If you have used CAP Writing & Rhetoric...

[Targhee]

Can you give me an idea of how prepared your student was (past curriculum, skill level, enjoyment (or not) of writing, etc), and whether that level of preparation was necessary for their success in W&R.  Any other general comments about the program are also welcomed.

 

My son loathes writing.  We had a promising spark when he decided to join friends and write for the co-op newspaper, but after two articles he switched to drawing comics instead :glare: .  Otherwise he avoids all writing (even fill in the blank).  We tried PAL when he was in 2nd grade, but he (and I) did not enjoy it.  We then tried WWE2, and this really pushed him to the point of dislike he is at now.  Summarizing is difficult for him.  Dictation is difficult for him.  He is very visual-spatial in his thinking - he thinks almost exclusively in pictures or in music.  He can stay focused listening to a read aloud, but I think he's running a mental filmstrip of what is going on the entire time rather than hearing it as a sequence of words.  He also does not like lots of instructions (just wants to get it done and over with), and is all Ready - Fire - Aim!  He's also a 9 year old boy.  

 

Over the summer we did small selections of copy work (tears and head-butting battles ensued).  This year we did some Evan-Moor Non-fiction Writing worksheets, which he was more receptive of but still complained about.  He cries if we have to do too much writing in LOE in one day (6 phrases, 10 compound words, and maybe phonogram dictation, not really a lot of writing).  Writing has become a line in the sand for my ADHD (and possibly ODD) boy.  I have to be very selective of my battles, since we already have tension and strain over other fundamental things at home.  He really is a witty, smart, and wonderful boy, though.

 

So, I want to help him develop those summary and dictation skills, and general organization (even in his speech he jumps topics all the time).  I also need it to be interesting, and bite-sized, and not overwhelming.  Maybe W&R, with a slightly higher visual appeal, and (from what I can see in the preview) shorter dictation and copy work passages, along with fables (which he loves) could be the tool?

[OneStepAtATime]

I don't have specific suggestions for curriculum since I am still working through this myself.  However, I did want to ask if you have looked at incorporating a graphic organizer for the visual/spatial aspect?  I have a DD that is extremely visual/spatial and we are looking at using Inspiration to help with organizing thoughts.  Also plan to use it (or Kidspiration) with DS10, since he hates writing and is dysgraphic.

 

Also, perhaps it would help if he were able to speak his thoughts initially without the actual writing part?  Maybe you could scribe for him or use software like Dragonspeak paired with Ginger just to help him get thoughts out?  Then use whatever curriculum you choose to help him restructure those thoughts into more cohesive writing?

[Soror]

My son did WWE 1 and 2 and started on 3 before doing WR bk 1 and 2 (he continued with WWE3 and we finished that as well). Ds did well enough with WWE although he didn't love it, he does love stories and is generally compliant and since WWE was generally relatively quick he usually did it without much hassle. Ds hardly writes anything else otherwise, even doing WR I did plenty of scribing for him and am having him work on typing so he can do more on his own. Ds has really enjoyed WR, he loves the creativity and the variety. I would definitely try it out, there are 3 lessons from each book available as a sample. 

[Tsutsie]

I agree with soror. You will know very quickly if it will work for you son when doing the samples. 

 

My 9 year old DS loves it! Well….maybe he likes it and I love it.

[Targhee]

I will look at Inspiration/Kidspiration and graphic organizers, thank you.

 

I do scribe for him for narration or work orally, and even his newspaper articles had me typing and he and I discussing each sentence. He only has to write copywork and dictation (which right now is minimal from LOE). We haven't used dictation software, since we also struggle with organization of thoughts. He is free to type, and we use Typing Pal for keyboarding skills, but he shows no preference for it.

 

I do appreciate hearing everyone's experiences, both before using W&R and during. Thank you!

I think we may try the samples.

[Chrysalis Academy]

It's definitely interesting, bite-sized and not overhwelming.  You can do just one or two exercises a day, and each one is different - this is key for my easily-bored dd.  Definitely check out the sample, they are smart to post such a large one, it gives you a good feel for what the program is all about.

[Targhee]

It's definitely interesting, bite-sized and not overhwelming.  You can do just one or two exercises a day, and each one is different - this is key for my easily-bored dd.  Definitely check out the sample, they are smart to post such a large one, it gives you a good feel for what the program is all about.

 

About how much time do you spend doing WR each day? 

[llifeon18wheels]

I thought my almost 10 year old would take 2 days to finish a lesson but it took less than hour because it's that interesting to her. I'm a happy Mama.

 

I bought Fables as our first book because there is something about wanting to do EVERY book in a product line that I can't help from thinking is important. We will probably breeze they Fables quickly and I'm glad I have Narrative Book 1 in the house.

 

:D

[sbgrace]

We completed The Most Wonderful Writing Lessons Ever. I really loved that curriculum. It provided engaging lessons to address all the  weaknesses I was seeing in their spontaneous writing. Their narrative writing quality, and enthusiasm for writing, increased substantially. We're using those principles in the CAP assignments that allow for their own composition.

 

We had done WWE 1, 2, and part of 3. I like that we practiced summarizing with WWE. One of mine struggled with it, and WWE benefited him particularly. I don't know that it helped the other child, as he sort of naturally summarized, but he liked WWE. We never did the WWE dictation. I do dictation, but in context of spelling.

 

We've used some other writing materials, but I think only WWE and the Most Wonderful book have been useful in preparing us for CAP.

 

That said, you can just begin with the CAP book. It really starts at the beginning.

 

I scribe (writing or typing) a lot for them still. I also co-create ala BraveWriter sometimes. This allows me to emphasize certain aspects of the writing process. It's working well.

 

 

[Chrysalis Academy]

About how much time do you spend doing WR each day? 

 

It varies from day to day, with her energy level and engagement, and with what it's asking for . . . but anywhere from 10 min to a high of 30 min?  I try to space it out so that she just does one "significant" bit of writing each day - so we read the story, do discussions and exercises up to the copywork assignment one day, then we pick up with dictation and do some of the other exercises the next day, then usually there is a day or two of either summarizing, or parallel writing, or something like that.  It takes 4-5 days to get through a lesson at this pace, usually averaging 20 min I guess.

[kirstenhill]

It varies from day to day, with her energy level and engagement, and with what it's asking for . . . but anywhere from 10 min to a high of 30 min?  I try to space it out so that she just does one "significant" bit of writing each day - so we read the story, do discussions and exercises up to the copywork assignment one day, then we pick up with dictation and do some of the other exercises the next day, then usually there is a day or two of either summarizing, or parallel writing, or something like that.  It takes 4-5 days to get through a lesson at this pace, usually averaging 20 min I guess.

 

This is similar to what we are doing.  We can get through most lessons in 4 days, spending 15-20 minutes per day or sometimes less.  She can do much of it on her own. A few of the lessons are much shorter and only take 1-2 days to finish.  We're just about finished with the 2nd book.  My DD had done very little formal writing before beginning W&R.   She isn't necessarily pencil phobic but has never really liked writing a lot.  She had major spelling struggles in 2nd/3rd grade so we put our focus there instead of writing, and this year was the first year that she was really ready for a formal writing program.  Without previous experience doing narrations, she has jumped in just fine with doing the ones in W&R.  Most of the assignments are pretty easy for her -- we've just hit a few toward the end of book two that produced a few tears.  I guess I am glad it has been relatively easy, since it is building her confidence.