Beth in SW WA Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I received the set yesterday and after first glance I now see what all the hullabaloo is about. SWB knocks it out of the park again. There is plenty of content for a year or two depending on the age of student. Is anyone starting this in grade 4 or earlier? I think dd could start sssslllllooowwwwllllyyyyy and still receive lots of benefit. With slight tweaking (oh, how I enjoy tweaking) I think I could make it work for her. My long-term goal is Potters School in grade 5 or 6. Just curious what ages your students are starting WWS. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 We just began WWS this week with DS9 (he's in 4th). He is doing it completely independently with me looking at his work when he's done. As per others suggestions on this board, we will be revising all or some of his writing once a week. I imagine it will get more challenging, so until I hit that point with him, I don't want to yet say that it's going perfectly ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm using WWS with a 4th grader here (just turned 10). We started at the beginning of January. We are using it at half speed at the moment (because that's all I could jam into our schedule). I'm using this with a kid who is generally working a solid 2-3 years ahead. It is by far the most challenging resource we're using at the moment even though it's labeled as being for 5th grade--1 year ahead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matilda Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I am using with a 5th grader and it is going well. I think she could have started last year and been fine, but we would have gone slower and not done as much other writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm considering it for when we complete WWE 3. I think dd is ready for another jump but we still have half of the book left so I'll decide in a few months. She has made a lot of improvement in her output the last few months. If we use it next dd will be young but probably working on the equivalent of a 4th grade level. We would probably plan for it to be a two year curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matilda Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm considering it for when we complete WWE 3. I think dd is ready for another jump but we still have half of the book left so I'll decide in a few months. She has made a lot of improvement in her output the last few months. If we use it next dd will be young but probably working on the equivalent of a 4th grade level. We would probably plan for it to be a two year curriculum. Just a caution - I would use it with an accelerated 4th grader, but not necessarily a younger child working at a 4th grade level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thanks, gang. We started today and dd did fine. In looking ahead in the book...Wow. It picks up the pace in a hurry. We'll take our time. I love the hand-holding that SWB provides. Dd will type her work. When does SWB actually teach paragraph structure -- and require structure in their work? Dd learned this already in WWW and IEW. We've concentrated on paragraphs only for the last 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Thanks, gang. We started today and dd did fine. In looking ahead in the book...Wow. It picks up the pace in a hurry. We'll take our time. I love the hand-holding that SWB provides. Dd will type her work. When does SWB actually teach paragraph structure -- and require structure in their work? Dd learned this already in WWW and IEW. We've concentrated on paragraphs only for the last 6 months. I would love to keep up this dialogue on using WWS with younger students, particularly as DS gets into the more challenging weeks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineMom Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 :bigear::bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 I would love to keep up this dialogue on using WWS with younger students, particularly as DS gets into the more challenging weeks. :) I'm on board for that. Dd is extremely frustrated that I'm not letting her add more details and description (skills we have been working on for months). WWS will be an interesting twist since SWB comes at writing differently than WWW & IEW. I can see that using multiple approaches could bite me in the _____. :) We have never outlined so I'm looking forward to that section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Just a caution - I would use it with an accelerated 4th grader, but not necessarily a younger child working at a 4th grade level. Why? Is there something inappropriate in the content? I thought Beth and Halcyon were both already doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) For those of you who don't know, there is a thread on the k-8 Writing Workshop board titled "Please post WWS assignments here." Lots of examples. Ruth in NZ Edited February 4, 2012 by lewelma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matilda Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 (edited) Why? Is there something inappropriate in the content? I thought Beth and Halcyon were both already doing this? Their dc are in 4th or nearly so. There are so many of us who have 6 and 7 year olds working at a 4th grade level or higher, I just wanted to point out that parents of young kids may need to look at WWS closely before jumping in. It would not be a content problem, but an output problem. If your dc are ready, go for it. WWS is a great program. Edited February 4, 2012 by matilda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Why? Is there something inappropriate in the content? I thought Beth and Halcyon were both already