R&S English 5 Enough Writing ???

[Homeschooling6]

My oldest son (5th grade) will use R&S 5 for English this year. Do you think there is enough writing in the program or will I need a separate writing program?

 

Thanks!

[Ellie]

Yes, there's plenty of writing. Not to worry :-)

[Homeschooling6]

Thank you, Ellie :) I'm so glad. I don't want to add anymore programs;)

 

My ds has not done that much writing in the past. Some copywork but that's about it and that was twice a week of a Bible passage. Will R&S English 5 teach him to write or does it expect him to have some writing background?

 

 

TIA,

[Mad Jenny Flint]

As far as I remember, it will teach him. If you add in some outlining for history and science and writing passages from his own outlines now and then, and require him to narrate some passages that you read together now and then in complete sentences, you'll do fine. This is all we did for 5th and 6th grade. We started beefing our writing requirements up in 7th grade but my son was well-prepared, and he was a reluctant writer (meaning, most of his other work up until 6th or 7th grade was done orally).

 

R&S is a great program for 5th and 6th grades.

[Christine]

My oldest son (5th grade) will use R&S 5 for English this year. Do you think there is enough writing in the program or will I need a separate writing program?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, and no. . .

 

If you are writing in your other subjects, then yes, there is enough writing (especially if you take what you learn from R&S and translate it to your other writing assignments).

 

However, if your only source of writing is through R & S, then no. (Go ahead, ask me how I know this, and I will freely admit I "messed up" with DS1 and am now trying to correct that mistake.)

[Beth in Central TX]

If this is all the writing that your son will do then, no, I don't think it's enough writing. I'm a big fan of Rod & Staff, especially their grammar program, but I don't think that the writing assignments within their grammar program alone are enough.

 

Out of the 119 assignments in the 5th grade book, only 28 of them are on writing. That is less than one writing lesson a week in a normal school year and only represents 24% of the total lessons. On top of that some of the lessons are about giving directions orally, using the telephone, addressing an envelope, making introductions (when you meet new people), etc. I'm not saying that you need another writing program, although that's what I do, but you do need to add writing in other subjects as Christine suggested.

 

R&S uses a modern approach to writing, and in my opinion, doesn't require enough writing regardless of the grade level. That's why I supplement with Classical Writing starting in 3rd grade.

[Staci in MO]

As long as you add in outlining and dictation as recommended in the Well-Trained Mind, it's enough.

 

R&S will teach punctuation, sentence structure, paragraphs, outlining, etc, and the dictation and outlining will reinforce what R&S teaches.

[Christine]

Out of the 119 assignments in the 5th grade book, only 28 of them are on writing. That is less than one writing lesson a week in a normal school year and only represents 24% of the total lessons. On top of that some of the lessons are about giving directions orally, using the telephone, addressing an envelope, making introductions (when you meet new people), etc. I'm not saying that you need another writing program, although that's what I do, but you do need to add writing in other subjects.

 

Ummm, yes.

 

If you go through the R & S table of contents you'll see they have something that designates a writing assignment (can't recall but it may be a pencil or an asterix) beside the lesson number.

 

However, as Beth said, some of the assignments that they designate as "writing", well. . . aren't.

 

I have schedules for R & S English on my blog. I know in my "newer" schedules I went through and marked all the ones the text counts as writing assignments, even if I didn't count them as such. (In my older schedules, if they weren't counted / graded then they weren't even designated.)

[lvbeingmom]

We are doing R&S 5 this year also. From past experience I know there will not be enough writing. I don't even look at R&S as a writing program. We will be doing IEW as well as using what we have learned with writing in History and some other subjects.

 

Tami

[Dixie]

Yes, and no. . .

 

If you are writing in your other subjects, then yes, there is enough writing (especially if you take what you learn from R&S and translate it to your other writing assignments).

 

However, if your only source of writing is through R & S, then no. (Go ahead, ask me how I know this, and I will freely admit I "messed up" with DS1 and am now trying to correct that mistake.)

 

Christine,

 

How much additional writing per week do you add to make it enough? I will be working with a 5th grader and am unsure as to how much to require of him. He is definitely a reluctant writer.

 

Also, thank you for sharing your R & S English lesson plans. They will be very helpful to me this year as I work through three different levels of R & S English with my 3 boys.

 

Thank you,

 

Dixie:001_smile:

[Homeschooling6]

Ummm, yes.

 

If you go through the R & S table of contents you'll see they have something that designates a writing assignment (can't recall but it may be a pencil or an asterix) beside the lesson number.

 

However, as Beth said, some of the assignments that they designate as "writing", well. . . aren't.

