O.K. after much debating, I have decided to try IEW next year for my 9 year old son. He is really writing phobic (carefully calculates the shortest words possible to use when completing worksheets or coming up with a narration he knows he will have to copy :( ). We will continuw WWE3 as well. My question is this: I will buy the TWSS and assummed I would also buy SWI-A as well. I am not confident at all teaching writing. I am concerned that if I just buy TWSS that I won't have enough instruction to teach him effectively. However, I also don't want to spend more than necessary - money is tight for us. So will SWI-A be helpful along with TWSS for a mom that is NOT confident about teaching writing? Or will I be dissappointed after watching TWSS that I also bought SWI-A because it was uneccesary? Thoughts?

We use WWE , FLL and next year IEW.

SOS french - no retention AT ALL!!!

Thanks, this is helpful. I don't have the $ to purchase both TWSS and SWI and was wondering which would be better...

I have been using WWE with my oldest son but plan to use IEW - SWI-A next year along with WWE 3.

I won't be very effective at comparing them, but I can say we used SM 2A and 2B and it just made too many big jumps for my son. It moved too fast with not enough review. I also hated the TM, workbook and textbook to juggle - plus the extras like CWP etc. MM was a better fit. We repeated 2B in MM and moved seamlessly into MM3A and now into 3B. I love how things are explained, how incremental it all is, the amount of review and only having one book. So MM was a better fit for us overall. However, the one thing I miss about SM is that the pages aren't nearly as crowded - they are just laid out better than MM. In order to not overwhelm my son, I often do MM on a whiteboard instead of on paper. They are both great programs !

I wouldn't do both. I started my K'er and 2nd grader both on ancients together last year. I have another one who will be a K'er next year and I will just have him start where we are at. I think in your case, I might try to have him listen to the cd's over the summer from the ancients, just for the background, and then begin Middle Ages together.

We also used a whiteboard instead of the book - it was much better. I wish there was a student book and a teacher book. So the student book was non-crowded and easy to read.

For 1st, my favourite resource was Miquon and C-rods !!! Love them both. We also use MM 1 A and B and still use the c-rods to suppliment.

For 1st, my favourite resource was Miquon and C-rods !!! Love them both. We also use MM 1 A and B and still use the c-rods to suppliment.

For 1st, my favourite resource was Miquon and C-rods !!! Love them both. We also use MM 1 A and B and still use the c-rods to suppliment.

I used Pre-1 with my 3/4 year old and AAR l with my 5 year old. I loved them both. I will likely purchase AAR 2 for my youngest when he is ready but I haven't even started AAR 1 with him yet - just not sure he is ready. My middle son, the one I used AAR 1 with already loved it and did well with it but by the end of it his reading was really starting to take off so we jsut moved into the end of OPGTR because AAR 2 wasn't ready yet. We are almost done OPGTR and he is reading really well (he is 6 now) so it was effective, but not nearly as fun as AAR :)

I wanted to add that FLL and WWE would have been too much for my first grader this year. I am using OPGTR along with spelling and jsut lots of reading, reading, reading. I plan on introducing FLL next year (when he is in 2nd) and also using WWE1 when he is in 2nd as well. Even now, my 3rd grader is using WWE2 and I flex the program a lot to suit our needs. He does well with the copy work and narrations but hates the dictations. So, I do about every other dictation but also do dictation in his spelling. Anyway, don't be afraid to change things to meet your/her needs. It sounds like she is doing really well already :)

AAS has been great for my struggling little guy. He came home from PS in 2nd and was still struglging with reading. He is now on AAS3 and has improved both his spelling and reading greatly.

We are working through the unit on time and calendars with my 1st grader in MM 1B. He is doing great with understaning time on clocks and can tell time well (to every 5 min). He seems to understand the calendar stuff too but is really stumped on AM and PM. He understands that a day has 24 hours etc. I showed him a small timeline of his day (i.e. get up at 7AM, eat lunch at 12PM, supper, bed etc.) but then when I ask him questions like " if the clock says 2:00 and if it light outside is it AM or PM ?" He has no idea! Any thoughts on helping him wrap him mind around AM and PM ?

I start WWE and FLL 1 in second for my kids and it works wonderfully. They just are not ready in first. I am hoping it works well to bridge into WWS too in 6th rahter than 5th. FLL moved faster for us than WWE so we are actually only about 1/2 year behind in FLL now for my oldest but I stay a full year behind for him in WWE.

We love it too . I am using level 1 and 3 with my boys.

Thanks, those are great idea!

We use both and love them. We started OPGTR in K and got about 1/2 way through by 1st. We started AAS in first and are moving slowly. We will finish AAS 1 and 2 by the end of 1st and all of OPGTR.

We use WWE and WWW together. I usually alternate each day. My son does really well with the narrations in WWE and enjoys the passages. He struggles with dictation but it has more to do with his spelling than his ability to retain information. I decied to use WWW with it because my son did very little actual writing in any subject. I also liked that it was relatively independant (inlike all the other things we do - FLL, WWE, AAS etc.). So my question is, if you use WWW have you seen any inprovment in your childs writing skills? Have you found it to be worthwhile? I'm not looking to change WWE, I am just thinking ahead to next year to see if I want to continue with WWW or move to IEW. Thanks

We started with SM and switched to MM. I really love how MM explains things and it is working really well for my children. My only complaint is the busy pages. These were overwhelming to my oldest ds and so we do most of the work on a large white board and it has made all the difference. I still love MM and don't think we will ever switch now !

We did the same thing and it worked really well for my boys. They just were not ready for WWE1 in 1st grade. By 2nd, it was a perfect fit. I'm in no rush. From what I hear about WWS, starting in 6th will probably be better for us than 5th anyway.

We use FLL too. I mostly love it. My ds thinks it's o.k. but he doesn't complain about it so it must be pretty good.

I use FLL. WWE, AAS and ETC books but I usually wait on FLL and WWE until 2nd (use them 2 - 5th instead). We are usually finishing up OPGTR in 1st too.

I'd love to !