What writing program for a 3rd grader? IEW? Writing with Ease?

[Lolainthecola]

I need some help deciding what to do here.  Background: homeschooled five, now down to my youngest three.  I've been using CHC's program with a few tweaks, and we had a great year (finished by mid-April, no less, which is a success in my book).  My son seemed to enjoy his work, too. But I've been working as an evaluator for a well-known achievement test used by schools, and, when I see the level of writing expected from 3rd graders, I realize that my rising 3rd grader isn't there.  We haven't focused on writing at all.  I feel like I need to hardcore stream-line my curricula so we can work on writing (and Latin, which was hit or miss this year.)  But, I know myself.  I just can't handle complex writing programs (Classical Writing would be an example of something that I really wanted to work but couldn't apply in reality; there have been many, many others.)

 

So, all I hear about is how great IEW is.  But it looks complicated!  And possibly joy-killing for the child.  Is it?  I have Writing with Ease, which I think I could do, but I wonder if it is structured enough?  I believe I am overthinking this....Help!

 

Laurie

 

 

[Meadowlark]

No advice, but I'm following because I have a 3rd grader that I think is rather behind too.  He did EIW last year, and I didn't care for it at all. He also didn't retain anything from it. This year we're doing WWE and although I like aspects of it, I'm just a little nervous as to where it will lead us, not being familiar with the methadology (although I've listened to the SWB lectures). For my up and coming 3rd grader, I think I'll continue with WWE but add in a more structured program (BJU?) so I feel like he's just writing more.

[EKT]

I LOVE WWE! My third grader is using it now and we have used it all the way through (since 1st). I've been really, really happy with my daughter's progress, and I love that WWE is open-and-go. And my daughter loves it, too. (She loves her current level, where she gets to read all the passages herself.) I find it clear, straightforward, and effective. The best part is that I find my daughter is really internalizing the skills of summarizing and narrating. More and more, it's all coming naturally to her and I like the mix of copywork, narration and dictation; I definitely plan to continue with SWB's writing materials as we go. Good luck!  

[Guest]

Don't compare to what ps kids are doing. You are laying a long term foundation for excellence, not churned out drivel. If CHC is working and you have compliant kids with it, then stay the course.

FWIW, as much as I love SWB, WWE was a major joy killer here.

 

 

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[MotherOfBoys]

I have a rising 3rd grader next year too. We have used wwe 1-3. He's got a great memory so he became bore so fast. We like whole stories too. We didn't know this till we got started though. I was looking into CAP fable but settled with learning to write book reports till I find something else. So I will be listening to what others suggest.

[sunshineslp]

I had considered for my 3rd grader: WWE, ELTL, or IEW bible Heros.

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[SilverMoon]

My rising third grader will use Treasured Conversations. I haven't read too far into it, but it looks fairly open and go.

[sunshineslp]

I read through TC and remembered thinking it was too advanced for my 3rd grader... But I do love it!

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[Vintage81]

We're currently in the middle of IEW Bible Heroes for my 2nd grade daughter. We started the curriculum really late in our school year, but the curriculum we were using was not working at all. My daughter enjoys writing on her own, but she didn't like to do writing during our school time.

 

I read a lot of good things about IEW, so I contacted them because their website was kind of confusing (I wasn't sure where to start or what path to take). They responded with lots of good information and gave me some ideas of where to start. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to invest in the TWSS, but they informed me that I could do Bible Heroes without it. So, I decided to test it and see if we liked their approach.

 

We just finished lesson 12, doing one lesson per week, and things are going really well. We've been working through each lesson together and she doesn't complain anymore! She enjoys the games and is learning a lot. After today's lesson I could tell that she was really proud of her writing, so I feel like we're on the right path now.

 

For 3rd grade we'll finish Bible Heroes, then move into SWI-A. Assuming that goes well, we'll either move to SICC-A or a Level A theme-based book.

 

I'm still new to IEW, but I can tell you that they have excellent customer service. If you are confused or have questions, they'll be able to steer you in the right direction.