Sure, you can do that but you will be limited to only what is taught on the SWI which are not ALL the Units. After completing the SWICC, which comes after the SWI you would then have the big picture. Personally, I am a whole to parts person, I need to see the complete program to understand the methodology. For many who are parts to whole learners/teachers doing each step is fine without knowing or seeing the big picture.:)

My favorite source is The Complete Book of Animals for this age.:)

Well, I think that was because it sets up parents to feel like their child HAS to be writing. The pressure of that on parent and child is unnecessary. Second grade is a safe enough grade to start IEW with narration and Key Word Outlines to see success without guilt. I have used it successfully since K, in a gentle fashion moving at the speed of the child. I love the program and the results from my VERY different children have been wonderful.

Ideally, the parents should have watched the TWSS. I ask parents of my students to watch the TWSS. It's important to have, at the least a base knowledge about the program. Depending on how comfortable the parent is about moving through the TWSS(many are not), then that's what you could do. As an easier option, the parent can assign one of the SWI's to the student.To make it even easier, they can use a workbook that stretches it out to a year. If you do not use the workbook and decided to simply follow the lesson plans that come with the SWI you may find it moves to quickly or you might have to come up with other "models" for practice. You could do TWSS ,for you and your 1st grader, teaching only the first 2 units and moving into the 3rd Unit and maybe the 4th Unit for 2nd grade. Your 4th grader could use the SWI A over two years. If you got the workbook you could split it in half and use 1/2 for 4th and 5th adding in models from whatever you are studying in History and Science. Then your 6th grader would move into the SWICC-A or do a Themed book, your 3rd would be ready for Book reports and a mini research paper. 7th-SWICC-B, Themed Book and/or Teaching the Classics, 4th would move into your SWIA sequence and follow what you already did for your oldest. 8th-How to Write a Story, Teaching The Classics Worldview Supplement 9th-SWICC-C/The Elegant Essay...and so on.

Having only every used IEW, this is our sequence. It started like this: K- Day 1- I read a paragraph I wrote off the board, I ask her to find nouns and verbs, she circles them in different colors, I ask the same for adjectives and adverbs. Then in black I ask her to underline 3 words she thinks will help her remember this fact. She does that for every sentence. Day 2- She writes the underlined words for her KWO (key word outline) She narrates it back to me while looking at her outline. Day 3- I erase the model from the board and ask her to Narrate to me carefully making complete sentences. I write EXACTLY what she says. We go over and edit. We talk about proper sentence structure, and grammar rules if needed. Day 4- She does her "copywork" by looking at the finished copy on the board and in her neatest handwriting, she writes it on her paper.Illustrate it-Done! This is only unit 1 of the TWSS- DVD1 As they get older, I move through the units, ALWAYS using what they are studying, and not some random material. We start at the beginning and because their reading level increases each year as well as vocabulary it's a natural progression to different, and more difficult sources. My 1st grader did doing KWO, Summarizing From Notes & Story Sequence this year, that's it. (Unit 1,2,3) My current 2nd grader is doing KWO, and a paragraph from the KWO with ALL dress-ups. Summarizing From Notes & Story Sequence this year, that's it. (Unit 1,2,3) My 3rd grader has done KWO with a paragraph from the KWO )ALL dress-ups and openers, Summarizing From Notes, Story Sequence, Writing from Pictures,Summarizing from references & Creative Writing (Unit 1,2,3,5,4,6- in that order)This would basically be the SWI-A My 4th grader has done KWO(will ALL dress-ups and openers) and a couple of decoration, Summarizing From Notes, Story Sequence, and will do Writing from Pictures & Summarizing from References,Library Reports,Creative Writing & Essay Writing (Unit 1,2,3,5,4,6,7 in that order) We have done one book critique so far. My 5th grader did KWO(will ALL dress-ups and openers) and all decorations, Summarizing From Notes, Story Sequence, Writing from Pictures & Summarizing from References,Library Reports,Creative Writing & Essay Writing (Unit 1,2,3,5,4,6,7 in that order) We finished the year with Imitation in Poetry. My oldest now in 6th has done KWO(will ALL dress-ups and openers) and all decorations, Summarizing From Notes, and will do Story Sequence, Writing from Pictures & Summarizing from References,Library Reports,Creative Writing & Essay Writing (Unit 1,2,3,5,4,6,7 in that order) We have done 1 book critique, and she will do 2 more as well as 2 research papers to finish ot her year.

