Writing with Ease - Questions for experienced users

[redquilthorse]

Bear with me, but I have a question for those who have used WWE for more than one year. Does it work? By that I mean, has your child progressed? The style of instruction is foreign to me. This is not how I was taught to write. I am in my late 30s and a product of public school. I did receive good writing instruction, but not using copywork/dictation. I find it hard to just trust that working your way through WWE will be productive.

 

If you have used both WWE and Bravewriter (with the Arrow), how do they compare?

[fourisenough]

I can't compare to Bravewriter, but we're just about to complete WWE 2 (my daughter is newly 8 and doing 3rd grade-ish work). She can listen attentively and summarize/re-tell with accuracy and great detail. She always answers questions with a complete sentences (even if casually asked what she wants for lunch, she'll respond with something like, "I want soup, grapes, and cheese and crackers") and her writing is almost always spelled & punctuated properly. She isn't writing volumes. She doesn't "love" to write, but she can do it well and easily, without complaint.

 

I recently had two neighbor girls over for a playdate (they are in PS and had only a half-day of school). Rather than playing, they wanted to 'do school' with my daughter, so we did our WWE lesson for the day (week 28, Day 4). The girls are nearly 9 and just turned 11 and in third and fifth grades, respectively. Neither of them could answer the questions at the end of the passage and they wouldn't even attempt to narrate the passage. They were pretty amazed by my daughter's responses. I should add that both are bright girls and good students, but they've been taught so differently that they were definitely out of their comfort zone with WWE. It requires a different skill set and, in my opinion, far more skill to be able to do copy work, dictation, and narration than the sort of writing that is taught in school (the writer's workshop method is popular here).

 

I used various other writing curriculum with my older girls. Both are very solid writers, but I think the process would have been streamlined and less difficult had WWE been available then. I see that my younger daughter will be even better prepared for upper level literary analysis and critical writing with the foundation established with WWE.

 

Hope that helps.

[rdj2027]

I am in my mid-forties and while WWE did not only not exist, I went to school in a foreign country. We learned language through copy work, dictation, narration. For the longest time I could not understand what a "writing curriculum" was as writing was something we just always did in above mentioned ways and was completely lost with the disjointed methods my children were exposed to in public school. It didn't really dawn on me until we started to homeschool last March and I had to think about how to teach them what. When I came across WWE and WWS it looked very familiar :thumbup: . My children's writing has improved in many ways since we started, their reading comprehension has improved as they are much better at distinguishing between main points, detail, and "fluff". Their writing has become more concise and their spelling has improved without spelling lists. Due to the literature based nature of the program their vocabulary, grammar and general knowledge has increased as well without any extra effort.

When I went to college I had no problem with writing in any subject or note taking, something that many students struggled with.

I really DO NOT like to write in any form and avoid it whenever possible but I am quite able to when it is required. All four of my children are pencil phobic like me but they have not yet once balked when it comes to writing and I think the reason is that WWE and WWS bring a purpose to writing and skills can be transferred to other subjects.

In addition to all that, my children love that everything is scheduled and structured, my two youngest ones are still young enough (at least in mind) that they are more comfortable knowing what to expect every single day.

So yes, for us at least it works.

[Dana]

We used WWE 2, 3, and ran through the textbook for 4, and we're now in WWS.

I think it's been good.

I really like WWS and I think the practice through WWE helped a lot.

[Alice]

We are in WWE 4, having also used WWE 1-3. I’ve really seen a huge improvement in my son’s writing in the past year or so as well as an improvement in his comfort level and willingness to write. Some of that may just be getting older but I think a large part of it is WWE.

 

My son is a reluctant writer. He is a voracious reader but hates writing and has always hated WWE. He likes reading the passages but hates answering the questions, doing the narrations and most of all the dictations. However, I’ve seen it get so much easier for him to do and more importantly I’ve seen him use the skills in other areas (both school and just in life when he’s telling a friend about something he’s read or a movie he’s seen). This year I’ve been adding on extra writing assignments and he’s done very well with those, better than I expected.

