anyone not like IEW?

[mytwomonkeys]

next year, i am considering IEW for my kids (level A option 1 for both children). it's pricey, but since i'll be using it with both kids - it will actually be cheaper than my current choice for them.

 

 

my question is, does anyone not like IEW? and why??

 

TIA.

[Bloggermom]

I use it in conjunction with Writing With Ease and then Writing With Skill. I think it is a fantastic program, but am open to hear any complaints other may have. I should add that my kids like it when Andrew teaches it on DVD better than me trying to teach it.

[Ellie]

I would not choose IEW. I don't like the way it teaches, I don't like the catchy terms, I have never been impressed by the samples of students' writing.

[Mommamia]

:lurk5: Been wondering the same thing.

[SkateLeft]

I would not choose IEW. I don't like the way it teaches, I don't like the catchy terms, I have never been impressed by the samples of students' writing.

 

:iagree:

 

I have a good friend who uses IEW, and I've had the opportunity to peruse her materials at length. I don't care for it at all.

[abrightmom]

I would not choose IEW. I don't like the way it teaches, I don't like the catchy terms, I have never been impressed by the samples of students' writing.

 

Ellie,

 

What do you like and why? :bigear:

[mytwomonkeys]

thanks for your thoughts. ellie, i would also love to read about your preference. what do you recommend over IEW and why?

 

fwiw, we do more traditional writing. we currently use BJU and love it. just to give a little background.:)

[Kathryn]

:bigear:

[scrapbabe]

I would not choose IEW. I don't like the way it teaches, I don't like the catchy terms, I have never been impressed by the samples of students' writing.

 

Students are only supposed to practice all those catchy things until they understand how to use them. Eventually they become so inherent that they only use them in their writing when its appropriate. I agree that samples of IEW writing may seem awkward but that is intended to teach the process...not be the end result. I think its actually an ingenious way to teach writing.

[RobinL in Canada]

I have used and adapted IEW over the years with my own sons and in co-ops. The pros are that it allows the child who "hates writing" to focus on style and structure without having to think up content (initially--until high school level), presents a steady progression through elements of style and structure, and offers DVDs of classes, etc. The cons are what others have suggested--a certain formulaic approach which can lead to a "stilted" sound in some students' writing. Having used/ adapted IEW for some years, however, I'd suggest that the "stilted" sound does eventually wear off as students learn to internalize the elements they are studying and applying. I have always stressed to my students that they will certainly not use *every* element in *everything * they write for*ever* : ) Rather, these exercises are practice, just as they would practise scales in music or drills in soccer; the goal ultimately is to "write with ease," to use SWB's term, as well as elegance, winsomeness, and power. IEW helps provide students with tools they can use towards these ends.

 

I have to admit that I do not personally care for Andrew Pudewa's teaching style,even though he seems like a very nice guy ; ) I find his tendency to pause , hesitate, repeat himself, etc, rather annoying and not terribly engaging. Also, because the lessons can be pretty dry, over the years I've developed my own worksheets for kids to practise given "dress-ups" and "openers" (as well as some not introduced in IEW courses), using both humourous made-up material and excerpts from quality children's literature. With four sons of my own and numerous other boys going thorugh my classes, I haven't had any who didn't enjoy and benefit from learning writing IEW-style.

 

(In another question/ post, I included an excerpt of something my 12 yr old son wrote the other day; just to give an example of how IEW-based writing does not have to sound stilted and overly-formulaic (despite the requirements I gave for this exercise), here it is again: Crowning a 650 metre hill, Krak des Chevaliers, a towering fortress, is considered to be one of the greatest medieval castles in the world. Christians at that time erected a series of castles to strengthen their grip on lands in and around Jerusalem. One of these strongholds, Krak des Chevaliers defends the Homs Pass. Nicknamed the 'fortress of knights,' this stronghold housed thousands of Crusaders. Because of its mountainous location and tenacious fortifications, Krak. des C. proved to be nearly invulnerable to attack. ... Although it was just one castle, Krak des C. was massive, and communication from one side of the castle to another required the use of carrier pigeons. This technique, which was borrowed from the Arabs, was very useful. ...)

