Are you accelerating WWE? If so, how?

[abrightmom]

I am reading about several Moms accelerating their kids through WWE 2 and 3. How are you setting this up/scheduling this? How much time do you spend with this daily?

 

:001_smile:

[Elfinlady]

We are in WWE two, and we do two days of work in one day. Days one and two together, and days three and four together. I'd say it generally takes us around 20 minutes each day, maybe just a tad more.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Last semester we did WWE 1 with my dd7.

 

Mon. - Day one and two

Tue. - Day four (which included copywork)

Wed. - Day one and two

Thur. - Day four

 

This semester we will be doing WWE 2.

 

Mon. - Day one and two

Tue. - Day three and four

Wed. - Day one and two

Thur. - Day three and four

 

Since the lessons are more difficult in this book we will break each day's work into two sessions instead of doing them back to back.

[Laurel]

With WWE 1 and 2, we did two lessons a day. With WWE 3, the dictations are longer, so we do one lesson a day, but we do every other week. (Right now it seems to be a good challenge level. If it starts getting too difficult too quickly, we will stop skipping weeks.)

 

Oh yeah - I don't pay too much attention to time, but we probably spend 15 minutes or so daily.

[mommyto4]

We are working through WWE2. We do it five days a week and combine Days 1 and 2 into one day. I hope to be done by March to get a start on WWE3.

 

It doesn't take us much time this way. We work about 5-15 minutes each day.

[MaMa2005]

We are in WWE two, and we do two days of work in one day. Days one and two together, and days three and four together. I'd say it generally takes us around 20 minutes each day, maybe just a tad more.

 

:iagree: That is how we got thorough WWE1 and have WWE2 scheduled.

[Dana]

:iagree: with most of the above. We also are doing WWE (generally) 5 days a week. We set the timer for 20 min and do what we can. Day 4 (narration & dictation) is generally a day by itself though. I think when we start WWE 3, we'll only be doing one day a day - although I do plan on continuing to do a lesson each day of school.

[silliness7]

I don't do the dictations. That speeds it up. But we are also doing the writing assignments from R&S English and some other writing projects so it's not like we'll finish WWE early.

But it gives us room to experience other types of writing without making our overall English coursework feel like too much. My rule of thumb is that if there is no other writing scheduled for English that day (either R&S or a summary of a book just finished) then we'll do WWE.

 

I also sped up the skills my dc are practicing because I discovered that they were capable. At some point in the program students are instructed to give a summary which mom writes down and then dictates a sentence or two back to the student who then writes it down for himself. I can't remember where this pops up. I think it's book 4.

 

Anyway, both my 3rd grader (WWE3) and 5th grader (WWE4) are perfectly capable of saying their summary out loud and then writing it down from their own "dictation." We have also practiced writing the summary without going over the comprehension questions. This has largely been by accident on my part and is still a bit difficult. It is nice to see the big picture and truly let them work at their own pace despite what the teacher's instructions are for that day.

 

The best way to speed up WWE is to determine what the end result of the 4 years worth of work is, determine at what point your child is, and use the material in WWE workbooks to get them to the next point, and then the next, etc. Even though my 3rd grader is practicing skills from the 4th grade book I've kept her reading the passages in the 3rd grade book because the reading gets quite a bit more difficult in the 4th grade book.

[Mallory]

It's very easy to skip ahead if you have the hardback.

 

I just did each step until I felt comfortable moving him up to the next step.

 

So when we started he only did the example lessons for year 1, then in year 2 and 3 it might have taken 2 or 3 weeks at each level.

 

I was using both the text and the workbook, as my younger was going through the books slower, but since the text tells you when each step is, I could skip to those weeks if they were doing well at the week they just finished.

[abrightmom]

Excellent feedback. I just thumbed through Level 2 and realize we can easily complete this in 17 weeks if we use it 4 days a week. . . much sooner than I'd anticipated!! :lol:

 

How do you evaluate your child's abilities with summary work? We have only completed week 1 with WWE2 as we just started it. He fumbled with, "Can you tell me in one or two sentences what happened in this story?" We talked through it and I ended up using one of her examples along with a Q&A to show him how to summarize. We worked through it on the whiteboard. Does this seem like a good approach? I hope he'll catch on after a few sessions like that.

 

Do you write down the narrations for your child (as recommended in the workbook)? What is the point of doing that? :D I kinda don't want to and I skipped that part of WWE1. But, there's a little voice in my head asking if it's necessary . . .

[Penelope]

We double up on WWE3. Day 1 and 2 one day, day 3 and 4 another. But we aren't getting through that much faster, we just do these two days per week. The other days we spend more time on writing narrations, copywork, and MCT.

