Classical Writing

[Rebecca]

I am pondering this.

 

I have never used it so it would be the Older Beginner program.

 

My oldest son is bent toward writing and, as of now, plans to pursue a career in some arena where writing is a focus.

 

We have always used WWE(WWS).

 

Classical Writing looks very intense and involved.

 

I guess I am wondering: if you use this why do you love it? And is it worth it?

(I don't mean money- I mean the time and work involved.)

 

I want to strengthen his skills but I don't want to kill his love or bog us down.

 

He is using Heart of Dakota Rev to Rev for this year and there is a lot of writing in that guide as well.

 

Thank you.

Rebecca

[melmichigan]

:bigear:

 

We are going back to it this year with Older Beginner, and then hopefully beginning Maxim. I have gone over the Tutorials for Aesop/Homer in a month as well as the 'how to teach' tutorials. I will probably get a subscription for the full course Maxim, either for myself before teaching or along with my DD.

[redsquirrel]

I think there are a lot of us pondering this. I don't have any answers for you, because I am also just pondering. But, if folks are using it, please let us know how it works out.

[Snickerdoodle]

You can always read this thread:

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=348864

[lovemy9kids]

:bigear:

[BlsdMama]

We paid for the tutorial for Maxim. It bored my dd to death. As a matter of fact, we never completed the paid for subscription and are just doing it on our own.

 

I decided, after purchasing, that CW was time consuming to implement vs. Writing with Skill and I'm not up to it for middle school. Your mileage may vary. I loved the look of the program, but I needed to be able to sit down and get to work. (We've used several IEW materials so I feel comfortable just doing that and really I must lack interest in implementing another program.)

[Narrow Gate Academy]

I have never used it so it would be the Older Beginner program.

 

My oldest son is bent toward writing and, as of now, plans to pursue a career in some arena where writing is a focus.

 

We have always used WWE(WWS).

 

Classical Writing looks very intense and involved.

 

I guess I am wondering: if you use this why do you love it? And is it worth it?

(I don't mean money- I mean the time and work involved.)

 

I want to strengthen his skills but I don't want to kill his love or bog us down.

 

He is using Heart of Dakota Rev to Rev for this year and there is a lot of writing in that guide as well.

 

Thank you.

Rebecca

 

We are going into our 6th year of using Classical Writing. I'll be using different levels with three of my kids this year. I love the program for several reasons.

 

1. It is imitation based at the beginning levels. The student can focus on how they are writing not what they are writing. Each assignment starts with a good quality model, analyzes how it is put together, and then rewrites. In contrast, the modern assignments that I sometimes have the kids try from their English book just give them a topic and a brief overview of what is required of the assignment. In general, the quality of the CW work is much better than the English ones.

 

2. It incrementally builds copia skills over time. Aesop focuses on basics: spelling and dictionary skills; sentence types, punctuation, and quotes; and the eight parts of speech. Homer builds on this and increases the complexity adding thesaurus skills, analyzing the difference parts of speech, and building copia skills with each. It diagrams sentences and uses the 6 sentence shuffle to rewrite the same sentence in multiple formats, which can then be compared back to the original. It also begins working with paragraphs with lots of paraphrasing, then summarizing. Diogenes continues working with sentences and paragraphs. I much prefer the copia exercises to the more modern teaching of "dressing up" a rough draft or having requirements for so many time and sequence words or whatever else is being emphasized.

 

3. I love the progression of analysis of the model's structure as a basis for the writing. Aesop is just the basics, looking for sequence, dialogue, and description. Homer uses Theon's components to do some basic literary analysis of the model, which it then uses to identify what the author is emphasizing and which parts of the model are essential. Then it shifts to using the components and basic summary skills to create a basic outline of the model that can then be rewritten in chronological order, starting in the middle, or backwards. Finally, it focuses on checking the work for credibility, concision, and clarity. The writing projects are based on this structural analysis.

 

The Homer / Older Beginner level do require a time commitment of 40-60 minutes 4 days a week. Half of that time is for analysis or copia work and the other half is for the writing project. Generally, I teach new concepts during the first half, but allow the student to do part of the work on their own. The writing is independent except for the editing portion.

 

For us, it has been well worth the effort. HTH

[noashmam]

We are going into our 6th year of using Classical Writing. I'll be using different levels with three of my kids this year. I love the program for several reasons.

 

1. It is imitation based at the beginning levels. The student can focus on how they are writing not what they are writing. Each assignment starts with a good quality model, analyzes how it is put together, and then rewrites. In contrast, the modern assignments that I sometimes have the kids try from their English book just give them a topic and a brief overview of what is required of the assignment. In general, the quality of the CW work is much better than the English ones.

 

2. It incrementally builds copia skills over time. Aesop focuses on basics: spelling and dictionary skills; sentence types, punctuation, and quotes; and the eight parts of speech. Homer builds on this and increases the complexity adding thesaurus skills, analyzing the difference parts of speech, and building copia skills with each. It diagrams sentences and uses the 6 sentence shuffle to rewrite the same sentence in multiple formats, which can then be compared back to the original. It also begins working with paragraphs with lots of paraphrasing, then summarizing. Diogenes continues working with sentences and paragraphs. I much prefer the copia exercises to the more modern teaching of "dressing up" a rough draft or having requirements for so many time and sequence words or whatever else is being emphasized.

 

3. I love the progression of analysis of the model's structure as a basis for the writing. Aesop is just the basics, looking for sequence, dialogue, and description. Homer uses Theon's components to do some basic literary analysis of the model, which it then uses to identify what the author is emphasizing and which parts of the model are essential. Then it shifts to using the components and basic summary skills to create a basic outline of the model that can then be rewritten in chronological order, starting in the middle, or backwards. Finally, it focuses on checking the work for credibility, concision, and clarity. The writing projects are based on this structural analysis.

 

The Homer / Older Beginner level do require a time commitment of 40-60 minutes 4 days a week. Half of that time is for analysis or copia work and the other half is for the writing project. Generally, I teach new concepts during the first half, but allow the student to do part of the work on their own. The writing is independent except for the editing portion.

 

For us, it has been well worth the effort. HTH

 

Deanna,

 

I am getting ready to begin Diogenes Maxim with my son, just waiting for it to ship from RR. Would you mind sharing how long a lesson takes your daughter? We have done Aesop and Homer A and B. I heard that Diogenes is a breeze after doing Homer so I am hopeful he can get his work done in 30 min or so. What was your experience?

 

Thanks,

Kim

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Deanna,

 

I am getting ready to begin Diogenes Maxim with my son, just waiting for it to ship from RR. Would you mind sharing how long a lesson takes your daughter? We have done Aesop and Homer A and B. I heard that Diogenes is a breeze after doing Homer so I am hopeful he can get his work done in 30 min or so. What was your experience?

 

Thanks,

Kim

 

We found 30 minutes to be sufficient for the majority of the lessons. On the days she did run over, an extra 10 minutes was usually sufficient.

[noashmam]

We found 30 minutes to be sufficient for the majority of the lessons. On the days she did run over, an extra 10 minutes was usually sufficient.

 

Thanks for the help!