amandajh Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 could someone with experience in both of these language programs please give me your opinion on which would be the best for my children. Both of my children are easily intimidated by creative writing. CLE and Abeka creative writing makes their heads spin. I read some of the R&S 3rd grade student text online and liked the way it taught the student to find key words and then summarize a paragraph about kangaroos. I can't really find any samples of BJU writing instruction but have heard others say it was really good. I think my kids need something that is going to say, "This is how to do this, now you do it like we did it". They are very good a taking a book they have read and re-doing it to make it their own. Example: DD is reading Ginger Pye and she is typing her own version of a book called Sam Sam which is a lot like the story of Ginger Pye with the names and some events changed. They can both do this type of writing and are good with narration, but not creative writing. Their minds just don't work that way :) So which would work best? R&S or BJU? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 we started the year using R&S english 3 (we used Grade 2 last year & liked it as well). i really love R&S, but i was struggling this year with finding a good writing program (as i personally do not feel R&S is sufficient on it's own). after a few failed attempts, i read in the forums here about BJU. i was hesitant of course because of trying other programs unsuccessfully, as well as the cost of BJU. it cost a little less than $80 for the TM and student book from rainbow resource for grade 3. anyway, we're on chapter 5 and i really like it a lot so far. there are 16 chapter & it takes about 2 weeks per chapter. the grammar is really easy for my daughter so far, so we fly through those chapters (as it is just review at this point from R&S). however, i like the lay out of the BJU grammar lessons and i think they are good. the writing lessons are imho very clear and easy to implement (so far anyway). i actually just blogged this morning about our experience with BJU - it will give you a peek into a week with BJU writing. it's from the second week of grade 3, so it's very simple - but the assignments grow in complexity as the year continues. good luck in your decision. both programs are very good!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandajh Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 we started the year using R&S english 3 (we used Grade 2 last year & liked it as well). i really love R&S, but i was struggling this year with finding a good writing program (as i personally do not feel R&S is sufficient on it's own). after a few failed attempts, i read in the forums here about BJU. i was hesitant of course because of trying other programs unsuccessfully, as well as the cost of BJU. it cost a little less than $80 for the TM and student book from rainbow resource for grade 3. anyway, we're on chapter 5 and i really like it a lot so far. there are 16 chapter & it takes about 2 weeks per chapter. the grammar is really easy for my daughter so far, so we fly through those chapters (as it is just review at this point from R&S). however, i like the lay out of the BJU grammar lessons and i think they are good. the writing lessons are imho very clear and easy to implement (so far anyway). i actually just blogged this morning about our experience with BJU - it will give you a peek into a week with BJU writing. it's from the second week of grade 3, so it's very simple - but the assignments grow in complexity as the year continues. good luck in your decision. both programs are very good!:) I can't get your blog link to work.....is it down right now? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 i'm sorry. it's not down...or at least not for me. i'll cut & paste the relevant part of what i shared... it's nothing exciting, but it may give you a little bit of insight. ________________________________________________________ We have been using BJU English for several weeks now. Previously, we had been using Writing with Ease, which is excellent, but simply isn't enough (and we did use it across the curriculum as instructed). WWE simply was not accomplishing the goals I had hoped to cover this year. Yes, I've listened to Susan Wise Bauer's audio lectures on teaching writing (for those of you that follow The Well Trained Mind). I completely agree with her insight, however, in our 'real life' it simply isn't translating into what I had hoped to see in my daughter's abilities. We will still use the principles of WWE in Science & History, but BJU English 3 will fill in the "gaps". It starts off with very elementary writing assignments & progresses in difficulty throughout the year. I also love that it rotates grammar & writing, focusing on one subject per week. Today, I'm going to share my daughter's first writing assignment (this was in Ch. 2 in our book and she's now on Ch. 5 ...there are 16 chapters in all). I will share her middle and end assignments later as well, to show the progression of the program. Her first assignment was to give instructions on how to play a game. She chose to explain the game "Tag". After we completed this, we chose to reinforce these skills with a similar assignment, "How to Make Lemonade". We used the following diagram as the first step in this process: http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2520986/writing-chart-pdf-january-15-2011-10-39-am-60k?da=y So, for Day 1, she filled out the form above with the following information: How to: Make Lemonade Materials Needed: Lemonade Mix, Pitcher, Water, Spoon, Sugar Time Order Word: First / Get a pitcher Time Order Word: Second / Put in 8 cups of water Time Order Word: Third / Put in a cup of sugar Time Order Word: Next / Stir the Lemonade Time Order Word: Finally / Serve it On the second day, she had to translate the chart into sentences for her "sloppy copy" paragraph. She did not need to focus on spelling or grammar whatsoever; it's simply to translate the chart into sentences for revision. This is what it said: How to Make Lemonade Lemonade is my favorite drink to make. You need, sugar, water, picher, and a spoon. First get a pitcher. Second put 8 cups of water in the pitcher. Third put a cup of sugar. Nexts stir the lemonade. Finally serve it. On the 3rd day, she checked for spelling, revisions, etc. This normally would be longer than a one day process, but the topic is so simple & short, it really didn't need to be stretched out longer. This is her final copy: How to Make Lemonade Lemonade is my favorite drink to make! You will need some lemonade mix, sugar, water, spoon, and a pitcher. First, get a pitcher. Second, put 8 cups of water in the pitcher. Third, put in a cup of sugar. Next, stir the lemonade until sugar is dissolved. Finally, serve it! It's delicious over ice, and you can add a fresh slice of lemon too. Lemonade is a fun drink to make with friends! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandajh Posted January 15, 2011 Author Share Posted January 15, 2011 hmm...so did that worksheet you linked come with BJU? That looks really interesting. Also, you said that the TM was essential. I was hoping not...cost wise. I had seen on the Christian Liberty Press website that they offer the BJU workbook and their own teacher's book for much less money. I don't know the difference though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 15, 2011 Share Posted January 15, 2011 hmm...so did that worksheet you linked come with BJU? That looks really interesting.Also, you said that the TM was essential. I was hoping not...cost wise. I had seen on the Christian Liberty Press website that they offer the BJU workbook and their own teacher's book for much less money. I don't know the difference though. well...so far the TM has not been essential. however, i read here that it was essential - so that's why I purchased it. but honestly, as of now I haven't needed it (i've checked a few things, but could have lived without it or googled the answer). the sheet I linked was made in a word doc by me, but I did get the idea from BJU. the same concept is all over the web though, so i didn't feel like I was sharing too much. BJU is very clear with how to fill in all of their charts & they give explicit instructions in the writing process. they also cover all types of writing, which you can view in their table of contents. you can see samples at rainbow resource or cbd.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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