Marie131 Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 I know I've asked a million LA questions, but I'm going in circles with this. I thought I'd settled on LLATL but now it is off my list so I'm back to square one. My ds is workbook averse, does not like to be told what topics to write, but tolerates copywork, He loves freewriting, is a decent reader and hasn't had any real grammar instruction (other than that in WWE) to date. I'm looking for next year when he will be in 3rd grade. I am a cuddle up on the couch to teach kind of mom and I don't mind games. We both hate tiles, well no - I hate tiles. He likes turning them into bombs or rainfall or anything that keeps him from working! I don't need scripted lessons, but I do like to have a plan laid out for me to follow. What are your sugestions? ETA: I should mention that I also have a CM bent. TIA :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Oh, you guys sound perfect for MCT! Definitely not FLL - it is very workbooky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 LoE is pretty workbooky and its mostly just phonics/spelling. MCT island is sorta like that, but not the higher levels. You MUST look at Bravewriter. Her book Writers Jungle is a manual to teach your kids LA without a textbook or workbook. she emphasizes working with the kid you have and breeding a love of language and protecting the relationship mother and child. its not an open-and-go type program, but more of a philosophy. really, for me, reading TWTM was like that - i did not follow any of the specifics, but i used that to understand how to piece together a curriculum year by year which would work for us. I think bravewriter is a lot like that. and then she also has some other products and classes if you need more direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trish Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 MCT is well-suited to the Cuddle Mode of Learning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 Another vote for MCT! Not remotely workbook-y; very cuddly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 MCT does lend itself to the cuddly aspect, but the other items (free writing, copy work) sounded more like a Bravewriter fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chelli Posted February 6, 2013 Share Posted February 6, 2013 My workbook hating kid is loving MCT this year. She asked me today if you were going to keep the books because she wants to read them over and over again. :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted February 6, 2013 Author Share Posted February 6, 2013 Ah...Bravewriter...It sounds oh so wonderful. But the price tag seems steep, is TWJ worth the price? If we use MCT, what else do I need? Spelling, writing..anything else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 We are liking WWE, will that go well with MCT? Any spelling suggestions? I don't feel like we've found our grove in that area. Do you use MCT's lit component or do you use something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I think the HSBC price for The Writer's Jungle is completely worth it. If you're CM leaning, then you should absolutely get it. I think Bravewriter is basically a modernization of CM's vision of language arts. It's definitely it's own thing, but there's a LOT of CM influence in there, only brought into the modern world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 MCT. Though at some point you'll likely need to supplement with something for mechanics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I would suggest Spalding or SWR for spelling, KISS Grammar or MCT for grammar and The Writer's Jungle for writing. Also, see if you can get Ruth Beechick's books from the library - The Three R's and You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully. She gives the basics of creating LA lessons without workbooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Can I use both bravewriter and MCT? Both really seem to be my cup of tea. Would that be LA overkill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 It seems like they would supplement one another. Back to your WWE/MCT question, there are others who've done that, so I can't see why you couldn't do the same with BW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Bravewriter is so flexible that you can add as much, or as little, as you wish. So you can add a bit of Bravewriter to a combo of WWE+some grammar. Also, just wanted to add a note on the KISS grammar - although it provides graded workbooks in Word format, you can do it on a whiteboard without printing out anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I agree that Bravewriter is really flexible. You can get TWJ and decide to ditch nearly everything else and just use her methods or you could decide to just use her ideas sprinkled here and there as you go through other programs. Both ways seem fine to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walking-Iris Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I love Bravewriter. I also use the Arrow guides each month. I combine BW with WWE, so you can supplement those BW ideas with anything at all. Some of my favorite parts of BW are how to narrow down a topic or writing prompt to make it interesting to the kid, and how to revise/edit. Our WWE dictation was so boring and the instructions from SWB made no sense to me (in her lectures, the WWE text, or the workbook) and then I read TWJ and it all became clear. Now we love our WWE time because it's spiced with BW ideas. I treasure my big binder full of my Bravewriter stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom27kidz Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 At the risk of sounding really stupid......what is MTC?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie131 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 At the risk of sounding really stupid......what is MTC?? MCT= Michael Clay Thompson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 We are liking WWE, will that go well with MCT? Any spelling suggestions? I don't feel like we've found our grove in that area. Do you use MCT's lit component or do you use something else? I've found WWE goes really well with MCT. They emphasize different aspects of writing. WWE builds writing stamina and skills, while MCT stretches thinking about sentences and words. They dovetail beautifully. We are planning on using the lit component of MCT when we get to Town level, but it's only designed to walk students through a trio of books each year. For us, literature is covered by reading and talking about lots of great books (some together, some independently), enjoying and memorizing poetry, and enjoying / studying a Shakespeare play a year. (Hubby is an English teacher, and Shakespeare is therefore essential here. :-) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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