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Questions for those that use IEW - Especially AHBW


mompotter
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I just received my Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons from IEW. I do not own the Teaching Writing - Structure and Style DVD set (I do have access through a friend so I hope to watch it at some point). It is purely because of finances.

 

A couple questions.

 

There are only 22 lessons. If you have used this before do you use other things with it or just spread it out over the year? Is it enough for one year?

 

My other thought was....Could I just pick up the Student Writing Intensive set (probably B, based on my kids ages) and do that first then move right into this for the year? I really bought this for my ds (6th) and had planned to use WWE for my younger two (4th & 2nd) but starting to rethink some things. Thinking maybe I could use this for my two older ones and keep using WWE with my younger one.

 

I am very "writing confused" can you tell?? I don't know what to use but WWE was not enough for my ds. He is really freaked out when it comes to writing and I need something "very practical" and effective with him. Doing copy work and/or dictation just doesn't seem to be doing anything. He still can't even write a paragraph on his own. I should note he is a very strong reader and his comprehension level is better than mine. His spelling is wonderful (if he has seen the word he can spell it). He is just very weak in writing skills. I have not pushed him (until last year).

 

My other thought was... Using this and continuing to use WWE to help him learn to summarize the information. To do both I would skip some of the WWE week. I would have him listen, narrate back and write his narration down (as copy work). Then use the AHWL the rest of the week.

Edited by mompotter
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We had a similar situation here. I first used IEW last school year with my then 6th and 4th graders. We used SWI B and followed suit with a few lessons from the Medieval Writing lessons to coordinate our history studies.

 

If you have access to SWI I say get it, get it, get it. We had our best year of writing ever. My oldest daughter scored higher in writing on her standardized tests than in any other subject from any previous testing year (we start testing in 3rd grade). In some sections of the writing portion she achieved a nearly perfect score. We were not having this kind of success before, and she is not a natural writer.

 

I shyed away from IEW in the past b/c of concerns about it being "formulaic". It was just the formula we needed. My kids now have a "toolbox, a method, a checklist. It's reallly worked well for us.

 

With that said, my vote is obviously get SWI B and follow with your Ancient History lessons book. I do have the TWSS, but have not watched all of it. If you can borrow your friend's and watch it that would be great, but you'll be fine with SWI B and it will give you the methods to implement your ancient history lessons more easily.

 

We weren't able to get all the way through our medieval book, but overall it was the best year we've had for writing.

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We had a similar situation here. I first used IEW last school year with my then 6th and 4th graders. We used SWI B and followed suit with a few lessons from the Medieval Writing lessons to coordinate our history studies.

 

If you have access to SWI I say get it, get it, get it. We had our best year of writing ever. My oldest daughter scored higher in writing on her standardized tests than in any other subject from any previous testing year (we start testing in 3rd grade). In some sections of the writing portion she achieved a nearly perfect score. We were not having this kind of success before, and she is not a natural writer.

 

I shyed away from IEW in the past b/c of concerns about it being "formulaic". It was just the formula we needed. My kids now have a "toolbox, a method, a checklist. It's reallly worked well for us.

 

With that said, my vote is obviously get SWI B and follow with your Ancient History lessons book. I do have the TWSS, but have not watched all of it. If you can borrow your friend's and watch it that would be great, but you'll be fine with SWI B and it will give you the methods to implement your ancient history lessons more easily.

 

We weren't able to get all the way through our medieval book, but overall it was the best year we've had for writing.

 

It does inspire me and encourage me. Thank you so much for posting!!!! I need all the encouragement I can get right now. I feel like I have really blown it with writing. At first the mechanics were hard so I didn't push too hard (I was told boys take longer, etc) then I think I just wasn't sure what to do. I didn't understand why to do copy work or dictation. Now I feel like I missed a critical time for him to learn.

 

Thank you again for your encouragement! :D

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If you have access to SWI I say get it, get it, get it. We had our best year of writing ever.

 

:iagree: Us too!

 

My DD loved watching Andrew Pudewa and the teaching of structure is outstanding. It was exactly what we needed this past year. I've typed many times on this forum..... it was the best $99 I spent this past year. :)

 

I didn't want to spend the money for SICC this upcoming year, so we're going with Write with the Best. I'll follow up in 9th grade with SWI-C which adds in note taking. Yay!

 

Just a thought - the SWI is 15 lessons which could easily be covered in 2 weeks. Some kids take it as a seminar over a weekend. We didn't do it this way, but if you don't want to be covering both the AHBW and SWI concurrently, you might consider this.

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:iagree: Us too!

 

My DD loved watching Andrew Pudewa and the teaching of structure is outstanding. It was exactly what we needed this past year. I've typed many times on this forum..... it was the best $99 I spent this past year. :)

 

I didn't want to spend the money for SICC this upcoming year, so we're going with Write with the Best. I'll follow up in 9th grade with SWI-C which adds in note taking. Yay!