[Mrs Twain]

Students are only supposed to practice all those catchy things until they understand how to use them. Eventually they become so inherent that they only use them in their writing when its appropriate. I agree that samples of IEW writing may seem awkward but that is intended to teach the process...not be the end result. I think its actually an ingenious way to teach writing.

 

:iagree: I like IEW because it teaches the stylistic methods very well.

 

This year I decided to do a combination of IEW SWI-A (the first half of the program), Winning With Writing, and WWE once or twice per week. I think the variety is good. I don't think I would like IEW all by itself because I think it would get a little monotonous.

[Mrs Twain]

I have to admit that I do not personally care for Andrew Pudewa's teaching style,even though he seems like a very nice guy ; ) I find his tendency to pause , hesitate, repeat himself, etc, rather annoying and not terribly engaging. Also, because the lessons can be pretty dry, over the years I've developed my own worksheets for kids to practise given "dress-ups" and "openers" (as well as some not introduced in IEW courses), using both humourous made-up material and excerpts from quality children's literature. With four sons of my own and numerous other boys going thorugh my classes, I haven't had any who didn't enjoy and benefit from learning writing IEW-style.

 

 

We have had a different experience with the SWI-A lectures. My kids love Mr. Pudewa. They laugh hysterically at his silly jokes. Sometimes I have to stop the DVD and rewind it because they have been laughing so much that they missed the next thing he said. My kids have not been very fond of my writing lessons, but they are always happy when they get to watch another Mr. Pudewa lesson on the DVD.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Mrs Twain

[momof2cm]

I purchased IEW a few years ago for my writing loving daughter. She has a natural talent for writing. I honesty thought IEW would help her to make her writing even better, but instead it killed her creativity. She tried to apply every rule all the time like the program suggests and it made her writing sound very artificial. IEW did make her more aware of using sentence variation, but it didn't help her much with locating things like word repetition for instance.

 

Ds, who hates writing, did OK with the program. Yes, just OK. So Ia ma doubting if it really is worth spending that much money. He did glean a lot from all the 'rules' but after using the program for 2.5 years, he still doesn't apply it all naturally. So what's wrong with him? He's a math and science loving boy. Make him write an essay about a science topic and he does great. Research project...awesome work. I hate to admit that his writing skills have not dramatically improved after using IEW. Writeshop, however, has done that job. He loves the worksheet type approach. I am sure it helps him a lot that the work is spread out over several days. I do add assignments like writing simple lit analysis essays (eg charchter analysis, mood and setting analysis) in order fro him to practice more grammar.

 

I am confident in saying that the greatness of a program solely depends on how it 'clicks' with the student. Not everybody learns in the same way and some of us need a little bit more handholding than others. Some need to be overwhelmed, while others want to notice the trees in the forest.

 

Good luck making a decision. Hope this helps.

[Ellie]

Ellie,

 

What do you like and why? :bigear:

JMHO, of course.

 

I prefer Writing Strands and Understanding Writing. I just like the way they teach: no gimmicks, no emphasis on writing paragraphs (children learn what paragraphs are, and why and how we "use" them, but the emphasis is not on writing paragraphs; it's on writing), no formulas (e.g., every paragraph must have X number of sentences with an opening sentence, a closing sentence, and X number of supporting sentences. This is true in some kinds of writing, but not in all kinds of writing, not often enough to put that much emphasis on it.).

 

I found Understanding Writing to be a little trickier to implement, but that may just have been my own teaching style. :-)

[Ellie]

Students are only supposed to practice all those catchy things until they understand how to use them. Eventually they become so inherent that they only use them in their writing when its appropriate. I agree that samples of IEW writing may seem awkward but that is intended to teach the process...not be the end result. I think its actually an ingenious way to teach writing.

I don't like giving them gimmicky names. :-)

[RobinL in Canada]

Re "gimmicky names": I've always figured that if kids can say "tyrannosaurus rex," they can say "present participle" or "subordinate clause." ; )

[5LittleMonkeys]

Students are only supposed to practice all those catchy things until they understand how to use them. Eventually they become so inherent that they only use them in their writing when its appropriate. I agree that samples of IEW writing may seem awkward but that is intended to teach the process...not be the end result. I think its actually an ingenious way to teach writing.

