Writing with Ease

[persephone43]

Should we start at level one?

 

My son is 9 and not a good writer and needs major help with every grammar related subject. After looking through them I *think* maybe starting with one is best but I wanted your thoughts before I bought anything. I would be interested to hear your experiences with WWE and how you progressed through them and with what age of child.

 

Thanks :)

[amey311]

My older son just turned 10 (he would be a PS 4th grader) and we are starting with Level 1 this year.

 

I did the evaluation and he comprehended fine, and can transcribe well enough that he could handle level 2 (or more, maybe), but he didn't quite grasp complete sentences, and I figured the extra attention to parts of speech would be helpful.

 

We tend to do 2 days in one (so copywork and then narration in the same day). I don't always make him copy what I write when we do the "what do you remember from the passage?" bit. So, we're moving more quickly than the book plans, but I think that's fine. We'll probably slow down with the higher levels.

[my2boysteacher]

We started WWE this year and I'm using level 2 for my 8 and 9 year old boys. They are both reluctant writers and my oldest son has very sloppy handwriting. I think level 2 is a perfect fit for them. They have had no trouble at all with the amount of dictation, narration or writing. I actually thought about skipping ahead to level 3 mid year to give them more of a challenge, but will have to check that out before I decide.

So far they have only been required to write 1-2 sentences from dictation and looking ahead to the end of the book it doesn't look like it gets much more difficult.

Hope that helps!

[TKDmom]

I would strongly suggest that you get the WWE Text that covers all four years. Each level has an end-of-the-year assessment on week 36. Start out by spending a few days doing the year 1 assessment. If he has trouble with it, start him out at the beginning of year 1. If he can do it easily with no whining or crying, try the year 2 assessment. Keep going until you find a level where he starts to have trouble. And remember that tears can be a sign that it's too hard.

 

Starting with a 9yo, you may be able to progress a little more quickly, but don't try to skip any levels altogether.

 

I started out my dd in WWE2 when she was in 2nd grade. I didn't realize that it was too hard for her, and after 10 weeks of fighting her, I dropped WWE altogether. Halfway through 3rd grade, I decided to try again with WWE3 (I hadn't learned my lesson). It only took a few days to realize that it wasn't working at all. I came here and got some advice telling me to back her up to the very beginning. So I pulled out WWE1 and it was so easy for her! I didn't have to fight her over anything. We mostly just used the example weeks that are in the text, so we got through the whole level in less than 2 months. We did level 2 again a little bit slower, but I think we only used every other week or so out of the workbooks. Level 3 is a step up from level 2, and we'll go through level 3 at regular speed without any skipping. I've temporarily dropped WWE with her, b/c her schedule is too full, but I think we will go ahead and start back up with it in a few weeks. I'm still trying to get my school year up to full speed...

[Roxy Roller]

We tend to do 2 days in one (so copywork and then narration in the same day). I don't always make him copy what I write when we do the "what do you remember from the passage?" bit. So, we're moving more quickly than the book plans, but I think that's fine. We'll probably slow down with the higher levels.

 

:iagree:I just started Level One with my DS9(we started half-way through at Lesson 18). I do it as the above post says, although when I write the 'what do you remember' part of the narration, I make my DS copy that as well. We go through two weeks worth of work in one, and my DS has not complained yet. I also started my twin DSs7.5 at Level One, but I am starting at the beginning and doing the work as written - one week at a time.

[Homeschooling6]

Today was our first day with WWE3. I'm using it with my 4th and 7th grader. My dd 4th grader really enjoyed it :D both of them did fine. I was impressed ;)

[Mallory]

How does he do with narrations? After you read a passage can he summarize it in 2 or 3 sentances? Does he use complete sentances? How is he at copying an sentance? Have you tried dictation?

 

There are really only two small steps between level 1 and 2.

 

--In the narration part (or the part where the kid creates thier own sentances) level 1 asks the kid to tell one thing they remembered (it can be anything), 2 asks "what happened?" hoping for more of a summary or to get the important things out of the passage. In both levels the teacher writes down what the student says.

 

--For the actual putting words on paper part level 1 is only copywork, while level 2 does some copywork, but also starts some dictation.

 

My kids have always done fine on narration -even if I have to prompt for whole sentances, they can do it if I just say "In a sentance." We find the dictations tricky. But I also feel it is much easier to make the dictations easier (just simplify the sentance or only do one of them) then it is to make the narrations harder. So I find it easier to place mostly by narration level.

 

I also think that the hardback Writing With Ease Strong Fundamentals is nice to have with an older kid because the 4 or five planned out weeks for each level can be enough to get them through that level. For example, if you bought the text you could use the 5 weeks in there and that is often enough. Then you'd have 4 weeks to try out level two and that might be enough too. But it would give you a much nicer start then jumping in at the higher level.

 

Of course if you think the level 1 narrations and only copywork will be enough then start with level one. They are important skills to get down.

[KrisC]

This thread is a real eye opener for me. I thought I read in WTM that for writing and grammar, I should start at there level. My 10 year old son is in 5th grade, and hates/refused to write in public school. This is our first year home schooling.

 

So, I have him doing WWE L4. It hasn't been easy for him. Maybe I should just switch him back to L3? I already have the book for my other son.

 

 

Kris

[persephone43]

Thank you ladies so much for your responses!! So much to consider. :confused:

[OregonNative]

This thread is a real eye opener for me. I thought I read in WTM that for writing and grammar, I should start at there level. My 10 year old son is in 5th grade, and hates/refused to write in public school. This is our first year home schooling.

 

So, I have him doing WWE L4. It hasn't been easy for him. Maybe I should just switch him back to L3? I already have the book for my other son.

 

 

Kris

 

I'm going to try WWE 2 with my 9 yo. Have you viewed any of the sample pages?

[OregonNative]

Should we start at level one?

 

My son is 9 and not a good writer and needs major help with every grammar related subject. After looking through them I *think* maybe starting with one is best but I wanted your thoughts before I bought anything. I would be interested to hear your experiences with WWE and how you progressed through them and with what age of child.

 

Thanks :)

 

Have you checked out the samples at PHP?

[KrisC]

I have Writing With Ease, Strong Fundamentals. The section for Level 2 says it "begins dictation by first copying a sentence of ten to twelve words, and then taking the sentence from dictation on another day. Naration passages are around four paragraphs long, or 15-17 lines. After answering comprehension questions, the student will learn to identify the most important element of the passage."

 

Does that help?

[Dolphin]

Are you also doing First Language Lessons? This is our first year, I got the text first (which covers all 4 years) We decided to start with Level 3 as that is what he is doing in FLL and they compliment each other well. However, I have read through 1 and 2 and I am holding his hand with the narration and just taking extra time over the writing lessons. It seems to be going well. We tried level 1 and he was just bored. The challenge of 3 keeps him interested as long as I remain patient.

[micheller1]

I bought the book before I picked workbooks for my three kids. This is our first year homeschooling and I asked a question similar to this and received responses similar to this. After receiving the WWE book, I placed my 8 yo (3 grade) in level 1, my 12 yo in level 2 and 10 yo in level 3. The book really helped me gauge where they were and what they need the most help on. I don't necessarily follow the book completely for my 12 yo. We do two days worth of work in one day and I let him do the reading himself instead of me doing the reading and he writes his own narrations but the rest of it was more at his level. The dictation in level three would have KILLED him and of course that would have ruined my day.

 

My point is the book gives you the starting point. I highly recommend it!

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I am ordering that in the next few days. A friend of mine has had great success using it with her daughter and I think my 7yr old would benefit from it too. Not sure if we'll add it into this year's studies or next year,but from what I know it's a great program!