Do you like Writing Strands?

[nd293]

I have started dd (nearly 9) with Writing Strands 3, but I am just not sure about the programme.

 

I appreciate the goals of the programme, but am uncomfortable about the quality.

 

For example, in lesson 2, the goal is to learn to expand a sentence by adding information to a core sentence. This information is obtained by posing a series of questions about the core sentence, then adding the answers to the core sentence.

 

I am very uncomfortable, though, when the sentence the author comes up with at the end of the process is The frog was sitting on a lily pad at nine o'clock that morning last spring when she thought it was yummy to eat the fly the raccoon saw her eat. This is not my idea of good writing.

 

I understand that this is a step in the learning process, but surely the author should be modeling coherent, polished sentences for the student to aspire too, rather than the sort of clumsy sentence a child might create out of the process?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Nikki in Australia

[Melissa in Australia]

I have used writing strands in the past. I changed some of the sentences to more appropriate ones.

another thing that I found worked well for my children was I let them do their writing strands on the computer. that way they could go back over their sentence repeatedly adding in all the adjectives etc. without having to re write it 100's of times.

[nd293]

Melissa,

 

Why didn't I think of getting her to type it? What a brilliant idea. I will do that for the next lesson. That will make an enormous difference, as she is currently quite resistent to WS.

 

I have been writing a summary review of the first two lessons, as we have been very disjointed in our lesson scheduling so far, and yes, I too have rewritten some the example sentences. But the question remains, should I be using a writing programme where I think that some of the writing is so bad that I need to rewrite it? Hopefully the early sentences were just an anomoly. To be fair, later lessons do seem much better.

 

Thanks again,

 

Nikki in cold, grey, rainy Australia!

[JudyJudyJudy]

I usually try to nurture a program rather than tossing it, but this is one of the few programs that I tossed.

[Melissa in Australia]

Nikki in cold, grey, rainy Australia!

 

it is like that here too, and isn't it beautiful:D

[nd293]

I usually try to nurture a program rather than tossing it, but this is one of the few programs that I tossed.

 

What did you replace it with?

 

--

 

As for the weather, I feel I was lured to Australia under false pretenses. Where's all that sun? :huh:

[Sunshine State Sue]

We used Writing Strands 3 in 5th grade, but I really disliked it. Perhaps it was because I never understood the big picture. Most people seem to either love or hate Writing Strands. I will say that I never got around to using Evaluating Writing as they suggest.

 

We are using Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th. I have been very pleased with the instructions. We both need detailed instructions. You may read my review here.

[Ellie]

I have started dd (nearly 9) with Writing Strands 3, but I am just not sure about the programme.

 

I appreciate the goals of the programme, but am uncomfortable about the quality.

 

For example, in lesson 2, the goal is to learn to expand a sentence by adding information to a core sentence. This information is obtained by posing a series of questions about the core sentence, then adding the answers to the core sentence.

 

I am very uncomfortable, though, when the sentence the author comes up with at the end of the process is The frog was sitting on a lily pad at nine o'clock that morning last spring when she thought it was yummy to eat the fly the raccoon saw her eat. This is not my idea of good writing.

 

I understand that this is a step in the learning process, but surely the author should be modeling coherent, polished sentences for the student to aspire too, rather than the sort of clumsy sentence a child might create out of the process?

 

Any thoughts?

 

Nikki in Australia

The polishing becomes part of the process as time goes on. :-)

[Orthodox6]

No, I do not like Writing Strands. Neither did my children. I don't want a "zip, zip, silly" program -- I just don't want to fall asleep while using this boring product.

 

Never have fallen in love with any writing program, to be honest, apart from Jensen's "Format Writing" for high school.

[LauraGB]

In 3rd grade, we used WS3...it was not a hit. Both dc hated the overly systematic approach, wishing they could just get on with it already. After more reading and research, I thought it would improve in later books, so we tried WS4 last year...again, the same complaint. I did not love it either.

 

Before WS3, we successfully used the writing program included in our grammar program (Voyages in English). Everyone really liked it a lot and the dc did really well.

 

This year, we are trying IEW (SWI B for them and TWSS for me) and it is a huge hit. I wish I would have taken the time to understand the program better, not balked at the price and bought it used years ago. For us, it was definitely worth the investment. I can honestly say with two kids who love to write (maybe not the penmanship part, but that's another story), I feel a major relief this year with IEW.

[WTMCassandra]

I tried really hard, on three occasions, to like Writing Strands. I finally gave up. It's the one major suggestion of Susan's that I've never been able to really wrap my brain around (although in general I'm the hugest SWB supporter ever). One time I even sat down in a curriculum store for a couple of hours and looked through all of the levels up through high school, and I only saw a couple of lessons per book that I thought were worthwhile. That's when I gave it up for good.

 

I honestly don't even see how that program fulfills her philosophy of writing that she has laid out in WTM, her writing tape/CD, and her new curriculum. If I were in your shoes I would go with Writing With Ease. However, my children are older and past the levels available, so we are happy with Classical Writing. I intend to stick with that for the foreseeable future.

[Starr]

We found Writing Strands to work well for us..:)

[Carol in Cal.]

and it has been a great fit for my daughter.

 

I see the point of lessons like the one you mentioned. The author is giving kids practice in making sentences longer and more engaging, using adjectives, adverbs, and descriptive phrases. That is a good way to get them to notice, in other writing, when their sentences have taken on a 'Dick and Jane' quality (or lack thereof).

 

WS teaches all different kinds of writing, and although its assignments are fairly specific, it does always leave room for creativity. It is one of the more well-rounded programs around, even covering propaganda in one of the later books.

