Sherri in MI Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Hi, I know many of you are IEW fans & I have seen the first 2 TWSS lessons. I would like to have TWSS & SWI, however, dh is unemployed & I really don't have the money. Regardless of how "worth it" it is, I simply cannot afford IEW's products. Ds is in 5th, we've been using Rod & Staff, but I feel the need for more writing instruction. He is verbally good with words, but writing is a different matter. His sentences are too simple. I have not done much writing instruction with him, nor much dictation or copywork. I'd like something easy to use, simple, cheap (or free) that does at least a little bit of handholding or instruction guidance for me. Checklists would be great! I personally feel comfortable with writing, but not necessarily instructing writing, YKWIM? Thanks, Sherri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Hi, I know many of you are IEW fans & I have seen the first 2 TWSS lessons. I would like to have TWSS & SWI, however, dh is unemployed & I really don't have the money. Regardless of how "worth it" it is, I simply cannot afford IEW's products. Ds is in 5th, we've been using Rod & Staff, but I feel the need for more writing instruction. He is verbally good with words, but writing is a different matter. His sentences are too simple. I have not done much writing instruction with him, nor much dictation or copywork. I'd like something easy to use, simple, cheap (or free) that does at least a little bit of handholding or instruction guidance for me. Checklists would be great! I personally feel comfortable with writing, but not necessarily instructing writing, YKWIM? Thanks, Sherri I'm using Imitation in Writing with my 5th & 4th graders this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila in OK Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 These look interesting. Do you have to have already watched the IEW videos to understand how to use them? I'm using Imitation in Writing with my 5th & 4th graders this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Indeed Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Check out this site and see if it will help you. It was a huge blessing for me. http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/language-arts.html#writing Best of all, it is free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 These look interesting. Do you have to have already watched the IEW videos to understand how to use them? No-I've never looked at IEW. I've found Aesop to be self-explanatory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 (edited) It will be harder to NOT spend more money but you CAN do it with just R&S English 5. I no longer have that level but take your R&S composition lessons and schedule more of them. Find other source materials in science, history, religion, etc. and plug them into the written exercises for R&S after you're finished with the R&S writing lesson. R&S E. Chapter 5 - will be good to repeat with other sources Edited October 19, 2009 by MIch elle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claire up north Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I would suggest starting with very small things. I think letters are perfect. One subject = one paragraph. Start with just one or two paragraphs per letter. It makes grandparents and friends happy, and it lets you and your child focus on just a small amount at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 It will be harder to NOT spend more money but you CAN do it with just R&S English 5. I no longer have that level but take your R&S composition lessons and schedule more of them. Find other source materials in science, history, religion, etc. and plug them into the written exercises for R&S after you're finished with the R&S writing lesson. R&S E. Chapter 5 - will be good to repeat with other sources This. Take the R&S composition lessons across his other curriculum to beef it up, and add in the other outlining and summaries as suggested in TWTM. That said, I have a kid doing both R&S English and Classical Writing, and he writes outlines and summaries for science and history. If a big writing assignment pops up in both R&S and CW on the same day, the CW one takes priority that day. He'll go to the next R&S grammar lesson instead, and the next day he's expected to go right back to the skipped lesson. I do integrate the R&S lessons into his science and history writings as it's applicable, but I don't create new assignments just to give more practice. If you opt not to get a second writing curriculum, I'd have him practice that R&S lesson in other subjects regularly. We could do without the CW if push came to shove. Ds and I both really like CW though, and it's opened my ds's creativity more than R&S's composition assignments ever have. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Check out bravewriter.com. Lots of free ideas to get you going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meet me in paris Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Check out bravewriter.com. Lots of free ideas to get you going. I was going to suggest this as well. Julie Bogart (bravewriter) also has a Yahoo group that you can join, even if you haven't purchased any products from them. When we were doing more informal writing I belonged to the group. It's a read-only group, so the messages are just from her. I got some good stuff from her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Ds is in 5th, we've been using Rod & Staff, but I feel the need for more writing instruction. He is verbally good with words, but writing is a different matter. His sentences are too simple. I have not done much writing instruction with him, nor much dictation or copywork. you CAN do it with just R&S English 5...take your R&S composition lessons and schedule more of them. Find other source materials in science, history, religion, etc. and plug them into the written exercises for R&S after you're finished with the R&S writing lesson. Take the R&S composition lessons across his other curriculum to beef it up, and add in the other outlining and summaries as suggested in TWTM. :iagree: And before you get too much further with R&S composition lessons, I would make sure that he can do narrations and take dictation well. And that he can bring those two skills together to write one good paragraph (3-4 sentences) about something he read. WWE is really good for this, but if you can't buy/borrow that right now, the basic instructions are in WTM, or you can come here and ask us to help you teach these skills. Then you can teach him to outline, and the new WTM (borrow? have? library?) or we can help you with that, too. Go for it!