(Curious here) If you're a Homer drop-out..to what did you go?

[Pensguys]

I'm just curious to see what folks have done that didn't think they could make it in Homer. It is giving us problems (mostly on my part because I'm not confident in how to teach it) but I'm willing to stick it out for the remainder of the year (and maybe thereafter). I'm just curious to see what others have found that work for them.

[TracyR]

Yes, I'm curious to know too . Since everyone says you can go write to Homer after completing Writing Tales 2 . I hope that Writing Tales 3 and more will be out so we don't have to go to this program. I checked it out yesterday and it looks pretty involved, intense , and I don't know .l wasn't so sure about it like I have been with Writing Tales .

[LilyK]

Your kids are pretty young. Have you already done Aesop?

 

There is always IEW too. That one is really easy to teach.

 

Good luck

[Tenaj]

We made it through Homer but when I ordered Diogenes I suddenly was over my head so I switched back to R&S this year just to finish out and next year we're going back to IEW.

[Karenciavo]

Hi Penny,

I went to the Lost Tools of Writing which is linked in my signature.

 

Karen

[TracyR]

Penny , are you wanting to use something different in terms of a different program all together or looking for something a bit simpler since your two are my oldest's two ages ? Or are you looking for something similar but not as intense ?

Because I've been told that after completing Writing Tales 1 and 2 that you can easily go into Homer .

But if your looking for something totally different in the way of teaching maybe the others the ladies have suggested maybe better.

[MamaChristina]

Thank you for posting the link to this (Tools of Lost Writing). I went over and took a look at it and it has peeked my interest as I need something for my 9th grader next year. Just a couple questions if you have time....

 

How long would a typical 9th grader need to spend using this? Also, is there anywhere to go to look for samples of the student book? I would have liked to view their demonstration, but I only have very slow dial-up, so it doesn't work very well.

 

Blessings,

Christina

[Karenciavo]

How long would a typical 9th grader need to spend using this? Also, is there anywhere to go to look for samples of the student book? I would have liked to view their demonstration, but I only have very slow dial-up, so it doesn't work very well.

 

Blessings,

Christina

 

Hi Christina,

Do you mean how long per day? I use it with my 7th grade son and it takes about 20 or 30 minutes of instruction time and then he will have some work on his own, work sheets or essays which take another 15-30 minutes. Very rarely does it take an hour though, I would say 45 minutes is average. This is for a guy who has a hard time expressing himself. LToW has been such a blessing because now he knows how to come up with something to say and how to say it.

 

Here's a direct link to download the sample, it should download to your computer as soon as you click on it.

Download a pdf here.

 

Karen

[Leah]

Hi Christina,

 

Not Karen, but I have a few notes-

I know that the LTW website is being re-vamped so you should see a lot more there in the upcoming weeks!

 

Also, you can check out the student workbook samples, but I would also encourage you to peek at a module guide or two. These can give a nice look at some of the specific lessons.

[Pensguys]

Your kids are pretty young. Have you already done Aesop?

 

There is always IEW too. That one is really easy to teach.

 

Good luck

 

Were you referring to Tracy or me?

 

If it is me, yes, we've done Aesop. (not my younger ds though)

[MamaChristina]

Thank you, I was able to download the sample. Thanks Karen, this is looking really good so far. I'm going to go and study it some more. I appreciate your help. Sorry about the clarity of my first post, but you understood what I was asking. Hard to focus while holding a squirming 7month old. :) Also, I noticed that you use Latin for Children! We do too and the children LOVE it....seems to be their favorite subject!

 

Thank you, Leah also for the module suggestion. I'm looking at those too!

 

Blessings,

Christina

[Pensguys]

Penny , are you wanting to use something different in terms of a different program all together or looking for something a bit simpler since your two are my oldest's two ages ? Or are you looking for something similar but not as intense ?

Because I've been told that after completing Writing Tales 1 and 2 that you can easily go into Homer .

But if your looking for something totally different in the way of teaching maybe the others the ladies have suggested maybe better.

 

I don't know that I'm looking for ANYTHING any different (or the same). I guess I'm wondering if I WERE to leave Homer, where WOULD I go? We've done CW-Aesop (A and B). I just read SWB's sample from Writing Ease about what is the next step for 5-8th graders so I feel that we are on track with what she suggests. I'm just having a difficult time teaching ds (my older one...my younger is not even in the equation right now for this).

