WWE 4

[michelle l]

Do you think WWE 4 would be appropriate for my 6th grader? He is 11, and has an August birthday, so he is very much on the young end. He excels in math, but language, both verbal and written, has always been more difficult for him.

 

We have been doing Imitation in Writing, but not getting to it as consistently as I'd like, and his writing is not really very good. I'm wondering if he could benefit from the structure of WWE, as well as the way it leads the student through the process. I'm finding WWE 3 is working very well for my 4th grade son. I'm thinking the 11 year old could benefit from this, but don't want to have him working at too low a level either. He will be doing some additional writing in his science notebooking (Apologia), and history notebooking (WP). He also has a separate grammar. (GWG)

 

What do you think?

[redsquirrel]

I think it would be fine. My 5th grader, 10 yrs, uses it. Honestly, I think WWE4 would also be just fine. The books are very similar. We are 10 weeks into WWE5 and the biggest change is that the dictations are getting challenging. Other than that, the routine (narration, dictation, narration, dictation) stays the same.

 

Oh, at the end of WWE4 the student starts writing down the first couple sentences of their own narrations. It is dictated to them and then they write it out. In WWE5 they do that from the get go.

 

The whole point of WWE is to have writing be sucessful. You want it to be a postive experience. Given that goal, it wouldn't hurt him to to WWE4 with his brother. They could move onto 5 together next year. If it were a tad easy, it's not the end of the world. It might also give him some confidence.

[~Jo]

I have both WWE3 and 4. I have my ds doing some of the WWE4 (he is older but was never taught to write like this) and my dd doing WWE 3. I started her off in 4, and although she could do it some of it was a struggle. So I split them up. We are doubling up the lessons also..so doing it in less than half the time.

 

I decided for my 6th grader that I would rather her feel successful about writing instead of feeling overwhelmed at times with different dictations. She is doing really well and I see her writing improving all across the curriculum...which is very exciting for me!

 

Her problems with WWE4 were more along the lines of spelling and retaining longer passages of information. Backing up to WWE3 helped with those two things tremendously and they have both improved.

 

Also watching SWB do dictation with her 13yo ds really helped me see how to do dictation. You can find the video on YouTube under Peace Hill Press if you haven't watched it.

[Hedgehog]

My 11yo dd (October birthday) is starting WWE 3 this year. According to the recommended placement test there's no way she'd be able to do WWE 4. I'm fine with that - I try to teach to their ability, not their technical grade level. It's one of the bonuses of homeschooling, after all.

[redsquirrel]

Ok, I clearly need a nap. I just reread my previous post and it makes NO sense.

 

Take one year off everthing I said. :lol:

 

My 10 year old is using WWE FOUR not 5. There is no WWE5 available to the public. Level 5 would be 'writing with skill' if I HAD been lucky enough to score the beta.

 

So just push everything back on year. What I meant to say is that they would be fine using WWE THREE together.

 

aye, aye, aye I need to go to bed earlier.

[walkermamaof4]

:iagree: WWE4 is challenging for my dd10, turning 11 in one month. She struggles with comprehending the passages as well as remembering the dictations. If WWE3 would work, I'd say it would be fine. But WWE4 would be for sure.

[SheriGene]

Jo,

I would like to see the Youtube video of SWB teaching her daughter. I am a little frustrated that the dictation gets so long. My 9 y.o. dd is in level 3 near the end and has no problem with narration, but some problem with the longer dictation. I am a little scared to go on to level 4. Anyway can you help me find that?

[2GAboys]

We are about half way done with level 3. We did level 2 last year with my then 3rd grade son. I have some concern as well regarding the longer dictation sentences in level 4. I hope that level 5 is complete when I need it. I certainly think an 11 year old boy who is not a good writer needs to do WWE however since you have the level 3 book, I would first make sure your 11 yoa can complete the evaluation at the end of level 3 successfully before choosing to do level 4.

[~Jo]

Jo,

I would like to see the Youtube video of SWB teaching her daughter. I am a little frustrated that the dictation gets so long. My 9 y.o. dd is in level 3 near the end and has no problem with narration, but some problem with the longer dictation. I am a little scared to go on to level 4. Anyway can you help me find that?

 

No problem, here is the link.

 

 

 

And she is actually doing it with her 13yo ds. That is what made me realize that it might actually help my reluctant 14yo ds to write. He has made tremendous strides in just a few weeks and watching her do the dictation has helped us both not to frustrate each other. :lol:

[SheriGene]

Thanks Jo. I guess I am trying to push my daughter too much maybe. If level 4 can be used for Susan's 13 yo son, then I think I have time for my 9 yo daughter to practice, but I still don't see the purpose of memorizing a paragraph after only hearing it 3 or 4 times!

[michelle l]

Thanks everyone! You have given me a lot of peace that doing this would not cause him to be "behind". :rolleyes: I think I will try a few WWE lessons with him, and then evaluate whether to stay there or move him into 4. Too bad there is not a WWE 5, that realy got my hopes up!;) Crossing my fingers that there will be a Writing With Skill when we're ready.

[~Jo]

Thanks Jo. I guess I am trying to push my daughter too much maybe. If level 4 can be used for Susan's 13 yo son, then I think I have time for my 9 yo daughter to practice, but I still don't see the purpose of memorizing a paragraph after only hearing it 3 or 4 times!

 

I believe the reason for dictation is not so they can memorize a passage but so they can hold a whole sentence(s) of thought in their mind at one time. I think the example that SWB gave on one of her audio lectures was when you are asking them to create a sentence and they do it orally. Then you tell them to write it and they don't remember what they said. This is my children in a nutshell....they can't remember what they said. It is improving by leaps and bounds with the use of dictation.

[~Jo]

Thanks everyone! You have given me a lot of peace that doing this would not cause him to be "behind". :rolleyes: I think I will try a few WWE lessons with him, and then evaluate whether to stay there or move him into 4. Too bad there is not a WWE 5, that realy got my hopes up!;) Crossing my fingers that there will be a Writing With Skill when we're ready.

 

 

What I'm finding with my children is that the older ones can actually progress much faster than my younger. It is a skill they are acquiring. I guess what I would compare it to is teaching math. You would not teach a child 14 + 3 = 17 when they cannot add 3 + 4 = 7. You would go back and make sure that they had the basics covered before moving on, but with an older child going back and covering the basics would not take as long as teaching a 1st grader the basics. Does that make sense? (I probably need more coffee :lol: )

 

So even though you are going back and covering these skills with him it probably won't take him as long to progress as someone in 3rd grade to do WWE3.

[LaissezFaire]

What I like about WWE is that it really doesn't seem to matter what grade your child is in. It's all about what level they are at. I have a 2nd grader and a 4th grader both doing WWE2 and it is working beautifully.

[4besitos]

I had no idea you could watch videos with SWB....thank you so much for the info/link!!!! After watching the 2 videos...I think maybe my expectations were a little too high!!!!

 

My oldest (who is in 7th) also struggles with writing. I too was bummed that the next level wasn't ready...but watching this I see he could do 4. We just started using IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) and he likes is soooo much better than the Lingua Mater we were using. That instructor has them pick out key words for the sentences to help them recall what was read. They are not allowed to look at the passage when they are writing from memory but rather their key word outline. While the narration/dication thing can seem tedious....the skill of being able to recall what was said or read is so helpful. Best of all....he is not hating writing anymore which I was so bummed was happening with the other program we were using.

 

It can be hard on us as Mothers when we feel pressured to hit the grade level.....but so freeing when we teach to the skill level!!!!!!:001_smile: