Your review was amazing. It was so in-depth. I really couldn't figure out if I would like this curriculum or not through quick flip throughs I kept seeing. This was SO helpful. Thank you.
This was extremely helpful! I would prefer no background music, but it was otherwise the best curriculum review I've ever watched (and I've watched a lot). It was honest and very thorough. Thank you!
Thank you! I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. And yes, background music is something I tried during a couple of videos and realized that it was a no go. I just can't make it work. But thanks for watching, despite the distraction!
This is exactly the kind of review I was looking for on this curriculum! I have Junior Level D and I was very overwhelmed with all they suggest to do to prep for this course and have been having 2nd thoughts about using it. I love how you break down what is worthwhile and what isn't. I'm still a little hesitant as I prefer 'open-and-go' materials but I won't know if it works until I try it, right? It's encouraging to hear you say it's working! It is an area of weakness for my son so if the amount of energy needed here will help him enjoy and love writing, it will be worth it. Mine will do stick figures for his art, too! Our crayons and colored pencils have lasted years (due to hating coloring). Thank you for this very thorough review!
Thanks for the encouraging words! I'm glad this video helped. Yes, this was a good curriculum for my oldest to get over his extreme hesitancy to write. I think the guided writing (a new concept for me) and the variety of activities helped, even though he's not super crafty. And the graphic organizers helped me to see how helpful a tool like that was for him. I tried this curriculum with another one of my kids and it was a fail because he hates one-on-one teaching. So different strokes for different folks. I hope that you and your son find success in his writing journey! And thanks for watching!
@@LeslieMaddox Thank you! Mine loves the one-on-one teaching so I think this will go well. We actually started with IEW but just need a break from it so I hope the fun factor will get him writing and loving it. I plan to visit IEW again later on if we need more structure.
very helpful as I was completely overwhelmed when I opened the teacher’s manual. You helped me configure a realistic schedule and also how to lesson plan in a simplistic fashion. Thanks so much. If this helps anyone, I have decided to use this schedule for Write Shop Book C with my 2nd and 3rd grader. We are doing the 3 week plan for each lesson. There are 10 lessons. For lessons 1 and 2, we will finish in 6 weeks. Then, we will take one week off. Then for lessons 3 and 4, we will complete in 6 weeks, then take one week off. We will continue this schedule until lessons 9 and 10. Instead of doing lessons 9 and 10 back to back to finish them in 6 weeks, we will do lesson 9, then take one week break and come back after the break to do lesson 10. With this schedule, we will finish the entire book c program in 35 weeks, which is 1-week shy of our usual 36 week “main” homeschool year. Hope this helps someone.
I purchased this for my son and I struggled with the teachers manual too. I need an open and go curriculum and this was not it. It required too much planning on my part and we did not complete this curriculum.
Yeah, it was a bit convoluted. I think if the curriculum as a whole were simplified, maybe with an appendix with extra ideas, then the teacher's manual wouldn't be so confusing.
What a wonderful review! I'm considering using this program for writing next school year, and I have never known anyone to use it. Your video really helped me to fully see what will be expected as a teacher and for my son. My son is very "hands-on" and I think this will be a great curriculum for him. I appreciate your honesty in how you customized lessons to best fit your child. I think I am going to buy this and take some time on our break to really digest this program and decide how it will best fit our family. Thank you for your review!
Thank you so much! I have been studying this teacher's guide and your video helped a lot! I have this curriculum in front of me and I feel like you said overwhelmed and that is because I am not as a creative or hand-on homeschool teacher. I would really like to simplify the activities for what we need. Would you be able to give some idea on what must be absolutely retained while we are simplifying the 8 activity lesson?
I’m so glad it helped! The most important part of each lesson is the actual writing exercise. The craft is just to make it more hands-on and “fun” for the student. So I recommend reviewing each lesson by skipping ahead to see what the actual writing assignment is, then looking at the craft and deciding if you want to do it or change it somehow. I changed almost every craft to make it more digital. So like we created an acrostic on a card in a word processing program, and a game board for another project in a presentation program (like PowerPoint). My son did love the shape book, so we did that as recommended. The important thing to know is that you can change the craft to fit your needs, just stick with the framework provided in the curriculum for the writing projects.
