I am working on my K-8 plan (Yes, still and sigh). What to do after WT?

[Jennefer@SSA]

Here is my plan so far:

 

2008-2009 - Second Grade - no formal writing - continue copywork and start dictation slowly

2009-2010 - 3rd grade:WT1

2010-2011 - 4th grade: WT2

2011-2012 - 5th grade: WT3 (spring of 2010 expected publication)

2012-2013 - 6th grade: WT4 (spring of 2012 expected publication)

2013-2014 - 7th grade:

2014-2015 - 8th grade:

 

I realize there are many unknowns in my plan (Will publication dates stay on schedule or will life happen for Amy as it often has a way of doing? Will WT ultimately be as good of a fit as I think it will? What exactly will WT 3 and 4 cover?)

 

Still I want to have a tentative plan in place - just to make me feel better! If you were in my shoes what would you plan for 7th and 8th? I am thinking CW Intermediate Poetry? What else?

 

TIA, I truly appreciate it!

Jennefer

[Karen in CO]

Have you thought about doing IEW one year like in 3rd or 4th. If you do that, then you could have more options later on, like using the IEW history based writing lessons and it will give another year to let WT catch up with your plan.

 

After WT, I am planning to switch to CW if WT doesn't continue to the higher levels that I need or if we need a switch.

[Amy from WT]

Hi Jennefer,

 

You have things so well thought out! I have to admit that I'd sure feel better about it from my end of things if I were able to have WT 3 underway already...

 

If you are a woman of faith, we sure would appreciate your prayers that life would "settle down" for my family right now. We've hit a pretty large bump in the road this past year, and we're still trying to figure out how to get back onto that "smooth pavement", if you will. And I'm praying that it will be in such a way that will allow me writing time next year, too.

 

At the moment, I expect WT 3 and 4 to include work on longer narratives. I really can't wait to get to work on 5 and 6, which will be essay writing, but I know I have to hold myself back and do things in sequence, here!

 

If you want to stick with the progym format, then once you get to Grades 7 and 8, you will probably want to begin some type of essay writing. This is what is taught in the proverb/maxim and Chreia levels of the progymnasmata, and they dovetail nicely with this second half of the Logic stage of learning.

 

What to use? Not having begun my research completely yet, the best that I am aware of at this time is CW Diogenes. Classical Composition is another possibility.

 

HTH, at least a little,

[Jennefer@SSA]

Amy, thanks as always for your time answering questions. I most definitely will be praying for you and your family and that life calms down quickly. Your work on WT is such a blessing to many and I know you want to return to it as quickly as possible... but I am glad you are taking this time to be there for your family!

 

Karen, thanks so much for the suggestion to do IEW for a year. I will definitely look into that. Ds is very immature emotionally and socially so waiting until 4th to start WT may be just what we need! It would allow him one more year to mature before hitting some of the really abstract tasks required of higher levels of writing for sure. :) I never would have thought of that, so thanks!

 

Off to look at the IEW materials,

Jennefer

[PeterPan]

Jennifer, if you're going to wait on WT1 for a year, till 4th, then I would like at the Imitations in ... series, which I think is published by IEW. You don't need the full thing of IEW, just more practice in writing narrations. In fact, if he's ready, that's something I'd consider in 2nd grade. WTM suggests your goal for 2nd be for them to write their own narrations by the end of the year. You want to keep that in mind and slowly build toward it throughout the year. I assume you're doing oral narrations now and having him write say just a caption for his illustration (1st grade). Then in 2nd start to have him write a bit more of his narration. He could write the first sentence and you write the rest. After a couple weeks of that, work him up to writing more. By the end of the year he's writing his whole narration. The Imitations books (which come in a variety of interesting topics) are another easy way to build that skill, with short models, spaces to do a keyword outline, and vocab analysis. The ability to write his own narration comfortably is the lead-in skill for WT. I wouldn't automatically assume he can't do WT1 in 3rd, just because he's a boy, but I would slowly build those skills so that he CAN be in WT1 in 3rd if he's capable. Odds are, he'd be just fine. In the WT1 class our co-op class is doing, I haven't heard any problems with the 3rd grade boys. The key though is to have done your preparation the year before, slowly building up with him learning to write his own narration and do dictation and copywork, so he can confidently take WT1 on in 3rd.

 

As far as what to do after WT, you really can't see that far. I'm not meaning to be trite, but I just wouldn't sweat yourself over it. I certainly wouldn't delay a year on getting into WT (assuming he's ready for it in 3rd), just because of worry over what you'll do 2 years later. You might get through WT1 and 2 and not have WT3 available yet. You might hit 5th grade with him and have a huge life change and need to go a different direction. With my dd, I'm completing WT2 this year but realizing she doesn't have the maturity to be ready to go on to CW Homer, the logical next step. We're doing to do CW Aesop B and Poetry next year (4th), just as a way to tread water. So it really depends on the dc. WT1 and 2 are awesome, so much fun. You're going to love them, and if you do them on-track (WT1 in 3rd, WT2 in 4th), they're going to complement nicely the grammar you're doing. In fact, if you do them those years, I wouldn't even add a lot of formal grammar. Don't know if you've thought about that, but if you put them off, then you're going to need a grammar those years. The grammar in WT is so delightful and contextualized. I think it's PLENTY for a 3rd grader. Now that we're in WT2, I'm adding just a touch of Shurley Grammar every day, only about 5 minutes, and that only 2nd semester. First semester we did editing. So really WT becomes a one-stop-shop for you, nailing your grammar too, if you use it on-schedule.

 

The key is to take advantage of your time now and gradually increase the amount of writing he's doing. They need to write MUCH MORE than we realize! I'm not saying to be insensitive to his needs as a boy, but I am suggesting you ramp up the level and discover what he can really tolerate. When you mix things up, say a 1/2 page of copywork, 1/2 page of dictation, and then a narration or Imitations rewrite every day, you're sneaking in quite a bit of writing, but in brief sessions that he can tolerate, sessions that are never long at any given point. That would be a nice quantity of writing for 2nd grade btw. I kept a quantity goal in mind with my dd and worked from there. So if she wrote 1/2 a page of words for spelling, well that went toward our quantity goal for writing for the day. If I had her copywork a Bible verse she memorized, that went toward the goal for the day. On Fridays it's fun to mix it up and do something totally different for that last one page writing (the narration, rewrite, whatever). My dd really enjoys the Anti-Coloring book, which has interesting prompts and illustrations and lets them respond to it in any way they want. So have fun with it, but definitely work in 2nd to create that foundation for 3rd.

[CookieMonster]

I apologize for not having any suggestions. But, I wanted to post to tell you that you have inspired me. I need plans like this to make me feel better too.