Which Writing to Use?

[nwlivingmom]

Please help me decide which writing curriculum would be the best for my 10 year old daughter going into 5th grade.  We did WWE 1-3.  We have also finished IEW Fun and Fascinating, Fairytales and Fables, and The Ancients.  We were both feeling a little burned out on IEW, so I bought WWS1 and have it ready to go for 5th grade.  But, in reading so much on these boards, it looks like many 5th graders struggle with WWS1.  I've also heard great things about CAPS W&R, but we've never personally used it.  So, I need a little direction from some who have traveled this road before.  Should I:

 

1. Try WWS?

2. Stick with what I know- IEW- maybe US History based?

3. Give CAPS a try (maybe book 3 Narrative for the first semester and then Book 4 Chreia/ Proverb for the 2nd semester)?  

 

She doesn't particularly love writing.  She likes to write her own stories, but IEW has never been what I would call enjoyable for her.  Is there such a thing as an enjoyable writing curriculum????  Any help would be most appreciated.  

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

We are going with CAP's Writing and Rhetoric this year.  My main reason was that I saw the solid approach of classical writing with a lot of fun and creativity in it.  Showing my son the sample made him so excited.  If she likes writing stories, I think she may love it because they will analyze stories and rewrite stories and narrate stories and make up their own (from what I can see.)  If you think she'll do well with WWS, it's a solid approach, and you can go with it.  But frankly speaking, for us, CAP just looked like much more fun with the same solid approach.  You can always go back to WWS if you feel like she needs to wait a year or sell it if you love CAP.  

[Crimson Wife]

Scholastic Paragraph Writing Made Easy is a great lead-in to WWS 1 and they often have it as part of their Dollar Days sale.

[Chrysalis Academy]

I've been on that exact road - WWE3 to WWS with a 10 year old 5th grader.  I don't think it's the best plan.  I think using CAP's Narrative 2 book is an excellent bridge to WWS.  And if you guys really like W&R, then by all means consider continuing with it - no one can really advise at this point, since we haven't seen anything past Narrative 2, but I am excited for Chreia to come out! 

[Woodland Mist Academy]

My dd started WWS 1 as a 10-year-old 5th grader (mid-year) and worked slowly through it for two years. It was not without rocky moments. She is now 12 and about 1/3 of the way through WWS 2. It's a great fit for her. WWS 2 is going much more smoothly than WWS 1, but I am glad we did WWS 1. I recently had the opportunity to look through several of the writing programs mentioned on the board, but none appear to be a better fit for us than WWS.

 

So much depends on the child--I don't think there's any way to know for sure unless you try.

 

My daughter loves writing--she worked on a story until the wee hours of the night last night, and she sometimes writes essays for fun. She is quite happy with WWS. Other children love writing and dread WWS. There are natural writers who love it, natural writers who hate it. 

 

If you already own it, giving WWS a try might be worthwhile. I would have a plan B ready in the wings, just in case.

[boscopup]

My 5th grader is doing CAP W&R and EIW6 before attempting WWS. He's done the first week of WWS, but when it gets past the first few weeks of narration review and teaching outlining, I know he'd get bogged down.

 

We do CAP 3 days per week and EIW 2 days. Can't tell you how EIW is yet, since we haven't gotten to the writing lessons yet, but SWB recommended it for 5th grade if you're doing WWS in 6th.

 

Oh, and we're still finishing up Fable. I plan to finish that and do Narrative 1. We may or may not start Narrative 2 (likely not, given some major interruptions we'll likely have this school year). We only have one lesson of Fable left.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Just my 2 cents -not that you asked -   ;) - I think if you're on the W&R wagon, completing Narrative 2 before starting WWS would be a really good plan.  It introduces historical narratives and outlining, and writing about longer passages, but with much easier passages.  It seems to me that a kid who completed Narrative 2 would have a much easier time with WWS.

[boscopup]

Just my 2 cents -not that you asked - ;) - I think if you're on the W&R wagon, completing Narrative 2 before starting WWS would be a really good plan. It introduces historical narratives and outlining, and writing about longer passages, but with much easier passages. It seems to me that a kid who completed Narrative 2 would have a much easier time with WWS.

Thanks! I appreciate that info. We might start WWS mid-6th grade if we don't get to Narrative 2 this year. Theoretically, we might be able to finish it this year, but I can't predict how much the major interruption will affect things, so I'm assuming we won't get to it. Then if we do get to it, it's a happy surprise. ;)

[PeterPan]

Please help me decide which writing curriculum would be the best for my 10 year old daughter going into 5th grade.  We did WWE 1-3.  We have also finished IEW Fun and Fascinating, Fairytales and Fables, and The Ancients.  We were both feeling a little burned out on IEW, so I bought WWS1 and have it ready to go for 5th grade.  But, in reading so much on these boards, it looks like many 5th graders struggle with WWS1.  I've also heard great things about CAPS W&R, but we've never personally used it.  So, I need a little direction from some who have traveled this road before.  Should I:

 

1. Try WWS?

2. Stick with what I know- IEW- maybe US History based?

3. Give CAPS a try (maybe book 3 Narrative for the first semester and then Book 4 Chreia/ Proverb for the 2nd semester)?  

 

She doesn't particularly love writing.  She likes to write her own stories, but IEW has never been what I would call enjoyable for her.  Is there such a thing as an enjoyable writing curriculum????  Any help would be most appreciated.  

About the most FUN program out there for that age is Writing Tales.  The W&R CAP stuff is so new, I haven't seen it.  Writing Tales includes games in the lesson plans and plans for them to do a straight rewrite one week and a creative version the next.  The kids I taught it with LOVED it.  Highly, highly recommend.  As you say, most classical/popular programs right now eschew creativity, but it really unleashes some kids.  And yes, I'm in the better late than early camp on WWS.  My dd was like yours (very creative, didn't seem to like writing, blah blah).  She totally blossomed in 8th and out of the blue began writing fan fiction and entering contests and just going CRAZY with her writing.  She did in 8th what would have been torture for her if forced earlier.  It's ok to wait for that developmental readiness, kwim?  :)

[nwlivingmom]

Thanks for the advice on this, ladies.  I looked at Writing Tales and I like what I see- but it's heavy on grammar and spelling too and we already have other programs for that.  I emailed CAP to ask them when the rest of the books are coming out and they said that book 4 should be out by the end of this month and then they are planning on releasing 2 books per year after that.