Has anyone used Voyages in English 3, writing portion?

[sagira]

I have Voyages in English 3, 2006 edition. I keep reading that most people don't use the writing portion -- any idea why? It doesn't look bad to me. Ds is using PLL right now for grammar, and next year I'm adding Voyages for reinforcement exercises. I don't have a formal writing program (we've never used one), so in third grade, would this be suitable? Is this even necessary? I look at how much the kids in ps write, and I worry a bit, as ds doesn't write anything beyond a snippet or two, and is focusing on copywork and dictation.

 

Please let me know what you think. Any reviews of Voyages in English's writing portion you could direct me to? Thank you.

[sagira]

Has anyone seen any reviews? I remember SWB posting a review on this program a while back, can someone link the thread?

 

Thanks!

[8filltheheart]

Back when I first started homeschooling, I used VIE with my 2 oldest. We went through the writing instruction in the books but did not use the assignments. I always assigned across curriculum but tried to incorporate the instructional material into their assignments.

 

FWIW....I learned grammar from VIE and much of how I teach my kids to write now. I think as far texts go that they are fine.

[sagira]

Thanks! This is really helpful. I like the idea of using writing across the curriculum too.

[Veritaserum]

Dd8 started VIE 3 (2011 version) a couple of weeks ago. I think the writing portion is fine. I'm not having her do the assignments for some of the units because I want to finish it this year and she is doing other writing assignments outside of VIE. She will be completing some of them, though.

 

She likes the program and I find it easy to use. We follow the free schedule that's posted as a .PDF file on their website. We have the textbook, the practice book, the assessment book, and the answer key. You can purchase the assessment book if you order over the phone. They only sell a class pack on the ordering site. I do not have the teacher's manual and I do not miss it. It seems much more geared toward a classroom teacher.

 

Dd starts grammar with a daily problem from the practice book. It involves analyzing a sentence and then diagramming it. Next we read two pages from the grammar section of the textbook. We work through the exercises orally. After that there is usually a page or two of exercises in the practice book that she completes on her own. I immediately correct it and go over any mistakes with her. (She usually does well because we do the textbook exercises together.) After the grammar portion of the lesson we read two pages from the writing section of the textbook. We again do the exercises orally. Sometimes there is a page of writing exercises in the practice book. There usually is not written work for grammar and writing on the same day, which I appreciate.

 

At the end of each section/chapter there is a test in the assessment book. There are also several days scheduled for working through the writing process.

 

I like VIE for dd8. She's doing well with it and it isn't painful for her. :)