I can't figure out how to teach CW. Other options?

[eternalknot]

My 10 year old asked me to find a writing program that would "teach [him] how to write" -- he says he wants to learn how to write like the great writers. He's read many of the standard classics, and many modern favorites; he likes to write mini-books in his private time, but is somewhat frustrated that his final products aren't on par with his (high, personal) expectations. He wants a style, a voice, and for his writing to flow as well as does his conversation. For some reason, as great as he is at oral narration and speaking it just hasn't translated very well to the written word.

 

I thought CW Homer might be a good fit - learn by modeling the masters. I must be some kind of idiot because I cannot figure out how to teach it. I've spent the past year looking it over, every few weeks with fresh eyes, and still I'm at a loss. I don't get the skill level thing, or the day to day breakdown.

 

Is there a similar program with a less steep learning curve?

 

Is there a how-to blog or forum post somewhere that spells out something like CW for Dummies? I've googled and searched, but turned up empty. I'm not a great googl'r, though ...

 

Is there a different style of writing that might work better for him? I thought the progymnasmata would meet his goal to write like great writers, but we're both open to anything that would get him started down that path.

 

I sure would appreciate any insight.

[Mallory]

Do you have the student book? That is the place to start. Just follow along in the order and way it is presented there.

 

If you make it through Homer to Maxim, it is so much clearer and easier to follow ;)

[plain jane]

Have you seen the Classical Writing tutorials site? Perhaps they have something to offer if you really like the program.

[Colleen in NS]

My 10 year old asked me to find a writing program that would "teach [him] how to write" -- he says he wants to learn how to write like the great writers. He's read many of the standard classics, and many modern favorites; he likes to write mini-books in his private time, but is somewhat frustrated that his final products aren't on par with his (high, personal) expectations. He wants a style, a voice, and for his writing to flow as well as does his conversation. For some reason, as great as he is at oral narration and speaking it just hasn't translated very well to the written word.

 

I thought CW Homer might be a good fit - learn by modeling the masters. I must be some kind of idiot because I cannot figure out how to teach it. I've spent the past year looking it over, every few weeks with fresh eyes, and still I'm at a loss. I don't get the skill level thing, or the day to day breakdown.

 

Is there a similar program with a less steep learning curve?

 

Is there a how-to blog or forum post somewhere that spells out something like CW for Dummies? I've googled and searched, but turned up empty. I'm not a great googl'r, though ...

 

Is there a different style of writing that might work better for him? I thought the progymnasmata would meet his goal to write like great writers, but we're both open to anything that would get him started down that path.

 

I sure would appreciate any insight.

 

Just from what you said that I bolded above, I would recommend having a look at the WWE instructor textbook.

 

Beyond that, I would also recommend that you listen to SWB's three writing audio downloads - one each for elementary, middle, and high school. If you listen to these, you might recognize the "flow" of teaching that you are looking for, and can start implementing some of the methods she talks about. Following WWE, she is also working on the 5th grade level of Writing With Skill (coming out in the next year or so?). But you can easily implement the middle school methods from the audio as well, if you can't wait for WWS.

 

With these methods, your son will be learning from the masters, because you can pick ANY good reading for him to imitate via dictation, or to narrate from. Later on down the road, he would learn the progym techniques, if you were to use the methods on SWB's high school lecture. But in early and middle grades, the imitation of masters is definitely there, in the form of dictations, narrations, outlines of good writers' writing, and rewriting from those outlines (where you could try to imitate the writer's style at first, and then develop your own).

 

Personally, I looked at CW a few years ago, and I thought it was way more complicated than what SWB describes. And yet, I've read of many people here whose kids have had writing success with her methods. My own kids are improving, too. My daughter is almost to the point where she can narrate and write a paragraph of her own, on something she has read. And it's in her own voice, yet nicely composed. My son can rewrite from an outline of someone else's writing now, and his voice is starting to shine through, too, while turning out interesting sentences.

 

One more thing - is he learning diagraming in his grammar program? Diagraming can go a looooooooonnnnnnnggggggg way in helping a child of middle grades and up ages to "fix" their sentences to sound better.

[TerriMI]

There are several levels of imitation. There is writing out the main idea and telling the sequence of a story. These we call "summary", "precis" or "narration." Although those words do not indicate the exact same procedure, they do all focus on the main idea of the writing. There is also imitating the grammar of a piece. Exercises that practice this will focus on word choice (definition, synonyms and figures,) or sentence structure (diagramming, and writing your own following the same diagram,) There is imitating the arrangement. In exercies that focus on this, you analyze the model for what how it presents information (Outline, whole imitation essay with a new topic,etc..)

 

CW does all this over the series.

 

Maybe you could make up your own imitation exercises using these categories?

 

Maybe you would be interested in trying the method that Ben Franklin used. He describes it in the first chapter of his autobiography, found online here: http://www.earlyamerica.com/lives/franklin/chapt1/ Scroll down to near the bottom of the page to the paragraph that begins: "There was another bookish lad in the town, John Collins by name,..." Read to the end of the chapter. Perhaps your son could do something like this with some of the great writing he has been reading.

Edited April 19, 2011 by TerriKY

[Guest]

Have you seen the Classical Writing tutorials site? Perhaps they have something to offer if you really like the program.

 

Thank you for these Jane :). I had not see them before.

[RootAnn]

Is there a similar program with a less steep learning curve?

 

 

Writing Tales is more CW Aesop level, from what the familiar-with-CW people have said, but it is similar (at that level) with no learning curve, IMO, from a teacher's perspective. You'd be looking at Writing Tales 2 at the age your child is at. I'm not sure if it is really what you are looking for, though.

 

The Ben Franklin idea has some merit. It is above your child's grade level, but the first thing that came to mind was the One Year Adventure Novel.

 

Good luck.

[HiddenJewel]

It is above your child's grade level, but the first thing that came to mind was the One Year Adventure Novel.

 

 

One Year Adventure has been great for providing structure for my budding fiction writer (dd15). But it is definitely better for an older student.

[ElizabethB]

You could try Killgallon while figuring out CW. Here is a Killgallon thread, it seems pretty idiot proof and uses great writing. (I just purchased it but have not yet used it.)

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254163&highlight=model+imitation+killgallon

[momto2blessings]

I've been a bit fearful, after all I read here:) But so far, so good. We're only on week 3, so that could change....

 

I think the huge core book makes it seem daunting. We just open the student guide and follow the checklist....I only read the core when the pages are assigned in the grey teacher box.I have the teacher guide to check answers. Heather (Siloam) has some great ideas to help if you do a search. I hope to stick it out because I hear the other levels aren't so difficult!!! Gina