Another scheduling question

[Wendi]

As I try to simplify next year's schedule (see my earlier post if you want), I have an idea.

 

IEW's Student Writing Intensive has lesson plans for 14 weeks, right? How about if I spread the language arts out a bit, instead of trying to do them all at once, all year? Do IEW for 14 weeks, then practice IEW in the context of history, science, etc., for the rest of the year. Don't start doing grammar until after IEW. (I.E., one semester of IEW, then one semester of grammar.) We'll get some grammar in Latin, anyway. Is this a good plan?

 

Wendi

[Wendi]

Bueller?

 

Bueller?

 

Bueller?

[tillie]

Just hoping someine has some help to offer. I am considering a split between two programs as well and curious what others think.

[Suzannah]

Well I'm not sure how helpful this will be, but in an effort to bump your thread a bit, here goes. I use Classical Writing. This past year, the last half really, it made more sense for us to alternate the writing lesson one week with history writing the following week. So it took us about twice as long to get through Aesop B, but we were a bit overwhelmed when we tried to go at a quicker pace (new baby, outside commitments, etc.) We probably won't do that next year. I think DS can handle one lesson per week in addition to various history/science writing assignments.

[Wendi]

Thanks. That's a good suggestion, too. I was also thinking maybe we'd do, say, four weeks of IEW, then four weeks of grammar (continuing to do IEW-style writing in history, science, or lit), then four weeks of IEW (perhaps practicing some of the grammar on sentences in history during those weeks?

 

Hmm.

 

Wendi

[sabrina]

I have been thinking about doing grammar 3 days a week (MWF) and doing IEW 2 days a week (TR). This would sort of stretch both out without too much writing in one day. My ds12 is "allergic" to writing! LOL!!

Also, when we do a lesson of IEW we usually read, outline & make a rough draft all on the first day b/c it is still fresh in their minds. Then we "put it away" for a couple of days and then pull it out to revise it. This allows a little time for the original writing to get "fuzzy" in their memory and they are more likely to add more of their own style to the revisions. I then "edit" it and we may pass it back a forth a bit while they work on other things and we finish it in time to type it before the end of the day.

I hope this is helpful!

[Faithr]

Have you watched the dvd lectures? I haven't ever implemented the program but I did watch the dvds and the thing that strikes me as maybe faulty in your planning is that Pudewa says you work on something until they get it perfect. This might take longer than just doing a lesson a week; or you might be able to introduce two things in a week if it comes really easily to your child. So I think I would just wing it. You have 32 or 36 weeks to cover material that could be done in as little as 14 weeks, but I would let my child determine the pace (as long as you get to it faithfully each week). If and when your child finishes all the material you could then starting incorporating the writing method into other subjects.

 

Grammar comes up naturally in writing, especially in IEW where you dress up with adjectives, etc. Your child will be learning grammar all along. So , again, instead of kind of artificially setting up a predetermined time to study grammar, I think what I'd prefer is to do is use a grammar text as a guide, like Nitty Gritty Grammar or Harvey's (or I think IEW now has a Grammar reference) and have the child look up and learn more in depth about whatever element of grammar as it comes up in the context of writing.

 

I've always been a 'do the next thing' kind of planner, since early in my homeschool career I realized that all my elaborate planning often came to naught because the child's actual pace of learning interfered! As long as you have a set time for your child to work on their language arts each week, things will get accomplished and the child will move forward steadily.