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WWE into WWS


Mynyel
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My son is doing WWE 2 right now and I had plans to go through SWB's whole series. However I got WWS for my daughter to learn some writing and I am concerned at the transition between the two. It seems that WWS is much more advanced than the WWE books.

 

Does anyone have any insight on this?

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We did all of WWE 2 and 3. We then did the textbook passages of WWE 4 (so moved very rapidly through topics). Then we started WWS in 5th. We've been moving slowly through WWS (I think we're on week 22 now, so we'll end up using it over 2 years). It's been okay.

 

I think that yes, WWS is more advanced than WWE, but I think it's an okay level of challenge. The first few weeks have the narration review which makes for an easier transition. It is definitely a step up. If you get through WWE 3 / 4, it should be okay IMO.

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The Logic Board has had some interesting threads about the WWE-to-WWS transition lately. I'm not there yet, but I'm watching ...

 

Lots of people doing WWS with older kids

Best use of "Writing Class Time" ...

Lewelma's wonderful Comparison of WWS to LToW

 

I know that I've read specific concerns about the need to shore up paragraphing skills before launching WWS, so some people seem to advise a transition program.

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There is a big jump between WWE and WWS, corresponding to the philosophical jump between Grammar and Logic stages. WWS is written to the student (although many teachers here find that they do have to be pretty involved, especially at the beginning - kids don't suddenly wake up in 5th grade being flawless at reading and following directions! ;) )

 

The jump is totally doable if your dc's narration skills are solid. I would take whatever time it takes to work on that before starting, whether it is through WWE or through narrating in history or literature. The philosophy of these books is very parts-to-whole and incremental; you are not supposed to be working on two hard things at a time, so your ability to hold ideas in your head and get them on paper needs to be in place before starting WWS.

 

The other thing I've found is that instruction on paragraphing is weak in this transition. In WWE, you are basically writing single paragraph narrations, and then in WWS suddenly you are writing multiple paragraphs, and the instruction isn't super explicit as to how to decide when to start new paragraphs, how to divide up ideas, etc. It kind of grows on you as you go through the program, but I would have liked some more explicit instruction up front. We did MCT's Paragraph Town concurrently with WWS, and for my next studen I plan to have her complete Paragraph Town before beginning WWS.

 

Other than that, you just have to pay attention to your student, and give them the help and support they need to make the transition. Lynnita linked some good discussions on the Logic Stage board, and here is another one where people talk about using WWS with 5th graders:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/465017-wow-lots-of-people-doing-wws1-with-way-older-kids-should-i-wait-for-ds-what-to-do-in-meantime/

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