help me think about whether to do a WWS online class

[EmilyGF]

I've been thinking about enrolling my ds11 in an online WWS class for a while, but I'm having a hard time pressing "buy."

 

Could you help me think this through?

 

Ds11 was 4 when he started talking and incomprehensible until about 6, so language hasn't come "naturally" to him. That said, he reads very well, including adult texts, and rarely forgets anything he reads. A year go, we switched to a nearly complete Charlotte Mason style. He now narrates every reading and writes a written narration daily. When he began written narration in September, it was a tear-filled process. He's done some IEW this year, but mainly has improved via written narration. It is hard to believe that the same kid wrote the early narrations and the recent ones, his improvement has been so vast.

 

Part of me wants to continue to follow the CM trajectory. Yet I know he'll write a lot more if he does the online class. I think non-mom deadlines would be good for him. But online classes can be time consuming and I wonder how much it would eat into our other subjects. I would still want him to do written narrations... I have seen him grow so much this year in his composition that I expect he will continue to grow even without more structured writing. We could do WWS without an online class, but I think he'd get better feed-back, and learn better to critique his writing, with another set of eyes.

 

I guess another option would be to talk with an English major (have a number of friends who majored in English) about critiquing a writing assignment once a month or so.

 

Of course, money is a consideration, too. Sigh. We can afford it, but it all adds up!

 

Finally, writing isn't my expertise. 

 

Thoughts?

 

Emily

 

 

[fourisenough]

I can't really say whether it would be right for your child, but my daughter has thoroughly enjoyed her Expository Writing 1 class this year. Not once has she balked about doing the work, logging into class, or engaging with the other students and the teacher for two hours per week. It has been the best money I've ever spent on an outsourced class.

 

Her writing skills have progressed incrementally over the year, but her attitude toward writing has really been the surprise win! She came into the class with reasonably good skills, but we just didn't write enough. This year she has just begun writing as a matter of course; there is no emotion tied to it, no dragging-of-the-feet, and no conflict between her and me. In fact, other than an occasional e-mail to the teacher if she needed to miss class, I have had zero involvement. She is 100% independent with it. I fill her planner either weekly or bi-weekly with the subjects I'm teaching her, then she adds a daily entry for WWS specific to what has been assigned for the week. It's her baby.

 

I'm not sure if this info about our experience with the online class is helpful to you, but I just wanted to share what it looks like in our house. When does he turn 12? What 'grade' will he be in next year? Answers to those questions only matter to the extent that next year's writing course fits into your overall plan for his writing development through the middle school/high school years. I really wanted DD to have time to finish WWS 1-3 before transitioning to high school. Like her older sisters, she'll likely attend PS for 9-12th.

[EmilyGF]

Thanks, Four. That was really helpful. 

 

:-)

[The Governess]

My dd11 took Expository Writing 1 this year also. I agree with Four that her attitude about writing has improved a lot. She feels more competent and writing is no longer a dreaded assignment. WWS breaks down the steps very well, so the process no longer feels daunting to her.

[EmilyGF]

OK, I did it. I pressed buy and enrolled DS11 in WWS 1 after bit of push-back about a mommy-deadline. Come on, kiddo. :-P

 

Emily

[fourisenough]

OK, I did it. I pressed buy and enrolled DS11 in WWS 1 after bit of push-back about a mommy-deadline. Come on, kiddo. :-P

 

Emily

Good for you! Just had a heart-warming conversation with DD11 on the way home from ballet tonight. She is wistful that expository writing 1 is ending next week. It has been so good for her development AND so much fun!

 

Today I read an assignment she had submitted a few weeks ago to a live co-op class (it came home, graded, today). I was SHOCKED at how well-written it was. I remember thinking the day she wrote it that I should probably check it because she banged it out so fast, but I never had a chance to read it before she handed it in. She was asked to write a newspaper article about a scene in a book, then she had to write the same article with a different bias. It was brilliant. And i think she did it in less than 20 minutes. I'm pretty sure it's taken me longer than that to peck this message out on my phone...😜 Anyway, this is all to say that I suspect you will be very happy with your decision this time next year!