Like IEW but open-and-go

[Staceyshoe]

I'm interested in the IEW method, but the time it would take for me to learn it upfront (am I correct in this assumption of upfront time?) is a huge hindrance. Our lives are very hectic right now. There's no planning in our homeschooling this year. We are flying by the seat of our pants and each day trying to just do the "next thing." But the IEW method of writing sounds like it would be a good fit for us otherwise. (My long-term plan would be to use WWS in later years.)

 

Is there something like IEW that is more open-and-go? (We would be looking for a 3rd grade level.) I tried doing a search but didn't find this needle in the haystack of IEW threads. Feel free to link a previous thread if there is one already.

[Kaleidoscope]

Forms IEW was open and go. I guess I did watch the videos. That took so little time though. I also watched them with my kiddos so it was our actual class time not extra time. And ever since then we've just been opening and going.

[serene]

IEW's student writing intensives make it much more 'open & go'. I did watch the videos with my dds.

[NittanyJen]

I am using SWI-A with DS9. It is pretty open & go.

[Staceyshoe]

Oh, this is encouraging! I had read some previous posts where people thought that the TSWW made a big difference in how they implemented the program. But if we can be effective with the Student Intensive, that's very encouraging! I feel very ill-equipped to teach writing. Does SWI-A provide enough hand-holding for a parent like me?

Edited September 26, 2012 by Staceyshoe

[justLisa]

It is open and go. I would always recommend the TWSS because it is excellent. You can just watch one hour worth and really get the program.

[nukeswife]

I have the TWSS as well as the SWI and have to say that I didn't sit and watch the TWSS in full before hand. The notes in the SWI actually tell you "if you have TWSS watching this part before this lesson is helpful" or something like that.

 

I usually just watch the TWSS as the SWI mentions it, or if we've taken a longer break I may re-watch something just to refresh my memory.

 

I don't see why just the SWI alone would be fine, if you can't watch it with your child, maybe try watching it the night before, most assignments only have the student watching an hour or less once a week.

[boscopup]

You could do SWI-A with the overview DVD, then later get TWSS when you have more time to watch a video. The video for the parent to watch is not horribly long. I mean, I watched 3 of the 4 discs over the course of maybe 2 weeks, using some weekend downtime mostly, and that covered more ground than I will need during SWI-A.

 

Also, the SWI-A DVD gets watched once every *2* weeks, so it's not even every week.

 

I felt like watching TWSS was worth my time, for teacher training. I just had to watch it once before we started (and not all of it - really, the first disc itself, which is about 2 hours, covers units 1-2 go get you started. Unit 3 is covered on disc 2, which starts in lesson 7 in SWI-A (that's 14 weeks into the program, so almost halfway through).

 

As far as teacher prep time for daily teaching, there really isn't any. I open and go during the week. My only prep was before we started, when I watched the DVDs and took notes, and it's easy to do 15-30 minutes at a time, then go do something else for a bit.

[Staceyshoe]

You could do SWI-A with the overview DVD, then later get TWSS when you have more time to watch a video. The video for the parent to watch is not horribly long. I mean, I watched 3 of the 4 discs over the course of maybe 2 weeks, using some weekend downtime mostly, and that covered more ground than I will need during SWI-A.

 

Also, the SWI-A DVD gets watched once every *2* weeks, so it's not even every week.

 

I felt like watching TWSS was worth my time, for teacher training. I just had to watch it once before we started (and not all of it - really, the first disc itself, which is about 2 hours, covers units 1-2 go get you started. Unit 3 is covered on disc 2, which starts in lesson 7 in SWI-A (that's 14 weeks into the program, so almost halfway through).

 

As far as teacher prep time for daily teaching, there really isn't any. I open and go during the week. My only prep was before we started, when I watched the DVDs and took notes, and it's easy to do 15-30 minutes at a time, then go do something else for a bit.

 

This sounds like a good plan! I'm feeling so encouraged that this IS workable for us!:D