fleischdoc Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I have a soon to be 3rd grader that really needs help in writing-she is just recently reading at grade level, but I have not been doing much with writing while focusing on reading/phonics skills. She has mainly been copying with some dicatation at the end of the year. Fine motor/handwriting have been a challenge. I feel that intellecually she has progressed a lot recently and want a good program to get her going on her writing skills. I had decided on CW Aesop, but recently also saw discussions on WWE and Writing Tales that I thought might be good but less teacher-intensive. I so like the idea of CW but am afraid to jump in- I also have a 6th grader and twin 2yr olds as far as my time restraints. Any advice/opinions would be appreciated! Lisa in MO mom of 4(11, 8, and 2yr old twinados) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 If she is struggling with writing I would purchase WWE. Even if she isn't I'd still aquire WWE. I just bought this and have been reading Susan's book and it makes A LOT of sense to me in the process of how children learn to write. If her fine motor skills are still developing then actually more copywork and dictation needs to continue. I would say after she is able to construct sentences on her own you could go with something such as WT's. You even can combine Writing Tales and WWE as well. Since your daughter is only in 3rd grade I wouldn't rush it. In WWE, Susan doesn't recommend any formal writing until 5th grade. After reading WWE I see the logic in starting in this grade level having watched my oldest grow up. I've looked at Classical writing several times and it seems to require more teacher involvement then I have at the moment. Plus it too scares me when I look at it! LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 A great way to start writing instruction is to have her master oral narration first, then teach her written narration from your other subjects. After that, she should be a good solid reader and will have had a good amount of practice getting her ideas on paper in an organized fashion. I have a dd the same age/grade and we'll not be doing a formal writing program until she masters written narration...REcommunicating is a key step in communicating your own ideas. We'll use Write With The Best after that...around 4th/5th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 If she is struggling with writing I would purchase WWE. Even if she isn't I'd still aquire WWE. I just bought this and have been reading Susan's book and it makes A LOT of sense to me in the process of how children learn to write. If her fine motor skills are still developing then actually more copywork and dictation needs to continue. :iagree:I have both the text and the workbook. My soon to be 3rd grader is a very slow writer. Well so has my soon to be 4th grader. This coming year will be our first in using this program but I really like the fact that it truly is open and go. You can also very easily go as slow or as fast as your dc is ready. I like that a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyco Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I'd also recommend WWE. I started my ds 3rd grade with WWE last year, but we switched to CW Aesop at the end of the year (mostly because my oldest is doing Homer and I wanted him to be "prepared" for that). Well, I like WWE much better. It is much easier to implement, easier to understand how the program works, does a great job of teaching narration skills. I found Aesop very hard to adapt to our needs because we were using a different grammar program and also we don't use their recommended phonics program. Ds did most of WWE level II last year and I am switching him back to level III next year. After that, who knows? I have my fingers crossed that SWB will have her middle grade writing program started by then... Anyway, WWE for sure. If you get the texbook (hardback) it will be easier to determine which level to start her in. The workbooks are great. Good luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Another vote here for WWE. Don't feel pressured to start a writing program with her too soon. WWE is so gentle and just right. Do that, let her get comfortable this year with writing her own narrations, then consider WT1 for next year (4th). You don't want her to get swamped with the lengths of the models. She should definitely be comfortable writing her own narrations before you start WT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I would wait on WT 1 until 4th grade. In addition to WWE, you might look at IEW theme based writing. If I didn't want the grammar portion in WT I would consider IEW. They are listed on that link by difficulty from what I can tell. I like the way IEW uses outlining techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Lisa, I would echo using WWE first, simply because in Homer you have to be able to summarize the scenes, so the better the child is at summary narrations the easier the program will be for them. Plus Aesop A, if you plan to only use the workbooks and not come up with your own models, only has 18 weeks of material. Aesop B is also only 18 weeks. You can easily save them for 4th grade and not be behind at all. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I think WWE is very solid, really walks a child (and parent) through the steps, and is much clearer and simpler to use than CW. I like the idea of CW, but I don't find it user friendly at all. WWE manages to be grab-and-go, and at the same time does a good job of being very transparent so that the instructor learns to be a better writing teacher while using it too. I've only looked at samples of WT, and comparing it to CW and WWE, I was unimpressed. (On the other hand, I think Logos School's Imitations in Writing series is also decent, and comes from a similar philosophy as well.) But my favorite would definitely be WWE, for what you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fleischdoc Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Everyone's input has been extremely helpful:) Trying to figure out what each offers by reading the web info can be difficult, and getting "real life" advice is great. I am going to start WWE with her and see how we all do. Thanks! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanino Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Oh man, I searched for "Classical Writing" and found your thread. I am trying to decide between WWE, WT and CW as well for my soon to be 3rd grader. We are planning on using First Language Lessons as well and I'm wondering - don't WT and CW cover grammar as well? I'm so confused as to which writing program to use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Stephanie, start with WWE, and then move on to one of the other writing programs like CW or WT. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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