jibaker103 Posted January 6, 2010 Share Posted January 6, 2010 Ds is a natural writer who is always writing creatively and will write a report or essay when asked. I figured using IEW would help him rise to the next level by working on word choice and paragraph structure. It is working but he would like some variety and other perspectives so it's not always the same. Is one of these programs better than the other? Why? Are they different enough and important enough to do both? Ds has already completed IEW Ancients HBWL, is currently in SWI B at co-op, and working on powerful paragraphs with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted January 6, 2010 Author Share Posted January 6, 2010 :lurk5: Anyone?!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 :lurk5:Any info would be most welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amtmcm Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 We used Elegant Essay last year as a follow-up to IEW SWI-B. It is well laid out, but I don't think DD retained anything from it. It is definitely NOT as good as IEW's other writing tools. It did a good job of teaching transitions, but that's about it. Maybe it works better for an older student who has already written a lot of essays and just needs polishing? I've never used Wordsmith, but it generally receives excellent reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~blessedmom~ Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Related to, but not directly addressing your concern.... We were using IEW Medieval Lessons this year (8th), and was going well enough. My son said he was just tired of researching from the pre-determined passages (he'd rather look it up himself). We have paused that, and now we are working through Wordsmith. He is really liking that, and we plan on working through Craftsman as well. We do plan to go over the IEW methods from the Med. book because I think it will benefit his writing. It was just moving way too slowly and repetitiously for him. Wordsmith and Craftsman seem to be more to to the point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 We used Elegant Essay last year as a follow-up to IEW SWI-B. It is well laid out, but I don't think DD retained anything from it. It is definitely NOT as good as IEW's other writing tools. It did a good job of teaching transitions, but that's about it. Maybe it works better for an older student who has already written a lot of essays and just needs polishing? I've never used Wordsmith, but it generally receives excellent reviews. How old was your daughter when she completed Elegant Essay? Why do you think she didn't retain much? Ds has already completed Ancient HBWL and is currently completing SWI B in co-op. What other writing tools are you refering too or recommending? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Related to, but not directly addressing your concern.... We were using IEW Medieval Lessons this year (8th), and was going well enough. My son said he was just tired of researching from the pre-determined passages (he'd rather look it up himself). We have paused that, and now we are working through Wordsmith. He is really liking that, and we plan on working through Craftsman as well. We do plan to go over the IEW methods from the Med. book because I think it will benefit his writing. It was just moving way too slowly and repetitiously for him. Wordsmith and Craftsman seem to be more to to the point. What made you start with regular Wordsmith instead of Craftsman? Does it have you working on the same types of things as the Medieval HBWL? What does your ds like about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~blessedmom~ Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 What made you start with regular Wordsmith instead of Craftsman? Does it have you working on the same types of things as the Medieval HBWL? What does your ds like about it? We're going through Wordsmith orally together at a fast pace, just to make sure he has the foundation in place before beginning Craftsman. He is a decent but reluctant writer who doesn't believe he can write well. (..needs confidence..) We've jumped around a lot with his writing and grammar, and Wordsmith just has a nice concise review. Actually in one of the very first lessons he learned how choosing to use more concrete nouns in his writing is giving him more information to write about. ...and this is from the guy who gives one word answers to questions! We've just found it to the point, humorous at times, and not redundant. He's a straight forward kind of guy! He also felt restricted in having to get all of his information from the resource paragraphs in IEW Med. Lessons--he wanted to go and get some good info on his own!! He is also drawn to the fact that he can write a story at the end of Wordsmith, too. So far it's going really well. I really like that Craftsman has the practical writing in there....note taking, business letters... Hope that helps a little....and I hope you find what works best for your student!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jibaker103 Posted January 13, 2010 Author Share Posted January 13, 2010 Blessedmom thank you so much for helping me to understand how you are incorporating Wordsmith. You have given me food for thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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