Writing with Ease

[ikesmom]

Anyone here use The Complete Writer-Writing With Ease?

What did you prefer the workbook or the textbook? The reviews on Amazon are confusing..one says only buy the text and the workbook is just lined paper for copywork. Then another review says just buy the workbook because it makes it simpler to use.

I have ds age 10 that really struggles with writing

I have a ds almost 5 that is very advanced- I am not sure if he will do much copy work or just listen to the narrations.

Any comments on your experience with it?

[elizawill]

i plan to use WWE next year for the first time. originally i purchased the complete writer. from amazon reviews, it seemed like the best choice, as it covered multiple years and was cheaper. honestly though, when i received it, i wished i'd bought the workbooks. it felt like it was going to be a lot of work on my part (which i'm sure it isn't, but i'm totally new to WWE). the complete writer gives guidelines for how to implement the program, but you need to choose your own passages and such. the workbooks have everything laid out for you. i ended up selling the complete writer & just buying the student workbooks. i have level 1 for my ds, and i decided to start my dd in level 2 (i'm thinking about using FLL 3 for her too but i'm undecided still). anyway, many people use the complete writer with great success... i just think the workbook is a better fit for us. with the complete writer, i felt like it would have just sat there, but the workbooks are so "open & go" that i feel confident we'll use the program successfully. hth.

[MissRubyandKen]

Originally I thought I would just use the text from the library and save myself the expense. After trialing and viewing samples I changed my mind. The beauty of the workbook is having the entire year's program completely laid out for you. It does have lined student pages for copywork in addition to the teaching pages. I am not using the lined copywork pages. Instead I am having the children do their copywork on separate paper, as they have always done. This lets me use the workbook for three children over time as well as have it be usable for reselling. Btw I bought mine used for pretty cheap from The Well Trained Mind forums. I bought level 1 with the student pages removed and used. I had no plan to use them anyway. I paid slightly more for level 2 with the student pages unused. Buying both I still paid less than if I had bought one level new. Yay me!

Oh and the text only has a few examples of the actual program laid out for you. It does talk about the method and give an outline to flesh out the copywork and such yourself. If your library has it available I highly recommend checking it out, I just wouldn't recommend buying it if you are planning on buying the workbook.

[dotnetdiva]

I just was in a detailed discussion about this. The instructor text has 36 pages of description on how to teach it in the beginning, and then a faq and resources at the end. I totally forgot they were there and never pull it off the shelf.

The workbook on the other hand has week by week lessons so you don't have to do a thing. The instructor text misses weeks and suggests you fill them in with your own literature. Not something I wanted to do, so that's why we solely rely on the workbook.

If you have the instructor text at the library, you can read those pages so you're not missing anything. Then purchase the workbook. Or, if you don't mind finding literature passages and copywork, just buy the instructor text.

There are also PDF versions. When we first starting using this program this spring, I purchased the PDF student pages file and printed them all off and put them in a binder. These were the copywork pages and a page to write the student's dictation. But my daughter's handwriting wasn't strong in the beginning, so I used StartWrite software to make my own copywork sheets and typed in her dictations in our online lesson plans. So you really don't need the student pages if you do that. Eventually, her handwriting improved, and she was able to copy the sentences right from the workbook pages, so that's what we're doing now.

So the best for us is to have the student workbook in PDF file, I can print out the entire program, and we can reuse the student sheets for multiple children.

[jessicaSAR]

I love, love, love WWE!! I did level 2 with my third grader and began level 1 with my Kindy last year. You don't need the textbook at all. In fact, if you want an overview of the program just buy Susan Wise Bauer's audio lecture "A Plan for Writing, the Elementary Grades." It's cheap, only about $4, and explains her approach to teaching writing. The workbooks are fabulous. They are completely open and go. She has selected wonderful passages for reading, provided careful narration questions, and set up an incremental and orderly progression of skills. My DDs enjoyed so many of the passages they went on to read or listen to many of these books in their entirety. I highly recommend the program!

[crunchy_mama]

I have bought the LVL 1 to do w/ my son starting sometime next yr at a glance it seems like a wonderful program, I am hoping we both enjoy it.