Writing Strands?

[vaquitita]

Does anyone use Writing Strands anymore? I searched, but all the posts I found are pretty old. I found this old talk by the author:

I like the sound of it, it reminds me in some ways of Brave Writer, but with more laid out lessons. I like brave writer, but I have no idea how to teach writing and feel like my oldest is needing more and I don't know how to give it to him.

[Syllieann]

We haven’t used it, but I was recently looking at it. It looks like master books is publishing a version that integrates the literature component and lays out nice, neat daily lessons. https://www.masterbooks.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?description=&dir=asc&isbn10=&isbn13=&name=&order=recommended&series%5B0%5D=945&short_description=&sku=&subtitle=&title=&upc= They are still working o; getting the parent companion published, so they are offering that as a free download until then. Maybe reading through the hat would give you more info.

[countrymum]

I am planning to use it in a year or 2 when my son is ready. My mother in law loves it and is a great writer. She used it with her kids and they write well too. She is using it with my sis in laws kids now. We all like it. Go for the right level...look at the website its not a graded curriculum. I do like a lot of the "older homeschool" stuff though... It seems less bells and whistles and really good.

[vaquitita]

We haven’t used it, but I was recently looking at it. It looks like master books is publishing a version that integrates the literature component and lays out nice, neat daily lessons. https://www.masterbooks.com/catalogsearch/advanced/result/?description=&dir=asc&isbn10=&isbn13=&name=&order=recommended&series%5B0%5D=945&short_description=&sku=&subtitle=&title=&upc= They are still working o; getting the parent companion published, so they are offering that as a free download until then. Maybe reading through the hat would give you more info.

I've looked at that... I like the laid out lessons, but reading thru the first lessons I feel like the authors voice has been watered down. It's lost some of its humor.

[Ellie]

I've looked at that... I like the laid out lessons, but reading thru the first lessons I feel like the authors voice has been watered down. It's lost some of its humor.

 

I knew the author.

 

I guess since he (and his wife) have passed away that the product has been sold to Master Books, hence the tweaking. I will need to put my hands on the new materials and read them myself before I recommend them any longer. The original Writing Strands books were my favorite.

[Melissa in Australia]

I am using it with ds 14. We are using the original books. ds has finished writing with ease but isn't ready for writing with skill. I was hoping that writing strands would help him with paragraph development.

[HomeAgain]

We used it with my oldest.  It was not a good fit for him as a student, or I as a teacher, at the time.  The directions were often open ended or in too large of steps and he really needed more handholding for writing.  It is not a bad program.  As a child, I would have done fine with it.  I think my youngest would do well with it in another year or so (actually, he could probably start book 2 now and do great).  But for a struggling writer, a progym-style method followed by WWS was key to getting him writing comfortably.

As for me, I needed to be very comfortable with teaching from the heart and meeting the child where he was instead of trying to stress about following the steps on the page.  I needed more tools in my toolbox than I had that first year or so teaching - mainly, confidence.

[Another Lynn]

I am using it with ds 14. We are using the original books. ds has finished writing with ease but isn't ready for writing with skill. I was hoping that writing strands would help him with paragraph development.

 

If you don't mind me asking, which level?  I'm looking for something for my 14yo dd for spring semester.

[wehave8]

I am holding on to my original.  We do use them here and there.  I have Cassette tapes of Dave Marks 'teaching' levels 1-4.  I know level 1 still has a cassette tape with it (probably CD now :) ), but I don't see anywhere where you can get levels 2-4 anymore.  I had thought of selling them, but there are just some things I can't part with.  :)

 

Pam

[Ellie]

I am holding on to my original.  We do use them here and there.  I have Cassette tapes of Dave Marks 'teaching' levels 1-4.  I know level 1 still has a cassette tape with it (probably CD now :) ), but I don't see anywhere where you can get levels 2-4 anymore.  I had thought of selling them, but there are just some things I can't part with.  :)

 

Pam

 

:001_wub:

[vaquitita]

We used it with my oldest. It was not a good fit for him as a student, or I as a teacher, at the time. The directions were often open ended or in too large of steps and he really needed more handholding for writing. It is not a bad program. As a child, I would have done fine with it. I think my youngest would do well with it in another year or so (actually, he could probably start book 2 now and do great). But for a struggling writer, a progym-style method followed by WWS was key to getting him writing comfortably.

