CW-Homer and -Aesop scheduling question

[sahm99]

Okay, we are ready to dive in:001_huh:...

 

I am still not certain about the scheduling, though, particularly as far as the writing is concerned.

A couple of questions are left...:

 

How essential is the outlining in Homer?

In the past (with WTs), ds did fine doing his first draft immediately...

What about outlining in Aesop?

 

Could we realistically work through the Analysis-part from day 1-3 and then do the writing on day 4&5? I find it difficult to add the writing to the analysis on the same days. Also, I have personally never had much success with starting an essay one day and finishing it the next...

I think writing in one go might be "smoother"... Any thought on this?

 

And, last but not least, I am a bit intimidated by the lenght of some of the stories in Aesop... I find 2+ pages long for a third grader...:confused:

 

I would very much appreciate if you could share how you schedule the different parts of Homer (and Aesop)!

 

Thank you so much!!

[Mallory]

While they don't write out outlines in WT, I find the assignment to give the outline with all the questions she asks.

 

We sometimes only rewrote part of the story even in Homer, depending on our schedule and the story. Can he outline? I think it is important that he learn how, but there are several areas in CW where I have felt like sis knows how to do it and we only do it every other week or just quickly orally. There is plenty there that she can work on.

 

Some people do A&I one week and writing the next, but try your schedule and see how it works (that is actually very similar to how we schedule WT with all the work done our first two days, then the last two days writing.) Sis usually does planning and organizing the first day, writing the second, and editing the third and fourth.

[prairiegirl]

I think Aesop could be done with Analysis on Day 1--3 and writing on the last two days. Homer, though, is too intense to do it that fast, imo. We do not do CW the way that they suggest. We do the analysis first then we move on to the writing project. I do not have a strict schedule for either program. Whenever we get done with the analysis aspect of the model then we move on to to the writing project.

 

With Aesop, it might take us three days to get through the Analysis. With Homer, though, it usually takes us 5 days (We take 2 days to do the Six-Sentence Shuffle) to do the Analysis part.

 

I think outlining is an important skill to learn. If your child already knows how to do it then I wouldn't make him do it every week, maybe only every two or three weeks.

[siloam]

 

I am still not certain about the scheduling, though, particularly as far as the writing is concerned.

A couple of questions are left...:

 

How essential is the outlining in Homer?

 

At the beginning no, but as you move on to doing essential and accidental details, and breaking them down into acts and scenes and then summarizing the scenes and acts, yes. The the final writing project in Homer A is to summarize a whole piece by paragraph, scenes and acts, which is basically a book report.

 

In the past (with WTs), ds did fine doing his first draft immediately...

What about outlining in Aesop?

 

In Aesop it is even listed as optional, if I remember right. With my oldest I didn't do them at first, but found I then ended up with one long paragraph. I started having her outline, making each paragraph a new point on the outline and now all her re-writes have proper paragraphs. While it was a pain to have to sit there and do the outlining with her for all of Aesop B and part of Homer A, she is a master now. With my 2nd dd I am teaching them from the start.

 

Could we realistically work through the Analysis-part from day 1-3 and then do the writing on day 4&5? I find it difficult to add the writing to the analysis on the same days. Also, I have personally never had much success with starting an essay one day and finishing it the next...

I think writing in one go might be "smoother"... Any thought on this?

 

Our pattern is: Monday outline, Tuesday, make notes for re-write on outline, Wednesday write out all of the rough draft and Thursday re-write and edit. We do some thinking and pre-work on Tuesday, but no actual writing. But CW is pretty much the only writing program I have ever used, so my kids don't know anything different. With my oldest I also go 8 weeks into Homer, then alternate Homer and Poetry. At the end of the first 8 weeks my dd is maxed out, but she manages to push through knowing she will get a break. Poetry doesn't have the same sort of re-writes. They are only partial, usually changing just part of some couplets. You could easily not do the poetry and do a Homer week over a longer period of time.

 

And, last but not least, I am a bit intimidated by the length of some of the stories in Aesop... I find 2+ pages long for a third grader...:confused:

 

I would very much appreciate if you could share how you schedule the different parts of Homer (and Aesop)!

 

Thank you so much!!

 

If you are doing Aesop with a 3rd grader, I would hands down recommend you do the models over 2 weeks. Otherwise you will run through the 18 weeks of Aesop A and 18 weeks of Aesop B and find yourself doing Homer A in 4th grade. The volume of work really is too much for a 4th grader. Once more in 5th you would be facing all the clause, gerund work and I think kids just need a certain amount of maturity to get those. I have days where my heads swims with is this an infinitive, appositive, gerund or clause? There is no need to rush into Homer.

 

My girls have done well with the length. They often shorten them considerably, which you are not supposed to let them get away with, but I just don't worry about it. They are writing and learning all the content required, they will write more when they have more to say, KWIM?

 

Heather

[sahm99]

Thank you for your help!

 

...so, we will do the outlining:001_smile:...

 

I will spend some more time over the next week to figure out the best way to distribute the work...

 

How much time should I expect my "Homer-student" to spend per day?

And me???

 

Thanks!

[siloam]

Thank you for your help!

 

...so, we will do the outlining:001_smile:...

 

I will spend some more time over the next week to figure out the best way to distribute the work...

 

How much time should I expect my "Homer-student" to spend per day?

And me???

 

Thanks!

If you are going to have to hand hold during the outlining it will be more at first, but my oldest and I are in a good rhythm, and she does pretty well working independently, so days when she has new material we spend between 5-20 mins in discussion of what needs to be done. I like to clearly define expectations so I spend a lot of time here. I go over her work daily, and as long as she met the basic goals I don't give her a lot of corrections. After the first 4 or 5 times of grading accidentals and scene divisions I felt she had a good enough grasp to do it on her own, and correct it with the TM. She also is good in grammar so I have her correct her CW grammar with the TM (I still correct her AG grammar though). In her writing I deal with glaring things, but at this point I personally am more interested in her mastering the ways of manipulating words. I think their writing will improve, like I said above, when they have something to say, so I am looking for them to have to tools to use when they are ready to speak out. My time is really minimal at this point.

 

I just added up her times (she times herself daily to help stay on track) and I cam up with an average of 45 mins per day that was over almost a month and with her typing her writing.

 

Heather