mmasc Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Would combining BJU English 5 with IEW be overkill? If not, how could I incorporate both? I think DS needs experience with the things in BJU (letters, reports, etc), but I also think IEW would help him. He completed IEW US History this year, and even though I saw progress, he seemed to struggle a bit (and didn't enjoy it much). I think the course taught on DVD might be a better fit than the themed units, but I'm not sure. He does well with grammar, and BJU English looks like it would be a good fit, but I'm not sure about the writing assignments in it. I looked at Wordsmith Apprentice because I think he'd like it, but it didn't seem to be a stand alone product. Would it be a good supplement to BJU instead of IEW? I'm just not sure where to go with his writing. It's not his favorite subject, at all. Well, I feel like I'm rambling now. Help if you can! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 We combined them. We've used BJU English from 1st through 6th grades, and when my kids were in 5th & 3rd grades I added IEW SWI A. While BJU teaches different types of writing, like letters, narratives, etc., IEW teaches the mechanics of how to write. I tried to be flexible with the assignments, and when my kids had a writing assignment for BJU I'd either skip IEW or try to schedule it to be just watching a video lesson or making a keyword outline, so that they weren't bombarded with multiple heavy writing assignments at the same time. But I did try to ensure that they were doing some type of writing almost every day of our school year. I also had my kids add the dress ups and other techniques from IEW, where applicable, to their BJU writing assignments during the revising process. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 We combined them. We've used BJU English from 1st through 6th grades, and when my kids were in 5th & 3rd grades I added IEW SWI A. While BJU teaches different types of writing, like letters, narratives, etc., IEW teaches the mechanics of how to write. I tried to be flexible with the assignments, and when my kids had a writing assignment for BJU I'd either skip IEW or try to schedule it to be just watching a video lesson or making a keyword outline, so that they weren't bombarded with multiple heavy writing assignments at the same time. But I did try to ensure that they were doing some type of writing almost every day of our school year. I also had my kids add the dress ups and other techniques from IEW, where applicable, to their BJU writing assignments during the revising process.Thank you for this response! It's very helpful. I've only looked at the online samples of BJU and it looks like writing is only every other chapter. Do you mind telling me approx. how long a chapter takes? Did you do IEW during those chapters also?I don't want to overload us, but this seems like a good combo for DS so I'm trying to figure out if it can work. Thank you for your help! Oh, and does BJU diagram throughout the level 5 book? Did you use the TM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted May 19, 2015 Share Posted May 19, 2015 Do you mind telling me approx. how long a chapter takes? Did you do IEW during those chapters also?I don't want to overload us, but this seems like a good combo for DS so I'm trying to figure out if it can work. Thank you for your help! Oh, and does BJU diagram throughout the level 5 book? Did you use the TM? Each chapter has a total of 10 lessons plus a test. The 9th lesson is a chapter review, and the 10th lesson is a cumulative review. There are 16 chapters total, and they do alternate between grammar and writing. In the writing chapters, some lessons are considered "writing days" and there is no actual page in the student workbook, but the appropriate lesson # is skipped in the sequence of workbook pages. The grammar chapters do contain diagramming, but it's pretty gentle. My DS did BJU English through 6th grade, then we switched to Analytical Grammar for 7th, and AG is very rigorous compared to BJU. But I do feel that he got a very good foundation in grammar, including diagramming, from BJU. The BJU diagramming includes subject, verb, direct object, predicate adjective, predicate noun, adjectives, articles, and adverbs. The 5th grade book does cover prepositions, but I don't remember them diagramming prepositions in 5th. Not every grammar chapter contains diagramming. I have purchased the TM in the past, but haven't the past couple of years. I rarely used it. Just FYI - the format of BJU English changes completely in 7th grade, and becomes much more teacher-dependant. It looked as though it would work very well in a classroom setting, but not as much for homeschool (my opinion). Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 It helps a lot! Thank you so much for the time spent on your detailed response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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