S in Canada Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 My dd does not like writing...at all! Just wondering if WWE would help with this or not. We are finishing up grade 3 this spring. If so, where do we start with workbook 1 or 2? Or should we find our own narrations/dictations? Also will the program help to make her writing neater too? I guess the more she writes the better it will get. If not WWE is there some other suggestions? I will take any advice or suggestions please. I need to get her to write more and start to enjoy it too! Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 In your position, I would start with the textbook and skip the workbooks for now at least. The textbook explains the theory behind it all and gives you 6-8 weeks of lessons per grade level. If I were you, I would buy the textbook and begin at the beginning. Simply do the lessons that are written out completely (starting at the beginning of level 1) and keep going, skipping the instructions on intervening lessons, till you get to a level that's challenging-but-not-overwhelming to her. At *that* point, you could decide whether you want to continue creating your own lessons (choosing narrations based on the instructions in the textbook) or buy the workbook for the level you've reached. For the actual *handwriting*, I would say that WWE will only help insofar as you'd have her doing a little more writing every day. And certainly the use of sheer practice every day should not be discounted! But I would also look at her technique -- is she holding her pencil properly? Is she forming her letters correctly (starting at the top, following standard stroke patterns)? Would a different type of pencil (a very short -- 2" -- pencil will stop her from grasping it in her fist, or a triangular pencil can make proper grip more comfortable) or a pencil grip help train her to hold her pencil more correctly? Do you need to sit with her for a brief handwriting lesson each day and really watch / correct each stroke to retrain bad habits? Would a program like Callirobics help her develop a more comfortable rhythm and fluid writing patterns? Does she simply need additional work on fine motor skills (legos, lightbright, bead-stringing, button-sewing, play dough, friendship bracelet braiding, etc, etc) or is her core body strength lacking (just more gross motor play, climbing, swinging, running, swimming, etc)? WWE will work on distilling ideas into complete, coherent sentences. But it won't do a whole lot for handwriting except add in a little practice (and not very much, really)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 My dd does not like writing...at all! Just wondering if WWE would help with this or not. Yes, it will! And everything abbeyej said. :D I took my ds through it a few months ago the way abbey explained and so many things clicked in his brain about writing (the thinking part, not the handwriting part). I love this writing program. And we just used the textbook, getting material from current history, science, and literature reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Narration, copywork and dictation are the basis of WWE. If you follow the structure of this program, you will see improvements not noly in writing and spelling, but also penmanship. Neat writing does take time and patience. I don't believe children have to write incessantly to have good handwriting. It's more of that consistent, daily, small amount of practice that has worked with my dc. I'm using WWE for my 1st gr ds and I have loved it. It has been just the right amount of writing for him and I don't even use a handwriting course. If your dc has trouble making letters, you may just want to go back and practice some letters together. You write some and have him/her copy. That has worked well for both my kids. The other thing is that they know if they do a sloppy job, I will tell them to write it over. They don't like to do that. :D Good motivation to write neatly, the first time! HTH, Jennifer 5th gr dd, 1st gr ds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omma Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I have a question and a comment. My ds is in 3rd grade and we've started WWE 2 with him. We are only on week 6 and I can see that he needed this course. He is learning how to summarize. We had never done narration before. But we had done a lot of dictation... although he never had to try to remember 2 sentences in his head before writing them down, so he writes really fast to try to remember it all (and is quite sloppy that way). His penmanship really needs improvement, so should I just say the words slower so that he can write more neatly? I don't know if anyone has had this issue or not. I do think that WWE teaches a lot of important skills, including the ability to remember a passage in your head and then writing it from memory, as well as learning to narrate and summarize! :001_smile: Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I've been using WWE level 2 with my 3rd grader this year. I agree with getting the text and using it for a bit, starting at the beginning with it's lessons, and then figuring out where he needs to spend more time. It's been a great program for my dd, and she's really enjoyed the stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I have a question and a comment. My ds is in 3rd grade and we've started WWE 2 with him. We are only on week 6 and I can see that he needed this course. He is learning how to summarize. We had never done narration before. But we had done a lot of dictation... although he never had to try to remember 2 sentences in his head before writing them down, so he writes really fast to try to remember it all (and is quite sloppy that way). His penmanship really needs improvement, so should I just say the words slower so that he can write more neatly? I don't know if anyone has had this issue or not. I do think that WWE teaches a lot of important skills, including the ability to remember a passage in your head and then writing it from memory, as well as learning to narrate and summarize! :001_smile: Brenda WWE does have longer dictations at lower levels than what I was used to doing with ds when he was doing all that stuff in grammar stage. When I took him through WWE last fall for awhile, it took him awhile to get used to the longer dictations. I just worked slowly with him and actually, I separated the dictation from the narration skills that I caught him up in. Meaning, dictation recs at maybe level 2, and narration at level 3 or 4 - I can't remember exactly. I just know he needed more work on longer dictations. Even now, he's not really up to the last part of level 4, but we work on it, extended it slowly and helping him learn to hold more words in his head. So anyway, I'd probably just read the passage slowly to your ds, 3 times at least, 4 or 5 if needed. Have him repeat it back to you after you read it the first 3 times. Lead him through phrase by phrase. Let him start writing as much as possible, and repeat if needed. This is how I've done it. About penmanship, maybe work on that separately so the skills are there for the dictation sessions? Or just slow down the dictations, reassuring him you will repeat and he doesn't need to panic, while he writes neatly? I've found this all to be somewhat tricky, and we're still working on it. But ds does improve over time in his handwriting and his ability to hold words in his head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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