What do I need to order for Classical Writing?

[ElaineJ]

Wow....I haven't been on the board for awhile and I come back to find ths new format! It is a bit harder for me to scan for topics than the previous board style, so I apologize if this has been asked recently. Anyway, I am trying to order the Classical Writing Aesop material from Rainbow Resource, and I'm not sure which books I need. If I order the Teacher's Manual and the Student book, do I still need to order the book entitled simply Classical Writing Aesop? I want to get what I need to make it as user friendly as possible, but of course I don't want to spend anymore than I have to spend. Thanks!

 

Elaine

[HollyDay]

I personally think you need all three - Core, Student Guide and Instructor Guide. You could do it with just the Core but I think it would be really, really hard (for me anyway)

[cajun.classical]

Wow....I haven't been on the board for awhile and I come back to find ths new format! It is a bit harder for me to scan for topics than the previous board style, so I apologize if this has been asked recently. Anyway, I am trying to order the Classical Writing Aesop material from Rainbow Resource, and I'm not sure which books I need. If I order the Teacher's Manual and the Student book, do I still need to order the book entitled simply Classical Writing Aesop? I want to get what I need to make it as user friendly as possible, but of course I don't want to spend anymore than I have to spend. Thanks!

 

Elaine

 

The book called CLassical WRiting Aesop is the Core book and contains the writing program. The other books are helps in implementation and are designed to make the program pick-up-and-go. Whether you need them or not depends on how much hand-holding you need. Most people find the Instructor's Guide unnecessary for Aesop. I never used the Instructor's Guide for Homer and am dropping the workbook in favor of using our own models for Homer B. Of course, I used the workbook until I got the hang of it.

[ElaineJ]

Since I'm a beginner, sounds like I should probably get all three. Thanks for your help.

 

Elaine

[Alana in Canada]

I bought the Instructor's guides and the Student Books and the Core for Aesop A&B.

 

I concur--the instructor's guide is rather useless to me.

 

It tells you what to do each week like this:

 

Day 1 Analysis and Imitation: Introduce the Model. refer to pp 16-18 in the core.

 

Day 2: A&I: Word Analysis for Phonics and Spelling refer to pp. 19-21 in the core

 

Day 3: A&I: Sentences. Refer to pp. 24-26 in the core

 

Day 4: A&I Copywork and Dictation refer to pp 33-35 in the core.

 

Re-writing the Short Narrative

A. Analyze and outline

B. Write the first draft

C. Edit the first draft

D. Write the first draft.

over and over and over again.

 

To be fair, on the facing page there are two categories: Teacher Prep and Teacher helps. Here, it gives you suggestions for vocabulary and spelling words. It schedules the flashcards for you. It provides the grammatical definitions of whatever is being introduced that week and gives the answers to a brief excercise in the Student's book.

 

You have your own copy of the model in the book--and the model for Analysis is sometimes just an excerpt from the whole passage (which is helpful to know.)

 

But you will notice when you get the Core that these A&I activities can be done at different levels of complexity. The Instructor's guide gently guides you from the most simple to the most complicated. If you want, say, to jump into it somewhere in the middle, as I did with an older child, then you wind up making your own plan for A&I anyway.

 

hth.

[ElaineJ]

Thanks for your input. I'm starting at the beginning (upcoming 3rd grader), so it sounds like it would appply to our level but maybe isn't necessary?

 

Elaine

[prairiegirl]

I did us the IG and I thought it really helped. With the IG it gave me the model so that I didn't have to search for it on my own. Seeing that this was my first time using CW, I wasn't too sure about what kind of model to use. The daily list in the IG also helped me to figure out what things we needed to do each day and if we were on track.

 

I couldn't afford all three books, so I decided not to get the workbook. The answers to the workbook are in the IG. From the answers, I could figure out what they were doing in the workbook most of the time. If I thought it necessary, then I would do those same exercises on my own.

 

If you can afford it, I would get all three, it would cut down on alot of second-guessing. If money is tight, you can cut out one or even two (but not the core, that is essential.) Maybe from all of our posts, you can figure out which one would be easier for you to cut out.

 

 

Julia

mom of 3 (8,7,5)

[Alana in Canada]

Yes, I think that's a good suggestion--cut out the workbook. It's just the model in full, the model for analysis and then blank lined pages for the spelling and vocab work and the narration. There are a few "workbook" type pages--fill in the blank and so on--but you most definitely CAN figure it out from the IG.

 

If you do this, though, you should photocopy the models and the model for analysis in the IG for your child. It's helpful for them to number the sentences (for outlining), circle punctuation, underline spelling and vocab, etc.

[Zelda]

I would order the Core book. Read it and see if you think you "get it". If you do and you want to pick your own models then you won't need the other two books. If you want more instruction get the instructors guide. Having that can help you decide if you need the workbook.

 

I'm assuming that this is for the fall in which case you will have time to do all of this. I found all three helpful for Aesop A but now that we get it I might not need the IG/WB for Aesop B. In my case, the initial investment in all three was helpful but looking back I think it might have been more prudent to buy them one at a time, review them and then decide what else I needed.