Halcyon Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I am considering this for my rising 7th grader. He needs work on his writing, and I am torn between WWS2 and Write At Home, which looks quite nice. Has anyone used this in the logic stage? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandy in TN Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 We are using the Middle School Comp 1. Good News- composition is completed every week Ds has learned to focus on rewrites as a way to create a polished, finished paper rather than viewing it as ridiculous mom assigned torture Someone else corrects his grammar and punctuation errors Someone else suggests places where he needs to expand or clarify Bad News First semester took a long time to get rolling with actual papers, but I understand that we signed up for the first course so this was really no surprise. A number of the writing prompts have been those sort of banal, creative prompts that ds despises. When you are doing three weeks (3 drafts) on a paper and alternating it every other week with another paper, then it means that you look at the same paper on and of for five weeks. IMHO- this is too long for a middle school paper that is only a couple of pages double spaced. (You can write longer papers, but my son does not. Also sometimes there has been a cap on length.) Spending so long on one paper also means that you are not writing very many papers in a 16 week semester. Because of the issues on the bad news list, right now Write@Home is not on the agenda for next year. However, due to the items on the good news list, we may use it again at some point. HTH- Mandy, apologizing for typos I am on my phone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHandsAreFull Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Anybody else that has used this program? I am a STEM type looking to outsource writing for my soon to be middle schooler. I was leaning towards Write At Home but after reading the above put it on hold. Is there something else out there completely turn-key that folks prefer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowbeltmom Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 I have used W@H for my three kids for years. I also supplement with the Killgallon series. Write at Home prepared my son very well for his AP English language class this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyHandsAreFull Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Thank you so much, Mandy and Snowbelt Mom! That's very helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Is this a live class? I, too, am looking for options for my Logic stage kiddos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 My DD (11) did Middle School 1 (as a 6th grader). The good is that I don't have the drama of correcting/editing her work, and she feels a lot more capable because of the feedback she is getting from her teacher. They have an assignment each week - they start small and culminate in an essay. One day a week there is an exchange, so student submits this weeks paper, teacher returns last week's paper - no live component. The problem is that often the next assignment is a rewrite, so then it is 4 weeks before they get feedback on their final copy of a paper. I do like that they do rewrites, just not the timing. The bad is there is very limited instruction. They get a little bit (a page or two each week to read) and feedback from their teacher, but it isn't enough. For example, the teacher commented on a couple of DD's papers that "the reading flow is rough in a few places" but there isn't any elaboration on this. Also they use a rubric, but they don't really give the kids the rubric, so the kids don't have a clear idea of the difference between "adequate" and "acceptable" and "excellent." The other con is that it is very pricey. My summation - if you have a student that already writes fairly well and with confidence then this course could help the kids polish some things. If you need help getting your student to write clearly and effectively then you may want something more explicit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I want to add that your teacher may make a difference in your experience. My Dd's teacher was switched after a few assignments, and there was a big difference between the amount of feedback (and the specificity) the two gave. I do like elements of the program, and there have been benefits from it, but overall for the money I don't think we are getting enough instruction and feedback. We will try something else this fall. What, I have no clue :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 I would love to find a recorded IEW class with a teacher to submit assignments to. Or even just use the SWI's and submit the assignments to the teacher for feedback. Any takers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lots-o-rice Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I would also LOVE to find a IEW class like that. Let me know when you start it :thumbup1: I just got through with 2 short term classes for each of my 2 oldest through Write @ Home. If you are looking for a program where you do not have to do the editing or assigning, or explaining the writing. This might be what you want. My kids did improve their writing with the courses. It definitely matters which teacher you get, as ds #2, I think, had a pretty lenient teacher this time around. He is a lazy, but smart 7th grader and the last thing he needs is someone giving him all 5's (out of 5) on everything. I wish she had nit-picked a bit more. Ds #1's last teacher was great. She told it like it was and called him out on his lack of correcting. My biggest problem with WAH was the cost and what you get for it. I was looking into TPS for writing. For a little more you can have live classes, hand in papers and get them back before a week later, and have more actual teaching, not just editing. Here is how our classes went: Week 1 : read a small lesson on a writing technique, write first paper to check writing skills. Week 2: read lesson, write actual first paper first draft Week 3: read lesson, write second paper first draft Week 4: read lesson, get first paper back and correct using teacher's editing Week 5: read lesson, get second paper back and correct Week 6: read lesson, get first paper 2nd draft back and correct for final draft Week 7: read lesson, get second paper 2nd draft back and correct Week 8: read lesson, get score on first paper Week 9: get score on 2nd paper and final score for class So, really they only wrote 2 papers (and a third for assessment) in 9 weeks. Now, they were well edited and polished by the end draft, but I think my kids really could do more, especially for the price. I feel like my kids could just hand in papers to me online. I could edit them, and get them back 2 weeks later and do the same thing. Editing without conferencing. It would be a lot cheaper. It did fill the writing box for the semester, but I will try something different next year. K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy2BaMom Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Paradox and Targhee: IEW is now offering online turn-key writing classes, using SWI B (I believe). They recommend not starting until 7th grade, due to the apparent rigor (they up the game, so to speak). I don't have time to throw the link in here - let me know if you can't find on their web site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pjssully Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 Also, Curr-click, which I don't know much about, has IEW writing classes as well. Very afforded!! But like I said, I have have never used this place. Just another thing to check out! Good luck pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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