Hakg Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 DS8 has just completed his first IEW key word outline. We read The Hare and the Tortoise, chose 3 words per sentence, underlined, wrote those words down, then he dictated the story back from his KWO to me as I typed it. He has a good memory but I didnt realise this would happen - he almost repeated the story back to me verbatim. At the conclusion I prasied his efforts etc but sat there thinking, what precisely is he supposed to learn from this? I feel a bit lost. I have only watched the first TWSS DVD. We have not 'dressed up' the story or added any -ly words... he remembered from watching the DVD not to use the word 'said'. I am thinking there has to be more to it than this? He has just basically copied a story and even if/when we dress it up, its someone else's story, thoughts, words. I can see he is absolutely not challenged in any way. Is there more to IEW than this. Will we be doing KWO's for a long time. He is only 8 and I knew what I was getting with IEW but I'd like to see more original work from him, which he can then attempt to dress up etc. Not sure I am liking this. I think he has the capability to come up with his own words, ideas etc. Am worried as I have been too-ing and fro-ing with the deecision to use IEW for a long time and basically went with it because of the rave reviews. Have I made a mistake? Love to hear your thoughts. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted January 22, 2013 Share Posted January 22, 2013 Well, I'm not using the TWSS, but the SWI-A. In the video after the children create their KWO and are preparing to write a paragraph about sea snakes using it, Mr. Pudewa makes a point of telling the students that their paragraph should not be like the original. He shows how they can combine two sentences to make one new one and even gives them one criteria for their own paragraph which is to combine two of their KWO points into one sentence using "which". This really forced my dd to NOT retell the paragraph exactly and forced her to use her own ideas of how to rework the paragraph. HTH since I'm a newbie to IEW myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakg Posted January 22, 2013 Author Share Posted January 22, 2013 Thank you. I have watched the first TWSS disc but not the SWI-A's - IEW recommended watching the elementary DVD for grades 2-4 instead. But thanks maybe I should take a look at the SWI - it might clarify some things... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookspr Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I would make the key word outline and then have him work on something else for a little while. Go back to it a couple of hours or even a day later and have him try again. He probably won't be able to remember the story exactly as it was written and will have to use his own words to fill in the blanks. The first lesson is designed to be easy and you want the child to be successful at it so they don't get discouraged early on. As the lessons progress they will get more complex and if you pick more difficult pieces to use for his writing it won't be as easy as the first time. I would give it more time. I think it would be a shame to call the program a failure after just one lesson. It builds on itself as you go along and the concepts it teaches are applicable to all of the subjects he will study. As for the original work, in my opinion, you have to learn the key ideas first. Later on after the groundwork is laid, you can move into more of his own writing. The IEW program has lots of interesting books to use after TWSS, I will be using Rockets, Radar and Robots next year with my son. My daughter will do the Ancient History writing program along with her history lessons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakg Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 You are right, and I have given it more time. We stopped for a short while and tried Writing Tales - oh my - the tears - too much writing - not enough instruction - so we went back to IEW, this time using the SWI. DS likes it so we will stick with it for now. I still dont love it - I dont know why precisely. I'm hoping I grow to like it in time... Rockets, Radar and Robots sounds like something that will be of interest - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookspr Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I hope I didn't come off as condescending. I just wanted to give you some hope that you might be able to make it work in the long run. There isn't one great program for everyone, otherwise we'd all be using the same thing! If you find that IEW doesn't work for your son then it's ok to try something else, which it sounds like you have already. I wish it weren't so hard to find that "just right" curriculum, but at least we get the opportunity to change things up when they aren't working, unlike the public school system. It just costs $$ and time. I both love and hate the fact that there are so many choices out there for homeschoolers, it's great to have so many choices but I feel sometimes that I could spend WAY too much time trying things out without ever getting anywhere. Good luck with the rest of IEW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakg Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 No I didnt think you were condescending at all! I'm grateful for all comments. I agree about there being too much choice. My shelves are packed with all those 'choices' :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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