 

:iagree:

 

Learning to organize a paper is painless using the methods prescribed by this program. As the student becomes proficient in producing a well organized paper they also become proficient in being able to use the stylistic techniques. I think looking at the stylistic techniques as a rule for every composition is where people start to feel it is too formulaic. However, learning these "dress ups" is a wonderful way to get dc to start thinking about the different ways to present the same information. It makes them ask themselves - How can I make this sentence more interesting, more dramatic, more precise, more dynamic, more descriptive...depending on the purpose of my paper. I use the techniques similar to the way we do Killgallon and it also reminds me of sentence shuffling in Classical Writing. I think judging the program on a sample written by a student in the middle of the program is not giving an accurate picture of what the results will be once that same student matures and finds their own voice, drawing from the pool of techniques taught to them with IEW.

 

But, you asked for what we didn't like about IEW. I wish the TWSS Syllabus and Seminar Workbook was spiral bound because I use it so much my papers have pulled out of the 3 ring binder. :001_smile:

[bethben]

I'm not an IEW lover, but I still use it. Ds's papers do seem very stilted, but he's doing much better than when I tried other programs without much success. It gets hard to cram a lot of dress ups into a paragraph and sometimes, it would be better to not have so many, but it's teaching a skill. He won't always write like this. I don't know how to teach writing and IEW really holds my hand. I'm also not a lover of DVD programs. I like a good TM and IEW just doesn't have that. The TM is a bunch of notes from the DVD. All that being said, I am still doing this program and am starting ds#3 with simple paragraphs next year. I haven't found anything better that helps me to teach writing. So, you can dislike a program, but still use it successfully.

 

Beth

[deeinfl]

Students are only supposed to practice all those catchy things until they understand how to use them. Eventually they become so inherent that they only use them in their writing when its appropriate. I agree that samples of IEW writing may seem awkward but that is intended to teach the process...not be the end result. I think its actually an ingenious way to teach writing.

 

 

:iagree: Ingenious!!!! Nope nothing bad to say about it, I love, love, love it!!!

[scrapbabe]

I don't like giving them gimmicky names. :-)

I can understand that being a turn off. I think it's more about helping the student to understand the concept and not worry about the proper grammatical words for things. But I see your point.:001_smile:

 

We have had a different experience with the SWI-A lectures. My kids love Mr. Pudewa. They laugh hysterically at his silly jokes. Sometimes I have to stop the DVD and rewind it because they have been laughing so much that they missed the next thing he said. My kids have not been very fond of my writing lessons, but they are always happy when they get to watch another Mr. Pudewa lesson on the DVD.

:iagree:We love him! He's even funner in person. But I can see that not everybody would think so.

 

 

On a side note... I just double quoted and I've never been able to figure out how to do that before. :D

[Ellie]

Re "gimmicky names": I've always figured that if kids can say "tyrannosaurus rex," they can say "present participle" or "subordinate clause." ; )

Zactly.

[Barb_]

I would not choose IEW. I don't like the way it teaches, I don't like the catchy terms, I have never been impressed by the samples of students' writing.

 

:iagree: Yes, well said. I have some IEW that has been sitting on my shelves for the past 12 years. :tongue_smilie:

[cjgrubbs]

 

I don't know how to do that! Can you enlighten me?

 

IEW was one of my first big Homeschool purchases when I attended my first convention BEFORE I even started. But I heard Andrew speak at this convention and was quite impressed. I ended up returning the expensive TWSS bc my coverschool had it already! When I called the company 3 months later they happily told me how to return it and I had a hand written check signed by Andrew back within 2 weeks. So that return policy is a huge comfort. If you buy it and hate it you can return it and they will give you ALL of your money back!

 

I watched the TWSS and we used the SWI-A last year with a 2nd grader and 5th grader (reluctant). It went well! This year 6th grader is using Medieval writing and 3rd grader Fables, Myths & Fairy Tales. While 6th grader doesn't LOVE it, it has helped him so much. He does tend to try to cram in too many dress ups into too few sentences. But part of our editing (which I still do with him) is reading the whole paragraph out loud together. Then he can see where he needs to improve it. This proram has really been wonderful for us. It's not perfect - I don't think anything is - but I have confidence with this continued approach that my sons will be able to write well!

