I am so thankful that you took the time to review this ❤🙏🏼 I am considering it for next year. I am still not sure about between this one or All Things Fun and Fascinating. I think that one does go over the correction marks. I am just going by a review that another mom made “Journal of a Homeschooler”.
Great honest review! I chose this curriculum and IEW's Fix It! Grammar. The latter has the the editing and symbols you are looking for! I am very excited to start these for my 10yo! I remember, in public school, I was also taught to write the intro first. However, that was not how I actually did my essays. I always ended up doing the paragraphs, the conclusion and finally, the intro! We haven't started this program yet, but I was delighted when you mentioned that part of the course!
In public school, I was taught to write the intro last because we can solidify what we are talking about before trying to introduce it. I found that I often struggled with starting essays but was fine once I started to figure out what I was trying to say.
Fix-Grammar will teach you the symbols! Fix-It Grammar was very challenging for us but oh my it really taught us the grammar aspect well. I personally learned a ton. Great review we are about to start IEW this year!
I learned to write topics, then intro, then conclusion. I think the most important part is just to write the topics first because you can't introduce topics that you haven't fleshed out yet, nor can you summarize them.
The structure is the perfect amount of scaffolding for my daughter ✍️. I too love that it’s a subject I don’t have to be so hands with. I like that I’m involved still, yet the bulk of the work and pressure is not on me 😁
Thank you for another great review! I'm am looking for a writing program for my rising 3rd grader. To be honest, we have never done any writing curricula. He has enjoyed writing prompts I have given him here and there on topics that he loves and his writing has been great but he is definitely for something structured. Do you recommend this for a child that will be turning 9 at the beginning of 3rd grade or should I wait another year?
It really depends on the child. I think IEW recommends beginning in 4th grade. My daughter started the summer of 3rd grade going into 4th and she had no previous writing instruction and did well with it. I know IEW offers a 3 week free trial. You don’t have to sign up for anything. I tried that with my daughter initially before purchasing the complete package.
I teach the editing in the fixer grammar portion. There is an editing sheet in the front of the fixit grammar book. I believe it's the teacher's manual
We are on week 8 of this course and really loving it too. It was nice to hear your thoughts-I too feel like Fix It Grammar is a bit much…we’re going to try to stick it out, but maybe we’ll scrap it too 😅
It’s definitely been a great fit for my daughter! She tried fix it grammar with the free trial we did and immediately disliked it. I was surprised since she tends to like repetitive work. She saw it as more of busy work than actually learning anything.
Hi Michelle, I feel a little funny posting this in a comment, but wanted to share. I have been looking for a structured writing curriculum and decided to look into IEW after watching your videos (and a few others). I noticed they have lots of Christian content (not really a problem as we identify as progressive Christians), so I decided to look into the founder of the company. I was disturbed to discover he is part of a very traditional and conservative group of Catholics. He has given talks on "neuroscience" and how it is different in boys and girls to defend traditionally held views of gender. He also does not hold a single college degree, though I believe the program's writers do. It felt like such a bummer to find out that such solid program has these dark (in my opinion) roots. This is not at all a judgment on anyone using this program-a good writing program is hard to find, but I know that you also like to research your curriculum choices and the people behind them, so I thought I'd share.
I appreciate you sharing! I am always open to new information. I did look into IEW before purchasing. I am aware Andrew Pudewa doesn’t have a teaching degree or hold what I would consider a reputable degree. He does have past teaching experience and the methodology he uses comes from professionals. I don’t use the themes based units, only structure and style so I haven’t come across any problematic religious content. I never came across any of the other issues you mentioned and would appreciate if you could share where you got it from. I’m sure others who are concerned would appreciate being able to access the information, if they come across this comment. Thank you for the heads up.
I do it like that. Topics conclusion then intro. Was not taught this way but it was way easier for me this way to do it. I went to public school where they basically teach u nothing and throw u into it to do it all yourself.
I don’t think it’s possible to start and finish in a few months. Even following the regular 24 week schedule it’s a lot. That’s one of the reasons I have my daughter start in the summer. Her summer workload is significantly reduced and by the time the regular school year rolls around in September she has a really good rhythm with IEW and it’s not overwhelming.
I never watched any videos. It was pretty hands off on my part. She would watch the video lessons and do her work independently. If she ever had questions, I just referred to the teacher guide that had the board notes of what was covered in that lesson along with the assignments. I was responsible for editing her rough draft, but that was pretty much all I had to do.
Yes. The teacher manual you get just has notes from the video lesson, not specific teaching instruction. I know they have the option of taking a teaching course that guides you on how to teach IEW if you want.
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I am so thankful that you took the time to review this ❤🙏🏼 I am considering it for next year. I am still not sure about between this one or All Things Fun and Fascinating. I think that one does go over the correction marks. I am just going by a review that another mom made “Journal of a Homeschooler”.
I’m glad you found it helpful! I know IEW offers a 3 week free trial. I tried it out with my daughter before I purchased the package. iew.com/free-sso
Great honest review! I chose this curriculum and IEW's Fix It! Grammar. The latter has the the editing and symbols you are looking for! I am very excited to start these for my 10yo!
