llindseymomoffour Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 So I have been searching for a writing and grammar program for my oldest boys age 9 and 8. I seen IEW mentioned and have been checking it out. My question is where do I start and what all do I need. I like the Fix-It! Grammar book, and they have some cool theme based books, but I am not sure what all to buy. My boys will be entering 3rd and 4th grade. My 4th grader is above reading level and my 3rd grader is below if that matters. Thanks for all your input. p.s.: Any thoughts or experience with this program would also be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 If you go to the IEW website and click on "help and support", click on FAQ, then either the chart or optiona for 3 -5 gradea, it will tell you where to start. I believe it recommends the Student Workshop Level A along with either "All Things Fun and Fascinating" or "Aesops Fables" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Take this for what it is worth- we are just starting our IEW journey, but I do belong to their Yahoo group and this question gets asked frequently so I will do my best:) You can start Fix-It anytime from 3rd grade on up. I just ordered it for my ds8 to start either this summer or in the fall. They would probably suggest you start with the SWI-A/TWSS combo. I know there is a debate on whether or not you need TWSS if you use an SWI, but I think the feeling is if you go onto their themed books after SWI that having TWSS would be very useful. After you complete the SWI-A, you could either use one of their themed books (like All Things Fun and Fascinating) or do the SICC if you want Andrew to continue to do the teaching through DVDs. If you order the magalog you will see a "plan" in there for what to use- you can request it through their website. We are using PAL right now and loving it, and next year we will use Fix-It and Phonetic Zoo, and possibly add in SWI-A depending on how long it takes to finish PAL. If you plan to use any IEW products, I would definitely look into the Yahoo group-Jill Pike actually answers most of the questions herself and I have learned a lot from others! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llindseymomoffour Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks for the replies. I have requested to join the Yahoo group, just waiting approval. I was looking at the chart this morning and was wondering if I could do TWSS with Ancient History-Based Lessons since that is what we will be studying next year in History. Would this work for a 3rd and 4th grader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks for the replies. I have requested to join the Yahoo group, just waiting approval. I was looking at the chart this morning and was c wondering if I could do TWSS with Ancient History-Based Lessons since that is what we will be studying next year in History. Would this work for a 3rd and 4th grader? You certainly can do that, but it will be more teacher intensive than the student writing intensive will be. If you are good with that then it is a good place to start. The theme based lessons are not to be used with a SWI, as someone suggested upthread, but instead of as long as you couple it with TWSS. I personally would prefer SWI A if I was just getting into IEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llindseymomoffour Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Oh goodness, I am so confused about all this. I want less teacher involved but will still be there to help. I want to start the program and also do the Ancient History-Based Lessons. So what do I need to buy? Thanks so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I think the Ancient History might be too difficult for 3rd and 4th graders since you are new to the program. I highly recommend you purchase SWI-A to use with them. You could consider doing it as a summer session and then use Ancients for next school year. IF you really want to do ancients you need to buy TWSS and watch each lesson before you teach it. Plan time to watch it, work through the lesson yourself and then watch again if you need. This is exactly what I tried to do my first year with IEW and I ended up sending TWSS back along with the ancients book and bought SWI-A! I really, really recommend doing SWI-A along with your children for your first trip through IEW. It is so worth the initial investment of time to do this. We did this our first year and now we are doing theme based programs and next year we are going to use the units as taught but apply them to our history and science studies, so we won't have a separate writing program in our homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Just popping in to reflect that you need to start out with watching the TWSS for yourself (so that you will be comfortable teaching the theme based programs later) and start your two sons on the SWI-A this year. If you want less teacher intensive then you DO NOT want to do a theme based (Ancient History) program right off the bat. However, you can supplement or substitute the lessons in the SWI-A with your own assignments from your history books. Many times, when my older two were doing SWI-B, I would add an assignment once a week or bi-weekly from our science or history work. I would suggest not trying to do it until you are several weeks into the SWI OR you have already watched the TWSS. At this point in our experience I am just using IEW methods to create our own lessons based on our content subjects. I would not have felt comfortable doing this without having had a year to watch Mr. Peduwa teach my dc by using the SWI, and having him teach me by watching the TWSS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bethben Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Our first time through IEW, I had a friend who was teaching a co-op class. They went through 5-7 (I can't remember) units. It was too much for a first time writer and too much for me to understand. This was with me going through TWSS on my own. The second year, I watched TWSS again and did one unit at a time. We would go through unit 1 and I would do it until it was easy for ds. Same with dress ups. I wouldn't start a new unit until the current unit was easy for him to do. It worked wonderfully and progressed him farther faster. You can easily get paragraphs from their reading on Ancient Egypt or go with IEW's premade unit "helpers" found here or here. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiddle Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 You've gotten great advice here. We're new to IEW, also, but went with the Student Intensive B for my 6th grader. I did want to mention that my daughter is WAY above grade level in reading/comprehension. I've been watching the TWSS DVDs and wanted to let you know that IEW's philosophy is to focus on the writing process and therefore they purposefully use pagaraphs/material that is *below* grade level reading. This is to build up the child's confidence and also let them focus on the tough task of writing without worrying about reading comprehension issues. I'm in the campe that loves the Student Intensive- I didn't have time to do a crash course in teaching the IEW way. I was a bit bummed because I was gifted the Medieval IEW course and wanted to use it (much cheaper), but I'm glad I invested the money to go with the intensive because it gives me more time to learn along with my child. I hope to be in a position where I can use IEW to "write across the curriculum" like so many on these Boards have been able to do :) Good luck. Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llindseymomoffour Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 I want to thank everyone so much for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susankenny Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I highly recommend you purchase SWI-A to use with them. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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