elegant essay or theme based writing??

[Emma]

This is for my 9th grader. She is using SL 100 and we love it, although the writing seems lacking. She used IEW many, many years ago. I really want her to practice with various types of writing. Should we do one or the other or both??? She's a good writer, but, I think it should be "more." She doesn't write 5 paragraph essays.... her essays are good(interesting), but not very in depth or thorough. She's a fabulous creative writer. Any advice??

[StephanieZ]

If you want variety, then go with Theme Based. Elegant Essay is just all about the classic 5 +/- paragraph essay. They both have their purposes, but the Theme based are really rich resources.

 

Also, theme based are typically 25-35 lessons (i.e., a full year), wherease EE is more like 10 lessons (nicely done in 12 weeks).

 

To go with SL100, one of the Am. Hist volumes would be great. Since it's been a while since doing IEW, you'd probably need/want Vol 1 (doing the B level assignments). (Vol 2 assumes a lot of basic IEW skills.) You *could* do both volumes in a year; there is even a schedule for doing that on the IEW Yahoo group. . . But, I think that'd be overkill.

 

Personally, I'd rather do Am Hist Vol 1 and then add EE in the Spring if you want more instruction this year.

 

HTH

[Pam in MA]

Read "The Lively Art of Writing" by Lucile Payne.

[Emma]

Thank you both for answering me. I have the Lively Art of Writing in my Amazon basket. I just didn't know if I needed something more to go with it or if it is a stand alone course. I thought it was a reference book. :)

[Pam B]

:bigear: << all ears here!

[ma23peas]

Have you looked at the High School Essay Intensive from IEW? It's a shorter course, but once you complete that you can move on to the Elegant Essay or do a further in depth literature study....

 

also giving her practice with timed essays for future standardized testing..

Tara

[Emma]

I will look at that one too. I haven't really looked at IEW's other courses until recently. Thanks!

[StephanieZ]

Thank you both for answering me. I have the Lively Art of Writing in my Amazon basket. I just didn't know if I needed something more to go with it or if it is a stand alone course. I thought it was a reference book. :)

 

I have LAW on the shelf and plan to use it after EE.

 

It is indeed a little book, but is actually pretty much a teaching book as opposed to a reference. There are exercises sprinkled throughout . . . I haven't used it yet, but my impression from reading threads here and previewing the book is that it'll be good for 20-24 weeks or so of instruction. It provides a lot more detail and nuance than EE. To me, EE looks like the basic/fundamental essay course, whereas LAW takes it to another level. I think LAW would work well so long as the child can already form at least a decent 5 paragraph essay with coherent structure. . . but if they can't easily do that, then I'd want to spend some time getting the basics in place before delving into LAW.

 

LAW, like EE, really focuses on essays only. Theme-based IEW books cover a wider range of writing tasks. Some of the theme based also have some pretty substantial grammar and punctuation material as well. (the newly revised Medieval, for instance)