As for me, I needed to be very comfortable with teaching from the heart and meeting the child where he was instead of trying to stress about following the steps on the page. I needed more tools in my toolbox than I had that first year or so teaching - mainly, confidence.

I've seen this complaint a couple times, that the steps are too open ended or not broken down into steps enough. I guess I need to see it in person, because from the samples I don't get that feeling. Whereas when I look at WWS, I want to poke my eyes out because it's broken into these tiny, torturous steps. :D

[OrganicJen]

We used it with my oldest. It was not a good fit for him as a student, or I as a teacher, at the time. The directions were often open ended or in too large of steps and he really needed more handholding for writing. It is not a bad program. As a child, I would have done fine with it. I think my youngest would do well with it in another year or so (actually, he could probably start book 2 now and do great). But for a struggling writer, a progym-style method followed by WWS was key to getting him writing comfortably.

As for me, I needed to be very comfortable with teaching from the heart and meeting the child where he was instead of trying to stress about following the steps on the page. I needed more tools in my toolbox than I had that first year or so teaching - mainly, confidence.

So what stage of the progym did you feel your child needed to complete in order to move on to WWS? Edited December 14, 2017 by OrganicJen

[Melissa in Australia]

If you don't mind me asking, which level?  I'm looking for something for my 14yo dd for spring semester.

we are half way through level 4

 

My DS has profound Dyelsxia, so I will not be any help in deciding levels. 

[HomeAgain]

So what stage of the progym did you feel your child needed to complete in order to move on to WWS?

 

The beginning - retelling fables.  He needed to sit down and feel successful writing before he could even begin to move on again.  We used Writing Tales to ease him through and then moved on from there.

 

My youngest is using a CM style program (ELTL) but he is much more confident with his writing abilities and free writes whenever he likes.  He grasps structure intuitively, which my oldest didn't. 

[rainbowmama]

We tried it... It felt like busy work, honestly.

[Ellie]

We tried it... It felt like busy work, honestly.

 

Which level did you use?

[rainbowmama]

Which level did you use?

 

Three. 

[vaquitita]

Ellie (or other writing strands user)...

 

My daughter hates writing because she's a perfectionist and knows she can't spell (her spelling is definitely below grade level, but also cause she doesn't know what to say. She's not very creative, she likes following rules. Would Writing Strands help with a child like that?

[MerryAtHope]

Ellie (or other writing strands user)...

 

My daughter hates writing because she's a perfectionist and knows she can't spell (her spelling is definitely below grade level, but also cause she doesn't know what to say. She's not very creative, she likes following rules. Would Writing Strands help with a child like that?

 

Writing Strands did not work for my child like that. A couple of years later (in 9th), Essentials in Writing made a huge difference. I wish it had been out sooner (but then, it's hard to say if my oldest would have been ready 2 years earlier, and part of what made it successful was that it felt doable when we got to it.)

 

What about considering doing a big push on spelling for the next couple of years, and allowing your daughter to write orally? She can dictate to you or use an app on a phone--my daughter actually still uses the email function on a Kindle Fire to dictate all of her rough drafts (she's a Freshman in college this year). She emails herself and then copies into word to revise. The KF even accepts a lot of commands (punctuation, new paragraph etc...)

 

A good, strong spelling foundation can really free up the mind for thinking about writing--even if they never are perfect spellers, to not have to think so much about how to represent every single word can make a big difference. I see SYS in your signature, and know that includes some copywork dictation--does it keep increasing as you go? If so, that can help build up more stamina (and dictation can help build working memory, which is another important key for writing fluency). For the struggling writer, you really want to remove as many obstacles as possible while continuing to nudge them forward. 

