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Writing curriculum for 3rd grader


keyjoh62080
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That's a good question. I've been looking at writing for DD, who will be third grade aged next year. Right now, I'm leaning toward doing some of the assignments in Galore Park Junior English 3, which also covers grammar, usage and mechanics, and possibly Killgallon's Sentence Composing for Elementary School or Winning With Writing since I don't think DD will be ready for WWE3, nor am I sure I want to continue with it, since she prefers more creative writing. I'm also considering using the creative writing course from Connect the Thoughts.

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I started WS3 last year when DD was in 3rd grade, afterschooling, and we're continuing to use it periodically now that she is homeschooling full time. We do WWE as our main writing program. She likes WS3 pretty well. I like it as a supplement to WWE, because it does have some creative writing and some other kinds of writing, which breaks up the narration/dictation routine of WWE. It's also something she can do independently, which is helpful at times. I think it's a great supplement but probably wouldn't use it exclusively - it's not enough writing IMO for a whole year. But with another program, or with writing summaries in subject areas (history, science) I think it's a great intro to formal writing instruction for a 3rd grader.

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WWE3 would definitely be my choice if I could go back to 3rd grade with my own dd. We are now using WWS by SWB and it is excellent! I only wish we'd started with WWE in the first place - but now that we're using WWS and dd is learning to be such a wonderful writer because of it, we will never go with another writing program. Dd says that SWB rocks and has begged me to stay with her program long term. That's the best reference anyone can give for a writing curriculum I think.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

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We've been using WS 2 and 3 with my 3rd grader. We started out liking it, but it got put aside. I have a child who loves to write and is very creative and any kind of copywork is a big no-no :tongue_smilie: so I don't really fret about writing programs too much, since he seems to be a natural and writes a ton on his own and has a strong grasp of grammar. Also WS moves too slow if you follow it as it's laid out. We recently started picking up the speed and it seems to be better.

 

Overall we like it just fine---not crazy about it though. It just sort of feels like, "oh we have this book, let's do it because it's here." No real interesting thing to say about it.

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I've been using WS since last year (second grade... we're now in third). I like it, but DS struggles. The concepts really aren't incremental in presentation, and that's tough on him, especially when you add in the fact that, IMO, the examples in the books really aren't examples of work that a 3rd grader can reasonably produce. He gets easily frustrated and feels like he's not really writing well when, in fact, he is.

 

I'm going to finish up with Writing Skills 1 this year as well as do some fun projects, then work out a plan for next year. We may look at Winning With Writing. We'll see. He didn't like WWE, or I'd just go back to that. (I would like to use Writing With Skill for the middle grades.) I'd like to re-visit WS again when he gets a bit older, but I'm not holding my breath. It's a fun side curriculum, but it's not the best out there for learning structure or other basics.

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What are you using for Grammar? My vote is to use something for Grammar that covers the basics and start a formal writing curriculum in 4th. Rod and Staff works well, as does BJU. We start Writing Tales in 4th, and we love it, but you could do that in 3rd too.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

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Weird.

 

I thought I'd already commented on this thread... but it must have been another one similar to it.

 

We've used Moving Beyond the Page and it has writing in addition to discussing the material and learning about the books. For third grade level it has 12 different books to choose from. We have them all because that is our spine, but it is a great way to focus on writing without committing to an entire program.

 

We really like it. I have even had my six year old doing some of the material and I have a friend whose nine year old loves it.

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Writing is my only continuing struggle. I am using WWE and I love the concept, but I always feel insecure that they aren't really writing much. I am trying to trust, but I think I am going to have to add something to feel comfortable. I am going to look into Writing Tales, I had IEW and while I learned a lot, it really didn't give me the direction I needed. I am also looking at the writing component from Growing with Grammar.

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This probably falls more into the "fun extra stuff" but I just started using "Games for Writing" by Peggy Kaye with DS (7) and he LOVES it, and I do, too!

 

He's in second grade and we're doing WWE 1 b/c his handwriting is a struggle. I wanted something more (since there's no dictation and they don't write every day), just to get him writing more but not too structured. Well Games for Writing is wonderful! We've done a list of disgusting ice creams and made two silly stories by rolling a dice and taking turns writing that number of words, plus played "Do It," which he loves b/c he gets to write things down for me to do (20 jumping jacks :glare:, jump over the coffee table, race him, etc.).

 

Thought I'd post this in case it might help, even though it's a wee bit off topic b/c it's not a formal writing program (though her book goes through third grade and does progress in difficulty).

 

HTH,

Christina

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Hi Dorinda,

We are 1/2 way through Rod & Staff English 2 and wanted to use a separate writing program.

 

We like Writing Tales. I think it's a good compliment to Rod and Staff. And, it's a good way to ease into classical writing. I did try WWE with my girls, but they did better with WT. No particular reason. They just liked it better.

 

HTH!

Dorinda

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Writing is my only continuing struggle. I am using WWE and I love the concept, but I always feel insecure that they aren't really writing much. I am trying to trust, but I think I am going to have to add something to feel comfortable. I am going to look into Writing Tales, I had IEW and while I learned a lot, it really didn't give me the direction I needed. I am also looking at the writing component from Growing with Grammar.

 

I felt that way too, then I realized we were supposed to be writing across the curriculum, not just doing WWE. :D You may already be doing that, but in case you aren't... We do narrations for history and science, and I have him notebook for history (write one original sentence at the moment, and draw a picture). This is for a 2nd grader. I'd probably have him write 2-3 sentences when notebooking in 3rd grade. We also do dictation in our spelling at the white board. So when it all gets added up, it's easy to see that we're writing plenty.

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