Endorphins Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 First of all, I have searched and been unable to come up with any answers. There have been a ton of WWE posts lately and I apologize if anyone is irritated by this. We've been doing WWE1 and it's been miserably boring for all of us. I thought it would be wise to start my 7 year olds out on it since they were young enough (I thought) and I didn't want them to miss any important teachings. Right. We're just bored to tears, even doing two, sometimes all four days in one. I need to note that they read at a 5th-6th grade level and I thought this would help with their writing (sentence formation, paragraphs, and whatnot). They just dread writing now where before, they were at least experimenting with it. The boys are great at spoken narration, but NOT great at written narration. We're working on that. It's the copy work and dictation that are snooze worthy for us and it's hard to justify the cost of the workbooks if we're only going to use the narration part. Is WWE2 going to be more challenging? Is WWE3 challenging? They're gearing up to start doing 3rd grade level work in a few months (generally speaking, of course). Is this just the wrong program for us? I'm tempted to ditch this and just put some more emphasis in SOTW for narration and dictation. What are we going to miss out on if we skip WWE2 and jump into WWE3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 The boys are great at spoken narration, but NOT great at written narration. We're working on that. It's the copy work and dictation that are snooze worthy for us and it's hard to justify the cost of the workbooks if we're only going to use the narration part. Is WWE2 going to be more challenging? Is WWE3 challenging? Yes, they will definitely get more challenging. If you are snoozing with copywork and dictation now, you won't be for much longer... If you aren't sure about getting WWE 2 or 3, I suggest checking out the instructor manual first (library copy? friend copy?). You'll see samples of teaching in it (that you can actually work from, if you want to avoid the cost of workbooks altogether), and you'll get a better idea of what's coming up in the next levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 We are finding WWE 3 (and to some degree, WWE 2) very challenging. I use both levels this year - one with each boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 If you click on the tag, you will see in loads of threads that people are complaining WWE 1 is too easy and then come back complaining that 2/3/4 are too hard! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 WWE 1 and 2 were pretty easy for my daughter. She used them on grade level (1st and 2nd). This year we're doing WWE 3 and she has been more challenged. Some of the dictations are very long, so I've had to learn to just repeat them as many times as she needs until she get them. At some point in WWE 3, you no longer ask any comprehension questions, so the child has to come up with their summary without first answering those leading questions. I hear WWE 4 gets very challenging as far as the dictations go. I don't know about the rest of it. I assume WWE 4 will step things up a notch and just have the child write their own dictation without narrating first and then having it dictated back to them, but I haven't seen the workbook for that level, so I'm not sure. You could always get the hardcover book that explains the whole program and give your kids the evaluations to see where they place. If they are great at narrations, but not so good at copywork and dictation, you could just have them narrate from their history and science reading and then work on dictation/copywork more frequently during the week from whatever sources you like. I don't really see how that's going to make it more appealing to them though unless they just hate the excerpts SWB has chosen in WWE? Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 The instructor text would let you pick your own passages and accelerate easily (ie, your kids might be ready for level 2 already). It's not too easy for my first grader, but I also don't get bored with copywork (he does, but that's tough... He needs the handwriting practice :D). I give him extra copywork on top of WWE. ;) ETA: Also, reading the beginning of the instructor text and/or listening to the audio lecture on teaching elementary writing will help you understand the whole philosophy behind WWE and what exactly the goal is. It makes a lot more sense once you know where you're going with it and why. I think I wouldn't have appreciated it as much if I hadn't listened to the lecture before using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 My 7 yr old-8 in June is about to start WWE3. Sounds as if perhaps you can move on now. Have you seen the samples? Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 You said that your boys are good at oral narration but not at written narration. Well, all that copy work and dictation is what prepares them for written narration. My 7 yr old finds WWE 1 easy and I just keep going along. I know that the difficulty will increase, and when it does I want that foundation there. My 10 yr old is in WWE 3 and while he's doing well it's not always easy for him. Don't jump ship too soon. I also recommend you read the text and listen to the audio lecture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endorphins Posted February 25, 2011 Author Share Posted February 25, 2011 I appreciate all of the advice. I was totally about to "jump ship" yesterday and I don't really have my heart set on using this, but I don't have anything else at the moment except for my brain...and I'm 'bout fried right now. After reading your responses, and digging out the instructors manual (I did scan it before, but was really irritated that they didn't have the reading passages for the workbooks in it, so I tossed it on my junk shelf and forgot about it), I've ordered the WWE2 workbooks. We'll give that a go and if the workbooks still aren't working for us, we'll just follow the manual and wrap the ideas around SOTW. I'm gonna feel really foolish if this becomes too tough and I need to ask for more help...in the opposite direction. LOL Thanks again. I have some peace of mind again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I'm gonna feel really foolish if this becomes too tough and I need to ask for more help...in the opposite direction. LOL Nah, don't feel foolish. WWE 1 *is* really easy in the beginning, and if one hasn't looked ahead, then how can they know? We'll all just commiserate with you in a year or so when you're crying, "My child can't POSSIBLY do the dictations in this book - they are WAY too long!!!!!" And we'll tell you all the little tips and tricks we've figured out to get through this part, too. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Nah, don't feel foolish. WWE 1 *is* really easy in the beginning, and if one hasn't looked ahead, then how can they know? We'll all just commiserate with you in a year or so when you're crying, "My child can't POSSIBLY do the dictations in this book - they are WAY too long!!!!!" And we'll tell you all the little tips and tricks we've figured out to get through this part, too. :D :iagree::D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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