 

In addition, we used Fit-it Grammar last year and enjoyed that, too - it ties in with the writing. Also, I'm using PAL with my k'er this year - again, LOVE it!

 

I still say buy it and try it. If you don't love it they will give you your money back no questions asked (assuming the materials are in good shape!)

[meltf928]

:iagree:

But, you asked for what we didn't like about IEW. I wish the TWSS Syllabus and Seminar Workbook was spiral bound because I use it so much my papers have pulled out of the 3 ring binder. :001_smile:

 

Note to self. Take workbook to UPS store and have it rebound spirally.

 

I have nothing constructive to add to this thread, but I'll be watching it like a hawk b/c I'm considering IEW for my very reluctant writer for next year.

[scrapbabe]

I don't know how to do that! Can you enlighten me?

 

 

Ha ha. Nope! :D It happened purely by accident. I've been playing with it and it's not working now. :glare:

[5LittleMonkeys]

Click on the button that has the quote mark and plus sign in each of the posts that you wish to quote. When you are ready to post hit the quote button in any of the posts. Then you will be able to delete the portions of the posts that you do not wish to show in the blue quote boxes of your post.

 

Hope that's clear...I have littles climbing on me.:tongue_smilie:

[Mommamia]

:iagree: Yes, well said. I have some IEW that has been sitting on my shelves for the past 12 years. :tongue_smilie:

 

Barb, do you mind sharing what you use/used instead of IEW? :001_smile:

[mommy5]

We're using IEW PAL right now and LOVE it!!! I haven't used the other IEW curriculum...

[Hedgehogs4]

As others have said...gimmicky names and stilted writing.

I would not use IEW with a reluctant writer. I would use WWE, hands down.

[Barb_]

Barb, do you mind sharing what you use/used instead of IEW? :001_smile:

 

WWE, gobs and gobs of reading, and no other formal writing curriculum. Prior to WWE we did copywork, narration, written tests or worksheets requiring complete sentence answers, but no formal instruction. It took a leap of faith, but seems to be producing excellent results. There is something in the brain that doesn't switch on until puberty. The act writing is struggle for a lot of kids until age 11-14 when then suddenly all the grammar, sentence structure, and beautiful language they've been surrounded by for years come together in their heads to create a unique voice. I believe it's developmental, a lot like Algebra. You can certainly teach some students the concepts prior to the developmental window, but it's less painful in many cases to lay the foundation in the early years and then take advantage of the developmental stage when the time comes.

[Birkenkathy]

We did a semester of Essentials in CC this year so we were exposed to IEW. I watched all 24 hours of the Structure and Style teacher DVDs and still felt confused by the program.

 

I haven't tried the student DVDs, but it didn't work well for me to try to learn and teach the method on my own. I found it overwhelming. I have a lot on my plate though so it may just be that my brain is too crowded.

 

Kathy

[Sahamamama]

A helpful person on these boards loaned me her IEW materials, so I could study them. I think there are some good ideas in IEW, and I might use it if, as a teacher, I was not comfortable teaching writing. But for a teacher who does have the confidence to teach writing, I don't think IEW would be a good fit. The "forced" nature of it would seriously, seriously bother me all the time, and I'd have a hard time hiding my own frustration from my students. IEW might produce formulaic writing, or give the student an incomplete sense of what writing is.

 

I would not use IEW with a natural, eager writer. IMO that student would benefit most from the speed, simplicity, and skill-building power of WWE -- copywork, dictation, narration, and summary.

 

I also would not use IEW with a reluctant writer. For that student, I'd use WWE, because it is so incremental (sometimes too incremental for the faster student, but then it might be best to "test up" a level or half-level).

