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Help with writing choices. Ds hates IEW.


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Ds10.8 is not liking his IEW SWI B class he is taking with 6 other children from a very experienced mom fried of mine. He did SWI A well with her two years ago, but he is really upset about all the requirements to incorporate in each paragraph. He tried WWS 1 last fall but didn't like it. So we switched to Jump In! and he liked it well enough.

Ds is a natural writer with good varied sentences and voices. I am looking for something that can work well for him.

I have Lively Art of Writing, but I want to wait a little for him to use it.

What are some good options for this child?

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Ds10.8 is not liking his IEW SWI B class he is taking with 6 other children from a very experienced mom fried of mine. He did SWI A well with her two years ago, but he is really upset about all the requirements to incorporate in each paragraph. He tried WWS 1 last fall but didn't like it. So we switched to Jump In! and he liked it well enough.

Ds is a natural writer with good varied sentences and voices. I am looking for something that can work well for him.

I have Lively Art of Writing, but I want to wait a little for him to use it.

What are some good options for this child?

Why don't you do the Rod and Staff writing exercises (which I noticed you use for grammar) and then do some more of the same "type" related to what you are learning. So, do the descriptive writing lesson (and related exercises and assigned paragraphs) then assign a descriptive paragraph for history and then for science. The longer I've taught my kids writing (and we use IEW with my boys) the more I realize that SWB was right when she said they are really good writing lessons.

 

If you want more open and go--I liked Write Source (really cheap on Amazon) for my natural writer.

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He finished Level A two years ago and did very well. He knows what he is supposed to do. He is just upset about having to use six sentence openers for each of the four paragraphs which only have six sentences each that are due early next week. The classes are held every other week. He is a kid who doesn't like repetition and is easily bored. IEW may just not be the right fit for this kid.

His older brother does IEW now too at a local class and thrives with the checklist. He is also a very good writer.

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Does SWB mean R&S English writing lessons or IEW writing lessons? I assume she refers to Rod and Staff? Have you used R&S English with writing?

She has recommended both. In one of the WTM editions she recommended doing the R&S English writing lessons and then writing across the curriculum. She also recommends IEW as an alternative.

 

I have used R&S Writing for different children at different times. I've never used it as my only resource, but for my second dd we use it to learn the structure of different types of writing and then she mainly does Tapestry of Grace assignments (although she's used some WWS and Write Source at times, too). The more I use R&S, though (and really the more I see how other curriculum teach writing) the more I realize that R&S covers it well.

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Can you be more flexible about which dress ups he "must" include?

 

I'm a firm believer in tweaking the programs we use. IEW has been a terrific fit my son, but only because we don't stick to every rule, every time. The dress ups and requirements are supposed to help tease out better writing, not stifle the creative process. Perhaps he's beyond the point that he needs them, and can instead concentrate more on just the bigger picture assignment?

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He told me the teacher said to try to use as many as he could. So that is better. I told him to use 3 out of 6 sentence openers for each paragraph instead. We will continue with the class. It's good to know that the teacher is flexible. Ds12 took the same level with the same teacher two years ago and did everything religiously. Ds10 needs more room for freedom.

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