Writing program, help me choose please!

[Momof1plustwins]

Alright. I need a writing program for my soon to be 10yo son. Like a lot of boys, he hates writing, but like it or not, he has to do it. He can barely write a complete sentence. He seriously needs help but I'm at a loss. We are currently using LLATL, but I'm having to supplement it so much, I'm pretty sure we'll be ditching it.

 

I would like a program that tells us both what to do step by step. Light scripting would be fantastic! And one that moves at a gentle pace.

 

I have briefly looked at WWE and Writing Strands but I'm completely open to other suggestions.

 

If you suggest WWE, please tell me exactly what I need. The way I understand it, the Student Workbook appears to be the same as the Inst. Txt. with the addition of copywork pages. Could I just get the Inst. Txt. and then get the Consumable Student Pages and not buy the workbook? If not, what is different about the workbook that would make it necessary?

 

Thanks so much for responding,

[Shelly in the Country]

If you suggest WWE, please tell me exactly what I need. The way I understand it, the Student Workbook appears to be the same as the Inst. Txt. with the addition of copywork pages. Could I just get the Inst. Txt. and then get the Student Pages and not buy the workbook? If not, what is different about the workbook that would make it necessary?

 

Thanks so much for responding,

 

If by Inst. Txt., you mean "Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals", this is more of an overview of the entire method behind WWE. You can just buy this, but you would have to come up with your own copywork, dictation, and narration passages. I did this for WWE1 since we already do narration with SOTW and finding copywork was easy and fun....however, for WWE 2, I decided to just buy the workbook. The Workbook has the teacher instructions in the front and pull-out student sheets in the back. The Student Pages are basically just refills for the workbook if you are using them with a subsequent student.

 

ETA: I forgot: I highly recommend WWE!

[Greta]

Have you looked at Meaningful Composition? I haven't used it yet but I'm planning to. Sounds like it might be a good fit for you as well.

[iammommy]

I have an 11 year old reluctant writer (ds). I just ordered Jump In, and while I haven't used it yet, I like the looks of what I've looked through. My second choice was Meaningful Composition, and knowing me, the ultimate curriculum junkie, I'll end up ordering it as well!:lol:

 

Nan

[Country Mouse]

Another vote for WWE. The only thing you need is the workbook. Also, I recommend you check out the audio lectures "A Plan for Teaching Writing" by SWB available on the Peace Hill Press website.

[Momof1plustwins]

Thank you all. I'm still open for other suggestions.

 

Those who vote for WWE, did you find it easy to use? I will probably get Strong Fundamentals just so I'll have a clue what the plan is ;). Is there an older edition of Strong Fundamentals? - I would like to buy it used, but I don't want to miss out on any recent revisions by not getting it new.

[Momof1plustwins]

Anyone else got anything?

[2boysmom]

I reccommend Spectrum Writing. It's easy, cheap, and step-by-step. Your basic "open and go" program. It's not "fancy" but worked for my sons.:001_smile:

[Negin]

WWE - is great, but, for us it's not enough. It does not teach creative writing. The focus, so far (my ds is on Level 2) has been on narration, copywork, and dictation. We only use the workbooks. It's scripted and is a great pick-up-and-go curriculum. But again, it would be much better if there was a creative writing/composition part also. The copywork and dictation are great. The narration annoys my ds a bit, but it's fine. I don't think we'll go up to Volume 4 with this series. We may finish up to Volume 3, since we have 3 volumes. Very user-friendly. We don't do some of the lessons/literature selections, since I know that some would bore my ds. But he really enjoys most of the selections.

 

Writing Strands - we've just started, but I don't know if we'll stick with it. Dd likes it. Ds is not crazy about it.

 

We really love the Just Write series - available from Love to Learn, Rainbow Resource, and Amazon - and I so wish that I had known about them earlier. I did know about them, but I always ignored these books in all the catalogs. These books focus on creative writing and are published by ESP - the same people who make so many workbooks. Very user-friendly. They have workbooks and teacher manuals up to Level 3.

 

I recently ordered the Steck-Vaughn Core Skills books and just can't wait for them to arrive.

The sequence is the same every year – grammar and then writing. Seems to be very complete. I've heard great things about these.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Negin in Grenada

[susankenny]

Thank you for sharing this! We will start WWE in the fall with my soon to be 9 year old. I just purchased "Just Write", as I think it will be a wonderful go-along with WWE :) Thanks for the recommendation!

 

Susan

 

 

 

WWE - is great, but, for us it's not enough. It does not teach creative writing. The focus, so far (my ds is on Level 2) has been on narration, copywork, and dictation. We only use the workbooks. It's scripted and is a great pick-up-and-go curriculum. But again, it would be much better if there was a creative writing/composition part also. The copywork and dictation are great. The narration annoys my ds a bit, but it's fine. I don't think we'll go up to Volume 4 with this series. We may finish up to Volume 3, since we have 3 volumes. Very user-friendly. We don't do some of the lessons/literature selections, since I know that some would bore my ds. But he really enjoys most of the selections.