I remember looking at EduTrack. I remember there were some features that I did not like the set up on, I think that's why I mainly focused on getting HST. I simply use the students/assignments tab and put everything I want in. Then I copy it to the teacher/lesson plan and it does it on it's own. I have to give a big kudos to all those moms that have already planned so many different curricula already and made the plans available on the Yahoo groups. I got over 1/2 of my lesson plans from them, it's really quite remarkable.

I enter it into assignments then I shift, right click on all the assignments I want to transfer to the Lesson Plan. I left click on them and click on "copy to lesson-plan" and it's done!

Once I downloaded many of the LP's I SAW how it's done. Then I figured the rest out. Keep trying. You can request a live walk through via the website. She will personally walk you through the problems. The other option is to use the Dictation software and just speak the lesson into you computer.:)

We have been using IEW for 7 years. It really all depends on what you want to do, and what you want your children to do. TWSS- This is the Teaching Syllabus for the parents. It teaches YOU how to do the program. You can teach the units to you kids from it after, you have gone through the the practicums. (Teacher Intensive) SWI- These are the student writing intensives. You may watch them on your own and then teach it, you may watch it with your child or if you have a very independent working child you may have them do it. SWI Workbooks will take the DVD's of the SWI (A,B and C) and break them into smaller chunks. It makes the SWI VERY independent. The Themed books are small chunks of IEW spread out over several weeks. It is a parts to whole program. They are the bones of IEW. Although many just get that, I still thing to get the full scope, and the meat of the program the parents should really watch the TWSS unless their child is taking the class in a co-op by a knowledgeable IEW instructor. Lastly, the SWICC (continuation course) are used after 1 SWI is used in alphabetical order. :001_smile:

I'm so happy people kept posting on how great it was. I just wish I started using it much sooner.:001_smile:

I watched those threads go by, I went and looked at the site and decided against it for 3 years. Three weeks ago I took the plunge and decided to go ahead and get the HST CD. Wow! I joined all the groups with the Lesson Plans(they had almost everything) and I went ahead and got used to the program and it is amazing. Everyone is scheduled, beautiful assignment sheets. The learning curve was a bit rough, I posted my questions, kept on it and once I figured it out is was a cinch.

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. I used TOG for almost 4 years, my oldest didn't like it, I did. She thought the Literature selections were dry:), I though informative. We have been doing BP with the lit suggestions and to supplement my voracious readers I pull books from ATTA. Its been a great 2nd half of the year. We have been able to make up a ton of ground, covering two weeks every one week. We do the Cool History Pages and the timeline. I play the SOTW on audio as they answer the questions. My ds said, I never knew History was so interesting:001_huh:,I guess he wasn't listening to the TOG books either. It seems they just want the "bones" No digging deeper, just give me the good stuff and lets move on.

I am doing LL7 through G3(gifted online). :)

Just started entering everything in HST. I should be done right before school ends. I am waiting for a few more items to come in so I can put the lessons in.

