BlessedMom Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 Please tell me the pros & cons of this program. What are the various ways you use Startwrite? Is it worth the price? Especially for just one child? I would appreciate any information you think would be helpful. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I've been using it for about a year now and really like it. I can print out whatever I want my kids to write and then they know they're supposed to copy a page a day (or however much I assign). I print out a bunch of pages at once so I don't have to worry about copywork for a week or two at a time, which works well for me. I three-hole punch the pages and each child has their own binder to keep them in. The price was definitely worth it for us - and I think it was worth it just for my ds alone, because he had really poor handwriting for quite awhile. We started with HWT but for whatever reason, that didn't work well for us, and ds needed daily practice with writing. With the copywork binder, he knows he has to do a page a day, and there's less fussing about it than with other things we tried. And his handwriting has drastically improved :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelda Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 How much is it now? I've had mine since last year. I've gotten my use out of it. I think I could have gotten by without it if I had to choose between this and something else though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3lilreds in NC Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I have it and love it. I can make copywork out of whatever I want, and they offer so many different fonts, you can almost certainly find the one you want to use. We used it for printing, and now we can use it for cursive, too. I love that the font size is adjustable so you can make whatever size lines you need. It's $39.95, and well worth it, I think. ETA: We've used it for scripture memory verses, and copywork - my older dd needed copywork last year when my younger's curriculum provided it for her. This year I will be making all of their (daily) copywork with it, from whatever we're reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 I love it. I've even used it to help my son learn his times tables....and my daughter practice her 5's and 3's which she will still occasionally get backwards! It makes it so easy to do copywork! And as it has several programs, I was able to switch my son out of "simple cursive" to HWOT cursive. I do copywork this way: Tuesday--Bible verse Wednesday--Poem Thursday--SoTW Friday--A Sentence using our spelling words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlessedMom Posted August 28, 2008 Author Share Posted August 28, 2008 Thank Ladies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted August 28, 2008 Share Posted August 28, 2008 If you go to the StarWrite website, you can download a trial version. It is a full version with some letters locked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanna Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I got it used off the For Sale board, and it has come in handy! Since ds used HWT lines, the WWE workbook was no good! Except that it gave me all the narrations and dictations. So, I just use Startwrite to make a new copywork sheet! Very easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1MoreThought Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 One of my favorite things about StartWrite is that when I notice one of my kids struggling with certain letters, I can quickly print out a practice sheet or two focusing on those letters. My oldest has even asked for extra practice sheets for problem letters. Gotta love that! It's been well worth the money for us. Jeanette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraL Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I got this several years ago and never used it much. I'm sure there's a newer version now, but the one I had didn't seem that user friendly. OTOH, maybe the problem was with the user. :) After reading here how others have used it, I might just dust it off and give it a try for my younger daughter. Thanks for the ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misty Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I would be lost without StartWrite! I highly recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrappyhappymama Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I'm loving my StartWrite. I bought WWE, but not the workbook because I wanted to pull copywork and narrations from the reading we are already doing. It's been so easy, I just pull the sentence I want, and type it in and have a worksheet ready for him, in cursive. I even print blank pages with lines for the narration days. That way, he sees me writing the narrations in the same way he would. This will come in handy in a few weeks when the 4th lessons add copywork to the narration- he'll give me a summary, I'll write it down, and he'll immediately copy it. Having the lines makes it easier for me to write legibly and in the same size that he'll be copying. I also use it to make tracer sheets for my almost 4 yr old. The program includes some basic clip art, so he is enjoying his worksheet with a few lines of 3's to trace as well as three kittens or three whales to color. I wasn't sure it would live up to the hype, but it has been exactly what I hoped it would be for our family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 Is it possible to save files to a disc and print them later or must one print the files right away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright_Future Posted August 29, 2008 Share Posted August 29, 2008 I would not be without it. I use it for starting letter formation/copy with my youngest. Copywork for my oldest and to make notebook/outlining pages for him also. I make a line at the top so he can write a title, leave a large blank space in the middle for a drawing/artwork or pasting a picture and have 4-5 lines below for him to write a sentence about the topic from what he has read-like narrations. What I really love is that you can adjust the line size. For example, my son was starting to have sloppy manuscript and is learning cursive, so I made the lines smaller this past week and his writing is completely legible again. Wonderful product! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlessedMom Posted August 29, 2008 Author Share Posted August 29, 2008 Thanks everyone for the glowing reviews. Hannah, that is a great question. I would love to hear the answer as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela in TN Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Is it better to get it on disc? I'm thinking about if your hard drive crashes or if you just want to use it on another computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amanda_Jo Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I was also worried about my harddrive crashing or getting a new computer if I just downloaded from the web- but I didn't want to pay the extra $5 for the cd. Then I found it at Rainbow Resources, the cd is 31.95! Cheaper than just the download from startwrite! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misty Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 As long as you save your purchase code, you can download it again, I believe. I know this because we switched computers and I went to their website, downloaded it, put in my old code and it worked! I keep my code in my homeschool binder. If it's cheaper at Rainbow Resource though, then by all means, get it from them! And yes, you can save the pages you create. I made my daughter a workbook for FLL using StartWrite. I saved all the pages I made so that I could print it out again for other children in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvergreenEclecticAcademy Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 Is it possible to save files to a disc and print them later or must one print the files right away. Yes...you can definitely save the files for later use. I even use older files as "templates" once I get my copywork format set up the way I want it. StartWrite has been well worth the $$ I spent. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*anj* Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I think you've all convinced me. I've been on the fence about this for about a month now. I kept thinking that I wouldn't get enough use from it because I used Classically Cursive with my two older children. But now I'm thinking that I can order the Startwrite software and then just make sheets that contain the same text that CC uses. It's all public domain stuff like Bible verses and catechism questions. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alana in Canada Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 If your computer ever does lose your downloaded version, Startwrite will just send you your code--that's what they did for me, no questions asked. I was quite impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T Baer Posted September 1, 2008 Share Posted September 1, 2008 I've been using it for about a year now and really like it. I can print out whatever I want my kids to write and then they know they're supposed to copy a page a day (or however much I assign). I print out a bunch of pages at once so I don't have to worry about copywork for a week or two at a time, which works well for me. I three-hole punch the pages and each child has their own binder to keep them in. The price was definitely worth it for us - and I think it was worth it just for my ds alone, because he had really poor handwriting for quite awhile. We started with HWT but for whatever reason, that didn't work well for us, and ds needed daily practice with writing. With the copywork binder, he knows he has to do a page a day, and there's less fussing about it than with other things we tried. And his handwriting has drastically improved :) If I could figure out how (if it's possible) ti import it into my Microsoft Word documents that would be even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shukhov Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 I use StartWrite for teaching Bible stories on Sunday to my 8 year old. Great product. One caveat however: the mac version (the one I use) has several bugs. The PC version, when I used it last, didn't have these problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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