WWE for 1st grade, or not?

[KBadd]

My son will be 6 years old and in 1st grade next year. He's almost done with Zaner-Bloser Handwriting K book and will move on to the next book January. He'll be doing FLL1 next fall and continue handwriting, but handwriting is what he complains the most about so we do 10 min a day and move on at this point.

 

My question is when is the best time to use WWE? Should we do it in 1st grade or wait? How do you like WWE?

[HelenNotOfTroy]

We chose to start WWE 1 in 2nd grade. I have had him narrate from Story of the World and other things since 1st grade, but he wasn't ready for the copywork yet. I had him copying shorter things, like names of days of the week.

[desertflower]

I like WWE. We started when he was 5, but we don't do much copywork. I figure he'll be doing a lot of copywork with WWE 2 and 3 or with other subjects. I point out punctuation, capitalization, etc.

 

We also started FLL when he was 5. We still do handwriting.

 

He's almost 6.

 

Hth

[MotherOfBoys]

We did WWE1 last year in K. We considered it handwriting and writing. He is doing great in WWE2 this year also. You can always: Try it. See how it goes. Hold off if it isn't working out. My son did Climbing to Good English 1 and half of 2 while doing WWE1. CtGE is a lot of writing! So we cut back this year to English Lessons Through Literature 1. It's 3 days a week with a small amount of writing. I block WWE2 into 3 days as well by doing day one and day two on Tuesday. ELTL is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. WWE2 is Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

[LaCEmom]

Have you looked at the samples? There's a shorter and longer sentence option for the copywork and I think it's about 1/3 of the way through that it starts having them also copy 1 narration sentence per week.

 

My son was fine with it in 1st, but if you don't think your son would be then I wouldn't push it.

[Milknhoney]

My son did WWE1 in 1st grade. I did not use a separate handwriting curriculum. My son complained of his hand hurting a lot, which I think is supposed to be typical of boys. Anyway, I find that I tend to do too much when left to my own judgment. The copywork in WWE1 was much less than what I would have given him on my own, so it actually worked out quite well. I also feel that WWE did a good job of preparing him for the narration skills he needed for SOTW. For that reason, I would not advise delaying it to the next year.

[73349]

The writing would have been a little too much for DS (a lefty, and 6.5 when starting 1st). I am using the HWOT first grade printing book and short DIY copywork, emphasizing accurate letter formation.

 

I do plan to use WWS, however, when he gets to that point.

[ScoutTN]

We just make up our own copywork for first grade. Usually from something we are reading aloud.

DD jumped into WWE 2 in 2nd and I think that will work fone for Ds too.

[blondeviolin]

WWE 1 has been more than appropriate for both of my older kids in first grade. The copywork is really not much of an issue at this age. (Week one is: "There were no roads.") Totally age appropriate.

[SereneHome]

We started WW1 this year, he turned 6 during the summer.  It took us about 1.5 yrs to complete HWOT orange book.  Since he started young (4.5), I was not in any hurry. 

 

WWE1 is moving  soooooo slow......we are on week 10 and it's pretty much the same thing....write a sentence, identify proper nouns....move on with life.  But for now, I think it's good that it's so slow. 

 

As others said - they give you a choice of shorter or longer sentence.  And since there are 4 sentences in a "week", he just does one sentence a day.

 

But he does additional writing during AAS.  We haven't started FLL, will probably start in Jan.

 

I would try it, see how it goes.

 

 

[Tanikit]

The beauty of homeschooling is that you can do whatever works for your child. Mine skipped WWE1 (we did other copywork in K and started short dictations for spelling in grade 1) and then we started WWE2 halfway through grade 1 and it has worked well for my child.

 

I would try WWE1 with your child - if it causes problems then stop it and bring it back in a few months time. Children change a lot during their first grade year.

[Tawlas]

We used it last year when my son was in grade 1. Event he 4 yo joined in for all the oral parts. It's a very gentle first year.

[Raining Pineapples]

I used it with my K and 1st last year. We just finished up and are moving into WWE2. My youngest likes to write though and often does both copywork sentences because she wants to.  However, she has a difficult time answering the questions and I have to read her the passage several times before she can answer the narration questions. We have dropped it a couple of times, but keep coming back to it. Sometimes I wonder if they are really getting anything out of it. I don't really like just getting snippets of stories, but they are okay with it.  It is open and go and it gets done. I'm on the fence about liking it, but feel it is appropriate for 1st. 

[SevenDaisies]

I used it with my K and 1st last year. We just finished up and are moving into WWE2. My youngest likes to write though and often does both copywork sentences because she wants to. However, she has a difficult time answering the questions and I have to read her the passage several times before she can answer the narration questions. We have dropped it a couple of times, but keep coming back to it. Sometimes I wonder if they are really getting anything out of it. I don't really like just getting snippets of stories, but they are okay with it. It is open and go and it gets done. I'm on the fence about liking it, but feel it is appropriate for 1st.

 

We loved the snippets of stories. I love that the selections come from quality works. There were many times that my daughter asked me to purchase a book based on the 'preview' she had heard in WWE.

 

We didn't start until 3rd grade, and dd loved it. We did 1 and 2 in 3rd and then moved onto Classical Composition. My son is in second and we plan to start him after Thanjsgiving break. All that to say there is a wide range of acceptable start times. It's simple enough to start young, but there's also enough there to make it worthwhile to start in 3rd.

[Classically Minded]

WWE 1 is easy enough to be done in 1st grade but there is a big jump from WWE 1 to 2.  I think WWE 2, should be either spread out over 2 years or held off until 3rd grade.

[EmilyGF]

I think WWE 1 is doable in first grade but that there is no need to rush. I agree with the jumps on future levels!