babybryte Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 It looks good....just looking for some feedback. :) http://www.kid-friendly-homeschool-curriculum.com/homeschool-writing-curriculum.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I use it. I love the 3 sentence report and the 3 paragraph report that are available in the free TM. The lesson in learning to write the introduction and conclusion paragraphs with just an outlined body is ingenious. A lot of the non essential lessons work great with spelling words. I do beef up some of the essential lessons, with a bit more explicit teaching from other sources. I have the ebook copy printed out and just insert an occasional worksheet printed from the internet here and there as needed. Write On! is my first suggestion for families that need an affordable and flexible good-enough multi-year open-and-go curriculum that they need to start yesterday. It's not perfect. I keep my eyes open for something better, but so far haven't found anything. This, with a few notes and worksheets added, works best for me. Read the free TM even if you don't use the curriculum. There is some WISE teaching there that applies to any curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babybryte Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thank you so much, Hunter!! I may come back and ask you some questions. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProudGrandma Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 this does look interesting...I am going to watch and see if others chime in with their opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Just got my copy yesterday. I found the sample lessons intriguing. I want to incorporate writing across the curriculum and I'm having a hard time. OK to be honest I'm meeting a lot of resistance LOL. Hoping this will give me some guidance on how to make it more appealing. I will post a review once I go through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 We just ordered it and have done a few lessons (DC are 10 and 8yo). So far they really enjoy it. I absolutely love how it is laid out. We'd tried several writing programs this year, and this is the first one that clicked with everyone. I'm hoping it continues to be a success! I love how it mixes fun, creative assignments with the typical reports and essays. My DC are very creative, so I think this will be a good fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babybryte Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I think I'm going to try it! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 A wonderful feature of this curriculum is that the essential lessons are in bold, so that a time strapped teacher knows exactly which lesson are skippable. Also this is a multigrade curriculum. You will never ever ever need to worry about not finishing this curriculum. On the other hand you never need to worry about running out of ideas either, since most of the lessons are generic with instructions on how to reuse them. Like i said above, I see room for improvement, but so far, I haven't found anything I like better for first generation overwhelmed families that are triaging. First and foremost, this curriculum is doable, while also being far more than an opportunity to write. It does methodically instruct the student. The scope and sequence is perfect for my OCD tendencies, but the instructions themselves sometimes still leave me obsessing about minute details. The pages are welcoming and non-intimidating though, which will be more important to many families who do not obsess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babybryte Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Hunter, does Write On! teach any kind of KWO or something similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Hunter, does Write On! teach any kind of KWO or something similar? I'm sorry, I don't remember and a quick skim of the table of contents didn't pop out a worksheet for that. The meat of this program is a methodical progression from a 3 sentence report to a thesis, with supplementary lessons that improve writing in general and support unit studies. It's a good-enough get-it-done curriculum. Most people will need to add in any of their pet lessons/methods if they have them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babybryte Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Okay, thanks!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 A wonderful feature of this curriculum is that the essential lessons are in bold, so that a time strapped teacher knows exactly which lesson are skippable. Also this is a multigrade curriculum. You will never ever ever need to worry about not finishing this curriculum. On the other hand you never need to worry about running out of ideas either, since most of the lessons are generic with instructions on how to reuse them. Like i said above, I see room for improvement, but so far, I haven't found anything I like better for first generation overwhelmed families that are triaging. First and foremost, this curriculum is doable, while also being far more than an opportunity to write. It does methodically instruct the student. The scope and sequence is perfect for my OCD tendencies, but the instructions themselves sometimes still leave me obsessing about minute details. The pages are welcoming and non-intimidating though, which will be more important to many families who do not obsess. Bringing this thread back to ask you a few questions Hunter. You said you see room for improvement. Can you expand on that? What is it that you feel needs to be added to it? What have you used specifically with Write On!? Sorry for all of the questions. I have gone through numerous writing curriculum and have not really been happy with any yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Sometimes the lessons could use a little more explicit instruction. There is nothing missing that is not easily obtained on any basic writing website, handbook or curricula you have hanging