twinkletoesmomma Posted February 6, 2017 Share Posted February 6, 2017 I am looking into these two writing series, and I was wondering how they compare--mostly the books 5-8 and WWS 2 and 3. Do they teach similar concepts? At a quick glance, it seems like WWS is more traditional academic/technical writing and W&R uses more stories (fiction and non fiction), but that could be just derived from the samples I happened to look at. I am very familiar with WWS 1 and even a little of WWS2 as my oldest son went through those. I also use a lot of SWB recommendations for writing across the curriculum, but I know nothing about W&S other than what a quick search brought up. Is W&S better for teaching critical thinking and WWS better for foundational writing structure? If a child was ready for WWS2, what would the corresponding level of W&R be? Or do they not line up at all? It seems like a lot of people like W&R for the first 3 books, but I can't find many reviews of it in the later books (I understand it is newer, but was hoping to find some!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freelylearned Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 I can't answer any questions about WWS because I've never used it, but we are on book 6 of W&R. In the first three books of W&R, the major writing focus is on narrative writing. From books 4 on, the focus is on essays: expository, persuasive, compare/contrast, and so on. So far, we have enjoyed every single book. Each book gets progressively more challenging, but my son has kept up just fine. Every single lesson of W&R starts with a literary selection as you noticed. Some of the writing in every lesson has to do with the story at the beginning. Students either have to write about the story or use the story as a model for their writing. If your student has a good foundation in writing, they could probably jump into one of the books for their corresponding grade level in W&R. Books 1 and 2 are for grades 3 or 4, books 3 and 4 are for grades 4 or 5, books 5 and 6 are for grades 5 or 6 and so forth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoesmomma Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 Thank you for your response. Are the students writing any technical or academic paragraphs? in WWS, I remember them writing the chronological steps in a volcano eruption or something. Are there any assignments like that with science or history topics? Both these curriculums look great, but I can't decide what is the best fit for each of my 3 kiddos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freelylearned Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 There is a lot of writing about history, whether it is about a specific even or about a biography of a certain person. In every single lesson, there is an assignment to narrate the initial story either through an oral narration, written narration, or outline. There is a lot of practice retelling stories chronologically and I think a lot of the direct instruction on how to do that happened in the first couple of books (which I don't have on hand because they are on loan). So far, there has been no writing about science topics, though my son seems to keep up well writing about science since the types of writing he is practicing (expository, persuasive, summaries, etc...) apply well across the curriculum. Deciding between two really good options is always hard! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoesmomma Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Thank you! Is there anyone who has used both curriculum that want to chime in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoesmomma Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Is the scope and sequence similar by the end of both the series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoesmomma Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Yes, I have looked extensively at both, but I am having trouble navigating differences since it seems like the approach is similar, yet very different. lol I know WWS works since I used level 1 and half of 2 with my oldest. I just think my daughter will enjoy W&R better, but I want to make sure it'll prepare her as well as WWS would. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkletoesmomma Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 I just saw the pdf where SWB recommends W&R 7,8,9 after WWS 3. So, I guess these are more advanced than what is discussed in WWS. Interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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