I remember, in public school, I was also taught to write the intro first. However, that was not how I actually did my essays. I always ended up doing the paragraphs, the conclusion and finally, the intro! We haven't started this program yet, but I was delighted when you mentioned that part of the course!
Thanks for the tip, I will look into the fix it grammar editing symbols. Also thanks for sharing your experience with writing 5 paragraph essays!
In public school, I was taught to write the intro last because we can solidify what we are talking about before trying to introduce it. I found that I often struggled with starting essays but was fine once I started to figure out what I was trying to say.
It’s makes sense, thanks for sharing!
Fix-Grammar will teach you the symbols! Fix-It Grammar was very challenging for us but oh my it really taught us the grammar aspect well. I personally learned a ton. Great review we are about to start IEW this year!
We tried FIG when my daughter first started IEW and she didn’t like it. We tried again at the end of this past school year and she likes it now.
I learned to write topics, then intro, then conclusion. I think the most important part is just to write the topics first because you can't introduce topics that you haven't fleshed out yet, nor can you summarize them.
Thanks for your feedback 😀 I think it makes a lot of sense to set it up that way.
I love that someone else gets to teach my kids how to write :) I really like the structure for my child who needs more structure.
The structure is the perfect amount of scaffolding for my daughter ✍️. I too love that it’s a subject I don’t have to be so hands with. I like that I’m involved still, yet the bulk of the work and pressure is not on me 😁
Thank you for another great review! I'm am looking for a writing program for my rising 3rd grader. To be honest, we have never done any writing curricula. He has enjoyed writing prompts I have given him here and there on topics that he loves and his writing has been great but he is definitely for something structured. Do you recommend this for a child that will be turning 9 at the beginning of 3rd grade or should I wait another year?
It really depends on the child. I think IEW recommends beginning in 4th grade. My daughter started the summer of 3rd grade going into 4th and she had no previous writing instruction and did well with it. I know IEW offers a 3 week free trial. You don’t have to sign up for anything. I tried that with my daughter initially before purchasing the complete package.
I teach the editing in the fixer grammar portion. There is an editing sheet in the front of the fixit grammar book. I believe it's the teacher's manual
Thanks I found the editing sheet!
We are on week 8 of this course and really loving it too. It was nice to hear your thoughts-I too feel like Fix It Grammar is a bit much…we’re going to try to stick it out, but maybe we’ll scrap it too 😅
It’s definitely been a great fit for my daughter! She tried fix it grammar with the free trial we did and immediately disliked it. I was surprised since she tends to like repetitive work. She saw it as more of busy work than actually learning anything.
Hi Michelle, I feel a little funny posting this in a comment, but wanted to share. I have been looking for a structured writing curriculum and decided to look into IEW after watching your videos (and a few others). I noticed they have lots of Christian content (not really a problem as we identify as progressive Christians), so I decided to look into the founder of the company. I was disturbed to discover he is part of a very traditional and conservative group of Catholics. He has given talks on "neuroscience" and how it is different in boys and girls to defend traditionally held views of gender. He also does not hold a single college degree, though I believe the program's writers do. It felt like such a bummer to find out that such solid program has these dark (in my opinion) roots. This is not at all a judgment on anyone using this program-a good writing program is hard to find, but I know that you also like to research your curriculum choices and the people behind them, so I thought I'd share.
I appreciate you sharing! I am always open to new information. I did look into IEW before purchasing. I am aware Andrew Pudewa doesn’t have a teaching degree or hold what I would consider a reputable degree. He does have past teaching experience and the methodology he uses comes from professionals. I don’t use the themes based units, only structure and style so I haven’t come across any problematic religious content. I never came across any of the other issues you mentioned and would appreciate if you could share where you got it from. I’m sure others who are concerned would appreciate being able to access the information, if they come across this comment. Thank you for the heads up.
I do it like that. Topics conclusion then intro. Was not taught this way but it was way easier for me this way to do it. I went to public school where they basically teach u nothing and throw u into it to do it all yourself.
Thanks for sharing!
So it's possible to finish to start over the summer and finish it too. I wanted to get this for my 5th grader and do it over the summer.
I don’t think it’s possible to start and finish in a few months. Even following the regular 24 week schedule it’s a lot. That’s one of the reasons I have my daughter start in the summer. Her summer workload is significantly reduced and by the time the regular school year rolls around in September she has a really good rhythm with IEW and it’s not overwhelming.
Did you ever do the teacher lessons or do you watch the videos with her in order to understand what to look for? I want something a bit hand off.
I never watched any videos. It was pretty hands off on my part. She would watch the video lessons and do her work independently. If she ever had questions, I just referred to the teacher guide that had the board notes of what was covered in that lesson along with the assignments. I was responsible for editing her rough draft, but that was pretty much all I had to do.
Do you need the videos to be able to use the program?
Yes. The teacher manual you get just has notes from the video lesson, not specific teaching instruction. I know they have the option of taking a teaching course that guides you on how to teach IEW if you want.
This was really helpful, thank you!
I’m glad you found it helpful!
Thank you