Who's used Classical Writing for several years...

[trust and obey]

and likes the results?

 

I really agree with the philosophies behind CW, and want to produce writers who can express their ideas thoughtfully, not just from a formula. I've been using CW for 2 years with my ds - Aesop B, and Homer A. He's in 6th grade. I'm starting to worry though, that he has had no real instruction in essays, research, or reports. Am i just programmed from too many years of poor public education?

 

Has anyone out there used CW for several years, and their student has really yielded good results? How about with reluctant writers?

[arcara]

:lurk5:

[Tohru]

:lurk5:

[lovemykids]

I think that would drive me crazy. But I suppose that if you used WTM writing alongside CW, you’d be all set. WTM, while gentle compared to PS, does seem to produce proficient writers.

 

:lurk5:

[jenL]

I'd love to hear others' responses to this as well as CW intrigues me.

[Heather in VA]

Well I wouldn't say that CW doesn't have essay or research paper instruction. I would say it does all of this at a more age appropriate time. To write a good essay, to really have a tight topic sentence, to understand how to develop an argument or support a point, to narrow down only what it important to the paper... all of these skills are required to write a good essay. You can assign an essay before that - but most kids won't write a quality essay without these skills. That kind of thinking is not typically achieved with kids who are of Aesop and Homer ages. It starts to develop in Homer, but true essay writing skills are mid-logic stage - 7th grade. Which is exactly when CW starts it.

 

So you might not be able to say that your 3rd grade just wrote a research paper on the development of the American Government, but when your child is in 9th grade, she'll be able to develop an argument on pretty much any topic.

 

Heather

[TerriMI]

...starting in the Diogense books. In the last unit of each of these books, they modify the classical chreia/maxim essay to fit the modern paradigm. In each of these they talk about stylistic and arrangement changes that need to be done to fit our modern model. I think that this is a plus, that dc must change style and arrangement from what they had been practicing for the previous units. This exercuse trains dc in what CW calls "copia" or in many ways of saying a thing. I think the ancient classical teachers of rhetoric valued this as well. It's also part of what the progym is about....

[siloam]

and likes the results?

 

I really agree with the philosophies behind CW, and want to produce writers who can express their ideas thoughtfully, not just from a formula. I've been using CW for 2 years with my ds - Aesop B, and Homer A. He's in 6th grade. I'm starting to worry though, that he has had no real instruction in essays, research, or reports. Am i just programmed from too many years of poor public education?

 

Has anyone out there used CW for several years, and their student has really yielded good results? How about with reluctant writers?

CW's focus is content. Thus in Homer you learn all the different ways to manipulate words. At the end of Homer A you summarize the model by scene, which is a concrete way of doing a book report.

 

In Homer B the focus is learning to tell the story, starting in the middle or from the end. Again the focus is content, manipulating it for maximum effect.

 

In Diogenes books you learn essays. Really the only things they child has left to learn in my mind is research papers, which I am sure CW does along side essays because it is more of a content issue and Thesis (which is covered later).

 

The big pay off for me, is that the child learns how to deal focus on content, instead of just spewing stuff on paper because it has to be x pages long. I was no writer. I didn't learn half of the stuff in CW, and could have used it. I could normally tell if a sentence was awkward, but then I could also sit there for 10 minuets and not figure out anyway to restate it. Writer's freeze would be a better description than writer's block, in my case. CW gives them tools to get out of these situations, and to be able to clearly state their position.

 

But I have also looked at the standardized scores for my local school district, which is considered pretty good. Writing is the weakest area, often dipping below 50%, especially the farther they get into the high school years. What public school is doing is failing, why follow a failing model?

 

Heather

[NancyNellen]

My oldest is currently finishing Diogenes Maxim. He is learning essay writing this year, and will further advance his skills in essay writing next year in Chreia. I am extremely happy with the results thus far. He is currently learning the progymnasmata paragraph types for essays: encomium, paraphrase, cause, opposite, analogy, examples, testimony, and epilogue. They have also begun learning and perfecting thesis statements in preparation for the modern 5 paragraph essay.

 

We have always done narration, dictation, note-taking and outlining in our other subjects. So my son has the ability to write a summary from an outline already.

 

I am beyond pleased with the writing instruction in CW. I would second the idea that it presents new concepts at more age-appropriate times than my public school experience. I have been satisfied moving slowly through copywork, narration, dictation, imitation, outlining, etc... I feel it has given my children a fantastic foundation - CW is adding to that and training them to be very proficient writers.

 

By the way, I am in my third go-round of Aesop (4th grader) and my second go-round of Homer (6th grader) currently. The more I use it the more I like it and appreciate it....and the less likely I will ever use anything else.