Chrysalis Academy Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 In the interests of fairness (because I've kinda ragged on WWS here), I wanted to report that we are now, in our convoluted way, finally getting around to doing the Poetry section of WWS 1 (weeks 32-34) and we love it! I can't even recall exactly why we didn't do it the first time through - I think we were just burned out on WWS by the end of 5th grade. And then we tried a bunch of other things (including WWS2) and settled on writing across the curriculum for 6th grade. But we hadn't done any analyzing/writing about poetry yet (though we read it a lot), and I didn't really have any clue how to teach that independently, so I pulled it out and gave it a go. And Shannon loves it! We just finished analyzing The Bells, and she is totally blown away, and eager to analyze more poems, and to write some of her own. And I'm so grateful for the scriptedness of it, because poetry is something I"m not at all confident in teaching. It does make me wonder if the whole thing would have been more enjoyable if we'd waited till 6th grade to do it. Who knows, now, and I'm not sorry about our path, but it's just more of a reinforcement to my firmly held belief that WWS is not essentially a 5th grade writing program - not that some kids can't do it successfully at that age, mine did - but that it is really essentially a program more appropriate for more mature, solidly logic-stage kids, rather than those who are still transitioning. I remember thinking while we were using it (and reading about people whose older kids, 8th and 9th grade even, were using it successfully) that maybe we were doing it too soon for some intangible, maturity based reason. I now think I was right. Just because a kid can do something early doesn't mean they should, and they may get a lot more out of it later when their maturity level is higher. I'm not trying to do a 180 and say you can/should do WWS with every kid. Just an interesting set of observations. With my next child, I will definitely hold off on WWS till 6th at the earliest (if I do use it at all). But, the poetry section is great, and the poetry lessons in WWS2 look great, too. We're really enjoying our impromptu poetry unit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I bought WWS last year during the sale, but haven't had a chance to read through it. Good to know about the poetry section, we just may take a look today. I need scripts for poetry, can't do it on my own, never really enjoyed poetry, but DD does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My3girls Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 We're using WWS1 in 6th. Dd is adequately challenged and is learning. I know it's not considered a creative writing course, but it is definitely stretching her in descriptions, metaphors/similes, and voice. She is an excellent writer, but extremely analytical with no fluff, kind of like her mom. Lol. We are a little behind as some of the lessons have taken more than a day. We haven't gotten to poetry yet, but it's good to know it's something to look forward to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 My ds11 loved the poetry section too :D Glad you guys are enjoying it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Oh, and you can find some wonderful readings of the poems from WWS on youtube. Really great addition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 And of course, for Charge of the Light Brigade, you need to watch The Blind Side...yes, that was an afternoon for us ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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