AimeeM Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Classical Composition vs Writing With Ease/Skill Ready. Set. Go! Lol. No, seriously, for those who have used both, can you tell me which would be better for a very, very reluctant writer and a Mom who, while she is fairly confident in her own writing ability, has no clue how to teach writing to a child who HATES IT with every ounce of her being.... Bottom line: We are enrolling in Kolbe. Kolbe suggests, sells, and offers support for Classical Composition. However, we can choose to deviate from that if we choose while keeping her fully enrolled. They are very flexible with substitutions. We have tried Writing With Ease, but briefly. She wasn't a fan, but I feel that perhaps I didn't give it a great shot. If we did go with it, we would need to either rush through WWE4, or go straight into WWS; as Autumn intends to enter a rigorous, private brick and mortar next year... a brick and mortar that requires a certain level of writing skill (entrance exam). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 (edited) We had a discussion about WWE yesterday on the General Board. It's impossible to sift thru the general board and find it, so here it is: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314710 . Also, one of my kids is using Classical Composition - the Fable Level. It is very good, but it seems to be more difficult than the corresponding WWE level. It was also very difficult (for me) to figure out how to teach when we first started. The Fable Level is meant for 4th grade. The student reads an Aesop fable, writes an outline based on the fable (and not just a one-level outline, it's a full outline), making note of Recognition and Reversal. They rewrite the fable using their outline and then they spend about 5 days rewriting various sentences from the story using different descriptions (amenographia, dendographia, ethopoeia, chorographia, etc). Honestly, this was what I struggled with when we first started. I had never seen a writing program that teaches those descriptions (that's not how I learned to write in ps). Finally, they retell the story by inverting the sequence of events. It is a challenge, but this program is great. My daughter has learned how to use a thesaurus and she's learning how to use very descriptive words when she writes. Her writing is becoming much more sophisticated (as much as it can be for 4th grade). I wanted to use WWS (and we may very well add that next year), but I needed a program that we could follow long-term. I don't even think WWS is out yet, just the beginning in sample format. So, I bought CC. I plan to use the next level for 5th grade. I'm very happy with it. CC takes about 30 minutes a day. BTW. It can be time-consuming when you write the outline or write the retelling. If you compared the two programs (CC and WWE/WWS), WWS is probably more on the "practical writing" side, whereas CC almost feels like it has some creative writing to it - especially when they are rewriting sentences using the classical descriptions. Oh, also wanted to add: CC goes all the way thru high school writing. My plan is to use it thru high school. Their website has samples: http://classicalcomposition.com/samples/ Also, did you see this: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314227 Edited October 3, 2011 by starrbuck12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted October 3, 2011 Author Share Posted October 3, 2011 Thanks! I do like the looks of CC... but I have to admit, I'm hesitant. Writing is painful for Autumn and CC looks rather intense; however, I do think she would enjoy the creative component of CC. We had a discussion about WWE yesterday on the General Board. It's impossible to sift thru the general board and find it, so here it is: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314710 . Also, one of my kids is using Classical Composition - the Fable Level. It is very good, but it seems to be more difficult than the corresponding WWE level. It was also very difficult (for me) to figure out how to teach when we first started. The Fable Level is meant for 4th grade. The student reads an Aesop fable, writes an outline based on the fable (and not just a one-level outline, it's a full outline), making note of Recognition and Reversal. They rewrite the fable using their outline and then they spend about 5 days rewriting various sentences from the story using different descriptions (amenographia, dendographia, ethopoeia, chorographia, etc). Honestly, this was what I struggled with when we first started. I had never seen a writing program that teaches those descriptions (that's not how I learned to write in ps). Finally, they retell the story by inverting the sequence of events. It is a challenge, but this program is great. My daughter has learned how to use a thesaurus and she's learning how to use very descriptive words when she writes. Her writing is becoming much more sophisticated (as much as it can be for 4th grade). I wanted to use WWS (and we may very well add that next year), but I needed a program that we could follow long-term. I don't even think WWS is out yet, just the beginning in sample format. So, I bought CC. I plan to use the next level for 5th grade. I'm very happy with it. CC takes about 30 minutes a day. BTW. It can be time-consuming when you write the outline or write the retelling. If you compared the two programs (CC and WWE/WWS), WWS is probably more on the "practical writing" side, whereas CC almost feels like it has some creative writing to it - especially when they are rewriting sentences using the classical descriptions. Oh, also wanted to add: CC goes all the way thru high school writing. My plan is to use it thru high school. Their website has samples: http://classicalcomposition.com/samples/ Also, did you see this: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314227 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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