After A LOT of reading and researching all three programs, listening to great advice, and praying, I think I have plan but would love to have your feed back. For my third grader, I will use WWE level 2 or 3. I don't really know. He is excellent at retelling the story, remembering the facts etc. but a little slow with dictation. Copy work he would be fine with. For my 4th grader, I am thinking WTI along with her A beka language/grammar book and spelling. For my 7th grader, I am thinking IEW. He is very academic and I really feel like he needs to learn all those different forms of writing. I don't think he will struggle because he can narrate and dictate fairly well. A big factor in my decision was me being realistic with myself. I have seven children and in July I will have a newborn. I am not confident that I will be able to do CW justice. It won't get done, and then I will feel guilty, and then a whole year will have been wasted. At least that is what I foresee. So, as much as I want to do CW, because I think it probably is the best choice, I honestly don't think I could handle it. If I had less children and they were older etc. then I think I would attempt it. I just know myself too well. I get overwhelmed with all there is to do around here and adding a baby to the mix.....well, it'll just be harder. So, what do you think? Please be brutally honest with me. :001_smile: Thank you all for your help, it is very much appreciated. Renee

"I regret purchasing it, because it just doesn't have enough guidance for me or my dd, and requires me to pull together the stuff I need. " Ditto I am now trying to find that "magic bullet" for next year....I think it is stressing me out!!!

Now that I have looked at samples of Writing Tales I, I am wondering if I should use that for my 4th grader, WWE for my 3rd grader (young third grader) and CW for Older Beginners for my 7th grader? Or should I put him in Writing Tales II? I am sorry for all the questions. I just don't know what to do and I can't afford to buy something and then have to put it on the shelf. Money is tight. Thank you so much for your time, Renee PS: I pm'd you a few days ago about all of this :)

for my 7th grader, should I use WWE for my 3rd and 4th graders or use the CW primer series? Also, do I still need to do A Beka Language with them for grammar or is the CW primer enough? Thank you, Renee

I have another question.....how well is this program in teaching the children how to write. Renee

Thank you very much. I did not realize there were online courses. I will have to look into that.

Thank you for your reply....here are a few more questions I thought of. How much time does it take you (the teacher) daily? Can you just sit down, open up the book and go or do you have a lot of prep to do? What about the grammar? Do you need a separate grammar program? Thank you, Renee

I need help deciding what writing program to do next year for my 7th grader. A little background: I also have younger children but I am planning on doing WWE with them. We used TOG Y2 Units 1 and 2 this year and will be using TOG Y2 Units 3 and 4. I bought the Writing Aids and was all set to use that this year but I have found it difficult to pull off. I REALLY want to use it because 1.) it goes along with the curriculum and 2.) I already spent the money on it. However, I have only done about 1 or 2 assignments out of it for the whole year :( I know how important writing is and I just can't let another year go by without consistent, weekly, writing instruction. I think the reason I have not been able to be consistent with using Writing Aids is because it takes too much prep time from me (making copies etc.) and also because it doesn't seem to teach the child how to write. It is a great resource and is wonderful at explaining what you need to end up with, but "how to get there" is really left up to your ability as a teacher to explain it. This year has been a year of realizing my limitations I guess. With 7 children and a baby due in July, I see that I cannot use a program that requires a lot of prep time from me. So I started researching and saw that Susan Wise Bauer highly recommends Writing Strands. I was all set to go with that and then found so many people unhappy with it on these boards. Then I didn't know what to do. I am so afraid of messing up with their writing! I looked at Write Shop and Classical Writing. Which one do you think would work better for someone with a lot of children and not a lot of time? Also, it looks like they include grammar and vocabulary in the CW program. Would I still need to use Abeka Grammar and Vocabulary like we are doing now? Another concern I had was the reading. We are already doing a lot of reading with TOG. Would this be too much reading for a 7th grader? Or maybe I should just stick out with Writing Aids and make it work since funds are very limited? I just do not know what to do. I would love some input on this. I am trying to get our curriculum plan ready for next year and I'm already stressing. I really need to simplify everything. It can get so crazy around here and with the new baby coming......well, lets just say I'm struggling with the command to "be anxious for nothing..." Sincerely, Renee

I really need some help with this....anyone?

It says in the book that there are workbooks to go along with level 3 and 4. However, I don't see them for sale at the peace hill press website. Are the still available? Also, what writing program is recommended for those who are in junior high and high school? What about grammar? We use A Beka right now but that doesn't seem to be too popular around here. Is there a reason? Thank you for your help, Renee