Question about Essentials in Writing....

[foxbridgeacademy]

I'm thinking EIW (Essentials in Writing 8 or 9) will work for DS but I am confused by the amount of time it is supposed to take.  The website lists around 65 lessons but that it will take about 150 hours to complete. Okay, but on a couple reviews I read the parents say it only takes about 1/2 hour for each lesson?  Am I misunderstanding something?  I think 150 hours for a 1/2 credit English is a bit excessive (we are also going to be doing Literature for the other 1/2 credit). But if it's only around 30 minutes per lesson that's not enough IMO.  Any help or insight would be appreciated.  

[Hilltopmom]

Some are longer than others. For example, one may be an intro to a new essay type, while one may just be writing your outline or editing tips. Each lesson gives an estimated "number of class periods to complete"... Some are a few days worth of stuff, some one day.

There is grammar & sentence structure review in some of the books too, which you don't need to use.

It's just a writing curriculum though, so not a full English credit, we add literature.

But, I don't count hours for different subjects, so I can't help you with specific time amounts. 30-45 min is about right for watching the lesson & doing that section of the assignment. (Each essay broken down into multiple steps). My son & a friend are doing it together, so it takes them longer with chit chatting.

[foxbridgeacademy]

Thank you. I will be adding a Literature component as well so if EIW actually takes 150 hours to complete, that's too much.  

[Hilltopmom]

You can skip lessons as needed too, not doing the grammar, or sentence structure, just the essays. Or, the final chunk of the book is a research report that you could do or not.

 

I would say 150 is more than it would take to do with one child. Their time estimate are for class's periods.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Hilltopmom

[foxbridgeacademy]

You can skip lessons as needed too, not doing the grammar, or sentence structure, just the essays. Or, the final chunk of the book is a research report that you could do or not.

 

I would say 150 is more than it would take to do with one child. Their time estimate are for class's periods.

Okay, that makes a bit more sense.  As for skipping, no he needs that stuff.  I guess I'll just have to buy it and we'll see how it goes. Thanks!

[MerryAtHope]

I'm thinking EIW (Essentials in Writing 8 or 9) will work for DS but I am confused by the amount of time it is supposed to take.  The website lists around 65 lessons but that it will take about 150 hours to complete. Okay, but on a couple reviews I read the parents say it only takes about 1/2 hour for each lesson?  Am I misunderstanding something?  I think 150 hours for a 1/2 credit English is a bit excessive (we are also going to be doing Literature for the other 1/2 credit). But if it's only around 30 minutes per lesson that's not enough IMO.  Any help or insight would be appreciated.  

 

I always schedule 30 minutes of writing per day and 30 minutes for lit. Some lessons don't take long (the beginning lessons when they are working on clauses and sentences for example), while others might take a couple of weeks (working on an essay or a research project)--so every lesson isn't paced the same, if that makes sense. I just have my kids get as much done as they can in the time we have (I've never worried if they finished all of the lessons--we often have another writing project or two that I let take the place of the Essentials research paper or one of the other papers). I think it's a perfect fit for a lit and composition type of credit, because it's easy to adjust the time, add in more drafts as needed, etc...