 

I haven’t used other writing curriculums so can’t compare. I do think that WWE may work especially well for a kid who is not a natural writer and is not a creative writer.

[hollyhock]

I do think that WWE may work especially well for a kid who is not a natural writer and is not a creative writer.

 

 

I think this is very true. My oldest son is like this. We have gone through all the levels of WWE and he is now a 5th grader learning to outline and writing summaries. He can write a decent paragraph. That may not seem like much, but SWB's writing is about slow and steady winning the race. Plus, this is a big deal for him compared to where he started. I am very happy with his progress and have confidence in where this is taking us.

 

If it doesn't make sense, it helps to see the whole picture if you read about SWB's writing philosophy through the middle grades and high school. Or listen to her audio lectures (A Plan for Teaching Writing) available in the Peace Hill Press store. It really makes the copywork and narration make sense in the grand scheme of things.

 

When I began my son doing copywork in first grade, I felt the same way: not sure why I'm doing this but SWB said to! :)

 

My younger two are also doing WWE and they have less trouble writing so I'm just accelerating them a little bit. It works great for them too.

[redquilthorse]

I have the instructor's guide, so I could start there with my kids. I have 2nd and 4th grade boys. The older child could write creative stories all day long. The younger one doesn't like to write. I can see how WWE would benefit him greatly. I wonder where I should place my older child, though. Does WWS make a big leap up? Should I start with level 4 and just see how it goes?

[redquilthorse]

One more question. In the instructions, SWB says the following: "Before you read, tell the student

that you will read the sentences only three times before asking her to write, and will not repeat

them afterwards." Do you adhere to this strictly?

[Mommy22alyns]

One more question. In the instructions, SWB says the following: "Before you read, tell the student

that you will read the sentences only three times before asking her to write, and will not repeat

them afterwards." Do you adhere to this strictly?

 

I do, pretty much. I lighten up a little if it's particularly long, but Rebecca can generally get most of it after 3 readings. You can still give one-word prompts afterwards too.

[Lara in Colo]

I use this with all four of my children. I find that they all have learned to narrate and the biggs are decent at dictation.

The biggs are doing SOTW and I make them do a summary of the corresponding lesson from Kingfisher, this could not happen if not for WWE.

I also find that we end up reading the books from the passages.

 

My littles are writing better, narrating well, and wanting read better quality books....... hmmm what more could I want?

[justLisa]

Another thing I want to add. I love the passages in WWE. They aren't dumbed down. My kids love them too. Often times they want to read the original book.

 

This is one reason I am going back to WWE. My kids won't pick that stuff on their own. But the selections are brilliant IMO. The language is advanced, and it really requires careful reading. I think it developes excellent reading comprehension ability. I am almost embarrassed to say when we were in 2 last year I had to re read some of them LOL. We are just using 3. And I don't think it gets boring. The reading selections are always different.

[JenC3]

Love WWE. We've used 1,2,3 and dd is getting ready to begin WWS slowly becaue she is 9. My ds is in 1 and in week 16 I think and already is improving in narration and answering in complete sentences. You have to learn to think properly before you can write properly. SWB has created a brillant program. I know my kids will be great writers.

[Hedgehogs4]

Bear with me, but I have a question for those who have used WWE for more than one year. Does it work? By that I mean, has your child progressed? The style of instruction is foreign to me. This is not how I was taught to write. I am in my late 30s and a product of public school. I did receive good writing instruction, but not using copywork/dictation. I find it hard to just trust that working your way through WWE will be productive.

 

If you have used both WWE and Bravewriter (with the Arrow), how do they compare?

 

It works. I have done WWE 1, 2, 3, and now WWS with my son. He is turning into a very good writer. The key element of this is the constant discipline of having to ARTICULATE, ARTICULATE, ARTICULATE before you put something down. At first it is a little, and later it is much more. I cannot compare with Bravewriter because WWE is the ONLY curriculum we have used. If you listen to SWB's lectures on teaching writing, it will help you gain confidence.

 

If it is any help to you, I used to teach writing, and I have no concerns as to whether or not this is working for my kids. I know what good writing should look like. They are definitely on their way.