MyLife Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Hello All! I'm a big time planner, and I'm already researching curriculum for next school year. Anyway, next school year my oldest will be 8. Am I missing anything from Language Arts? Phonics and Reading, Spelling, Grammar, Writing, Cursive Penmanship, Literature Also, I am using WWE this year. I have the Complete Writer and choose my own excerpts for copywork and narration from the Bible, our History cards, read alouds. I really like WWE and would gladly use it again next year; however, I noticed that IEW has an ancients writing program. So, I have a couple of questions about IEW. Do I have to buy those expensive DVDs in order to teach IEW? Are the TMs needed? Are WWE and IEW similar? I know nothing about IEW and have not even seen it IRL. :willy_nilly: :willy_nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 By 8, phonics and reading might be overkill for some children, or yours may still need it. However if they still need phonics work, consider pausing spelling? Language Arts could also include Oration or Recitation. Poetry memorization? If WWE is working well for you, don't worry about whether another writing program might be prettier. Stick with what's working, there's no need to jump ship. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 I sometimes include vocabulary, but when I do I often couple it with another subject. The MCT trilogies list vocabulary words, for example, to couple vocab with lit. We have used the vocab books (vocab with classical roots or wordly wise) as the source of our spelling list. When we were in the phonics phase, we did spelling and phonics together (after reading the _at words, we would spell them). We don't always do vocab, and sometimes we use a regular spelling and then take breaks from it to do vocabulary - it depends on what the student needs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) Quote Edited Thursday at 01:00 AM by SilverMoon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLife Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 How do you know a child is ready to end phonics instruction? My 7 year old is on a first grade reading level, and he reads fluently at that level. However, he had to work really hard to learn to read. So, I'm not really sure he would be ready to drop phonics next year. I have not done any formal vocabulary with him because he has a huge expressive vocabulary and naturally picks up on vocabulary from the books we read. He has already learned cursive. So, I guess I could drop cursive instruction and just have him complete his copywork in cursive. Not much appeals to me about IEW except that it has some themed writing books. Otherwise, it feels overwhelming to me. I'm not sure why I was even looking at IEW because I can make WWE themed to go along with our Bible, history, and science. I over analyze. I am glad I started this thread, though. You ladies have definitely helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) . Edited Thursday at 01:00 AM by SilverMoon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLife Posted November 26, 2016 Author Share Posted November 26, 2016 SilverMoon, you are so helpful.Thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted November 27, 2016 Share Posted November 27, 2016 How do you know a child is ready to end phonics instruction? My 7 year old is on a first grade reading level, and he reads fluently at that level. However, he had to work really hard to learn to read. So, I'm not really sure he would be ready to drop phonics next year. I have not done any formal vocabulary with him because he has a huge expressive vocabulary and naturally picks up on vocabulary from the books we read. He has already learned cursive. So, I guess I could drop cursive instruction and just have him complete his copywork in cursive. Not much appeals to me about IEW except that it has some themed writing books. Otherwise, it feels overwhelming to me. I'm not sure why I was even looking at IEW because I can make WWE themed to go along with our Bible, history, and science. I over analyze. I am glad I started this thread, though. You ladies have definitely helped! If he is reading at his age level, then you could drop phonics and do spelling. I'm not impressed with ABeka's spelling, although at this age it's fine. Spelling by Sound and Structure (Rod and Staff) is more comprehensive, IMHO, beginning with the fourth grade book. Vocabulary is usually for older children so I would not have expected you to be doing a formal vocabulary yet. Yes, he could do his copywork in cursive. If you're doing WWE, there's no reason to also do IEW. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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