robsiew Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Okay, so my oldest son is thriving this year in his 5th grade studies. He can independently do most things. I've chosen challenging curriculum for him and he loves it and does very well. My dd who is almost 10 will be in 5th grade next year. She is not the same as my older ds at all! She is not independent in much, has a hard time reading for information, still loves coloring and projects, is not interested in "being challenged". I would call her a "sociable sue" learner from Cathy Duffy's information.. which is kind of funny because she's very introverted, but in her learning she really needs to interact with me. We are s l o w l y working on independence, but she's really just not ready yet in the major content areas (history and science) I'm working on getting her more independent, but I've learned with her it just takes time. She resisted for the longest time reading chapter books (had the ability... she's a strong reader, just didn't want to read longer books) and now she buzzes through chapter books like there's no tomorrow and loves reading. She still reads her comic books, but for school she is finally interested in more complicated stories. It just took time and I didn't push and she came along nicely. So.... all that to say I have a dilemma on my hands for next year. She is nowhere near ready for logic stage. My son entered "logic stage" at about age 9 whereas she will be 10 and she's not even close. So, most of the material I'm using for my older ds will not fit my dd next year. I've got most things figured out, but writing is giving me trouble. My older ds is doing WWS this year and it is very challenging for him. None of my kids are natural writers. My dd will NEVER make it through next year. I'm simplifying many of the dictations in WWE4 as it is. She does fairly well with narrations, but still needs the guidance of me asking her the leading questions. What do I do for writing next year? She will DIE if I redo WWE4 with her. That is not an option. Now, the skills I think she still needs work on so I'm planning on having her do writing in history and science to cover narration work. I'll choose some weekly dictation from history or science. But, do I need a program? I feel like I need a "buffer" year for my child who is at the top of the grammar stage, but not quite yet ready for logic. On a completely different note... do we know anything about the availability of early copies of WWS2 this next year? I'm really hoping it will be available as my ds will be ready for it and we both love it (well as much as my non-writer ds can love writing!) SWB is just brilliant in her ability to help me teach writing! I could NOT do that on my own! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heart'sjoy Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Hmm? I hear you saying you need a way to move forward just not too fast. I'm not familiar with the writing programs you mentioned. I've used IEW from 2nd grade into 7th. It will still be the main base for a few more years. Maybe there are other similar programs that allow for more flexiblity between grammar, logic, dialectic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 ...so I'm planning on having her do writing in history and science to cover narration work. I'll choose some weekly dictation from history or science. But, do I need a program? With all you described, I do not think you will need a program for her next year. I think this plan you've outlined is a perfect buffer-zone-year plan. If she's doing, say, two very guided (by you) narrations a week, and two dictations a week, this will give her lots of time to practice and develop. You can also, at some point, merge the two skills together - have her narrate one day, and (if you've done your coaching job and made sure her sentences were grammatically correct, properly punctuated and spaced, and spelled properly) the next day, dictate her narration back to her. That is, unless she already writes down her own narrations (are they properly done, as I mentioned above?). If she can do this, then you could lengthen the reading she does to narrate, or vary the types of reading. You could lengthen or complicate the dictations she does (but of course, use wisdom with this). You have all sorts of options to fill out a buffer year. Tell her it'll be fun because you get to pick from a wide variety of lit/history/sci. supplementary reading (library books, encyclopedias such as World Book, etc.). You might even try WWS partway through the year, and see how she does with it. If it's too much, you can always close the book and go back to writing across the curric. until she's ready for WWS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 You could do MCT Paragraph town, it is very interactive and might be a good program before WWS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 You could do MCT Paragraph town, it is very interactive and might be a good program before WWS. I've heard that MCT is quite a differs a lot in it's philosophy/approach to writing as compared to WWE. Am I correct in that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 With all you described, I do not think you will need a program for her next year. I think this plan you've outlined is a perfect buffer-zone-year plan. If she's doing, say, two very guided (by you) narrations a week, and two dictations a week, this will give her lots of time to practice and develop. You can also, at some point, merge the two skills together - have her narrate one day, and (if you've done your coaching job and made sure her sentences were grammatically correct, properly punctuated and spaced, and spelled properly) the next day, dictate her narration back to her. That is, unless she already writes down her own narrations (are they properly done, as I mentioned above?). If she can do this, then you could lengthen the reading she does to narrate, or vary the types of reading. You could lengthen or complicate the dictations she does (but of course, use wisdom with this). You have all sorts of options to fill out a buffer year. Tell her it'll be fun because you get to pick from a wide variety of lit/history/sci. supplementary reading (library books, encyclopedias such as World Book, etc.). You might even try WWS partway through the year, and see how she does with it. If it's too much, you can always close the book and go back to writing across the curric. until she's ready for WWS. Thanks Colleen, I'm such an "all or nothing" type person that I forget I could start WWS part way through the year! Right now I'm leaning toward this for the first 1/2 of 5th grade and then evaluate from there to see what we should do. Thanks for mentioning starting WWS part way in. It seems obvious, but again... I tend to be "all or nothing!" :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 I've heard that MCT is quite a differs a lot in it's philosophy/approach to writing as compared to WWE. Am I correct in that? Different, but compatible. I use both. I just moved from WWE to WWS with my daughter after finishing MCT Paragraph Town. I alternate between FLL/WWE/WWS and MCT. MCT will build on what you learned in WWE and explore the same concepts in different ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted March 9, 2012 Author Share Posted March 9, 2012 Different, but compatible. I use both. I just moved from WWE to WWS with my daughter after finishing MCT Paragraph Town. I alternate between FLL/WWE/WWS and MCT. MCT will build on what you learned in WWE and explore the same concepts in different ways. Now that I look back over my question I'm impressed you actually were able to figure out what I was asking! I don't know what happened there. Really, English is my first language! :001_huh: Thanks for the input. I'm learning my dd is SO different than my oldest ds. I'll have to look at MCT a bit more. I knew my oldest would not have liked it, but it might be good for my dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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