TOG Writing Aids and WWE???

[LittleRed]

Hello, I am new here. I used WWE this year and next year I am planning on using TOG. It has the Writing Aids that goes with it. Would I use both? Or just the Writing Aids. My son hates writing and I don't want to overwhelm him.

 

Thanks :001_smile:

[AlisonK]

:bigear:

 

I could have written this post myself! We are in the exact same position so I will wait to hear your answers. Thanks for posting :D

[LittleRed]

You are welcome!! =)

[TXMary2]

Not adding anything, just :bigear:. I am considering adding WWE to the lineup, but I don't want to overwhelm my little guy or kill his love for school by too much physical writing. He writes in the ETC book, CLE lessons, FLL copy work (once in a while) and sometimes other stuff. In an effort to minimize time that the pencil is in his hand I write down all science and history narrations, most of the worksheets and about 60% of the math assignments.

[LittleRed]

so do you feel like the writing aids is not enough by itself???

[KuniMom]

We use both. WWE takes only a few minutes a day, and seems to involve very little writing. With TOG, my youngest usually narrates, and I write (she is 8). She also does ETC. My 10 yo doesn't seemed bogged down by doing both. She does Wordly Wise also. The only copywork and dictation they do is WWE. TOG actually recommends you do dictation and copywork, so I think WWE compliments it nicely.

[LittleRed]

thank you so much for taking the time to answer!! I appreciate it very much!! :001_smile:

[TXMary2]

so do you feel like the writing aids is not enough by itself???

 

No, I just think its purpose is different than WWE.

[TXMary2]

We use both. WWE takes only a few minutes a day, and seems to involve very little writing. With TOG, my youngest usually narrates, and I write (she is 8). She also does ETC. My 10 yo doesn't seemed bogged down by doing both. She does Wordly Wise also. The only copywork and dictation they do is WWE. TOG actually recommends you do dictation and copywork, so I think WWE compliments it nicely.

 

 

The WA I have done with my LG so far didn't have dictation or copywork, but we started in the middle of a year (Yr 2 U3) so we couldn't just jump into the WA assignments. I am looking forward to doing WA from week one of a year plan. You don't think doing full blown WA and WWE would be too much?

 

Currently my ds gets writing exposure/practice from:

 

CLE LA 100 series

ETC

FLL

WA

Handwriting Practice (Reason for HW)- thinking of dumping this...is it really necessary?

[Tracy]

I have WA, but I have decided not to use it for my 6yo. Dd is a reluctant writer, and I just don't see her doing well with the G level assignments. I do think WA is great for R level, though. I think that WWE will be a better fit for us.

[Guest]

We are using WWE currently and WA, but I pick and choose what to use from WA. I have a 7 1/2 year old LG student which I will slowly transition to UG work when we start TOG Year 2 in January.

 

One issue we have had with WWE, which started recently, is that the language in some of the stories is difficult and frustrates him when answering the questions. This is from a child that reads at a 6th grade level and has a high comprehension level also. However, he is very visual so this combined with the fact that some of the stories use difficult language is starting to affect his confidence level. I have dealt with it by having him read parts of the passage with me or even reading it twice but the whole thing is just not what I want. His biggest issue, I have found, is that he does not like reading just passages of a story. He is always asking if we are going to read this story or get the book if we don't have it.

 

I was reading CM's approach to narrations as found in her book "Home Education" and noticed that she recommends going through an entire book chapter by chapter. I know some just carry on with WWE, waiting for it to get easier and I am sure it has a learning curve, however, I have decided not to. Knowing my son (and myself since he is a lot like me in many ways) I have decided to incorporate the WWE approach using the main guide (Strong Fundamentals) when I feel we are not covering something adequately through our other choices but will not be bothering with the workbooks. As for writing we are moving on to CW, which was the way I intended to go all along (I was just waiting for my son to reach that level) and since my son loves Aesop and he is not a reluctant writer, I am going to go that route.

 

So then, would I use WA alone? No, but I like picking the activities that suit what I want to accomplish and will just incorporate the WWE approach with my own literature selections where I feel the need. I will also be getting Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl, which follows a more CM approach and just add that in whenever we have time. The books seem like something my son would like anyway.