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 you know, R&S really picks up in 7th grade. You could just continue working with R&S and wait for it. The writing really is quite good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 (edited) It will be harder to NOT spend more money but you CAN do it with just R&S English 5. I no longer have that level but take your R&S composition lessons and schedule more of them. Find other source materials in science, history, religion, etc. and plug them into the written exercises for R&S after you're finished with the R&S writing lesson. R&S E. Chapter 5 - will be good to repeat with other sources This or for some cheap options: Write with the Best primary language lessons or intermediate Lang lsns Or you can go to my blog and click the educating on cheap in the right sidebar. There's a few free options there that might work. Edited October 20, 2009 by Martha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plimsoll Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 You can start IEW without either SWI or TWSS. Start with the Ancient History based writing lessons. Included in the price is IEW's downloadable ebook, Student Resource Notebook (SRN). I think with just these two items, you could start to use IEW. Both the Ancient History-based Writing Lessons and the SRN provide checklists, definitions, and examples of the various stylistic techniques and lots of other useful info. This would be a very inexpensive way to get started. Join the Yahoo group IEWFamilies. There is a lot of info there about how to use the various parts of IEW. There are also lesson plans and other resources in the group's files section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 You can start IEW without either SWI or TWSS. Start with the Ancient History based writing lessons. Included in the price is IEW's downloadable ebook, Student Resource Notebook (SRN). I think with just these two items, you could start to use IEW. Both the Ancient History-based Writing Lessons and the SRN provide checklists, definitions, and examples of the various stylistic techniques and lots of other useful info. This would be a very inexpensive way to get started. Join the Yahoo group IEWFamilies. There is a lot of info there about how to use the various parts of IEW. There are also lesson plans and other resources in the group's files section. I was going to suggest IEW Ancient History Based Lessons or one of the other small packets. There is hand holding and check lists but a very reasonable price tag. We use this along with FLL and WWE to round out our language arts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Hi, I know many of you are IEW fans & I have seen the first 2 TWSS lessons. I would like to have TWSS & SWI, however, dh is unemployed & I really don't have the money. Regardless of how "worth it" it is, I simply cannot afford IEW's products. Ds is in 5th, we've been using Rod & Staff, but I feel the need for more writing instruction. He is verbally good with words, but writing is a different matter. His sentences are too simple. I have not done much writing instruction with him, nor much dictation or copywork. I'd like something easy to use, simple, cheap (or free) that does at least a little bit of handholding or instruction guidance for me. Checklists would be great! I personally feel comfortable with writing, but not necessarily instructing writing, YKWIM? Thanks, Sherri If money is the issue Rod and Staff is an excellent curriculum, why don't you use it for writing? It could be carried over into history or science lessons. Just a thought! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri in MI Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 Check out this site and see if it will help you. It was a huge blessing for me. http://www.design-your-homeschool.com/language-arts.html#writing Best of all, it is free! Thanks for this - it looks great! I can't wait to spend more time looking at it. sherri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri in MI Posted October 21, 2009 Author Share Posted October 21, 2009 If money is the issue Rod and Staff is an excellent curriculum, why don't you use it for writing? It could be carried over into history or science lessons. Just a thought! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony I don't think Rod and Staff has enough writing instruction. It's rather dry & not frequent enough. They throw in a lesson here and there in Grade 5. I'll take another look though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie in CA Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I never thought i'd say this but here it is. Writing Strands 3 is working wonderfully for us this year. Ds is in 5th this year. We tried it in the past and it was horrible. Now he likes it a lot. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laboroflove Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 It's not free, but you can buy Writing Strands 3 or 4. One book is about $20 new, but that gets you through the year. Perhaps you can find it used? My 3rd and 5th grader's writing has improved tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Picture studies?? We are really enjoying this concept. I am also doing MC. But, for ease of use, fun value, no money, and great ideas, I think picture studies are awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chels~ Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 "The national novel writing month" is coming up on Nov. 1. That would be plenty more writing and it's free: http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/workbooks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 A classic from Google books: 1. Parker's exercises in English composition http://books.google.com/books?id=UfkAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=parker+exercises&lr=&as_brr=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false His grammar is also good, if you search "grammar" in full view books at Google books, you'll find a bunch of free older grammar books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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