 

FWIW, we were only halfway through WWE 1 (yes, only Level 1) this year when I became annoyed with it. I was looking ahead to the second half of the lessons, thinking "Is this all there is to it? Copywork? What is one thing you remember?" Then I bought the instructor text, :blushing: and started to read SWB's "Bigger Picture." I think she's right about a lot of things, but especially this: In the rush to get 2nd graders to "write essays," we sacrifice quality for ink on paper. As I read the logical progression of WWE, it made such good, solid sense. AND, it became okay for us to not focus on "the editorial process" in 2nd grade. :chillpill: :D

 

There is time to get to paragraphs, compositions, outlining, all that good stuff. At Week 18 (out of 36), when I tested my daughter out of WWE 1 she just flew through it, no problems. But that's the point. It's writing with ease! When one level is easy -- mastered -- just move on to the next. The challenge will be there, along with ample practice, along with incremental upgrades in the skill level, along with (if you buy the workbooks) ease of use for the instructor, too. Well, I'm sold on it. :001_smile:

[abrightmom]

WWE, gobs and gobs of reading, and no other formal writing curriculum. Prior to WWE we did copywork, narration, written tests or worksheets requiring complete sentence answers, but no formal instruction. It took a leap of faith, but seems to be producing excellent results. There is something in the brain that doesn't switch on until puberty. The act writing is struggle for a lot of kids until age 11-14 when then suddenly all the grammar, sentence structure, and beautiful language they've been surrounded by for years come together in their heads to create a unique voice. I believe it's developmental, a lot like Algebra. You can certainly teach some students the concepts prior to the developmental window, but it's less painful in many cases to lay the foundation in the early years and then take advantage of the developmental stage when the time comes.

I :001_wub: this post. Thank-you for sharing this. What a blessing and encouragement to me today. It hit the spot..... (I do think IEW would work for my boys :D but we use WWE and it's going fine despite my desires to give IEW a go).

[LizzyBee]

I bought IEW and tried to like it. But the truth is, I can't stand it. Andrew Pudewa is one of my favorite homeschooling speakers, but I still don't like IEW.

[Angie in VA]

I bought IEW and tried to like it. But the truth is, I can't stand it. Andrew Pudewa is one of my favorite homeschooling speakers, but I still don't like IEW.

 

This.

 

I tried, honest, I did. I bought and sold IEW. Twice! My dd took a class with Andrew Pudewa. He is fun and funny and engaging. It helped her b/ c I wasn't able to help her. Then we joined a speech and debate club and that really helped her. Writing all those speeches and briefs and getting a ton of feedback at club meetings and tournaments was most helpful for her.

 

Ds is in the club too and is coming along, but I plan to use WWE/WWS with him.

[8filltheheart]

I bought IEW and tried to like it. But the truth is, I can't stand it. Andrew Pudewa is one of my favorite homeschooling speakers, but I still don't like IEW.

 

:iagree: I am another one that doesn't like IEW. I think the key word outline idea/dress-ups/re-tells are appropriate for around 3rd grade and are a useful approach for the young crowd, but beyond initially learning how to write (and I don't approach teaching writing this way at all with my kids anymore......I did integrate some of the ideas w/my little ones yrs ago when I first purchased IEW), I don't like his style at all.

[edelweiss]

I think that just like the various math programs there is no one-size-fits-all writing program. Some children (and parents) will do very well with IEW. Others won't.

 

I think that IEW is a really strong program. We enjoy it and my daughters' writing is improving by leaps and bounds. I think that WWE is a strong program too, but it really didn't work for my daughters. DD1 used WWE1, WWE2, and part of WWE3 before we finally gave it up. She was miserable. She hated the repetitiveness and drudgery of it, and honestly it didn't seem to help her in any way. I really like the idea of it, so I made her stick with it until it was evident that it wasn't working for her. DD2 only used WWE1 before we gave it up, but she didn't like it either. So, we switched to IEW, and it is a great fit. :thumbup:

 

Only you can know if it is a good fit for your children. If you think IEW might work well for you, give it a try. You can simply return it if you don't like it (a great policy IMO!).

[melmichigan]

I cannot say that I like all the style in IEW, but I use it because it does have a place in our homeschool. I have two DD's that are dysgraphic, and IEW SWI-B was the only program to get the oldest one writing. We have ended up doing a combination of IEW and WWE/WWS. I think they both have their place for my DC.

