Struggling with WWE 1

[Lovemygorgeousboys]

My first grader is working through wwe 1 and we are having serious issues with the narrations. Once I've read it aloud to him, I would be lucky if he could correctly answer more than three questions. If he can't answer the question, I will reread the one or two sentence that contain the answer. He will generally answer correctly after that, but then I am doing that for all the remaining questions. If he knows the answer he will respond with beautiful full sentences, but sometimes I feel like the language in the passages are so descriptive and detailed that he loses sight of the main points.

 

Any suggestions? Should I take a break and try again when he's older? Can I get him to read the passages himself? His comprehension is great if he is doing the reading, but is the point to practice comprehension from listening too?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[El...]

Have you heard Susan's talk on teaching writing?  It's really, really helpful.  I think it brought my expectations back down to reality and gave me hope. 

 

DD wasn't what I'd call "good" at doing the narrations until early second grade.  It's just a really hard skill.  I'm happy with how she's doing now, though, in WWE4.

[Lovemygorgeousboys]

No I haven't listened to her talk, you don't have a link do you? Or the title of the talk?

 

Thank you!!

[mamaraby]

I'm on my third and final swing through WWE and this time I have postponed WWE1 until half way through first grade, but depending on how dd was doing I had considered pushing it off a full year. The bonus there being I don't really need to fill in the gap between WWE4 and WWS1.

 

It is not abnormal to have to go back and reread a passage to pick up the detail. Heck, as an adult even I have to go back and reread something sometimes.

 

There are some videos on the WTM Press' YouTube channel you might find helpful, but the audio elroisees mentions is on the WTM Press website under audio lectures. You can buy the CD or the MP3. I have both the one for Grammar and Logic stage and have found both of them very helpfuk.

[ScoutTN]

We have jumped in with WWE 2 in 2nd with both kids and been fine.

In 1st, I just had them "tell back" in less formal ways, from picture books, puppet shows, field trips etc. 

 

 

eta: SWB's lectures on teaching writing are SO helpful!

Edited January 13, 2017 by ScoutTN

[rainbowmama]

I think this is the lecture others reference: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-elementary-grades-mp3/

[wendyroo]

I think this is the lecture others reference: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-elementary-grades-mp3/

 

I also found the Middle School and High School lectures really interesting even though my oldest is only in 2nd.  Listening to all of them really let me see the big picture writing goals.

 

Something else you might want to look at is SWB's alternative progressions for writing:

Writing With Ease and Writing With Skill: Susan’s Updated Recommendations

 

She shows two progressions that don't even start WWE1 until 2nd grade.

 

Wendy

[El...]

I think this is the lecture others reference: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/a-plan-for-teaching-writing-focus-on-the-elementary-grades-mp3/

Yes, and this one, too!  https://welltrainedmind.com/p/writing-without-fear/

[PhotoGal]

I found that WWE was great for listening skills. It helped my oldest immensely in that area. I did break it down for him when we started, so I would read just a paragraph at a time and ask what he was picturing for that. If he was having a hard time, we would discuss it. For example, I remember one Pinocchio passage (I think? This was a while ago) where there was something like a painting of an ocean, but he thought there actually was an ocean - something like that. We had to break it up and discuss it and figure out what was really going on. Slowly I could read longer passages until eventually I would read the whole thing and he could handle it. 

[blondeviolin]

Put it off for a bit until you don't wanna bash your head in when you do it.

[KristaJ]

 I know it is frustrating for me when the kids can’t answer the questions too, but your child is young and is still building the skills needed.  If he enjoys the stories, I’d continue reading them aloud, but lower your expectations for the questions.  Last year my first grader struggled with it a little too, but this year (2^nd grade) she’s able to write beautiful narrations with a ton of detail.  They still aren’t spelled correctly and we’re working on grammar, but I’m impressed with her recall and ability to put it into words. 

[kalusignan]

I waited to start WWE 1 with my oldest dd until 2nd grade. No regrets! And, I plan on the same for my younger dd. In first grade we were so focused on learning to read and even working on the mechanics of writing and proper letter formation, that I really didn't even feel the need to start WWE until later.

[kiwik]

I read them the questions first a few times. But waiting a year is quite common. If you feel like that would put you behind a child who is ready can easily combine days so you can do 1 and part of 2 in second grade.

[Lovemygorgeousboys]

Thank you for all your suggestions. I will absolutely listen to those talks. I guess he is so advanced in other areas I just expect he will get grade level work easily. I think we will have a little break, at the moment when I get out the book he moans. He loves the writing section, but not the stories. After a short break I'll just reassess my expectations, and try going slower. He has great comprehension with the story of the world books, he reads them himself, can answer all the questions and will do beautiful narrations from that, so there's lots of positives from that. We will just continue to work on those very important listening skills. Thank you again for the advice!!!