[vaquitita]

What about considering doing a big push on spelling for the next couple of years, and allowing your daughter to write orally? She can dictate to you or use an app on a phone--

 

...A good, strong spelling foundation can really free up the mind for thinking about writing--even if they never are perfect spellers, to not have to think so much about how to represent every single word can make a big difference. I see SYS in your signature, and know that includes some copywork dictation--does it keep increasing as you go? If so, that can help build up more stamina (and dictation can help build working memory, which is another important key for writing fluency). For the struggling writer, you really want to remove as many obstacles as possible while continuing to nudge them forward.

Thank you for this. I did make spelling her focus for this year (I'm writing for her in our brave writer projects), and maybe that's what I need to continue doing and just not worry about writing yet. She is using R&S spelling plus copywork (but not SYS, my two boys are using that). Maybe next year I will try to add dictation, that has always resulted in majors tears in the past, but next year she'll be older and maybe ready for it. Edited December 16, 2017 by vaquitita

[Ellie]

Ellie (or other writing strands user)...

 

My daughter hates writing because she's a perfectionist and knows she can't spell (her spelling is definitely below grade level, but also cause she doesn't know what to say. She's not very creative, she likes following rules. Would Writing Strands help with a child like that?

 

It's hard to say. :-)

 

The Writing Strands books are not very expensive. It couldn't hurt to buy one and try it out.

 

There's a form after each lesson that you use for evaluating the assignment. Words that are misspelled become a spelling list. Perhaps if she knew that it was ok to misspell a word because then y'all would work on it, she might feel more free to write.

 

[MerryAtHope]

Thank you for this. I did make spelling her focus for this year (I'm writing for her in our brave writer projects), and maybe that's what I need to continue doing and just not worry about writing yet. She is using R&S spelling plus copywork (but not SYS, my two boys are using that). Maybe next year I will try to add dictation, that has always resulted in majors tears in the past, but next year she'll be older and maybe ready for it.

 

Make sure the dictation includes only words she knows how to spell already. Pre-teach the passage--let her study it first, and talk through things like more challenging spelling patterns, punctuation, capitalization etc... Make it really doable for her rather than "test-like," if that makes sense.

[vaquitita]

Perhaps if she knew that it was ok to misspell a word because then y'all would work on it, she might feel more free to write.

 

 

 

I've had that discussion with her a few times, but it hasn't had much effect. :)

 

 

Make sure the dictation includes only words she knows how to spell already. Pre-teach the passage--let her study it first, and talk through things like more challenging spelling patterns, punctuation, capitalization etc... Make it really doable for her rather than "test-like," if that makes sense.

The dictation I tried with her was studied dictation, not cold dictation. I can't even imagine doing cold dictation with her. :O It was spelling you see level B last year. I actually got level C for this year, but gave up when it kept producing tears. That's when she began R&S spelling the 2nd grade book. She's in 4th and struggles a bit with remembering how to spell the words, but gets most of them. I will give studied dictation another try next year, maybe she'll be ready for it.

[HomeAgain]

Ellie (or other writing strands user)...

 

My daughter hates writing because she's a perfectionist and knows she can't spell (her spelling is definitely below grade level, but also cause she doesn't know what to say. She's not very creative, she likes following rules. Would Writing Strands help with a child like that?

 

It is highly doubtful.  WS seems to be written for children who are creative and have that internal ability to write, but don't know how to get it on paper.  It's a big part of why it failed here.  Things that HAVE worked:

 

-Writing Tales/progym style curricula

-SWB series (we used WWS, but I'd be willing to bet WWE would work, too)

-Moving Beyond The Page: enough hand-holding with the added sweet of picking which book you wanted to do. 