 

Just a thought - the SWI is 15 lessons which could easily be covered in 2 weeks. Some kids take it as a seminar over a weekend. We didn't do it this way, but if you don't want to be covering both the AHBW and SWI concurrently, you might consider this.

 

Thank you! Thanks for the info. on the SWI lessons too. That helps me to think through how this could work.

 

Keep the info coming. Thanks! :D

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It does inspire me and encourage me. Thank you so much for posting!!!! I need all the encouragement I can get right now. I feel like I have really blown it with writing. At first the mechanics were hard so I didn't push too hard (I was told boys take longer, etc) then I think I just wasn't sure what to do. I didn't understand why to do copy work or dictation. Now I feel like I missed a critical time for him to learn.

 

Thank you again for your encouragement! :D

 

 

It is so easy to feel like we've blown it and missed our window of opportunity. If you have one good year of writing, you will feel so much more relaxed and caught up, you might wonder why you were so stressed out. :001_smile:

 

My vote is also SWI & AHBWL. FWIW, we used TWSS & AHBWL this year. We did not get through the whole thing, and still had our best year ever. There is a lot of material packed in those 22 lessons!

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It is so easy to feel like we've blown it and missed our window of opportunity. If you have one good year of writing, you will feel so much more relaxed and caught up, you might wonder why you were so stressed out. :001_smile:

 

My vote is also SWI & AHBWL. FWIW, we used TWSS & AHBWL this year. We did not get through the whole thing, and still had our best year ever. There is a lot of material packed in those 22 lessons!

 

Thank you! I know that happens with reading. My dd was a perfect example of that. She just really started "getting" it this year. She went from about a first grade level to an early third grade level in one year. She is still a little behind but I am over the worrying. She can't seem to keep her hands off of books lately. :D

 

I guess I need to think about writing that way too.

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:iagree: Us too!

 

My DD loved watching Andrew Pudewa and the teaching of structure is outstanding. It was exactly what we needed this past year. I've typed many times on this forum..... it was the best $99 I spent this past year. :)

 

I didn't want to spend the money for SICC this upcoming year, so we're going with Write with the Best. I'll follow up in 9th grade with SWI-C which adds in note taking. Yay!

 

Just a thought - the SWI is 15 lessons which could easily be covered in 2 weeks. Some kids take it as a seminar over a weekend. We didn't do it this way, but if you don't want to be covering both the AHBW and SWI concurrently, you might consider this.

 

Should I use SWI A or B? I think I read somewhere that B covers the same material as A plus some. Does anyone know?

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but I HATED the DVD lessons! I had TWSS and SWI-A and just couldn't stand them. I LOVE the IEW HBWLs!! I had them all. I'll be doing IEW US History v1 for the second time with younger ds this fall.

 

Just START IEW Ancient HBWL and you'll get the hang of it, imho. Pre-read most of the book before you begin the program. Also re-read the lesson & TM part for EACH lesson before you teach it. Go to the IEW yahoo group and read some of the files or ask questions before you begin.

 

There is a used IEW yahoo if you don't want to buy new materials.

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Should I use SWI A or B? I think I read somewhere that B covers the same material as A plus some. Does anyone know?

 

 

Yes, I think all the SWIs cover the same ground, just at a different grade level.

A= gr. 3-5

B= gr. 6-8

C= gr. 9-12

 

If you're having trouble deciding between A and B, the yahoo group is very helpful.

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Your children are the same ages as mine(except my third daughter is 6 an dnot 7 :>)

Anyways it was recommended to me to use SWI B with them and on the IEW website there are free lessons from each of the SWI(s). So you could copy the SWI A lessons to do with your 9yr old if they can't keep up with the 11yr old in SWI B.

I hope that makes sense.

I have my stuff but haven't looked over it yet. I don't have the TWSS yet due to finances too. I'm wondering if I do need it or not or if the SWI-B will be just fine to start with.

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Your children are the same ages as mine(except my third daughter is 6 an dnot 7 :>)

Anyways it was recommended to me to use SWI B with them and on the IEW website there are free lessons from each of the SWI(s). So you could copy the SWI A lessons to do with your 9yr old if they can't keep up with the 11yr old in SWI B.

I hope that makes sense.

I have my stuff but haven't looked over it yet. I don't have the TWSS yet due to finances too. I'm wondering if I do need it or not or if the SWI-B will be just fine to start with.

 

That is very helpful - thanks!!

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If you can get the SWI, I say that is a great idea. The program will make so much more sense to your ds if he can watch Mr. Pudewa explain it (not to mention that his enthusiasm for writing is infectious!) Definitely go ahead and get B. I just used them to teach a workshop to some reluctant writers, and they really got into it watching him.

 

And borrow those TWSS DVDs as soon as you can and watch them. :001_smile: THe more you can wrap your brain around the program, the more you can help your ds.

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