m0mmaBuck Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Would this be a good program to try? DS is 10 (4th grade) and I was thinking of adding it in, possibly over the summer, starting with Level I so it is a gentle introduction. WWE was not good here. Many tears. Much frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Does anyone use this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truebluexf Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 WT is a LOT of writing, IMO. My reluctant fourth grader would have cried the very first week!!!! WWW is working beautifully for him though. We decided to start with 3 to give him a slow and gentle start into writing. He is working on paragraphs now and will work to five paragraph essays next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MandJsMama Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I second the recommendation for Winning With Writing. My 9 yo does NOT like to write, although copy-work is fine with him. But with WWW, he's now writing 3 paragraphs, albeit without a lot of enthusiasm :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 I second the recommendation for Winning With Writing. My 9 yo does NOT like to write, although copy-work is fine with him. But with WWW, he's now writing 3 paragraphs, albeit without a lot of enthusiasm :tongue_smilie: I've never looked into that one. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 My 4th grader is a reluctant writer, and we tried WT1 after getting through WWE 1, WWE 2, and half of WWE 3. WT1 went well for a few weeks, but the writing ramped up, and it was just too much. We've been using IEW for a few weeks, and this is working for my dd. She is building confidence with writing while not being required to write tons of words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 My ds9 is a reluctant writer who really dislikes WWE but enjoys WT. He also does very well with it. We skip some of the grammar lessons because he also does MCT and FLL. We're on WT2 right now and I think it's less writing than WWE4!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 My oldest is a reluctant writer. (We would say she is "allergic to the pencil.") WT has been good for ramping up the amount of writing she does in a sitting, improving her descriptive writing skills, and improving her grasp of basic grammar ideas. I started her in WT1 in 4th. She's three-fourths done with WT2. We are taking longer than they suggest in their plans for writing the rough draft and the final draft. While her writing isn't great, it is better. She can now write almost a page (typed, single-spaced). She'll hand-write the story (5-6 sides of pages, double-spaced) and then edit it. She'll type in her rough draft, re-edit, and then print. She still doesn't look forward to it, but I think she's definitely more prepared to go into CW Homer next year (probably at the slow pace of Homer A in the 1st year & Homer B in the 2nd). We're going to do six weeks or so of WWS this summer. Hopefully, it won't kill either of us! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m0mmaBuck Posted March 31, 2012 Author Share Posted March 31, 2012 Does WT ramp up abruptly? That might not be best then. Hrumph. I looked at IEW but it may be a bit too pricey for us right now, especially for just a writing program. Is there a placement test for WWW? I have to admit I never looked in to WWW, GWG, or GSWS but now I'm intruiged. So much for thinking I was nearly done with my planning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 My oldest is a reluctant writer. (We would say she is "allergic to the pencil.") WT has been good for ramping up the amount of writing she does in a sitting, improving her descriptive writing skills, and improving her grasp of basic grammar ideas. I started her in WT1 in 4th. She's three-fourths done with WT2. We are taking longer than they suggest in their plans for writing the rough draft and the final draft. While her writing isn't great, it is better. She can now write almost a page (typed, single-spaced). She'll hand-write the story (5-6 sides of pages, double-spaced) and then edit it. She'll type in her rough draft, re-edit, and then print. She still doesn't look forward to it, but I think she's definitely more prepared to go into CW Homer next year (probably at the slow pace of Homer A in the 1st year & Homer B in the 2nd). We're going to do six weeks or so of WWS this summer. Hopefully, it won't kill either of us! :tongue_smilie: Wow, I had no idea there is this much writing in WT2. DS is only on lesson 8, but his summaries are about 1/2 page typed. Maybe we're doing something wrong? I'll have to look ahead; sounds like the stories become much longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Wow, I had no idea there is this much writing in WT2. DS is only on lesson 8, but his summaries are about 1/2 page typed. Maybe we're doing something wrong? I'll have to look ahead; sounds like the stories become much longer. Some of the later stories have a lot of dialog. That can make a story seem long because of the paragraph breaks. Lesson 9 is long, but 13, 15, & 17 are short. Lesson 19 ramps it up again. They vary. I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I think WT2 stories start out shorter than the end stories in WT1. It doesn't start out requiring a ton of writing and even when the model is long, your child's version might be short(er). My daughter is the queen of shortening a story to its "most important parts." Thus things you remember being in the story aren't always in her version. In the FAQ on the WT website, it says for placement, "If your child would be comfortable writing stories that are, on average, two to three pages in length every week, then this Level will work." (Since my daughter skips every-other-line for editing purposes, her 5-6 pages written out would fit this description.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 (edited) I am doing just this. We are about a year behind in WWE, and before moving into WWE 4, I started WT I books. I intend to do II, also. We are covering it a much faster rate because kiddo is older. 1) It is writing *and* grammar. For us, he's enjoyed being able to whip through the editing (we've done some Editor in Chief), already knowing the 4 kinds of sentences, etc. I use the copy work for him to practice his cursive. I've liked seeing kiddo has retained punctuation and grammar skills, and really, we can blow through those pages in minutes. 2) The writing is nice for him. We have been working on just getting things down on paper and having a second day to edit and re-write in nice handwriting. I knew the reading etc. would be below his level, but to retell the tale they have been very good. It is where we spend most of our time, and I've been working on just getting the pencil to flow, not agonizing over the spelling of every word. I have him do the rough draft on the left hand page of a notebook and then we go through with a red pencil and correct, discuss dropping extra words, discuss adding an exciting adjective etc. He then rewrites on the right hand side of the notebook. I'm beginning to hear kiddo say things like, "This is a run on sentence. I could do X" and "Would a semi-colon work here?" Not only am I swooning with delight, I know *I* wasn't thinking on that level at this age. 3) You don't need the teacher's manual. HTH Edited April 1, 2012 by kalanamak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Does WT ramp up abruptly? Not in volume I. I haven't seen II yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Does WT ramp up abruptly? Not in volume I. I haven't seen II yet. I guess it depends on what you consider ramping up and how reluctant your reluctant writer is. Vol 1 definitely ramped up for my 4th grader. We got to Lesson 18, and she needed to spend days writing her rough draft. Days with a lot of tears. She was really stalling on the amount of writing. Perhaps the format just wasn't for her? I've back her off of entire stories back to paragraph length writing, and writing is progressing again. It doesn't start out requiring a ton of writing and even when the model is long, your child's version might be short(er). My daughter is the queen of shortening a story to its "most important parts." Thus things you remember being in the story aren't always in her version. In the FAQ on the WT website, it says for placement, "If your child would be comfortable writing stories that are, on average, two to three pages in length every week, then this Level will work." (Since my daughter skips every-other-line for editing purposes, her 5-6 pages written out would fit this description.) Maybe our problem is that we didn't know how to shorten the stories to a workable length? I can't imagine my dd getting through 5-6 pages (every-other-line) of writing without a lot of tears and frustration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 Maybe our problem is that we didn't know how to shorten the stories to a workable length? I can't imagine my dd getting through 5-6 pages (every-other-line) of writing without a lot of tears and frustration. Perhaps it is because I do time rather task schooling. If something is going to take too long, I break it into two lessons. Since the rest of WT is review to us (thanks to GWG and some Ed in Chief), the book is going fairly quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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