-IEW

 

Things that did not work:

LLATL

WS

 

 

I know you say you shudder at cold dictation, but you might consider something like Dictation Day By Day where you can start really low (the first book, 2nd grade, starts with "See my doll." as the day's work).  The words cycle through over and over to build spelling fluency.

[Sandwalker]

I knew the author.

 

I guess since he (and his wife) have passed away that the product has been sold to Master Books, hence the tweaking. I will need to put my hands on the new materials and read them myself before I recommend them any longer. The original Writing Strands books were my favorite.

I used the original Writing Strands for my Adhd dd who loves to write and for Ds who hated to write. They both liked WS and are both now good writers as adults. I loved the program.

[wehave8]

I used the original Writing Strands for my Adhd dd who loves to write and for Ds who hated to write. They both liked WS and are both now good writers as adults. I loved the program.

 

Thanks for chiming in.  Love to hear success stories!!

 

Pam

[Ellie]

 

 

I've had that discussion with her a few times, but it hasn't had much effect. :)

 

 

The dictation I tried with her was studied dictation, not cold dictation. I can't even imagine doing cold dictation with her. :o It was spelling you see level B last year. I actually got level C for this year, but gave up when it kept producing tears. That's when she began R&S spelling the 2nd grade book. She's in 4th and struggles a bit with remembering how to spell the words, but gets most of them. I will give studied dictation another try next year, maybe she'll be ready for it.

 

Maybe it would be good to focus on spelling next year instead of writing. My recommendation would be Spalding. It would be your whole English course: spelling, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, simple writing.

[vaquitita]

I know you say you shudder at cold dictation, but you might consider something like Dictation Day By Day where you can start really low (the first book, 2nd grade, starts with "See my doll." as the day's work). The words cycle through over and over to build spelling fluency.

I will look at that, something where the same words keep getting used over and over would be perfect for her. I still think I'd probably use the passages as copywork first, or study the new words in some way, before doing the dictation. Right now I'm just using copywork from literature books, and while some high frequency words obviously repeat, it isn't set up to repeat the way dictation day by day sounds. I will go look at that...

 

Eta: is this it?

https://archive.org/details/dictationdaybyd02wagegoog

Edited December 16, 2017 by vaquitita

[HomeAgain]

I will look at that, something where the same words keep getting used over and over would be perfect for her. I still think I'd probably use the passages as copywork first, or study the new words in some way, before doing the dictation. Right now I'm just using copywork from literature books, and while some high frequency words obviously repeat, it isn't set up to repeat the way dictation day by day sounds. I will go look at that...

 

Eta: is this it?

https://archive.org/details/dictationdaybyd02wagegoog

 

Yep, that's it!  I found all of them at this site linking over to the books: http://shoestringhomeschooling.blogspot.com/2015/02/free-dictation-resources-for-grades-2nd.html

 

It's the one spelling ds requested to continue when we switched to ELTL.  He feels successful with it.  I think, iirc, that one of the files for 2nd grade is really a file for 3rd, (either the epub or pdf) so if it looks harder than it should, then try a different file.

[MerryAtHope]

 The dictation I tried with her was studied dictation, not cold dictation. I can't even imagine doing cold dictation with her. :o It was spelling you see level B last year. I actually got level C for this year, but gave up when it kept producing tears. That's when she began R&S spelling the 2nd grade book. She's in 4th and struggles a bit with remembering how to spell the words, but gets most of them. I will give studied dictation another try next year, maybe she'll be ready for it.

 

I don't know why, but for some reason I was thinking this was for your older one. I wouldn't worry much about writing in 4th grade. I actually scribed a lot for my kids in elementary. Stick to copywork for a time. When you try dictation again, try starting with 2-3 word phrases instead of sentences, and use her current spelling words. I really liked All About Spelling because the dictations started so short and doable and allowed you to gradually help the student increase stamina, fluency, and confidence as they start to use those spelling skills in their writing.