I just wanted to reply, with my experience. I have my oldest, professionally tested as gifted, my other two are bright kiddos, different learners but both are on or above grade level on every subject. My oldest, now 6th flew through the Singapore Maths to level 6B, completed CD Pre-Alg and is currently flying through CD ALg. 1. She did CWP above grade level corresponding with the Singapore texts. She also used LOF for summer math and a few computer games. For the primary years I added sections of the BJU workbook, and use the chapters from BJU I felt Singapore was missing, this is corrected in the CA Edition, I believe. My ds in 4th is in the DUKE TIP program, and I think he is a bright kid that sometimes has moments of brillance...lol..only sometimes. He takes the IOWA a grade level up, but has not been professionally tested. He uses MUS as his basal program. He does the entire workbook and gets those concepts down, then he does Singapore. Hes been doing them 1/5 grade level above with the CWP corresponding to the book topics. I line the topics very carefully for him because he will get frustrated and shuts down immediately. He does a BJU workbook over the summer as review (he very much dislikes LOF)Hes going into 5th and will be using BJU Foundations which I must agree with OHE, is awesome! My youngest is my most difficult to teach, she is a 2nd grade right brainer with a left brained family:D. She is the most joyous and fun child in the bunch but it's been challenging to get the materials just right for her. She is the only one that uses the work-box method, and it works well for her. She uses MUS as her basal curriculum with several chapters of BJU workbook topics lines up. She needs tons of review, but once she gets a concept down, it's down. For the summer she uses CLE workbooks, starting at the middle of them. I do use the bar method with her and I tend to teach most of the concepts the Singapore way. She does CWP on grade level, no problems. She gets tested via IOWAS on grade level , her math scores are in the 98%. My suggestion is to find out the learning style of the child. I use several tools to figure out the learning styles and it gives you parameters on what curricula to use, and what not to use. CLE is a little bland, although it is my RBL favorite book of all the maths. I don't think mt ds would be able to work without color. He needs color or math becomes so blah to him. Key to... and Math Mammoth are lacking in that. What about using Hands on Equations (I think OHE suggested this also), and sections of BJU that focus only on these topics? We also keep math pretty personal, I sit side by side with each kiddo and we work through math together. We also do two sessions a day, to avoid burnout.

Don't forget MUS, kinda like Teaching Textbooks now. :)

It looks really well done. I think it would be a nice addition to our science studies and I plan to use the field trip ones wrapped around the One Small Square series my 2nd grader loves so much. I'm going to go but it, Thanks!

I am looking at getting this and the field trip series. Looks good but, I remember you used it for a Bio. supplement as well as the Hughes DVD (which I also got), how did your year go? Thanks!

I totally agree, those fraction overlays are ingenious. My ds got it and his skills are so solid. I use MUS for introduction to concepts then we move to BJU for application. I really love the program. I just got the Zeta to look at and it's so nice compared to the older stuff although the content is the same for the most part.

We used The Grammar Of Poetry by Matt Whitling My dd used it pretty much independently and learned a lot from it.

Nebels looks great , but will require prep. INSIGHTS:AN ELEMENTARY HANDS-ON INQUIRY SCIENCE CURRICULUM by Kendall -Hunt are great. I have used a few alongside BJU just to add a bit more, but they can most definitely be used alone.

Hi, I would suggest level 4 then you can go right into 6 the following year.

My all time favorite The Jesus Storybook Bible with Big Truths

I copied 3 sets of maps, cool history questions and I added the STOW coloring pages to my 7 year olds only. I have each workbook bound with a cover they drew and a pocket folder inside:) Then I used the Avery labels(the full sheets) and copied the timeline pieces and put a set in the pocket folder of each workbook. If I find a really neat activity or cooking item in SOTW activity guide I copy that and slide that into the workbook. For history time, they bring their timeline books and workbooks. I read from Child's Story of America(if we have it that week), and the Cool History. If we don't have CSOA, and it's the UIHE, I'll read that. If it's only SOTW then I play the audio(my 7 yod will color) the other kids listen and fill in the Cool History while they are listening. Then we go over the questions. and my 7 yod fills in as we are discussing. Then we do the map-work and timeline. I have a 1.5 hour block set on Thursdays and we have been getting the whole thing done at every session. History has NEVER been so easy.

I am using BP 3 we are on week 13. I love the Cool History discussion questions and the bonus questions.