Now that Treasured Conversations has been out a while...

[alisoncooks]

Can you share how it went with your child?

 

I'm considering TC for my delayed, rising-6th grader (who has had minimal grammar/formal writing).  Did you see an improvement in grammar understanding & writing skills?  Are you glad you spent the (teacher intensive) time on the program?

 

(I feel slightly awkward asking, since 8Fill... is a member. :o)

 

But I am torn between this and going ahead with a more "traditional" writing program (Essentials in Writing), which I plan to pick up in 7th/8th grade anyway.  I'm wondering if TC gives a sturdier foundation or should we just dive in with EiW...  

 

Thanks!

[alisoncooks]

ETA:  Please feel free to private message me with your thoughts!  

[Soror]

I've not used EIW but I have used TC now with 2 students. I felt it was well worth our time, it is training for both student and teacher IMO. TBH I didn't find that it took all that much time. It was extremely easy to use and I felt that we all benefited from its use. 

[Davina]

Well, alisoncooks, it seems like we might be teaching similar kids. I got on here tonight with the intention of asking that very question. I also have a rising 6th grader and while her grammar skills are quite good, writing is more of a struggle for her. I was seriously looking at TC to help with this. This year we did ELTL4 which I love for grammar but did not provide enough hand holding for me to teach writing to this reluctant writer. My dd10 has an extremely hard time getting words out and is one of those kids whose knowledge exceeds her communication skills, written or verbal. Anyone else use this curriculum successfully with a reluctant writer?

[Coco_Clark]

For what it's worth, I've used the first 2 sections with my 3rd grade boy. He is a struggling writer and needs painfully clear step by step direction and teeny tiny bite sized goals. This was perfect. We just started the 3rd section.

 

It took him in one year from panic and tears whenever he was asked to write an original sentence, to easily writing 3-5 sentence paragraphs. He's still not happy, and they aren't always beautifully creative, but they make sense and he's doing it. His grammar was already rock solid from years of ELTL, so I can't speak to that.

 

I have 2 more students starting the program next year and I'm honestly toying with having him do it again with them. Once through to write the sentences and once again to improve them? I haven't spoken to him about it, but he'd probably be game. He really loved all the stories it starts you off on writing in section 2.

Edited April 27, 2017 by Coco_Clark

[RootAnn]

I took two kids through it so far. Neither was my writing-phobic one. I don't think we had a bunch of growth on grammar concepts, but I credit TC with their ability to write summaries and quality outlines. We went from TC to SOTW4 - which is a big step up in writing (if you use the recommendations in the Activity Guide) compared to SOTW3. Neither one had any issues as we went along that year.

 

Let's see. My older one would have been in 6th, I think. The younger would have been in 3rd/4th (3rd by age, 4th by ability).

 

It was well-worth our time. I didn't find it to be too teacher-time intensive as it was only 15-30 minutes four times per week. Eventually, I'll run my youngest two through it. DS#1 probably won't be ready for it until 6th. DS#2 might be ready in 4th.

 

My DD#2 wrote additional Bushy & Cheddar stories because she loved those characters so much. Both kids were less enamored of the stories in Section 2 and neither liked the Section 3 work. I think my boys will much prefer the Section 3 work to anything else. So, there is something for everyone.

[Davina]

For what it's worth, I've used the first 2 sections with my 3rd grade boy. He is a struggling writer and needs painfully clear step by step direction and teeny tiny bite sized goals. This was perfect. We just started the 3rd section.

 

It took him in one year from panic and tears whenever he was asked to write an original sentence, to easily writing 3-5 sentence paragraphs. He's still not happy, and they aren't always beautifully creative, but they make sense and he's doing it. His grammar was already rock solid from years of ELTL, so I can't speak to that.

 

I have 2 more students starting the program next year and I'm honestly toying with having him do it again with them. Once through to write the sentences and once again to improve them? I haven't spoken to him about it, but he'd probably be game. He really loved all the stories it starts you off on writing in section 2.

We are almost past complete panic, but it is still fairly painful for both of us. So this does give me some encouragement to go ahead and place my order. Would you recommend going through section one even though she is solid on grammar? We have completed both ELTL3 and ELTL4 minus the writing assignments.

[Guest]

We absolutely love it. It really sticks with the kids and is very slow in progression so it's not overtaxing my students. I think it sounds like a fantastic fit for your sixth grader. It's one of those programs I consistently recommend.

[ScoutTN]

I found it excellent, as others have said. The grammar part was good because it helped my student use what she'd already learned in FLL.

She too wrote more stories about Bushy!

[Coco_Clark]

I considered skipping the first section as well. In the end I did not, as it was the Fall and I felt he could use practice writing sentences after our summer break before tackling paragraphs.

 

And I'm glad I didn't skip it. While he didn't learn to identify verbs or adjectives (as he already could) he did learn HOW TO USE THEM. This is a step that ELTL never really addresses, although I love that program. My DS wrote very simple, short sentences. Partly out of laziness but also because he simply didn't know better. Section one taught him the difference between writing "The baby cried." and, "The red-faced infant wailed."

 

It's also only 8 or 9 weeks if I remember correctly. So YMMV but I'd suggest doing it.

[Slache]

Fabulous thread! Do we know if she's writing another one?

[Davina]

I will be using this in the coming fall, and I think we will also go ahead with the first section. My hope is that it will build confidence. Thanks for the reply Coco_Clark! We love ELTL but I think we will set it aside for next year in favor of TC and just pick up ELTL5 and WWS1 for 7th grade year. She is a young 6th grader, so I am comfortable with a little slower progression if it helps in the long run.

[SeaConquest]

Fabulous thread! Do we know if she's writing another one?

Pretty please.

 

Hint hint.

[IfIOnly]

What grades is this curriculum recommend for? Up to 6th? Are there different levels? Thank you!

Edited April 28, 2017 by ifIonlyhadabrain

[mommaslp]

What grades is this curriculum recommend for? Up to 6th? Are there different levels? Thank you!

  i think i saw that it was for 4/5th?  

[RootAnn]

What grades is this curriculum recommend for? Up to 6th? Are there different levels? Thank you!

Only one product is out.

 

  i think i saw that it was for 4/5th?  

 

I think Karen (8FilltheHeart) would say that it is for whatever grade level your kid is at when they are ready for it. Some kids might be ready in 3rd or sooner. Others might not be ready until after 6th. Perhaps the "average" range is 4th/5th. She wrote this partially to teach us to be able to teach writing how she does it. I believe she actually starts out and does the type of thing that is in Section 1 with her youngers and eventually runs them through modified versions of Sections 2 & 3. Once they have the model down, her kids write reports on their reading every week. However, she modifies everything for each kid and uses the same idea of teaching at every level, expecting more as they get better at things. I'm explaining this very badly, but if you've ever read her "how I teach writing" posts - this product was meant to help us see *how* it is done at a certain level of writing so that we can modify it for our kids.