mom2agang Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Can anyone compare the two? I love the video idea of essentials. But how does the writing compare to the IEW style? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoPlaceLikeHome Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Do you have a link to Essentials? Do you mean Essentials in Classical Conversations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Essentails in writing. http://www.essentialsinwriting.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted November 26, 2011 Author Share Posted November 26, 2011 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alison in KY Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 :bigear: :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 We used IEW for about 3 months here. The Key Word Outline concept was very helpful here, and my son felt it really unblocked writing for him, but overall the program wasn't a good fit for his learning style or my teaching style. We've only used EIW for a couple of weeks (funny about the letters being so similar!)--so I really don't feel I can compare the writing styles of the two programs at all yet, or do either one justice. What is working well for us so far with Essentials: Short video segments (usually about 5 minutes). There's a video for every lesson (I was surprised when that wasn't always the case in IEW). One concept at a time It's very clear what to do when, easy to print out everything or just that lesson's assignments--the organization makes sense to me. Helpful answer key (and for assignments where "answers may vary," he gives examples so you have something to go by). From looking ahead at the syllabus, it seems like it will continue to be a nice, incremental progression. BUT...we're not really into the writing part of it yet (we've done some rewriting and sentence combining type exercises, but it's just warming up for writing). Sorry I can't be of more help. IEW is very generous with their return policy. OTOH, EIW is extremely affordable. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thanks! That was helpful. Do you feel that the grade levels are accurate? Too easy, too hard, just right? My ds has a mixed learning disability, so I am never sure which level to purchase. Thanks again, Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 I would email the author and ask for his feedback, I've found him very accessible. He often answers that day or the next. I'm using the 7th grade level (that's the highest level he has out) for my 9th grader, but Cathy Duffy's review said she felt it was meaty enough to use for high school. I'm doing a combo lit & composition class for him, using this for the composition. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Thanks for responding. I appreciate your input. I am going to email the author to ask more specific questions about levels. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommamia Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 :bigear: Comparing IEW and EIW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manyblessings Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracleone Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 I'm interested to know as well. I think with Essentials in Writing, you only need to add spelling separately, whereas IEW is just teaching writing. Am I right? I would be interested to find out what others think of Essentials in Writing. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommamia Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Has anyone else reading this had any experience with Essentials? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Anyone???:lurk5::bigear::lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Just thought I'd update since there aren't responses yet... We got to the first "writing" lesson yesterday, and the author discussed paragraphs. One thing I really liked about his presentation is that he made it clear that there is a difference in style between formal paragraphs for essays and reports, and narrative or story paragraphs. He gave an example of the basic structure for the formal paragraph, writing on the board as he went. I really liked that he demonstrates in this way. He ended up erasing his opening sentence and changed his topic as he did it, then had some mistakes in it which he corrected as he talked us through it. He did this all so naturally and I felt it was a great example for a child to see how the writing process really looks. It's messy, we make mistakes, we correct them, and so on. After his example was done he also said that he would revise this paragraph if he was going to keep working on it. Then he did a sample narrative paragraph that had a great hook and was very engaging. The "worksheets" for this lesson first have the students identify opening and concluding sentences from a list of choices, and then have them identify sentences that don't "fit" with a paragraph. Then he has the students work on one formal paragraph and then one narrative paragraph. The formal paragraph page has a nice format so that the students can put down their ideas as ideas or full sentences, and then rewrite the full paragraph on a regular notepad when they are ready. The breakdown was things like opening sentence, detail #1, example of detail #1 and so on, with a concluding sentence at the end. I only glanced at the narrative page, so I don't remember the breakdown on that page. My son is just getting up to that point tomorrow. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2agang Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thank you. But one more question. What grade are you doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thank you. But one more question. What grade are you doing? I'm using the 7th grade level with my 9th grader. The 7th grade level doesn't cover grammar the way the grade-school levels do--there is a review disk we can use if he uses a term my son can't remember, etc..., but not grammar worksheets. HTH! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseofkids&pets Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thanks for the great report Merry! Feel free to update us whenever you want:001_smile:! I plan on giving it a try next fall - just waiting to see how my son's writing skills evolve over the remainder of this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Bumping this thread hoping for some new responses. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted April 20, 2014 Share Posted April 20, 2014 Can anyone compare the two? I love the video idea of essentials. But how does the writing compare to the IEW style? IEW has video too. The SWI and SICC DVDs. We did SWI-A this year and loved it! He (Pudewa) did the teaching and I just had to reinforce what he said. He also gave the assignments to via DVD. It is pricey, but it also has very good resale value. We are moving into the SICC ones next year to keep with the video teaching. I bought EIW a couple years ago and was not impressed. We never even finished it out, which is very unusual for this box checker! However, I do know other people that enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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