 

Writing Strands - we've just started, but I don't know if we'll stick with it. Dd likes it. Ds is not crazy about it.

 

We really love the Just Write series - available from Love to Learn, Rainbow Resource, and Amazon - and I so wish that I had known about them earlier. I did know about them, but I always ignored these books in all the catalogs. These books focus on creative writing and are published by ESP - the same people who make so many workbooks. Very user-friendly. They have workbooks and teacher manuals up to Level 3.

 

I recently ordered the Steck-Vaughn Core Skills books and just can't wait for them to arrive.

The sequence is the same every year – grammar and then writing. Seems to be very complete. I've heard great things about these.

[Momof1plustwins]

WWE - is great, but, for us it's not enough. It does not teach creative writing. The focus, so far (my ds is on Level 2) has been on narration, copywork, and dictation.

 

I'm just wondering if this is a good thing. It seems to me that I should teach the mechanics of writing and give him good writing models to study and copy. THEN, move on to something like Writers Jungle to show him how to really open up and write creatively.

 

Anyone have thoughts?

 

How long does it take to really learn all the mechanics of writing? How many rules could there be besides; indent the first line of a paragraph, have a topic sentence, conclusion, etc?

 

Or am I just missing the mark completely?

[RENEEinVA]

IEW has made all the difference in the world for both of my kids, and me too actually. At first, I was reluctant to invest the time and money into the program, but now I'm glad that I did. Andrew Pudewa breaks the process down into manageable chunks that makes it easy for me to teach, and my children to learn, writing.

Edited May 29, 2010 by RENEEinVA

[siloam]

I'm just wondering if this is a good thing. It seems to me that I should teach the mechanics of writing and give him good writing models to study and copy. THEN, move on to something like Writers Jungle to show him how to really open up and write creatively.

 

Anyone have thoughts?

 

How long does it take to really learn all the mechanics of writing? How many rules could there be besides; indent the first line of a paragraph, have a topic sentence, conclusion, etc?

 

Or am I just missing the mark completely?

 

Nope I agree completely!

 

I started my now 10yo dd on WWE last year. After she got used to the program, which took about 12 weeks, I started doing it at double pace, which wasn't too much. By the time she finished WWE 2 she was doing so well that I move her into Classical Writing instead of continuing with WWE. WWE is hands down scripted and very easy to use.

 

Heather

 

[Sunshine State Sue]

We used Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th. I'm not sure what grade your ds is. Write Shop is intended for 6th and up. I chose Write Shop because *I* needed help teaching writing. Ds is a reluctant writer and it helped him to learn how to write cohesive and interesting essays. The first 2 years are completely focused on 1 paragraph essays. The last year has longer essays. You may read my review here.

[JoyinIndo]

I have used WWE for the past two years and have really enjoyed it. It has been a good fit for us (my nearly 10 year old boy likes it!).

This fall, we will be moving on to Writing Tales. I downloaded the sample weeks and tried them out on the kids (the sample week is focused on Julius Caesar), and the kids LOVED it! That was the clincher for me. :)

 

Just my .02

 

Blessings,

JoyinIndo

The Stay at Home Missionary

[lovemykids]

I agree that you shouldn't spend that much time on copywork at this point. It is very beneficial to do a bit of it though. It's also very helpful to do a little dictation.

 

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the Wordsmith series. It's perfect for reluctant writers, and boys, from what I hear. My VSL dd loves it. I would start your son in Wordsmith Apprentice.

[Momof1plustwins]

It's also very helpful to do a little dictation.

This is probably a dumb question, but should I be dictating passages to him, or do you mean that I should give him a topic and let him dictate his thoughts to me.

 

I can't believe that no one has mentioned the Wordsmith series. It's perfect for reluctant writers, and boys, from what I hear. My VSL dd loves it. I would start your son in Wordsmith Apprentice.

I had never checked this out before. Thanks for the suggestion.

[NaturalFamiLEA]

Here's a vote for Character Quality Language Arts. I am so excited to start using this program. Here is a link to their samples page: http://www.tfths.com/samples.php Here is a review from Cathy Duffy: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/grammar-composition/cqla.htm

 

It's great for reluctant writers. It breaks down writing into manageable pieces.

[Love2Smile]

wordsmith apprentice has been a huge hit at our house this year for my 11 year old very reluctant writer! we are just now finishing it up and she has done great and her confidence in writing has soared!

[lovemykids]

This is probably a dumb question, but should I be dictating passages to him, or do you mean that I should give him a topic and let him dictate his thoughts to me.

 

 

.

 

Oh, I meant you dictating him a passage from great literature. That will help him to work on memory, mechanics, spelling, and more. The WWE textbook is also really nice to have; even if you just use the portions in there without using an entire workbook, it’s still very helpful. :)