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I'm having a hard time deciding on a writing program for my upcoming 6 th grader. He used Bob Jones English 5 last year, it was okay. He loved the poetry section! He has a hard time with getting his paragraphs to flow. His sentences don't flow well.  He has used WWE 1-2 in the past and he hated it. The dictation part was hard for him. He struggles with spelling so that was part of the issue. I thought about WWS but I'm not sure he is ready for it. I'm really not sure what to go with! There are so many different programs it's overwhelming. I have also found that I'm terrible at trying to teach writing. I did fine in high school but struggled in college. I would not say he doesn't like to write because he has a notebook that he writes in just for fun. He likes to come up with stories. He likes to design BattleBots and write about them. I read these stories but I don't correct anything because I don't want to make it not fun for him. I am considering using easy grammar, so I'm looking for just a writing program. That is not set in stone though. I have looked at IEW and it looks intimidating and expensive. I hate to spend that much and it not be a good fit. Thank you for reading. Hopefully I am making sense. 

 

 

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I would expect most 11yo children to "have a hard time getting his paragraphs to flow." 🙂

I have always liked the *original* Writing Strands.

You could consider doing a R&S English text, which has everything except spelling and literature. If you require him to do all of the assignments on paper (instead of, say, doing the grammar work orally) he'll get a boatload of writing, because *everything* counts as writing.

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I got my quote button to work!         That's what I'm afraid of! I feel like WWE and WWS are great but I don't want it to be torture for him and me! So we probably won't go with WWS! I looked at CAP a couple years ago, I'll check it out again. 

9 hours ago, Paradox5 said:

CAP Writing & Rhetoric: Fable is what I am using with all of mine (15, 14, and almost 11). It is not babyish at all for the older guys or too hard for my daughter. 

School writing and fun writing are 2 very different beasts. 

If he hated WWE, WWS will drive him up the wall. 

 

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My thought would be old-version Writing Strands as well, starting with the lowest level within his age range (I think that'd be book 3).  And I say this, staring at the book on my shelf, knowing it didn't work for either of my kids. 😄  But it sounds perfect for yours.  I'd also consider Moving Beyond The Page lit units.  We bought quite a few when my oldest was about that age and they did wonders for breaking down literary elements and writing techniques for him. 

My other thought would be to increase your own toolbox.  Brave Writer does some amazing podcasts with meat in them to make me think.  My youngest wouldn't do well on her program, but usually after a 45 minute podcast I have enough to chew on so that I can tailor his writing lessons in a better way for him.  IEW also has podcasts and articles in the resource section on their site.  The more different tools you have, the more you can be involved without being overwhelmed yourself. 

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14 minutes ago, HomeAgain said:

My thought would be old-version Writing Strands as well, starting with the lowest level within his age range (I think that'd be book 3).  And I say this, staring at the book on my shelf, knowing it didn't work for either of my kids. 😄  But it sounds perfect for yours.  I'd also consider Moving Beyond The Page lit units.  We bought quite a few when my oldest was about that age and they did wonders for breaking down literary elements and writing techniques for him. 

My other thought would be to increase your own toolbox.  Brave Writer does some amazing podcasts with meat in them to make me think.  My youngest wouldn't do well on her program, but usually after a 45 minute podcast I have enough to chew on so that I can tailor his writing lessons in a better way for him.  IEW also has podcasts and articles in the resource section on their site.  The more different tools you have, the more you can be involved without being overwhelmed yourself. 

Where can I find the old Writing Strands? I'm not sure what it looks like. Does it explain to me what to do? I need a lot of hand holding! I'm going to look at Moving Beyond the Page! I didn't realize IEW has podcasts! 

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1 minute ago, Smiles said:

Where can I find the old Writing Strands? I'm not sure what it looks like. Does it explain to me what to do, I need a lot of hand holding! I'm going to look at moving beyond the page! 


Amazon.  Go for a cheap used copy, because it's a non-consumable book written directly to the student.  Each book has about 15 projects in them broken down in very incremental steps.  I'll see if I can post a picture of the inside of ours.  You can see a bit in the copy I linked but you have to use the Surprise Me function. The idea for the student is to spend a week or two on a single project, and then take a week off.  Personally, now that I think about it in hindsight, I think I would reverse it and have the student read the instructions, but not start for a week.  I'd have them spend that first week looking for examples of that type of writing in their books so they had a better idea of what to do when it came time.

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2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:


The idea for the student is to spend a week or two on a single project, and then take a week off.  Personally, now that I think about it in hindsight, I think I would reverse it and have the student read the instructions, but not start for a week.  I'd have them spend that first week looking for examples of that type of writing in their books so they had a better idea of what to do when it came time.

Each lesson starts off by saying it will take X number of days to learn thus and such. And the author wrote it such that an adult works with the child to provide guidance and feedback and whatnot. The author (whom I met) intended for Writing Strands to be about a semester's worth of writing instruction, the other semester being literature/reading. It could be alternated with reading/literature (a Writing Strands chapter, then lit for as long as that unit takes, then back to WS).

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45 minutes ago, Ellie said:

Each lesson starts off by saying it will take X number of days to learn thus and such. And the author wrote it such that an adult works with the child to provide guidance and feedback and whatnot. The author (whom I met) intended for Writing Strands to be about a semester's worth of writing instruction, the other semester being literature/reading. It could be alternated with reading/literature (a Writing Strands chapter, then lit for as long as that unit takes, then back to WS).

Sort of.  For example, here are the beginning and ending sentences for project 1: Following Instructions -

It may take you three days to:
1. Believe that it is possible to follow instructions
2. Understand that it is good to follow instructions
3. Understand what makes a sentence

Fill out the "Record Of Progress" on the next page. I recommend you now take a week off from writing and concentrate on reading and discussing ideas with your parents.

And at the bottom of page 1, project 1:
Hint: Work alone if you can.
 

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16 hours ago, Paradox5 said:

CAP Writing & Rhetoric: Fable is what I am using with all of mine (15, 14, and almost 11). It is not babyish at all for the older guys or too hard for my daughter. 

School writing and fun writing are 2 very different beasts. 

If he hated WWE, WWS will drive him up the wall. 

I am considering doing W&R with another family who did it last year.  My friend, my age, is a teacher, and she is homeschooling her grandkids.  They are the same ages you and I have.  She did not think it babyish, either.  I listened to some of their stories they had written, and you could definitely see progress and how each child wrote from the same lesson, but at his own level.

 

Pam 

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