[Trilliums]

 

Learning to organize a paper is painless using the methods prescribed by this program.

 

 

Can you share which products teach this the best?

 

My kiddos did SWI B last year. I found it difficult to initially set up the program. Also, the daily scheduling can be confusing.

 

It did help my kids get writing, but it did not carry over to their own writing. My older son writes fairly well now, but he does not use the IEW approach. He is a very logical and linear thinker and this keeps his writing organized. My younger son needs help organizing a paper.

 

Right now they are doing WWS along with Killgallon and they are producing good passages from the assignments. I love the way WWS is incrementally building skills and I think by the time they get to the end, they will have grown in their writing abilities. I still keep worrying though! I have perused the IEW website many times but cannot bring myself to buy another IEW product right now. Also, it kind of irked me that we didn't even get videos designed for home use; we got videos of a class he taught, so not everythign was relevant.

 

Still, Windows to the Worlds and Elegant Essay keep taunting me!

[Lucy]

I don't use it because I taught 7th grade - all who had years of IEW - and none of them could write their own thoughts down on paper. I assigned a simple journal entry and literally, none of them could do it. The oldest boy in the class actually cried. They kept saying, "But you haven't given us anything to copy!" When they did do reports, the writing was disconnected with "dressups" thrown in where it didn't work or flow. And they expected full credit for this - even when it didn't make sense. So, I just started fresh with them and by the end of the year, it was much better, and they were able to put their dressups back in where it helped. With my own kids at home I decided to give it another chance because of all the rave reviews. My kids went from loving writing, to hating it - mostly because of all the rules and must haves. It's just too rigid for us. I do like and use the key work outline concepts for taking notes for a report, and do like introducing the "dress ups" as possiblilities to add in. Overall - I think it is a good program, but needs to be implemented a bit more loosly to allow the creativity and thoughts of the writier to enter into their text.

[melmichigan]

Overall - I think it is a good program, but needs to be implemented a bit more loosly to allow the creativity and thoughts of the writier to enter into their text.

 

:iagree: This is very much our experience. We focus on one dress up with each assignment or use it like it is explained in the PAL Writing Part 3.

"Remind him (student) that although many ideas for dress-ups were discussed, he is not expected to include them in his paragraph."

[kristinannie]

I love, love, love Andrew Pudewa. I have seen him speak many times and I love what he says and I have seriously considered IEW, but I just can't do it. I am going with Bravewriter. I like the way it teaches less mechanically, especially since my kids tend to have a very good natural style already.

 

There are two instances in which I would consider IEW:

 

1. If I have a severely reluctant writer who needs a lot of help.

 

2. In middle school or high school if the child's writing is not going well.

 

 

Disclaimer: I am a strong follower of CM in all things and do believe that kids will learn to write by listening to good literature. Also, I love IEW Poetry (although I didn't buy the CD's) and all of his MP3's, especially this one.

[mytwomonkeys]

thanks everyone for your thoughts:). i may take the plunge & try it, and as mentioned, i can always return it for the full refund if it is a poor fit. we did not love WWE here. we used it for 2 years and switched to BJU english - which is very different! we really like BJU though and i have been nervous about switching (but i just really need something less expensive). IEW seemed like a good transition from BJU. if someone has other suggestions though, i am very open to ideas! thank you again for your thoughtful replies.

[5LittleMonkeys]

Can you share which products teach this the best?

 

 

TWSS has everything you need in order to teach organization. Doing the SWI levels felt too disconnected from anything else we were doing and my older dc didn't need that much repetitive instruction in the lower units so I ditched the SWIs and devoted some time to learning how to teach IEW myself. I watched TWSS twice and worked through the lessons on my own. Then I organized a system for working on writing skills during the course of writing for history, science and literature.

 

It's definitely an ongoing process. We don't do a report or essay once and then assume we don't need anymore instruction. Each time they produce a written piece of work we work on improving little things. I also don't require all of the dress-ups in every piece of writing, but it's great that between the skills they learned from IEW and those from Killgallon, they are able to easily organize a paper, add variation in sentence structure, and understand when and how to add style to their writing. Once those skills become rote then they can focus on content and voice.