doing this? My child is in 4th grade, and is accelerated. He couldn't have handled it last year, of course YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Their dc are in 4th or nearly so. There are so many if us who have 6 and 7 year olds working at a 4th grade level or higher, I just wanted to point out that parents of young kids may need to look at WWS closely before jumping in. It would not be a content problem, but an output problem. If your dc are ready, go for it. WWS is a great program. I agree. Yesterday my son was working on Day Four, Week 1 and he and I were surprised at just how much writing was expected. And this is from my child who simply doesn't. complain. We ended up splitting that day into two days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Why? Is there something inappropriate in the content? I thought Beth and Halcyon were both already doing this? I agree that WWS could be a stretch for a younger child working at a 4th grade level. It is by far the most challenging resource my (4th grade) son is using right now and he is 2-3 years accelerated for the most part. There is no way my son could have handled it back when he was 6-7 and working at a 4th grade level without major modification, including having me write for him, which sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 4, 2012 Author Share Posted February 4, 2012 For those of you who don't know, there is a thread on the k-8 Writing Workshop board titled "Please post WWS assignments here." Lots of examples. Ruth in NZ Thanks, Ruth. I appreciate those samples. For a new program it is great to see how other students are doing as a reference (not to compare but to be inspired.) I agree. Yesterday my son was working on Day Four, Week 1 and he and I were surprised at just how much writing was expected. And this is from my child who simply doesn't. complain. We ended up splitting that day into two days. I anticipate splitting 'days' into multiple lessons as needed. Dd enjoys having the laptop to herself in the school room so she can write/type. I can't imagine her enjoying composition exercises as much if she had to handwrite her assignments. Do your dc type? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tattarrattat Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 I bought the books when they came out. Would love to read more feedback as you go further into the lessons. We may use it in Fall if he's ready by then. Maybe I'll let DD use it first in summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Thanks, Ruth. I appreciate those samples. For a new program it is great to see how other students are doing as a reference (not to compare but to be inspired.) I anticipate splitting 'days' into multiple lessons as needed. Dd enjoys having the laptop to herself in the school room so she can write/type. I can't imagine her enjoying composition exercises as much if she had to handwrite her assignments. Do your dc type? Not really. I don't really want him using the computer that much at this point. He is permitted to do his final drafts on the computer, but he's not great at typing yet, so...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Just an FYI, we always do the day 4 assignment over 2 days. My ds(11) does days 2 and 3 in 1 day to make room for the day 4 assignment. Friday is for editing and making a final draft. We have found that the day 4 assignment can be as much or as little as you want to make it. For the Ivan the terrible assignment, he wanted to take the other side of the story and describe him as a good guy. This took quite a bit of research. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I agree that WWS could be a stretch for a younger child working at a 4th grade level. It is by far the most challenging resource my (4th grade) son is using right now and he is 2-3 years accelerated for the most part. There is no way my son could have handled it back when he was 6-7 and working at a 4th grade level without major modification, including having me write for him, which sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing IMO. Okay, that makes sense. I didn't really make it clear in my original post that because of our schedule and the other things we're doing it might be another 9 months before we get to it. That would put dd at close to 8. I was planning on making a decision in a few months about what to do next. WWE is one of dd's favorite subjects. We will either use Level 4 for more practice or go straight to WWS and take it slowly like Beth described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Dd8 did not use WWE4 since we do other writing exercises weekly. Narrations get boring for us. Dd enjoys actual para writing with a specific purpose (compare/contrast, persuasive, informational, personal narrative, etc). Reviewing narrations via WWS has been time well spent though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 I'm waiting to receive our order of WWS. DD did Paragraph Writing Made Easy this past semester so some of what SWB covers at the beginning of WWS will presumably be review. DD has to take the stupid California STAR writing test in April for our virtual charter so I probably will take a break after the first WWS unit to focus on prepping for that :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I'm waiting to receive our order of WWS. DD did Paragraph Writing Made Easy this past semester so some of what SWB covers at the beginning of WWS will presumably be review. DD has to take the stupid California STAR writing test in April for our virtual charter so I probably will take a break after the first WWS unit to focus on prepping for that :glare: What kind of requirements do they have for the test? I am in Texas and a