Writing help for 3rd, 6th and 8th

[redquilthorse]

I need help with writing for 3 of my kids. My 8th grader is a decent writer and has experience with writing essays. He understands the basic structure of a five paragraph essay. What he needs is help learning style. He needs to learn how to improve his writing with more detail, better word choice, etc. Over the years, I have avoided using IEW for various reasons, so we have used a hodgepodge of various resources. Nothing ever really seemed to be a good fit. So now he is in 8th grade and has not had solid, consistent writing instruction. The same thing happened with grammar. Should I just throw in the towel and buy IEW? If so, where should he start? He is smart, so I don't want to bore him. But he needs help getting ready for high school level writing. We do have Lively Art of Writing - it might not be independent or thorough enough, though. 

 

I want to avoid making this same mistake with my other kids. I would like to find something that works and stick with it. I purchased Writing and Rhetoric for my 3rd and 6th graders this year, but again I am not sure they are the right fit. My 3rd grader has been in tears from frustration because he does not understand the instructions (and trust me I am holding his hand which I really don't have time to do!). Plus I am not sure that I have time to go through a book like this with my 6th grader. I have 5 kids all in school now, so I just need something easier for me to implement. 

 

I guess my question is whether anyone out there who just was not a fan of IEW bit the bullet and just used it? Did it produce good writers for you? We used the ancients theme book for one semester last year and I just did not care for the way it taught kids to add so much flowery language (like adding -ly words just for the sake of adding them). And the key word outlines made me crazy.

 

Or should I just push through with Writing and Rhetoric for the 3rd and 6th graders and only do something different with my 8th grader? I just need something that is simple to use and works. I'm so tired of doing this every year! Help.  :crying:

[8filltheheart]

I don't think not sticking to specific writing program through the yrs is an issue. I have never seen a writing program I like well enough that I would want to use it exclusively and yr after yr. I would not use IEW with your 8th grader if the weakness is style.

 

Put That in Writing level 1 has explicit style instruction that is pretty good. Their site appears to be down, but here is a review:

http://www.exodusbooks.com/put-that-in-writing/8081/

 

Last yr my 8th grader and I worked through Patterns in College Writing and contains a lot of examples of well- written essays and why they are well written. The instruction is more implicit, though. It isn't going to be anything like IEW with a checklist of "dress-ups."

http://www.mtcarmelacademy.net/uploads/1/1/7/5/11752808/patterns_for_college_writing_laurie_g_kriszner_12th_edition.compressed.pdf

Edited October 1, 2016 by 8FillTheHeart

[...................]

If you have children who get that frustrated with writing and rhetoric and you have not had success with putting together different curricula then IEW may actually be a good fit.

 

But your 8th grader does not need IEW and unless it's an extreme case of not being able to write well I don't think anyone should start IEW at that age. You should try Excellence in Writing- the video series. It will cover all he needs !

 

FTR I absolutely hate IEW for my kids because we are all natural writers. But IEW is to writing what Saxon is to math. It can take anyone Anywhere with the least natural ability and turn them into competent writers. It sounds to me like your younger son may need IEW.

 

If your 6th grder is an ok writer and not in tears I would recommend Excellence in writing DVDs for him too. He teaches systematically but not SO extremely formulaic like IEW.

 

So to sum it up;

Excellence In writing DVDs are good for most kids and busy moms

 

IEW is for kids absolutely stuck and can't get a thought out and find writing to be a frustrating task that induces tears.

[redquilthorse]

Thanks! I will look into these. I have not heard of either of those, 8FillTheHeart. I did use EIW for a couple of my kids for a year, and I felt like the instruction wasn't explicit enough for my kids. I think I need something in between the two. More explicit suggestions for improving style and word choice than EIW offers, but not as formulaic as IEW. And in video format. And not overly expensive. A girl can dream right?  :tongue_smilie:

[Ellie]

Writing Strands for all. Level 5 for your oldest (those are not grade levels; they are experience levels), Level 3 for the youngest, Level 4 for the next. Simple, direct instruction; no made-up rules like how many sentences there must be in a paragraph or how many rough drafts there must be. No long check-lists for every assignment, no exercises in brainstorming. Just writing instruction.

[...................]

Yeah why has Writing Strands fallen so much out of favor?  It is such a great program.  Good idea Ellie

[Ellie]

Yeah why has Writing Strands fallen so much out of favor?  It is such a great program.  Good idea Ellie

 

I think that might only be the case *here,* where WTMers like to use SWB's materials. :-) She used to recommend WS before she wrote her own.