Essay Writing. . . Lively. . . Elegant. . . Voyage. . . help!!

[StephanieZ]

OK, so a major educational objective for me for my 13yo in the next 6 months is to prepare her to write a solid essay. . .

 

I plan for her to be in MCT Voyage level next year (starting Aug/Sept), but I'd like for her to have some basic essay skills before then, as I'd like her to be writing essays frequently next year. . . so I'd like her to have the basics down before fall so she can be refining skills next year while actually USING the essay form for literature, history, etc. . . Essay Voyage should be a great resource (she'll be doing Paragraph Town this spring), but that'll be 8 months from now, and I want some basic skills in place before then. . .

 

Soooo, I am looking for sth to use over the next 6 months to get a basic essay down. . .

 

So, I have the Lively Art of Writing in hand. Looks great.

 

Plus, I've long-planned on using IEW's Elegant Essay, as we already use IEW so their format/system will be pretty easy for us to use.

 

I've never used ANY of these three programs! (Poor kid suffers as my oldest, and thus the guinea pig. . .)

 

Has anyone used both EE & LAW? If yes, can you give me some comparisons/contrasts??

 

Which should I use? Or should I use both? If both, which first?

 

Is it crazy to use either or both of these prior to Essay Voyage? Should I just hold off and wait until after Voyage to use either/both of LAW and/or EE??

 

Can EE be easily taught over 10 weeks (one week a lesson, as we easily do with the history theme based books)? If that's right, then it looks more compact than LAW (which I think we'd take more like 4 months to go through). . .

 

Thoughts? Comments? Is there some gem I am missing???

 

THANKS!!!!!!

[Chris in VA]

Giving a bump--

 

We used some of Lively with our Write @ Home essay 1 course. We didn't do all the exercises, just read and implemented the main parts--So the structure of an essay became very clear. They do the "thesis in the intro, along with 3 statements that will become the main ideas of the following 3 body paragraphs" model, with the restatement of the thesis in the conclusion (restated a different way). They also said to deal with cons (in a pro/con/persuasive essay) in the first paragraph after the intro, essentially adding in a paragraph if needed.

 

I don't know how IEW does the essay--it's one area I will definitely do differently next time around, should I get the opportunity.

[Kalypso]

My dd14 worked through EE at the beginning of this year and is currently working through LAW. I didn't care much for EE. We went quickly through EE and didn't do all of the writing excercises. I'm not sure why, but the book didn't appeal to me, and I am debating on whether or not to use it with dd13 next year.

 

LAW covers the basics more thoroughly than EE. We are on Ch 7, and its moving quickly. My dd likes it much better than EE.

 

I think you could very easily go through EE in 8-10 weeks (or quicker) depending upon the assignments you choose to give dd. I think 4 months is a good estimate for LAW, too.

 

If I can answer any other questions, let me know. My dd14 is my guinea pig, too.:)

[StephanieZ]

My dd14 worked through EE at the beginning of this year and is currently working through LAW. I didn't care much for EE. We went quickly through EE and didn't do all of the writing excercises. I'm not sure why, but the book didn't appeal to me, and I am debating on whether or not to use it with dd13 next year.

 

LAW covers the basics more thoroughly than EE. We are on Ch 7, and its moving quickly. My dd likes it much better than EE.

 

I think you could very easily go through EE in 8-10 weeks (or quicker) depending upon the assignments you choose to give dd. I think 4 months is a good estimate for LAW, too.

 

If I can answer any other questions, let me know. My dd14 is my guinea pig, too.:)

 

Thanks for the feedback! Do you think that there was anything substantial in EE that is NOT covered in LAW? The ToC for EE looks pretty slim, so I was wondering if it would be better to just skip EE and do LAW.

 

What do you think?

