Country Girl Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I used WWS 1 and and half of WWS 2 with ds1, and though he didn't love the program, I saw a huge improvement in his writing and he is thanking me now that he is in high school at a private school. Since *I* love the WWS series so much because of the results we saw, I've been using it with ds2 as well. Unfortunately, I'm thinking I may need to rethink that plan. With both boys, we worked through the books much slower than the recommended pacing (which is why ds1 didn't finish WWS2....he went to private school before we finished). DS2 has finished WWS1 and is about half way through WWS2, but I'm not seeing the same progress that I saw with DS1. There has definitely been some improvement, but he doesn't seem to be internalizing the lessons that WWS is trying to teach. He is a boy of very few words, and it comes across in his writing as well. He is trying to give me what I want and improve, but it just doesn't seem to be happening. He knows the program is good (because his brother has been singing it's praises) and doesn't want to give up on it, but I'm thinking it might be time to move on. He has a very analytical mind but is also very creative (loves to build and tweak all sorts of mechanical contraptions and solve design problems). So does anyone have a suggestion of a writing program that might be a good fit for him and still prepare him as well for for high school/college writing as WWS (especially research papers, position papers etc.). We aren't interested in a creative writing program. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I've been hanging on the high school boards too long. The first two things I thought of were Sharon Watson's The Power In Your Hands & Bravewriter's Help for High School. Perhaps you are looking for something like the Lively Art of Writing (available free on the web or in a low cost reprinting with a free workbook made by a WTMer) or Writing With a Thesis. There have been lots of posts on alternatives-to-WWS. Here is one on how to use Writing With a Thesis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Ruth in NZ recommended a vintage book called Writing In English by William Henry Maxwell as an alternative to WWS. It is available on Google Books or archive.org. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 ...the Lively Art of Writing (available free on the web ... When you say "free", are you referring to the workbook? I'm not sure it can be used without the text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Girl Posted August 12, 2016 Author Share Posted August 12, 2016 I've been hanging on the high school boards too long. The first two things I thought of were Sharon Watson's The Power In Your Hands & Bravewriter's Help for High School. Do you think either of these could work for a middle grade student? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 When you say "free", are you referring to the workbook? I'm not sure it can be used without the text. Several years ago, I believe I found it free on the web (google books or the like). I don't see it now, though. Hrm. Sorry about that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 Do you think either of these could work for a middle grade student? I'm not sure. You might want to either follow a recent thread on the high school board called "Questions about The Power In Your Hands" or start your own. More people there have used these resources. (I haven't found anything that works well for my kids except for 3rd-5th grade level materials.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted August 12, 2016 Share Posted August 12, 2016 I'm not sure. You might want to either follow a recent thread on the high school board called "Questions about The Power In Your Hands" or start your own. More people there have used these resources. (I haven't found anything that works well for my kids except for 3rd-5th grade level materials.) The author of Power in Your Hand is the author of Jump In. I've been pleased with that for middle school. http://www.christianbook.com/jump-in-kit-2-volumes/sharon-watson/pd/437014?product_redirect=1&Ntt=437014&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP%7CM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Girl Posted August 14, 2016 Author Share Posted August 14, 2016 Thanks for the feedback and suggestions. I'm liking the looks of the Power in Your Hands books, but not sure if he'd be ready. I'll start a separate thread to ask about that specifically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Tick Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Does he just need help adding interest to sentences and paragraphs? Maybe Killgallon book would help for that and you could come back to WWS after a few weeks? Those books (and there are variations for elementary, middle and high school) offer a variety of model sentences from popular books and then have the student manipulate them and use them as models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I love Writing in English (Maxwell)--which you can download free online--but I don't think that is what you are looking for regarding this kid. He sounds like the type that thrives with IEW. I would do SWI-B or maybe level C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 My oldest did WWS 1, IEW SWI Level B, WWS 2 first half and gave up. I let him do Lively Art of Writing. He didn't produce much with LAoW. Then he did a local writing class, which unfortunately was toooooooo easy and put him several years back. Now he is turning 14 in less than 3 months and is enrolled in Wilson Hill Academy Fundamentals of Expository Writing. I am sure it will be the right level. He learned a lot from WWS 1 followed by IEW Level B. However, WWS 2 lessons became harder and longer and we had to stop. With my youngest, we tried WWS 1 for a week and he asked to stop. He went on to Jump In, which he liked a lot but didn't improve much. Then he joined a group of kids for IEW Level B taught by my friend at her house. He learned a TON! Now he is enrolled for Potter's School Journey Through Narnia. For writing, I find outsourced classes are necessary, though my oldest did very well with WWS 1 by mostly self teaching. I am very pleased with it; but obviously, WWS is not for everybody, as you and I found out with our own kids. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JadeOrchidSong Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 RootAnn, I miss your green avatar. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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