 

I have schedules for R & S English on my blog. I know in my "newer" schedules I went through and marked all the ones the text counts as writing assignments, even if I didn't count them as such. (In my older schedules, if they weren't counted / graded then they weren't even designated.)

 

I couldn't find the R&S schedules.

[Homeschooling6]

Hmmm, I was hoping R&S would be enough. I have Writing Strands, Ignite your Writing & IEW. I can add one of those in three times a week. I'm leaning towards WS.

[Christine]

I couldn't find the R&S schedules.

 

Here's a link to the page (it's about 1/3 down)

 

Also, thank you for sharing your R & S English lesson plans. They will be very helpful to me this year as I work through three different levels of R & S English with my 3 boys.

 

You're quite welcome! I know all about working on 3 different levels! My biggest fear is that it will move to 4 (so far I'm able to keep the 2 youngest together -- in math, haven't started R & S with them yet.)

 

I thought I would pm you and ask about writing with your first son. Wasn't sure if it was okay to ask on the forum.

(Obviously written in a PM and I thank you for your consideration, but it's probably best answered "out in the open".)

 

Christine,

 

How much additional writing per week do you add to make it enough? I will be working with a 5th grader and am unsure as to how much to require of him. He is definitely a reluctant writer.

 

Wow, Dixie, I really wish I could answer your question! I have to admit I'm still learning though. The BALANCE that one has to find (too little / too much / just right) in all things is a tough one.

 

So, I will answer this and Linda's question with the caveat that I'm still learning and studying and using my lovely kiddoes as guinea pigs / lab rats constantly. ;)

 

First off, you have to know that I ran my 1st two boys the same way -- so I messed up with both of them; however, DS1 is starting 11th grade and DS2 8th. . .so, DS1 is obviously the one I'm most "rueful" about.

 

Secondly, you need to know that my 2 youngers are just starting school, so I'm implementing changes with them, but they aren't at the writing stage yet.

 

I was told R & S English would be enough writing. To be fair, the person who gave me that answer probably never suspected that I meant writing using ONLY R & S and not doing writing in any other subject. I think, at that stage of our homeschooling career, I was very "lock-step" in my thinking. There was English. History. Science. (etc.) Writing was obviously an "English" thing.

 

*snicker* I was so. . ."young". (Okay my first word choice was stupid / foolish / idiotic / immature. . .) ACK! Talking only of myself here! Not implying anyone else is such a thing.

 

My current plan is to have the boys write in every subject, probably at least weekly; though it may be more beneficial, like in our Sciences where we take 2 weeks to go through a module, to do the writing based on the module.

 

I guess I will be following more the WTM suggestions, outlining / summarizing our history studies every week. Same for science, etc. (for the logic stage)

 

Now, I just need to go work on DH so we can have our 3rd set of two, so when I discover the other mistakes that I'm sure to incorporate with our 2nd set I can perfect it with the 3rd. :lol:

 

Hopefully, that answers your questions. If not, I apologize. My teens are here growling about being hungry and it's hard to concentrate.

[Dixie]

Christine,

My current plan is to have the boys write in every subject, probably at least weekly; though it may be more beneficial, like in our Sciences where we take 2 weeks to go through a module, to do the writing based on the module.

 

I guess I will be following more the WTM suggestions, outlining / summarizing our history studies every week. Same for science, etc.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for your reply. It is looking like I need to implement writing across the curriculum on a weekly basis. Now to come up with a set plan in order to make sure it happens.

 

This will be one busy year with a 5th grader, 4th grader, 2nd grader, Kindergartener, and a Preschooler.

 

Thank you again for your time and help.

 

Dixie:)

[Homeschooling6]

Here's a link to the page (it's about 1/3 down)

 

 

I guess I will be following more the WTM suggestions, outlining / summarizing our history studies every week. Same for science, etc. (for the logic stage)

 

Now, I just need to go work on DH so we can have our 3rd set of two, so when I discover the other mistakes that I'm sure to incorporate with our 2nd set I can perfect it with the 3rd. :lol:

 

Hopefully, that answers your questions. If not, I apologize. My teens are here growling about being hungry and it's hard to concentrate.

 

 

Thanks. Looks like I need to read The Well Trained Mind book again;)

 

My last two are 4 & 5 so hopefully by then I'll get things right:001_huh:

[Christine]

Now to come up with a set plan in order to make sure it happens.

 

Yes, this is the trick to it. I find if I don't write things down (to check off), then I forget to do them!

 

I'm currently planning for next year, so I need to make a point to add that stuff in.