Michael sounds just like my son. He will be in the 3rd grade next year and I am researching different curriculums. I will be looking into this one as well. Thank you for the review!
Thank you! We choose this curriculum for our reluctant 2nd grader. We started it this year but I quickly got over whelmed after the first couple of chapters. My kiddos however begged me to do it. Your suggestion and point of view were super helpful. Hopefully we can pick it back up over the summer and next year!
I'm glad it was helpful, and I feel your pain. ;-) My soon-to-be first grader begged me to use this curriculum with him next year, but I just can't wrap my head around that. Unlike my oldest, he loves to write, so I'm planning to pare it down quite a bit and do just a few favorite writing projects. I'll probably pick one a month, and work on it with him just once or twice a week until that particular project is finished. Hopefully you'll find a balance that works for your family, too.
I feel like you were talking about my oldest son! Loved your review! I have been feeling so overwhelmed and had no idea where to start. Thought I was missing some things.
This was an outstanding review. I really appreciated all the information you pointed out. I was hoping this might be a good choice for my son but so far I'm not too thrilled with what I see. The search continues! lol
I'm 2 minutes in and feel like you are describing my teaching style and my son's learning style just as you and your son's! I know this video is almost 4 years old (!), but I appreciate your detailed review. Considering buying Level B or C for my incoming 3rd-grader.
I can't thank you enough for doing this review. I have a hyper younger child and all this prep for two older children, we wouldn't get a lot of benefit from this. And so this was worth while for me to learn about. Thank you.
Yes, sometimes it just turns into chaos! Maybe that's because most of my boys and I are not artistically gifted or inclined. So art may be the most difficult subject we have! Thanks for watching!
This was an amazing review. It definitely helped me in my decision of whether or not to use this curriculum. Very thorough.
Thank you so very much! Thanks for watching!
Your review was amazing. It was so in-depth. I really couldn't figure out if I would like this curriculum or not through quick flip throughs I kept seeing. This was SO helpful. Thank you.
I'm so glad it was helpful! 😊
This was extremely helpful! I would prefer no background music, but it was otherwise the best curriculum review I've ever watched (and I've watched a lot). It was honest and very thorough. Thank you!
Thank you! I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. And yes, background music is something I tried during a couple of videos and realized that it was a no go. I just can't make it work. But thanks for watching, despite the distraction!
This is exactly the kind of review I was looking for on this curriculum! I have Junior Level D and I was very overwhelmed with all they suggest to do to prep for this course and have been having 2nd thoughts about using it. I love how you break down what is worthwhile and what isn't. I'm still a little hesitant as I prefer 'open-and-go' materials but I won't know if it works until I try it, right? It's encouraging to hear you say it's working! It is an area of weakness for my son so if the amount of energy needed here will help him enjoy and love writing, it will be worth it. Mine will do stick figures for his art, too! Our crayons and colored pencils have lasted years (due to hating coloring). Thank you for this very thorough review!
Thanks for the encouraging words! I'm glad this video helped. Yes, this was a good curriculum for my oldest to get over his extreme hesitancy to write. I think the guided writing (a new concept for me) and the variety of activities helped, even though he's not super crafty. And the graphic organizers helped me to see how helpful a tool like that was for him. I tried this curriculum with another one of my kids and it was a fail because he hates one-on-one teaching. So different strokes for different folks. I hope that you and your son find success in his writing journey! And thanks for watching!
@@LeslieMaddox Thank you! Mine loves the one-on-one teaching so I think this will go well. We actually started with IEW but just need a break from it so I hope the fun factor will get him writing and loving it. I plan to visit IEW again later on if we need more structure.
very helpful as I was completely overwhelmed when I opened the teacher’s manual. You helped me configure a realistic schedule and also how to lesson plan in a simplistic fashion. Thanks so much. If this helps anyone, I have decided to use this schedule for Write Shop Book C with my 2nd and 3rd grader. We are doing the 3 week plan for each lesson. There are 10 lessons. For lessons 1 and 2, we will finish in 6 weeks. Then, we will take one week off. Then for lessons 3 and 4, we will complete in 6 weeks, then take one week off. We will continue this schedule until lessons 9 and 10. Instead of doing lessons 9 and 10 back to back to finish them in 6 weeks, we will do lesson 9, then take one week break and come back after the break to do lesson 10. With this schedule, we will finish the entire book c program in 35 weeks, which is 1-week shy of our usual 36 week “main” homeschool year. Hope this helps someone.
