Thanks very much! Off to check out the link and also Thinking in Threes (had not heard of this). I know what you mean about the 'trees'.. this is my concern at present - its hard to trust in the process at times when you cannot see some immediate progress.

oh okay. We are only in WWS1 and I read somewhere here that it does not teach essay writing. If it does - great! Can anyone confirm?

For a 13yo kid (boy) who is loving WWS 1, what would recommendations be for teaching essay writing. I was going to look at LTOW but understand it is very similar to IEW (which he abhorred). Would love to hear your suggestions for something that would gel with a program like WWS.

I haven’t read whole thread but I have the previous edition of TWSS if you are interested Melissa. I’m not at home right now to check but I think I have the discs and binder. I’m in Perth by the way so postage would be a lot cheaper. If you are interested feel free to pm me

You could try this: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-big-book-of-australian-history-peter-macinnis/prod9780642279026.html?source=pla&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8JHjvNO61gIVTQQqCh0RhQzxEAQYASABEgJSB_D_BwE

When we were first starting out, Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola and WTM

DS12 got bored with MM too, after using it for about 4 years. Prior we had used Singapore Primary Math and dabbled in MUS (between K-2). DS now uses TT and loves it. We didn't want to break from MM and go back to it, it was tear inducing for DS and he began to dread math each day, we wanted to leave MM altogether. It wasn't that he couldn't do it, he is quite proficient with math, its that he loathed MM eventually. So we switched.

I agree. We started out with Latin which we used for a couple of years, then I thought why? I'd rather focus on ENGLISH language. Plus it was too hard to squeeze in time-wise and I only have the one.

DS12 uses it after ceasing MM. He uses it on grade level. He loves it compared to MM which ended up driving him a bit crazy after using it for 4 years. I never understand the negative reviews about the program - it seems good enough to me.

Its funny, I originally came here with concerns about W&R's lack of instruction for outlining, however after looking through a couple of other writing programs that give too much instruction, and break the process down way too much, for this child W&R is continuing to look like the most suitable writing instruction. I also have a better understanding of the premise behind the program thanks to the podcast recommended above, and I like what I have seen/heard.

Thanks for your advice throughout this thread Clear Creek. It has been immensely helpful in deciding whether we keep going with W&R or ditch it. For now, I think we will keep going. I look forward to receiving Chreia so I can have a look through it myself.

I also don't see the point of outlining fiction. We are going to try Chreia too and if that bombs then we may go to WWS. I say may loosely though because I don't want to be turned off W&R because of Chreia (the negative reviews are all I have to go on right now), so I will need to be mindful of that. DS did start WWS a year or so ago and found it too stifling (again with breaking things down too much like IEW), whereas with W&R he actually enjoys the exercises.

Thanks so much for this advice Chelli. It helps me to better understand what I need to focus on before moving on in W&R. It sounds like it might be a good idea to pause and focus on outlining and understand that well enough before moving on. I have just purchased Chreia after reading your comments, because I am starting to feel it would be a bad idea to skip any of the books. Do you use the Most Wonderful Writing Lessons to supplement other parts of W&R also, or only the outlining section?

Thank you! Good to know.

Thanks thats a good idea - I have WWS1-2 here so I will have a better look at how they approach outlining.