[StephanieZ]

Giving a bump--

 

We used some of Lively with our Write @ Home essay 1 course. We didn't do all the exercises, just read and implemented the main parts--So the structure of an essay became very clear. They do the "thesis in the intro, along with 3 statements that will become the main ideas of the following 3 body paragraphs" model, with the restatement of the thesis in the conclusion (restated a different way). They also said to deal with cons (in a pro/con/persuasive essay) in the first paragraph after the intro, essentially adding in a paragraph if needed.

 

I don't know how IEW does the essay--it's one area I will definitely do differently next time around, should I get the opportunity.

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences. . .

 

Is there a different way to approach a basic essay? If yes, then WHAT is it and what curriculum teaches it and is it better?

[Kalypso]

Thanks for the feedback! Do you think that there was anything substantial in EE that is NOT covered in LAW? The ToC for EE looks pretty slim, so I was wondering if it would be better to just skip EE and do LAW.

 

What do you think?

 

I have been debating about this myself for dd13. I am thinking about working through LAW but also reading through the chapters in EE that conicide with LAW as we go. I don't want to skip it entirely because the way the info is presented may appeal to my dd even if it doesn't to me.

 

Sometimes I wish we were more limited in our choices. I tend to agonize over these types of decisions.

[LBS]

Just hearing you guys agonizing over the multitude of choices, which one is the best fit for your child, which one you like, which one teaches best, which one IS best.....oh, I spend so much time doing this, rethinking and re-deciding and sometimes, even re-buying.

 

You're good moms and homeschool teachers....I enjoyed reading this. I don't feel so lonely.

LBS

[Michelle in AL]

I've just looked over Elegant Essay and Lively Art of Writing.

 

Here's my comparison: Elegant Essay is more basic and drawn out. There are more extensive how to lessons on how to write a thesis, how to write an intro etc. My dd went through most of this, but we skipped some since I felt it went a little slow. It is a good intro though for those who have very little, basic writing skills.

 

The Lively Art of Writing is a great start for those who can write a solid 5 paragraph essay and have had some experience with thesis statements. This book takes the student who has some experience with essay writing to the next level. The examples the author uses are engaging. The exercises at the end of each chapter are well done and really serve to solidify the concept taught.

[Kim in SouthGa]

another option...our homeschool group is looking into having Andrew Pudwa (sp?) come and do the EE seminar for us. The closest he has gotten to our area is still a couple of hours away, but a few with older kids (11th and 12th grade) are going. He is open to coming to our area next year. Maybe that is an option for you? He does the whole EE program in one day seminar. Then you could practice for a week or two at home and jump into Lively.

[Matryoshka]

The Lively Art of Writing is a great start for those who can write a solid 5 paragraph essay and have had some experience with thesis statements. This book takes the student who has some experience with essay writing to the next level. The examples the author uses are engaging. The exercises at the end of each chapter are well done and really serve to solidify the concept taught.

 

I've never seen EE, but I've seen LAOW, and that's what it looked like to me too. I was planning on using it to teach essays till I saw Essay Voyage.

 

Now my plan is to use Essay Voyage as our main thing, but I'm thinking I may use LAOW alongside for extra assignments and another point of view. As that wouldn't be till next year at the earliest, I'm not sure how I'd mesh them, but I think it could work. I was thinking it could also work to use LAOW to assign some essays the year we're doing Advanced Academic Writing, just to mix up the assignments so we weren't doing one kind of writing all year.

 

I'd also love to toss Lost Tools of Writing in there somewhere... that may have to wait till 9th grade at least.

[PinkInTheBlue]

Ok, so can you use EE if you haven't been a IEW user? Nothing we have been using for writing has covered essays in a way that I feel like my guys have gotten it at all. Would you consider EE something someone without essay experience could pick up and use? Would I rather use Essay Voyage? I want something friendly first and then something deep. It sounds like Lively Art would be my serious step.

 

Thanks! You guys have such great conversations.

[Michelle in AL]

I used Elegant Essay without ever using IEW. You can definitely use it with no previous writing experience. It will walk you child step by step into writing different intros, thesis statements and conclusions. I personally don't care for IEW, but I like Elegant Essay for beginners.