around. The scheduling and prioritisation of topics is what sets this curricula apart from others, not the excellence of each lesson. For non OCD "just do it" parents, there is probably the perfect amount of instruction in every lesson, and they will appreciate the conciseness. A few of them, though, leave ME floundering to teach without an occasional supplement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thank you Hunter. I know you have mentioned supplemental materials in other posts, but I seem to be having a hard time searching for things right now. What supplemental material do you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thank you Hunter. I know you have mentioned supplemental materials in other posts, but I seem to be having a hard time searching for things right now. What supplemental material do you use? Just things I have picked up here and there, that I often don't remember where I got: webpages. $1.00 Scholastic workbooks, Currclick workbooks, library books, free vintage books. The ones I have aren't necessarily the best. They are just what I have, and I'm too cheap and lazy to look further. I use the book report lessons from Climbing to Good English. CGE is a great curriculum, I just don't have time to use it. Write On! is more streamlined and flexible, than CGE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Thanks again Hunter! DS has actually just started CGE 3. I wasn't quite sure how the writing portion of it was going to go so I wanted some ideas to be prepared if we go another direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 CGE is an excellent program. It's integrated so it's not terribly flexible. If you have time to complete it, and a student is not at very different levels for reading, grammar and writing, it's an excellent open-and-go, do-the-next-thing curriculum. I love both Saxon and CGE for students who have the time to complete them. But students who have a lot of content to cover, or cannot tolerate much butt-in-chair time, or struggle, or a myriad of other reasons, sometimes need more flexible options. Saxon and CGE were not designed to be flexible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 Having time to complete it.....are you referring to all 8 levels of CGE? DS is in 3rd grade and we are on book 3. However, do to unexpected circumstances this year, we weren't able to start when I wanted and it has been slow going. We will be continuing with book 3 into 4th grade. He is, for the most part, on the same level with reading and grammar, but a bit behind in writing. I figured we would have to slow the writing sections down and possibly add to them. I was under the impression that if it took us longer to complete all 8 books (say not done with the entire series until 9th or 10th) that we would still be at a good place. Do you believe this to be the case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 If a student is going to a junior college, even just finishing CGE grade 5 will put him ahead of the average PS student that followed the reality of a typical high school program. CGE does an excellent job preparing a student to write an expository report, steadily and systematically building on skills year by year. CGE doesn't cover persuasive writing, but it will be an easy and quick transition to a persuasive thesis, from the CGE expository report. With CGE, I recommend taking one's time and repeating the writing assignments as often as needed, following the ideas for repeating writing assinments as explained in Write On's free TM. My tutoring stundents spend very limited time with consistent butt-in-chair. I just can't fit in CGE. And they lose track of the multi-topic integrated lessons when breaks are too long. I have to teach things in short blocks Waldorf style, when I have their full attention. Slow and STEADY is fine for working through CGE. Constant long breaks interspersed with quick bursts of attention are better handled with Write On. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atozmom Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 If a student is going to a junior college, even just finishing CGE grade 5 will put him ahead of the average PS student that followed the reality of a typical high school program. CGE does an excellent job preparing a student to write an expository report, steadily and systematically building on skills year by year. CGE doesn't cover persuasive writing, but it will be an easy and quick transition to a persuasive thesis, from the CGE expository report. With CGE, I recommend taking one's time and repeating the writing assignments as often as needed, following the ideas for repeating writing assinments as explained in Write On's free TM. My tutoring stundents spend very limited time with consistent butt-in-chair. I just can't fit in CGE. And they lose track of the multi-topic integrated lessons when breaks are too long. I have to teach things in short blocks Waldorf style, when I have their full attention. Slow and STEADY is fine for working through CGE. Constant long breaks interspersed with quick bursts of attention are better handled with Write On. Thank you again Hunter! I now have our writing plans in place and I can't tell yo how great that feels!! The bolded above is exactly what we will do. In fact, I am going to print Write On's TM today and stick it in a binder for east access. Thanks again!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 4, 2013 Share Posted March 4, 2013 Thank you again Hunter! I now have our writing plans in place and I can't tell yo how great that feels!! The bolded above is exactly what we will do. In fact, I am going to print Write On's TM today and stick it in a binder for east access. Thanks again!! I'm glad you have plan you feel confident about. I love it when things come together for me, especially with things I already have. I love the Write On! TM. I think it helps some of use teach any curriculum better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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