How did you teach writing?

A doctor had eight children and his wife died tragically.  She had been homeschooling them, and he intended to continue.  He said he had the kids do these things each day while he was at work:
1) A math lesson
2) Reading out loud
3) Write something (any topic they chose, non-fiction or fiction)
When he came home, he corrected their math and talked through their story with them.  They corrected their grammar and writing issues appropriate for their age.
That's all he did.

I was one of three home schooling moms who were picking strawberries on Monday, another of whom is a veteran.  She has successfully home schooled 5 children, all of whom are very good writers, independent thinkers, and excellent public speakers.  So we asked her what she did for writing.  She told us that story and decided to follow the writing plan.

How easy is that?!  I've been looking for the right curriculum for Jacob for a long time.  I'd like it to integrate writing and grammar in one curriculum, but so far that has eluded me.  So I decided right when I heard my friend tell me this simple story to jump right on it!

Jacob has written few stories, poems, etc in his three years of schooling, I'm ashamed to say.  I just put it on the back burner until he matured more.  The ones he has written have been good enough to know he wasn't totally clueless, so I just let it go.  I had decided  already to start grammar this coming year and found a program I'm happy with, but the writing still remained to be figured out, though I have a few recommendations.

But now I have a plan, and a free and simple one at that!  (Why do we make things so hard on ourselves?)

Jacob wrote his first story today.  I'm going to have him write for a week or so before I start editing anything.  (Andrew Pudewa said the word "edit" evokes much less resistance than "correct," and it make a lot of sense!)

Here's what he had for starters:

Jacob  May 19 2010

Hot wheels     Hot wheels are super fast cars with very cool gadgets, some have spike tires!  Some have chainsaw blades.  Some can even drive on lava!  I think Hot Wheels are really cool.

I have to say, not like he's some awesome author, but I was excited to see a topic sentence (though punctuated incorrectly), three supporting statements and a conclusion!  Lol!!  :)  I liked just seeing what was on his mind!  I've also been trying really hard to find a passion or high interest in him (another result of the homeschooling conference), and I'm hoping this helps that surface.  So we'll do this for the rest of this week and we'll start editing next week.  I intend to let him write about anything... retelling a favorite story, a favorite toy, an original story, why he's angry about something, something we did the day before, etc.  I hope this goes well.