 

So coming to your questions, I would say try some of the WA activities. One that we are particularly fond of is the "Draw and Caption". I have made notebook pages for my son and he draws something that relates to what he has learned and then writes something about it. Combining the two (WWE and WA) you may be able to come up with something between the two that will work the best for your child. My son enjoys the WA "Draw and Caption" sheets a lot more than the WWE narrations because he gets to illustrate what he has learned and he is not just getting pieces of a story. Hope this helps you somehow :).

Edited May 6, 2011 by Guest

[LittleRed]

Marie, thank you so much! I would say you described my son to a "T". frustrated with the language, wants to read the whole book, losing confidence... and what you said about carrying on in hopes it will get easier...that's me right there! Your post helped remind me to trust myself.

 

 

I will look into PLL thanks for that. What is CW?

 

Thanks again ~:001_smile:

 

"We are using WWE currently and WA, but I pick and choose what to use from WA. I have a 7 1/2 year old LG student which I will slowly transition to UG work when we start TOG Year 2 in January.

 

One issue we have had with WWE, which started recently, is that the language in some of the stories is difficult and frustrates him when answering the questions. This is from a child that reads at a 6th grade level and has a high comprehension level also. However, he is very visual so this combined with the fact that some of the stories use difficult language is starting to affect his confidence level. I have dealt with it by having him read parts of the passage with me or even reading it twice but the whole thing is just not what I want. His biggest issue, I have found, is that he does not like reading just passages of a story. He is always asking if we are going to read this story or get the book if we don't have it.

 

I was reading CM's approach to narrations as found in her book "Home Education" and noticed that she recommends going through an entire book chapter by chapter. I know some just carry on with WWE, waiting for it to get easier and I am sure it has a learning curve, however, I have decided not to. Knowing my son (and myself since he is a lot like me in many ways) I have decided to incorporate the WWE approach using the main guide (Strong Fundamentals) when I feel we are not covering something adequately through our other choices but will not be bothering with the workbooks. As for writing we are moving on to CW, which was the way I intended to go all along (I was just waiting for my son to reach that level) and since my son loves Aesop and he is not a reluctant writer, I am going to go that route.

 

So then, would I use WA alone? No, but I like picking the activities that suit what I want to accomplish and will just incorporate the WWE approach with my own literature selections where I feel the need. I will also be getting Primary Language Lessons by Emma Serl, which follows a more CM approach and just add that in whenever we have time. The books seem like something my son would like anyway.

 

So coming to your questions, I would say try some of the WA activities. One that we are particularly fond of is the "Draw and Caption". I have made notebook pages for my son and he draws something that relates to what he has learned and then writes something about it. Combining the two (WWE and WA) you may be able to come up with something between the two that will work the best for your child. My son enjoys the WA "Draw and Caption" sheets a lot more than the WWE narrations because he gets to illustrate what he has learned and he is not just getting pieces of a story. Hope this helps you somehow :).

[laurad1125]

I use WWE until about 4th grade. Then I switch to WA. I really like the principles of WWE and both of my guys need that focus time on narration and copywork/dictation separately.

[Guest]

Marie, thank you so much! I would say you described my son to a "T". frustrated with the language, wants to read the whole book, losing confidence... and what you said about carrying on in hopes it will get easier...that's me right there! Your post helped remind me to trust myself.

 

 

I will look into PLL thanks for that. What is CW?

 

Thanks again ~:001_smile:

 

You're welcome :). CW is Classical Writing. We will be using Aesop (see link below). It is for a 3rd/ 4th grade level but Adrian is more than ready for it. I think this will work for us a little better than WWE.

 

http://www.classicalwriting.com/Aesop.htm

[Hedgehogs4]

I think if you plan to use TOG, their WA is very thorough, and will take you all the way through the grades. I plan to use PR next year but will incorporate some of the WA from TOG with my LG student.

[Guest]

I think if you plan to use TOG, their WA is very thorough, and will take you all the way through the grades. I plan to use PR next year but will incorporate some of the WA from TOG with my LG student.

 

I am pretty sure I have read people here just using WA for writing and doing great with it. It is a great tool that covers all areas of writing. I think it also depends on how comfortable the teacher-parent feels in this area also. I personally feel a weakness in that area and need more resources to cover writing :). Since I spent the later part of my school years overseas, I feel I have gaps in English LA that I personally need to cover before feeling confident enough to teach my son. So, I trust the experts to help guide me when teaching my boys ;).