[Mallory]

Do you write down the narrations for your child (as recommended in the workbook)? What is the point of doing that? :D I kinda don't want to and I skipped that part of WWE1. But, there's a little voice in my head asking if it's necessary . . .

 

Yes, we write them down. It is a way to get better sentances and show proper puntuation.

 

When they just say the summary they often use a more casual, speaking way of choosing vocab and phrasing, but when I am sitting next to them with my pencil on the paper in front of them we usually end up with a more complete, formally written sentance.

 

It is also a chance for them to see the spelling of words they are likely to use and to see how thier own ideas would be puntuated.

[Sahamamama]

Do you write down the narrations for your child (as recommended in the workbook)? What is the point of doing that? :D I kinda don't want to and I skipped that part of WWE1. But, there's a little voice in my head asking if it's necessary . . .

 

Yes, because writing down the child's narration while he watches can accomplish several things. First, it teaches the child that his own words can become writing. Second, it can give the teacher an opportunity to explain differences between spoken and written language (for example, if he says "gonna," you correct him and write "going to"). Third, it locks into his visual memory what correct written language looks like. Fourth, you can have the student copy back a portion of the narration, thus strengthening the connection between his words-your writing-his writing. Fifth, it allows you to have the student read back his own narration, thus hearing his own words come up off the page. Finally, it gives you, the teacher, a written record of how the student's narration skills have improved or need improving. HTH.

[abbeyej]

I ask more than is required in the book, and we do two days in one. So I transitioned to having dd write her narrations entirely on her own well before WWE made that transition. It was just the right time for dd and she didn't *need* me to write them for her and allow her to copy or write from my dictation any more. We also do two days (a narration and a dictation) in a single day.

 

Edited to add, with my older child, WWE came out really after he was past needing it. I thought he might still benefit from doing some of the work, so we sped through the sample lessons in the instructor text for levels 3 and 4. He didn't need much time at either level, but working through quickly helped us practice the material at a pace that fit him.

Edited December 15, 2010 by abbeyej

[razorbackmama]

We are in WWE two, and we do two days of work in one day. Days one and two together, and days three and four together. I'd say it generally takes us around 20 minutes each day, maybe just a tad more.

This is EXACTLY what we do...even the amount of time it takes.

[abrightmom]

If you combine day 3 & 4 of WWE2 then do you ask your child to write from dictation twice? Or, do you skip the dictation from day 4 (from the child's narration that I'm going to start writing down :D)? I'm kinda thinking I need to skip one of those dictations (probably the one from day 4) if I'm going to combine.

[razorbackmama]

If you combine day 3 & 4 of WWE2 then do you ask your child to write from dictation twice? Or, do you skip the dictation from day 4 (from the child's narration that I'm going to start writing down :D)? I'm kinda thinking I need to skip one of those dictations (probably the one from day 4) if I'm going to combine.

 

I do both dictations. One is done from the copywork they did the day before, and then after they give me a narration I dictate one of their sentences back to them.

[Jenny Piaaree]

Oh, now I feel mean. I'm making my 5th grade dd do one full week of WWE 3 each day. Two passages, two summaries, two dictations. I want to get through in time to start WWE 4 next semester. So far it's working fine; if I find she's struggling, we'll slow down.

[StephanieF]

Now you lot are making me second guess what I'm doing:tongue_smilie:

 

We do day 1 and 2 on Monday and then the other 3 days on separate days, so one week per week. Should I do more? Ds7 could do more (WWE2) but I quite like doing dictation twice a week rather than just once.

I thought WWE2 for grade 2 and WWE for grade 3 would be ok? Now you've got me thinking we'll be behind:lol:

Stephanie

[razorbackmama]

Now you lot are making me second guess what I'm doing:tongue_smilie:

 

We do day 1 and 2 on Monday and then the other 3 days on separate days, so one week per week. Should I do more? Ds7 could do more (WWE2) but I quite like doing dictation twice a week rather than just once.

I thought WWE2 for grade 2 and WWE for grade 3 would be ok? Now you've got me thinking we'll be behind:lol:

Stephanie

 

If they are "on level" (so WWE2 for grade 2, etc.), I have them go at regular speed (1 day per day). I only accelerate for my older kids that I'm remediating.

[StephanieF]

That's good to know!

I do think that there is benefit in doing things often rather than all in one go unless as you say you are remediating

Stephanie

[Laurel]

If you combine day 3 & 4 of WWE2 then do you ask your child to write from dictation twice? Or, do you skip the dictation from day 4 (from the child's narration that I'm going to start writing down :D)? I'm kinda thinking I need to skip one of those dictations (probably the one from day 4) if I'm going to combine.

 

We did both dictations. But I had a child that didn't mind writing a lot, and writing a sentence or two from her own narration was easy for her.