 

Here is my email to the CW yahoo group today:

I just feel "lost". I'm not sure of where the scene changes are in the samples (is that why the type is different in the IG samples?). I'm not sure how to teach ds what to write when he is filling in the chart for the Author's Emphasis for the scenes. That's as far as we've gotten right now. (Week 8 Homer A) I feel like I'm telling ds too much in order to guide him but then he doesn't know what to write if I don't do this. He'll write one or two words and be done.

 

Can someone give me some advice? I really feel like I'm floundering with this."

 

So I guess I'm just dipping my toe in to see if there is something that others have used since leaving CW that would make it easier for me to teach but staying within the same style as CW.

[Pensguys]

Hi Penny,

I went to the Lost Tools of Writing which is linked in my signature.

 

Karen

 

Karen, this looks interesting....ds will only be 11 (6th grade) next year so I think I'd rather wait another year on this if I decide to change anything.

[Pensguys]

Thanks for your thoughts, Jan. I have Diogenes already but I'm not sure I'll be able to teach it either.

 

We made it through Homer but when I ordered Diogenes I suddenly was over my head so I switched back to R&S this year just to finish out and next year we're going back to IEW.

[TracyR]

Okay if he is 11 then have you checked out Writing Tales 2 then ? This is geared towards 4th-6th graders. It uses pretty much the same methods of CW and usually she has families switch over to Homer after WT2 because she doesn't have 3 out yet .

If he is still floundering it doesn't sound like he is ready for something like Homer yet . He sounds alot like my 10yr old :>) She just didn't know what to write . Now granted I've started with WT1 just so I can find where it was I lost her since we first started writing . But you could easily go into WT2 with him from the sounds of it .

WT is similar to Classical -Aesop in the sense in the things that it teachers . But to me is much more gentler and has brought a love in writing out of my 10 yr old that has absolutley has HATED it to its very core . It is now her most favorite subject. I started her off on WT1 to build her confidence level because it was at an all time low . Writing for her meant total frustration , full of " I don't know mom" , full of tears , running the other way when I told her it was time to write something . Now its just the total opposite .

As with Susan's program that may very well work better for him as well . I'm not so sure how hands on WWE is yet I haven't had the time to really look at it all yet . I do know that WT's works on all types of learners. She includes activites for audio learners - listening to the story , for visual - clip art with the pages and drawing , for the hands on kind of kid the author includes games that help make it fun and to 'cement' those facts in , but in a fun way . Either way if you chose to use WT's or WWE it maybe the better way to go .

It sounds like maybe he needs a confidence boost . I wouldn't go by his grade level . But by the level he truely is at in the whole writing process .

I can't tell you what to do or what to get but whatever you do decide to do it sounds like he needs to take a small step back and start again somewhere. That of course is all my two cents .

[Pensguys]

The thing is he writes a really good narration based on these long models. I really don't think we need to step back to WT2 though. It is the analyzing that neither he NOR I understand exactly how much/what to do with. He paraphases well, uses synonyns well and all of the steps they are teaching so far; we just seem to be not sure of some of the analyzing we are supposed to be doing. Maybe I need to sit down with my Core manual again and see if there is more guidance there than I remember.

[PeterPan]

Penny, I'll go out on a limb here and say I think you'd like IEW. I looked it over at the convention and was highly impressed with it, especially the way it would work for boys, box-checking, engineer-brained boys. There's spartan little difference in coverage between say IEW SWI B and WT2 (IEW B covers more and definitely everything from WT2), so you could jump in there maybe. The models would be shorter than WT2, which I think would fit a boy better, not knowing your ds specifically. It would be a solid track, cover a variety of types of writing (narratives, essays, paragraphs, etc.) and carry over directly into skills he needs for HO. (are you still considering/using that?) That's not to say you couldn't do anything else, but just to say that IEW in particular, from my looking at it, might fit your needs. It's concrete in expectations, has checklists, has videos so he can guide himself more, covers the skills he needs and would prepare him well for the coming academic writing of HO. That independence thing alone might be worth a lot to you and relieve some of your conflict.