I'm glad it helped! And thanks for sharing your schedule! I'm sure that it will help someone.
I purchased this for my son and I struggled with the teachers manual too. I need an open and go curriculum and this was not it. It required too much planning on my part and we did not complete this curriculum.
Yeah, it was a bit convoluted. I think if the curriculum as a whole were simplified, maybe with an appendix with extra ideas, then the teacher's manual wouldn't be so confusing.
What a wonderful review! I'm considering using this program for writing next school year, and I have never known anyone to use it. Your video really helped me to fully see what will be expected as a teacher and for my son. My son is very "hands-on" and I think this will be a great curriculum for him. I appreciate your honesty in how you customized lessons to best fit your child. I think I am going to buy this and take some time on our break to really digest this program and decide how it will best fit our family. Thank you for your review!
Awesome, I'm so glad it could be of help to you!
Thank you so much! I have been studying this teacher's guide and your video helped a lot! I have this curriculum in front of me and I feel like you said overwhelmed and that is because I am not as a creative or hand-on homeschool teacher. I would really like to simplify the activities for what we need. Would you be able to give some idea on what must be absolutely retained while we are simplifying the 8 activity lesson?
I’m so glad it helped! The most important part of each lesson is the actual writing exercise. The craft is just to make it more hands-on and “fun” for the student. So I recommend reviewing each lesson by skipping ahead to see what the actual writing assignment is, then looking at the craft and deciding if you want to do it or change it somehow. I changed almost every craft to make it more digital. So like we created an acrostic on a card in a word processing program, and a game board for another project in a presentation program (like PowerPoint). My son did love the shape book, so we did that as recommended. The important thing to know is that you can change the craft to fit your needs, just stick with the framework provided in the curriculum for the writing projects.
Michael sounds just like my son. He will be in the 3rd grade next year and I am researching different curriculums. I will be looking into this one as well. Thank you for the review!
Thank you! We choose this curriculum for our reluctant 2nd grader. We started it this year but I quickly got over whelmed after the first couple of chapters. My kiddos however begged me to do it. Your suggestion and point of view were super helpful. Hopefully we can pick it back up over the summer and next year!
I'm glad it was helpful, and I feel your pain. ;-) My soon-to-be first grader begged me to use this curriculum with him next year, but I just can't wrap my head around that. Unlike my oldest, he loves to write, so I'm planning to pare it down quite a bit and do just a few favorite writing projects. I'll probably pick one a month, and work on it with him just once or twice a week until that particular project is finished. Hopefully you'll find a balance that works for your family, too.
I feel like you were talking about my oldest son! Loved your review! I have been feeling so overwhelmed and had no idea where to start. Thought I was missing some things.
I’m also not into crafting with my kids. I hate the mess and it is almost more stressful more than anything sometimes! 😂😂
You are so welcome!
Yes, sometimes crafting is the worst! Not my fave at all. I prefer to allow my kids to craft on their own. ;-)
This was an outstanding review. I really appreciated all the information you pointed out. I was hoping this might be a good choice for my son but so far I'm not too thrilled with what I see. The search continues! lol
Awww, thanks! We switched to IEW's Student Writing Intensive this year. Kind of wish I'd started it last year. I hope that your search is fruitful!
I'm 2 minutes in and feel like you are describing my teaching style and my son's learning style just as you and your son's! I know this video is almost 4 years old (!), but I appreciate your detailed review. Considering buying Level B or C for my incoming 3rd-grader.
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I hope that you find the right fit for you and your son.
I can't thank you enough for doing this review. I have a hyper younger child and all this prep for two older children, we wouldn't get a lot of benefit from this. And so this was worth while for me to learn about. Thank you.
You sounds just like me, it's just not my thing! LOL crafting with kids..it sounds fun, but usually turns into a disaster haha
Yes, sometimes it just turns into chaos! Maybe that's because most of my boys and I are not artistically gifted or inclined. So art may be the most difficult subject we have! Thanks for watching!