friend who teaches high school English told me the essay portion of the either the. Idle or high school test had ridiculously low standards. She said they grade the essay based on whether it has an intro, body and conclusion. You can have poor grammar, incorrect spelling and incoherent sentences but if you structure the easy correctly you pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 What kind of requirements do they have for the test? I am in Texas and a friend who teaches high school English told me the essay portion of the either the. Idle or high school test had ridiculously low standards. She said they grade the essay based on whether it has an intro, body and conclusion. You can have poor grammar, incorrect spelling and incoherent sentences but if you structure the easy correctly you pass. Oh, my DD could do it very easily *IF* she didn't have freakouts about (A) it being timed (B) it having to be handwritten rather than typed and © having to write on whatever inane topic is assigned. :glare: She is such a perfectionist when it comes to her writing, and she really struggles with the idea of just quickly cranking out some B.S. to get something on paper within the time limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Oh, my DD could do it very easily *IF* she didn't have freakouts about (A) it being timed (B) it having to be handwritten rather than typed and © having to write on whatever inane topic is assigned. :glare: She is such a perfectionist when it comes to her writing, and she really struggles with the idea of just quickly cranking out some B.S. to get something on paper within the time limit. This is why I think that standardized writing tests are a crock. I took the MCAT the very first year they included a writing subtest. I am actually a pretty good writer, good enough to be a professional scientific/medical writer for several years after this particular incident occurred. I got a score that was exactly average, which contrasted sharply with the other scores, which were well above the 90th percentile. Later on, I was in an interview at a medical school, and the guy interviewing me noted the discrepancy between my MCAT writing score and the high quality of my application essay and then accused me of not writing the application essay myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaDSB Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Can anyone who has purchased the WWS books tell me whether I need to buy one student book for each child? Are they consumable? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tattarrattat Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Can anyone who has purchased the WWS books tell me whether I need to buy one student book for each child? Are they consumable? Thanks! One student book should be enough for all kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 My nine yo is really enjoying WWS. He says it is challenging but he likes it. He really likes outlining and enjoys the more independent aspects of the program. In week four we haven't yet slowed things down, but I do anticipate going more slowly fairly soon. We may go to two days per week, or just one of the writing (non-outlining) assignments per week, and spend more time applying the skills to other subjects. It's not just getting through this level that I'm concerned about. I'd like us to be able to go from one level to the next, and not have gaps where he isn't quite ready for the next level of complexity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Dd8 isn't able to do WWS independently...yet. Today's assignment was a stretch for her since we haven't done a ton of non-fiction narrations. Oops. :tongue_smilie: Day 3 Peter The Great of Russia, fascinated by the West, wanted a ship to sail to Europe for trading goods. He needed a new port, and he found Azov, a perfect place, but full of Turkish people. He built twenty-five war ships in order to capture the city. To his delight, Peter the Great defeated the Turks, and from that point forward Azov was their port so they could sail into Europe. ETA: She wants to add lots of adjectives which is not what SWB is looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Dd8 isn't able to do WWS independently...yet. Today's assignment was a stretch for her since we haven't done a ton of non-fiction narrations. Oops. :tongue_smilie: Day 3 Peter The Great of Russia, fascinated by the West, wanted a ship to sail to Europe for trading goods. He needed a new port, and he found Azov, a perfect place, but full of Turkish people. He built twenty-five war ships in order to capture the city. To his delight, Peter the Great defeated the Turks, and from that point forward Azov was their port so they could sail into Europe. ETA: She wants to add lots of adjectives which is not what SWB is looking for. I put my son's in the WWS thread over on writing--can you put this over there too? Looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 ETA: She wants to add lots of adjectives which is not what SWB is looking for. Dd is a big fan of adjectives, too. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy-hs Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I finally ordered my copy of WWS and will be using it with my 3rd and 4th graders when it arrives. They are both pretty advanced (3rd grader especially) so I think they will do well. Of course, I'd rather spread the work out over several days than have overwhelmed or frustrated kids. I haven't looked through the book at all. I bought it simply because both kids have loved WWE and have finished the set. I'll be watching this thread. :) Melissa :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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