Shannon in TN Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 OK, I'm gonna fess up here. I tried WWE when my daughter was in 2nd grade and did not like it. We both found it dull and after a while, I quit reading the passages aloud and just gave them to her to do on her own and then quit altogether. In Cinci, though, I heard SWB speak about writing for the early years and now I totally understand WHY WWE is set up the way it is. So my questions start with where do I go from here (we're starting 4th in the fall)? DD is an avid and skillful reader, she does really well in her LA (we're using CLE 300) but we are lacking in the "writing" department. Which writing program/level would you recommend for me to start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 If you did WWE before with her, you could either start her where you left off and accelerate through it, until you get to a point where it is challenging (the text that covers all four years is great for this), or you could spend a few weeks doing the end-of-level tests. I'll admit to starting and dropping WWE several times. I agree with the philosophy, but my kids dislike doing it formally. So when things get too busy WWE gets dropped. Instead, I've decided to incorporate narration into our history reading. I need to get back to copywork and dictation on my own... Next year, I'm going to try Classical Writing for my 5th grader. I don't know how much dictation is incorporated into CW, but I have read through their philosophy, and I really like it. They have some good ideas on how to make dictation progressively harder. WWE seems to skip several of those steps at a time when it starts dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 (edited) I'm not a ton of help as we started WWE this year (dd7 in 2nd grade) and although dd dreaded it after awhile due to some of the narration questions that frustrated her but also some of the copywork got to be really long and she'd want to recall something short and quick from the passage so she didn't have to write alot. After doing it all year now she knows I won't argue a short but complete answer :) We're 1 week away from completing the level 1 and I can say that I'm glad we stuck it out. To me it's the first to do when we're busy because it takes NO time at all! Since you did it before I'd suggest starting where you left off and then go from there. I'm unsure about your dd but if I gave my dd the WWE workbook to do on her own we'd shove it to the side as well. I think it's very important to instill the importance of writing in our children early on and if you're there with the WWE book to help her get through and support her through it, I think that after awhile you'll see that the little effort it takes pays off in a BIG way. My dd went from writing slanted and uneven and messy in the beginning of WWE to now writing even, straight as she can get...and clean all because of WWE. So it's worth the small amount of effort for the big pay off. :grouphug: Oh and let me add. Although my dd could do the longer copywork...I let her pick EVERYtime and this has brought smiles instead of tears. To me that's more important than copying the longer sentence. So even though you're dd might be able to do the longer one...let her choose and maybe like my dd won't be so resistant to it. Edited April 22, 2011 by mamaofblessings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing lioness Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 How well can she do dictation? WWE II has some dictation in it. One of the 4th graders that we do WWE with can do dictation fairly well, though she missed lots of spelling words and I give her helps on grammar, my 2nd grader really works hard at it. If she's not doing dictaion with ease, I'd start in II. It will ease her into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted April 22, 2011 Share Posted April 22, 2011 I actually just started WWE with dd for the same reason. I wasn't aware of the placement info at Peace Hill and started her in level 4 because she is working at a 4th grade level. We have not done dictation prior. All this to say I went about placement in the "wrong" way, but it is working out fine for us. We are only in week 4. We go through the dictations slowly as I know there'll be a learning curve, but so far she is doing well. Perhaps you could work through some of the sample lessons and get a feel for where to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon in TN Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 Thanks for the input! Anyone else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Mama Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Placement: http://wtm-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/wwe/wweevaluations.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted April 24, 2011 Share Posted April 24, 2011 Definitely have your dd take the placement test to determine which level you should begin with. (Yes, I know I just ended a sentence with a preposition...:tongue_smilie:) We use the workbooks, which simplifies the program and makes it "open and go", which is important to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon in TN Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Thanks, Laura and Texasmama - I wasn't sure where to find the placement tests :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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