[MamaChristina]

I don't want to take up too much of your time here, but one more quick question please? Could you briefly explain why you chose Lost Tools of Writing over other programs like IEW for instance? I'm liking the way it looks and the price isn't so bad either. I would just like to know how well you like it and why. I'm not very good at picking writing programs, sigh.:confused:

 

Thank you,

Christina

[Karenciavo]

I don't want to take up too much of your time here, but one more quick question please? Could you briefly explain why you chose Lost Tools of Writing over other programs like IEW for instance? I'm liking the way it looks and the price isn't so bad either. I would just like to know how well you like it and why. I'm not very good at picking writing programs, sigh.:confused:

 

Thank you,

Christina

 

No problem Christina :001_smile: I wish I had a 7 month old on my lap

 

The number one reason why I didn't choose IEW was price. The second reason is the effort needed for me to learn how to use IEW. And the third reason is that it just seems very formularized. I did pick up one of the themed American history books a few years back and it was drudgery for us. I know many people love this program and maybe if I purchased the seminar I would "get it." Please don't let my opinion sway you, it's really not educated enough. :hat:

 

BTW, Leah is probably too modest to say she is a master teacher of LToW, but I don't mind tooting her horn.

 

Karen

[Carmen_and_Company]

I would choose in this order:

 

Home2teach online classes--used with eldest for parts of 10th grade through senior year this year--I like how Eileen, et al teach writing from t he basic paragrah through rhetoric writing. Also, the classes are inexpensive.

 

IEW --We own a partial set of older VHS tapes I bought dirt cheap & I feel comfortable teaching IEW after using CW: Aesop & Homer A. In addition, I like that students recreate "original" writings based on reading & outlining from a model in a similar fashion as CW or CC. I know I could add aspects of CW to IEW without issue--like vocabulary analysis & copia, sentence shuffle, Theon's 6 components of a Narrative, and copywork.

 

WWE--Although I don't own the book, I trust SWB's writing methods based on her writing

 

Wordsmith/Writing Strands Combo: Used Wordsmith Apprentice & Wordsmith with eldest from 6th through 8/9th grades. I always liked the pick up & go aspect of Writing strands--and again, I trust SWB's recommendation, although I decided to go a different route.

[Sophia]

Are these modules included in the teacher's guide or is it something separate?

[Karenciavo]

If you order the complete set you get a teacher's guide that explains the program, a module guide that includes modules for three lessons, a student workbook, and teacher instruction cds. It is hoped that we as teachers will eventually come up with our own modules, but supplemental modules are posted on the web site free of charge.

[Peela]

I am a Homer drop out.

I couldn't do the sentence diagramming. The rest was ok, well, I managed. It was the time aspect for me. It took up so much of our day.

However, I don't see our time with CW wasted at all. And i didn't want to move to another program like Homer. I must admit, I didn't think there was one. CC didn't really appeal.

I was burned out. We moved to English Prep. And Sentence Composing. And Brave Writer. And I made up my own writing assignments. And, my oldest was doing writing with a small group here, with an English teacher. So, with all that, i felt there was enough writing.

This year I tried Wordsmith but my kids hated it. They just strongly dislike canned writing programs like Writing Strands or Wordsmith. Except they didn't mind Aesop/Homer. It was me who burned out on it. It takes a lot to teach.

 

A part of me would like to buy Composition in the Classical Tradition and work through the progym myself with the kids. Then I could assign them topics related to history or science or our literature. Then I think, well, I could do that with CW too,(Make up my own assignments), so why don't I? because it feels like too much. I dont have the energy to do it right now. Maybe I will in the future.

[Melora in NC]

Bumping this up because I'm hoping to see more responses!

We floundered partway through Aesop and finally started with Writing Tales II a couple months ago (thanks to recommendations from this board!). We LOVe WTII -- it is so clearly laid out and fun. But I am dreading Homer, which is what I have been planning to go to when we are through WTII.

[MamaChristina]

I have never bought IEW for the same reasons. I just wanted to make sure that Lost Tools of Learning didn't have the same formula approach, but in looking at the download it doesn't seem to. I like the price much better too.:)

 

Again, thanks for posting this as I would never have found it myself.

 

Blessings on the rest of your year!

 

Christina

[Leah]

BTW, Leah is probably too modest to say she is a master teacher of LToW, but I don't mind tooting her horn.

 

Karen

 

 

You are very kind Karen! :blushing:

 

I am happy to answer questions! I will also offer again that the LTW site will be re-vamp in May and there will be some special deals...I'm not totally sure what it all entails, but I do know of a few fun offers!