[LanaTron]

My elder two are working in WS 3. Sometimes they are not quite clear what they are supposed to be writing (the exercie about the kitten that thinks it's a duck, for example). Sometimes I change the topic of the assignment, to help my dc figure out what they want to write. For example, on the assignment where they are to write about what they did during one day, I let my ds make stuff up. They both thought the assignment about making an organized list of things in a room of the house was "dumb." They are 14 and 12, though, so there's not going to be much that impresses them.

 

I would say it is okay. I have purchased WS 4, so we'll use at least those two levels, then decide if it's a keeper or not.

[yslek]

I've tried to like Writing Strands, and have bought and re-sold it about three times now. :glare: I'm currently hanging on to my copy of WS 3 just to remind myself of why I don't need to buy it again. :lol: I don't really have a specific, useful critique. It was just one of those programs that I dreaded even pulling out to use, and my boys just sort of plodded through. We're using Writing Tales 2 this year, but haven't started yet...we'll see how it goes. :D

[Katiebug_1976]

We have used Writing Strands 3 & 4 several times in the last few years, and I finally sold them all because it just didn't work for us. My oldest dd completed level 3 and started level 4 (she LOVES to write, but hated this program). My other dd & ds both started, but we auit because it just wasnt working for them. We are now using Apologia Jump In for my older dd's and Writing Tales 1 for my ds. After 5 weeks, these seem to be the perfect fit for my kids! YEAH!!!

[willtheycallmeblessed]

tried it for fourth grader. Did not like it. Prefer copy work and dictation. Also used Abeka's God's gift of language b. Have heard excellent things about rod and staff. Like earlier poster said, strands seems to be loved or hated by its users.

[Melissa in Australia]

--

 

As for the weather, I feel I was lured to Australia under false pretenses. Where's all that sun? :huh:

 

 

the sun will come, and with it the heat ! you will look back to those few grey days with longing.:lol:

[TrixieB]

My 11yo used Writing Strands 3 over the past 2 years, and is partway through level 4. She likes WS in general; both the assignments and the author's instructing style appeal to her. I find that her natural voice comes out much more in the Writing Strands compositions than in the Rod & Staff writing lessons.

[TC5]

We tried WS 3 last year for my 7yo son. He's a good writer, but he never produced any good writing using "the corny book", as he called it. He dreaded that book. I tried to make him do it anyway, altering assignments to make them more interesting for him, but that lasted only a few lessons.

 

We both love Rod and Staff English, though. My son appreciates the professionalism of the book, and he has written beautiful and creative sentences, paragraphs, and poems from R&S assignments.

 

We also started using Writing With Ease this year, mostly as a beginner program for my 6yo son. Last month, my now-8yo sped through Year 1, and now he's in Year 2. We'll continue with this along with Rod and Staff. I always worry that Rod and Staff isn't enough of a writing program, even though SWB says it is. Somehow I think I should encourage my son's natural talent with more writing instruction, but that's probably counterproductive thinking. Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to try IEW! :tongue_smilie:

 

Back to Writing Strands:

I am holding on to my copy of WS3 so far in case one of my younger sons needs it. At the same time, I'm hoping they'll be happy with Rod and Staff!

[Julie in MN]

I really like Writing Strands. To me, it is a concise, efficient way to work on "real skills" with my son. So many programs I look at have the kids "write 500 words on X." Writing Strands tells you at the beginning of the lesson what skill you are working on, and there are only so many strands covered -- the essential ones the author found that colleges were looking for. Things like being able to describe complex things clearly, and understanding that each author is influencing their reader by the perspective they take.

 

I feel the program is so under-valued in the homeschool world that I sent them one of my convention tapes & they are so kindly providing it free on their website. Maybe listening to the author's intentions will help folks see what the program is trying to do. (Warning: He likes to joke, & he also doesn't like grammar, but you can ignore those things if you like :) .)

 

The link is at the bottom of this page:

http://www.writingstrands.com/about-the-author.asp

 

Julie

[funschooler5]

We only got through a few lessons before we scrapped it. I might bring it out again in awhile and try to modify it in some way. IMO, the directions aren't always very clear, and as the OP said, some of the writing examples aren't very well-written. I get that he's trying to make a point when he exaggerates things, but I feel like the samples should be well-written.

 

I do like the conversational style of the books, though.

[rwjx2khsmj]

We are using Writing Strands and R&S Grammar. I think the two are a perfect balance. WS is a bit light hearted and focuses on specific aspects of creating interesting & thoughtful writing. R&S focuses to the mechanics. Combine the two and I am anticipating having well rounded writers.

 

I do wish the author would have left out the bits about taking a couple days off to think about writing. I have to have the same..."no we aren't following those directions.." with my daughter every time we finish a topic.

[nd293]

That you so much to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and ideas on WS, and its use and alternatives. It is reassuring to know we aren't the only ones who are not 100% sure about the programme. I really like IEW's writing programme, but the price is higher than I would like. We are going to continue with Writing Strands, spreading it through until the end of next year, with more of our own writing in between, and will see where that leaves us. I am going to keep IEW in mind for later, and see if there are any special discounts offered through the Homeschool Buyers co-op.

 

Nikki in Australia

[kalanamak]

 

The link is at the bottom of this page:

http://www.writingstrands.com/about-the-author.asp

 

Julie

 

Darn, I can't get it to play smoothly....it keeps skipping words. But two things:

The son he wrote this for was gifted. If he started college English at 13 or do and grew up to be a professor and poet, well, he was gifted.

And, although I could only catch 4 out of 5 words and gave up, any presenter who starts with "I want you to understand I come here as a salesman. I drove down with a carload of books to sell" warms my heart. I can take a whole lot when it is done honestly, and trust absolutely nothing when I smell a rat.