[texasmama]

How do you evaluate your child's abilities with summary work? We have only completed week 1 with WWE2 as we just started it. He fumbled with, "Can you tell me in one or two sentences what happened in this story?" We talked through it and I ended up using one of her examples along with a Q&A to show him how to summarize. We worked through it on the whiteboard. Does this seem like a good approach? I hope he'll catch on after a few sessions like that.

 

Do you write down the narrations for your child (as recommended in the workbook)? What is the point of doing that? :D I kinda don't want to and I skipped that part of WWE1. But, there's a little voice in my head asking if it's necessary . . .

 

Pardon if this is a repeat - I have not read to the end of this thread.

 

I think that it takes kids a bit of time to get comfortable with the concept and style of WWE. They are learning the skill of summarizing, and because it is a new one, there is a learning curve. When one of my kids struggled, I read a paragraph or two and then asked the relevant questions, then continued in this manner through the end of the assignment. After some practice, both of my kids are pretty good summarizers. Initially, I had one son who froze up like a deer in the headlights and claimed he recalled NOTHING and one who gave too many details and retold the entire story. They both now are good at this skill, but it has taken some time and consistent in-the-moment feedback from me for them to learn.

 

I do write down the narrations for my kids. It gives them a chance to see their narrations in written form without having to write them by themselves at a time at which they are not developmentally ready to do so. When I finish writing the narration, I read it back to them. We sometimes discuss punctuation, capitalization, etc...so some grammar lessons are informally mixed in with the other lessons.

 

HTH!:001_smile:

Edited December 16, 2010 by texasmama

[Jyniffrec]

I don't do the dictations. That speeds it up. But we are also doing the writing assignments from R&S English and some other writing projects so it's not like we'll finish WWE early.

But it gives us room to experience other types of writing without making our overall English coursework feel like too much. My rule of thumb is that if there is no other writing scheduled for English that day (either R&S or a summary of a book just finished) then we'll do WWE.

 

I also sped up the skills my dc are practicing because I discovered that they were capable. At some point in the program students are instructed to give a summary which mom writes down and then dictates a sentence or two back to the student who then writes it down for himself. I can't remember where this pops up. I think it's book 4.

 

Anyway, both my 3rd grader (WWE3) and 5th grader (WWE4) are perfectly capable of saying their summary out loud and then writing it down from their own "dictation." We have also practiced writing the summary without going over the comprehension questions. This has largely been by accident on my part and is still a bit difficult. It is nice to see the big picture and truly let them work at their own pace despite what the teacher's instructions are for that day.

 

The best way to speed up WWE is to determine what the end result of the 4 years worth of work is, determine at what point your child is, and use the material in WWE workbooks to get them to the next point, and then the next, etc. Even though my 3rd grader is practicing skills from the 4th grade book I've kept her reading the passages in the 3rd grade book because the reading gets quite a bit more difficult in the 4th grade book.

 

Thank you posting this, Rebecca. I have been thinking through how to implement WWE with Rod & Staff and possibly other dictation. You've layed it all out for me here and I think I can move forward now. :001_smile:

[PenKase]

Yes, because writing down the child's narration while he watches can accomplish several things. First, it teaches the child that his own words can become writing. Second, it can give the teacher an opportunity to explain differences between spoken and written language (for example, if he says "gonna," you correct him and write "going to"). Third, it locks into his visual memory what correct written language looks like. Fourth, you can have the student copy back a portion of the narration, thus strengthening the connection between his words-your writing-his writing. Fifth, it allows you to have the student read back his own narration, thus hearing his own words come up off the page. Finally, it gives you, the teacher, a written record of how the student's narration skills have improved or need improving. HTH.

 

:iagree: & could not have said it better myself!

[Mom0012]

We did 2 lessons a day in WWE 1 because I didn't start it until January of my daughter's 1st grade year. We often did the same with WWE 2 because it was so easy to do and I liked being able to consolidate the work into a couple of days a week. I had intended to do the same with WWE 3 and then maybe use Writing Tales on the other 2 days, but I found there was a big leap with WWE 3 and whenever we'd try to add in a second lesson, it took things from being enjoyable to frustrating. So, now we just do one lesson a day. My daughter is doing WWE 3 as a 3rd grader though, so we're not in a rush. If we were, I would probably do two lessons a day, but break them into two separate sessions as someone else mentioned.

 

Lisa

[AngelBee]

Taking notes...

[prairiewindmomma]

We are accelerating WWE4 by doubling up the pages each day. It's working well for us, but at some point (like when my $$$ is in place), we'll move on to R&S5 & IEW by just dropping WWE4. My student at that level & I are both getting very bored with it.