So, if you have tried WWS and decided against it....why?

[mothergooseof4]

I keep looking at the 20 week sample and want to like it, but honestly, I think my ds would HATE it...too dry and wordy. I may try it later, but am still undecided as of yet.

 

Any input?

[abbeyej]

Well, my dd doesn't love it, but I think she's *learning* a lot. It's building such important skills... My older son has done fine without it, but I do sort of wish it had been around back when he was in 5th grade...

[EKS]

We used the first three or four weeks of WWS and then dropped it. Like you said, it is too dry and wordy. It takes *forever* to get through (some of) the lessons. This makes it difficult to plan around it because it might take forever and it might not. I also felt it was taking forever to get to the point--at least the points that I wanted my son to get out of it.

 

My son is a natural writer. He just needs some polishing. I felt that WWS was overkill for him. I do believe it is a well thought out program.

[Lily_Grace]

Well, my dd doesn't love it, but I think she's *learning* a lot. It's building such important skills...

 

I agree. We're using it to build better writing skills in his other subjects. I'm using it with a 6th grader and we're slowly transitioning back from public school standards to real work. The work doesn't always take him such a long time, and weeks like this week it's a blessing. He has a 1 page paper due in history on Alexander the Great - week 5 in WWS has him working on a paper of the same. Science has him practicing 1 level outlines still in his summaries.

 

I would like it to be slightly less wordy and we'll be taking a break after the 7 week sample, but he's really improving with it!

[MSNative]

My son likes that it is very clear and it only requires a small bit of writing work each day. 'Course, he liked WWE, so this just kinda follows along. How did I miss that there is a 20 week sample? Now that I read it, something is stirring in the back of my mind. How did you get the longer sample?

 

Duh, a simple search answers all. Found where to get the larger one.

Edited October 12, 2011 by MSNative

[hollyhock]

Ok, I haven't actually tried WWS with a child yet. So keep that in mind.

 

But the reasons why I might use something else is because I found it somewhat wordy and confusing. I had to read the Topoi section a number of times before I understood what it was actually about. :001_huh: Maybe that is just me!! :tongue_smilie: The other reason is that I don't really like the selected passages. I was hoping it would be like the WWE text where we can choose our own.

 

I still love SWB's writing philosophy overall and still want to use it, but I'm not sure if I'll use WWS.

[Tiramisu]

Generally, I hate wordiness, but today I was thinking about how much I like the directions and explanations of WWS. I really sense there's something intellectually formative about them and the process or reading through them, more than something less wordy would be, at least I'm hoping so and that they will do their job on dd. ;)

 

I don't think I could have read through the lessons so intently as a sixth grader as dd is doing. She's reading carefully and her work shows it. I'm impressed.

 

We tried WWS as a break from Classical Composition. WWS lessons are going much more quickly and easily than I anticipated so dd can get it done everyday without fail and still add in the paraphrasing from CC if we're not overloaded. That way dd is getting in a bit more of somewhat longer chunks of continuous writing in a way that works for her. This balance is definitely a better fit for dd than CC alone. I like that she can also get practice with figures of description and be a little creative--if she feels like it.

[Create Your Ritual]

I probably had the most doubts of all when we started out. We were exclusively using CC for writing, and I just didn't feel the structure of WWS was necessary, but then I started to work through the stories and the kids loved reading and summarizing them. The outlining seemed like a good task to know considering my dd10 is outlining her history. Each of the Topoi exercises, especially in the beginning, seem too much, and perhaps a tad confusing. I wasn't thrilled with the outcome of a chronological story my kids completed either a few weeks back, because they wanted to copy the outlined facts almost exactly and I saw no point in the exercise if that was going to happen.

 

But then something happened on the Titanic Story. I decided to watch you tube videos with them about the sinking of the Titanic, we pulled up Newspaper articles, we listened to the last S.O.S. that came from the ship. Then I worked in elements of CC, the figures of description and the sentence variation exercises. We talked about the story before hand, and what do you know ... that was a MUCH better story. Because they were invested in the story I could see their voice in it, and they had something to say in their own words this time. It was a huge improvement. I don't know that EVERY assignment will be that good, but I do know that getting them interested in the topic made a world of a difference.

 

As I look over the 20 weeks, I do find value in the small incremental steps she has provided. I may skip some elements, as we are also continuing with CC Fable / Narrative and I like that a lot as well. It teaches 18 figures of description, and they have been a huge factor in seeing more descriptive writing.

Edited October 12, 2011 by SaDonna

[Create Your Ritual]

NJKelli ... it cracks me up that we both were writing about the same thing.

[Tiramisu]

NJKelli ... it cracks me up that we both were writing about the same thing.

 

:D

 

When I was having dd outline history, she was getting frustrated, and I realized WWS would offer the basic instruction she needed to tackle meatier non-fiction, not just for the writing end of things but for confirming comprehension, retention, notetaking, etc. The outlining in CC wasn't helping because the CC fables were too basic. Also, CC was becoming tedious for dd at the fable level, and we needed something to shake things up a bit. Perhaps I could have ordered the narrative level, but I had the WWS samples on my computer and decided to try them and I'm really glad I did.

 

I LOVE your idea of incorporating the figures of description of CC into WWS!

Edited October 12, 2011 by NJKelli

[Colleen in NS]

The other reason is that I don't really like the selected passages. I was hoping it would be like the WWE text where we can choose our own.

 

I wonder, though, if there'll be lessons where the student chooses a passage of his/her own, or if the parent is instructed to choose something within certain parameters. It seems to me that I read somewhere that the student will eventually be coming up with his/her own topics in particular types of writing.

[Mom22ns]

I wonder how many of those who thought it was wordy and boring actually had their kids opinion on that (I know a few said you did). When I read the sample, I really though dd would probably hate it. We didn't start homeschooling until 5th grade and it seemed too difficult to jump into classical writing in the middle, so we really hadn't. She had done copywork and dictation. We outline some in science, but she had never done a narration. She is a natural writer, but lacks organization, so I thought WWS might really help her. To my surprise, she really likes WWS. She spends 30-45 min per day on it. We haven't had any ridiculously long days. She has had to ask for help understanding how to do a few things, but the instructors guide has made those days a breeze for me.

 

I just throw all that out there to say that my initial response to WWS would have been very like some of the reasons posted for not using it. But after using it for 8 weeks, that has not been our experience at all.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I wonder, though, if there'll be lessons where the student chooses a passage of his/her own, or if the parent is instructed to choose something within certain parameters. It seems to me that I read somewhere that the student will eventually be coming up with his/her own topics in particular types of writing.

 

I have seen a definite cross over between the WWS exercises and the writing my kids are producing for science and history.

 

Some of the improvement may just be age and experience. But I think a good dose of specific instruction also helped.

 

I mention this because, for us, that is where the kids are writing about passages I have chosen or on topics they have selected.

[moosemomma]

Ok, I haven't actually tried WWS with a child yet. So keep that in mind.

 

But the reasons why I might use something else is because I found it somewhat wordy and confusing. I had to read the Topoi section a number of times before I understood what it was actually about. :001_huh: Maybe that is just me!! :tongue_smilie: The other reason is that I don't really like the selected passages. I was hoping it would be like the WWE text where we can choose our own.

 

I still love SWB's writing philosophy overall and still want to use it, but I'm not sure if I'll use WWS.

 

 

I have replaced reading passages for the ones in the book occasionally. Sometimes, we read through WWS and do the narration or outline together. Then later that day, he does a narration/outline for history or science. I stuck close to the text in the beginning, but as I saw what SWB was looking for I began giving other texts for him to do.