[kitten18]

WWE, gobs and gobs of reading, and no other formal writing curriculum. Prior to WWE we did copywork, narration, written tests or worksheets requiring complete sentence answers, but no formal instruction. It took a leap of faith, but seems to be producing excellent results. There is something in the brain that doesn't switch on until puberty. The act writing is struggle for a lot of kids until age 11-14 when then suddenly all the grammar, sentence structure, and beautiful language they've been surrounded by for years come together in their heads to create a unique voice. I believe it's developmental, a lot like Algebra. You can certainly teach some students the concepts prior to the developmental window, but it's less painful in many cases to lay the foundation in the early years and then take advantage of the developmental stage when the time comes.

Wow! :001_wub: I swear, I'm going to take this post and tape it to my wall.

[Trilliums]

TWSS has everything you need in order to teach organization. Doing the SWI levels felt too disconnected from anything else we were doing and my older dc didn't need that much repetitive instruction in the lower units so I ditched the SWIs and devoted some time to learning how to teach IEW myself. I watched TWSS twice and worked through the lessons on my own. Then I organized a system for working on writing skills during the course of writing for history, science and literature.

 

It's definitely an ongoing process. We don't do a report or essay once and then assume we don't need anymore instruction. Each time they produce a written piece of work we work on improving little things. I also don't require all of the dress-ups in every piece of writing, but it's great that between the skills they learned from IEW and those from Killgallon, they are able to easily organize a paper, add variation in sentence structure, and understand when and how to add style to their writing. Once those skills become rote then they can focus on content and voice.

 

 

Thank you for this explanation.:)

[Mommamia]

thanks everyone for your thoughts:). i may take the plunge & try it, and as mentioned, i can always return it for the full refund if it is a poor fit. we did not love WWE here. we used it for 2 years and switched to BJU english - which is very different! we really like BJU though and i have been nervous about switching (but i just really need something less expensive). IEW seemed like a good transition from BJU. if someone has other suggestions though, i am very open to ideas! thank you again for your thoughtful replies.

 

I'm so thankful for this thread, as well. I'm now leaning away from IEW. Have you looked at Essentials in Writing?

[FiveOaksAcademy]

WWE, gobs and gobs of reading, and no other formal writing curriculum. Prior to WWE we did copywork, narration, written tests or worksheets requiring complete sentence answers, but no formal instruction. It took a leap of faith, but seems to be producing excellent results. There is something in the brain that doesn't switch on until puberty. The act writing is struggle for a lot of kids until age 11-14 when then suddenly all the grammar, sentence structure, and beautiful language they've been surrounded by for years come together in their heads to create a unique voice. I believe it's developmental, a lot like Algebra. You can certainly teach some students the concepts prior to the developmental window, but it's less painful in many cases to lay the foundation in the early years and then take advantage of the developmental stage when the time comes.

 

I, too, love this post!! It is very helpful to me. I have IEW C sitting on my shelf. We tried to make a go of it and went through several weeks, more than half of the dvd set. Ds 13 said he feels he knows how to do what they are telling him to do but that he is just sick of it being repeated to him. Also, he would so focus on the particular type of word he was supposed to be using that sometimes the whole purpose of his paper would get lost. We ditched it and went with WWS until I could make a more solid decision for next year.

 

I'm doing WWE (have finished 1 and am midway through 2) with my 2nd grader. I plan to continue at least through 4. I like what I see so far.

 

I *may* purchase Writing Aids to go with our TOG curriculum and implement a few of the writing assignments for my youngers and my older son, but I'm not sure. If I do, I absolutely will use it as a side dish to WWE. Writing has been a struggle for us from the beginning. In retrospect, had I just picked something, dug in my heels, and just used it to the best of our ability, I would probably feel better about writing.

 

Writing Strands, IEW, Classical Writing, Editor in Chief, WWE, WWS...those are all writing curricula we have tried through the years. WWE & WWS were the most successful for us.

[EKS]

I don't like IEW, though my older son did actually finally start writing using their keyword outline technique.

 

I don't like the way it teaches style in particular.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't found anything for writing that I truly like.