IEW - overwhelmed! So many components! What's necessary/cream o'the crop?

[Robin in Tx]

This would be for a 13yo.

 

Pudewa will be keynote at our convention in a few weeks, and I'm kicking around the idea of considering his products. I'd like to be more familiar with all the components and how they ft together, and what the best of his offerings are.

 

So where do you start an older student, what is absolutely necessary, what is "skippable", and are there any "don't miss" products?

 

Also, I've heard that he overemphasizes "dress ups" and the students all end up writing with the exact same style. But then I've heard that this corrects itself when the student gets older and into the upper levels of the program. That's why I never considered it for dd when she was younger. Is what I've heard accurate?

 

I've ignored IEW threads before (shame on me!)... is it one of those programs that you either love or hate? I really like simplicity and don't want to juggle a lot of components. We will stick with R&S English, and Vocabulary for Achievement. Looking at Lightning Literature. Is there room for IEW in all this or would it be redundant/overkill?

 

Thanks!!

Robin

[MIch elle]

for an older student and for a mom who doesn't want to create lesson plans or writing prompts.

 

I bought IEW 4 years ago (TWSS & SWI A) and resisted it/didn't use it but in desperation bought U.S. Based Writing Lessons for my then 7th grader (last yr) and it's been GREAT for us. Yes, writing takes a lot of work but IEW makes it easier for us.

[Sixmeadows]

for my 3rd and 4th grad sons. I have held off on this for many years because I wasn't sure what to buy, what was needed and it seemed expensive. I was just at our conference last weekend and was able to ask lots of questions.

 

I decided to go with SWI A and we did the first lesson (watching Mr. Pudewa on DVD) and we all liked it. I feel a big relief, I now have a plan that will be easy to follow. For my older one I will have him go through it a bit more quickly, he is a great writer and never has a problem with thinking of things to write about.(we use Wordsmith for him). But I want him to cover all topics that are covered in IEW.

 

HTH,

Cheri

[Zee]

Robin,

I've resisted IEW because of the style issue, also. I never could get out of my head all that SWB had said about that. I did buy the TWSS and used it up through Unit 4, but never progressed further. I skipped most of the style stuff, introduced it to my son and never required it. I was afraid to ruin his style. Well....some of his writing has no style and it needs it. After listening to a workshop this year on writing (a lady who combines IEW and her own stuff), I've decided to bite the bullet and do IEW, as is, including making the dress-ups required. At a minimum, I think I need to require these things for a while till I start to see that ds can do them comfortably and his writing in other subjects begins to show some thought in style.

 

With the TWSS you get a sample lesson given by Pudewa. My son loved that lesson, but after spending the chunk on TWSS, I just couldn't stomach putting out more money for the SWI. I sold some curriculum this year and bought the SWI-B recently. My son and I are both pumped up. We'll be using this next year. I may switch out some of the articles given in the extension pack to use things more suited to our studies, but I'm not anticipating any trouble with this.

 

If I were you, I would get the TWSS/SWI-B combo. There is a monetary savings if you buy them together. (Wish I would have done that when I was advised to). It will give you the tools you need to teach the program all the way through high school, and it will give you ready made lessons for your dd to use right away, without you worrying about teaching it right. As I said, the SWI-B comes with extension lessons that will carry you through about a 1/2 school year. You can decide after that what you want to do, as there are many paths you could take.

 

I like that we'll be able to do the SWI-B next year, but still have time for other writing assignment. (I hate being locked into one program all year - they never seem to quite "fit." This will allow me to do R&S still, and hopefully some CW that is still sitting on my shelf, among other things. UGH!!

 

Also, there is a Yahoo group that is SUPER active where you can ask lots of technical questions. It is linked from the IEW site. You may want to sign up for that. :)

[Laurie]

I bought the TWSS dvds awhile ago but I still haven't watched all of them. This year, I bought SWI B to use with my 13yo and this worked out better for us. He and I watched the lessons together, and I used some of the free lessons from the IEW website that go along with SWI B. We'll probably use the continuation course (SICC) next year.

 

 

If you've got time to watch the teacher seminars and you want to make up your own writing assignments to fit your studies, then you'd probably prefer TWSS. Otherwise, I think you could easily skip over TWSS and just use SWI B or C as an "entry level" course.

[kRenee]

The easiest is to get the SWI C and then the SICC C, if you want Mr. Pudewa to do the teaching. It's cheaper to go with the history based lessons, but then you have to do the teaching. If you want to fully understand the program, buy or borrow the TWSS and watch it yourself. I heartily recommend it, but it is expensive.

 

I do think that younger kids doing IEW might have a stilted writing style because they are just figuring out complicated sentences. When they are older and after the dress ups become automatic, you drop the "requirement" and let the child's writing style develop.

 

My 7th grader will be doing IEW, Shurley English (grammar only), vocabulary and Lightning Lit and I don't think it is overkill or redundant.

[LilyK]

I think you will find that IEW is not overwhelming. It should do the opposite and simplify the process. They progress so incrementally, and it makes writing so organized. I, personally, am a strong advocate of concise, economical writing, so the constant emphasis on dress-ups bothers me. I use it for my younger kids, but my older ones do CW.

[Robin in Tx]

Thanks for all the comments. I will look more closely at the program and the components you all recommend. I appreciate all the responses!

[countrykiddos]

If the 13yo has not done much writing or grammar, I would go with SWI B. If she's up to speed on grammar, and has previously been writing, you could probably go with SWI C. Either way, I don't think you could go wrong. Purchase the TWSS to go along with it. Andrew shows you how to teach the SWI effectively.

I also purchased the Tips and Tricks cd, which is not necessary, but has great info and I've gleaned alot from this.

IEW has been great for us and if I had to oust something else to fit it in, I would. However, it really doesn't take up much of the day, and you may find it doesn't add too much to her load.

BTW, I'm using SWI B with a 14yo, 12yo and 10yo and it's going great!

 

HTH,

Kim O.