can improve. Your student will go through the start-to-finish process of creating an academic essay, with specific instruction regarding the use of strong rhetoric, diction, and syntax (words and order). While previous classes taught the “how and why” of writing skills (with first-time introductions to ideas), this course gives your student critical practice – under the tutelage of a teacher and professional writer – to prepare for high school writing and beyond.
©2017-2026 Homeschool Connections and Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA (aka author Erin Brown Conroy/E. B. Conroy) All rights reserved.
This course is designed by Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA.
This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment) and in violation of US and International copyright laws.
You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.
Technical Help: If you experience technical difficulty with watching the recorded classes or have a question about course content, please email us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com. Class 1: Types of essays – an introduction to rhetoric and choosing an essay topic
Class 2: Narrowing topics (from last class); brainstorming content for your topic and creating the thesis statement
Class 3: Analyzing and improving thesis statements (from last class); creating outlines
Class 4: Analyzing and improving outlines (from last class); creating introductions
Class 5: Creating rough drafts
Class 6: Revising the essay
Class 7: Editing the essay
Class 8: Formatting for the academic essay; an introduction to style guides
Materials are provided FREE within the course.
- Course name
-
SIMPLIFIED WRITING FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL 3: Writing the Excellent Essay (MS 7/8-3)-Wednesday at 10:00 AM ET
- Instructors
-
Ryan Starrett, MA, ThM, MTS, Natalie Meyer Schira
- Semester
-
Spring 2026
- Category
-
Writing ➤ 7/8 Series: Simplified Writing
- Grade levels
-
Middle School
- Editors
-
Aubrey Heki, Sharon Hamric-Weis, Bonnie Donlon, Erin M. Brown, MA, MFA, Donna Graziose, Gracie Maimone, BA, Daniel Massett
- Monitor
-
Kristy Kordsmeier
- Start time
-
January 7th, 2026 at 10:00 AM ET
- Course type
-
Live
- Price
-
$209
- Seats available
-
25 seats available
- Seats remaining
-
17 seats remaining
- Relative due dates
- Enhanced quiz security
- Enhanced assignment security
Total classes
Class dates
Starting time
Duration
Prerequisites
Registration in Simplified Writing for Middle School 2: Introduction to Essays & Papers I (MS 7/8-2). If your student is unable to take the previous courses LIVE, then at a minimum, he or she can watch the recordings on Unlimited Access before taking this course. An alternative to the prerequisite: a passing assessment from the Aquinas Writing Advantage Assessment service. Please contact homeschoolconnections@gmail.com for any questions on permissions.
Suggested grade level
Suggested credit
Outline
Course Outline:
Materials
Homework
LIVE and Instructor Access students will have weekly writing assignments with grading and direct feedback from the instructor (parents will grade Recorded students’ work). Estimated three (3) to five (5) hours per week for homework outside of class time, depending on the student’s ability.
Note: All student work needs to be 100% the student's own work and the student's own writing. Nothing can be copied from anywhere else unless a source for the text is given on the assignment. Any students who copy work from elsewhere will receive a zero on the assignment. Repeated copying will result in failure of the course.
Fees
Fee: $189 if you register on or before November 15. $209 after November 15 for all 8 classes. if you register after November 15. (Registration closes one week before the first day of class. After that date, registrations are not guaranteed. There is a $25 surcharge for late enrollments after the course is closed.)
Natalie Meyer Schira
n.schira.hsc@gmail.com
Miss Natalie Meyer Schira, BA, proudly serves as a teacher of middle school English and writing. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College Notre Dame in 2012 with a major in English Literature and a minor in secondary education.
Since then, Miss Schira has dedicated herself to Catholic education, joyfully serving nine years teaching English in a Catholic high school in Iowa. Miss Schira has also been featured in publications and with awards and recognition for teaching and inspiration.
With a love of language and teaching, she is committed to cultivating students’ academic and emotional development and using her teaching credentials to collaborate with and support families and students. Miss Schira’s greatest loves include Christ, commas, communication, caffeine, and her beloved Chicago Cubs while living a life grounded in faith, joy, and opportunity.
To quote one of her favorite pieces of wisdom from her mother, “When life gives you hold music, dance.” Here at Aquinas Writing Advantage, Miss Schira is beginning her sixth year as a LIVE course teacher for the 6/7 and 7/8 Series middle school writing courses. She is also the Middle School Writing Support Specialist.
Click here for more info about Ms. Schira.
Ryan Starrett, MA, ThM, MTS
StarrettUD@yahoo.com
About Ryan Starrett
Mr. Ryan Starrett earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in History from the University of Dallas with a Medieval and Renaissance Studies Concentration, a Master's of Theology from the University of Dallas, a Master's of History from Adams State University, and a Master's of Theological Studies from Spring Hill College.
After teaching seven years at a Catholic School in north Texas, he returned home to Mississippi where he has taught at his Catholic alma mater for the past ten years. When he's not teaching, Mr. Starrett enjoys reading, writing, playing sports, and adventuring with his family.
Ryan Starrett is the author of a dozen history books and one novel. He is currently working with his friend and co-author, Josh Foreman, on another work of history celebrating America's 250th anniversary. Ryan and Josh's work can be perused at foremanstarrett.com.
Mr. Starrett teaches LIVE Middle School 7/8-Series writing courses with Aquinas Writing Advantage.
Kristy Kordsmeier
Kristy was born and raised in the South, where her family has lived for decades. Her familial ties go back to a Founding Father and the infancy of America.
After converting to the Catholic Faith, she began homeschooing her three children a few years later.
Kristy has loved creative writing all of her life, and any activity involving attention to details.
She has three grandsons, one granddaughter, and another granddaughter due in October, 2025.
In her free time, she enjoys painting, selling her work and writing short stories.