Complete Writer: Writing with Ease Text for Levels 1-4

I am very grateful to have found this program. I, as well as my first two children, really enjoy writing and found it easy. Now I have two younger boys who are the opposite. They find it difficult and as a result, dislike it. The foundational approach in this program is genius...yet simple. It makes perfect sense to teach. Some children need the clear sequential learning steps that include: 1) taking an idea and putting it into words, 2) using those words to create a sentence, and 3) writing that sentence on paper. All this is done through a logical process of narration, discussion and copywork. The instructor aspect is completely planned out and organized, which is a relief for me. My boys' attitude toward writing has shifted. They don't love it...yet :), but they do derive a small level of enjoyment (and accomplishment- yeah!) from the exercises using the workbooks. I definitely think I've found a long term curriculum keeper.

Last fall our daughter had requested to switch from Writing with Ease to a popular literature based writing curriculum After completing eleven weeks of the new curriculum she was asking to return to Writing with Ease When I asked her why she responded Writing with Ease teaches the logic of writing You learn how to organize the words in your brain put them on paper in a logical/sequential order and the end result is you become a good writer The literature based curriculum is like throwing a rock on a hopscotch board Wherever you land that is what you study for the day It doesnt make sense So the literature based writing curriculum was exiled to the storage tote and Writing with Ease was resumed Writing with Ease Work Book: Level 4 is authored by Susan Wise Bauer She is a faculty member of the College of William and Mary and co-author of "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home"Writing With Ease Work Book: Level 4 is a companion to Bauer's text "Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals" Please see my review of "Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals" for a comprehensive overview of the curriculumWriting with Ease: Work Book Level 4 is arranged according to a thirty-six week scheduleEach week consists of the following components:Day 1Narration and Original Sentence ExerciseFocus: Identifying the central narrative thread in a passage/selectionIdentifying the central theme in a selectionIdentifying the central details in a passageSummarizing a passage with more than one main topicIdentifying central emotions in a passageIdentifying central details in chronological orderDefinitions of poetic termsIdentifying the central details in a passage that moves back in forth in time First person point of viewThe student will progress from writing original sentences to writing narrations independently Day 2Dictation ExerciseFocus: Remembering lengthy sentencesGrammar and Punctuation LessonPoetic FormDay 3Narration and Original Sentence ExerciseFocus:Identifying the central narrative thread in a passage/selectionIdentifying the central details in a passageIdentifying a central comparison in a passageSummarizing cause and effectIdentifying central details in chronological orderDefinitions of poetic termsSummarizing a passage with more than one main topicFirst person point of viewIdentifying the central theme in a selectionDay 4Dictation ExerciseFocus:Grammar and Punctuation LessonRemembering lengthy sentences and paragraphsPoetic formEnd of the Year EvaluationIncluded in the work book are a list of classic and modern literature selections and consumable student pagesOverall we have been pleased with Ms Bauer's logical approach to writing instruction Our child looks forward to utilizing Writing with Skill the next level in the Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals curricula

Writing With Ease Strong Fundamentals by Susan Wise BauerWriting with Ease Strong Fundamentals is authored by Susan Wise Bauer She is a faculty member of the College of William and Mary and co-author of The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home Writing with Ease teaches the student on how to take inarticulate ideas put the ideas into words and how to put the words down on paper The curriculum is divided into three stages: Writing with Ease (Grades 1-4) Writing with Skill (Grades 5-8) and Writing with Style (Grades 9-12) In Years 1 and 2 the student will focus on practicing narration copy work and dictation In Years 3 and 4 the student will focus on putting the steps of narration copy work and dictation together In Years 5-8 the student will focus on Diagramming: Sentence-Level Ordering and Outlining: Composition-Level Ordering In Years 9-12 the student will focus on the Thesis Statement: Deciding What to Write About The Progymnasmata: Techniques of Persuasion and Constant Short PapersWriting with Ease is divided into four parts Part 1: Understanding the Process Part 2: The Lessons Appendices and Bibliography of Excerpts Part 1: Understanding the Process consists of four sections: Why Writing Programs Fail The Three Stages Using This Book and Where Should I Begin Part 2: The Lessons consists of five sections: Preschool and Kindergarten Year One Year Two Year Three and Year Four The appendices consist of four sections: After Year Four Troubleshooting Frequently Asked Questions and Resources The bibliography of excerpts is included as a reference resource To accompany each level of the curriculum the author has created teacher/student workbooksEach work text is divided into a ed four day lesson plan for 36 weeks student pages and a reading selections index Presently the Writing with Ease curriculum consists of Writing with Ease hardcover book and workbooks for Levels 1-4 Writing with Skill Level 1 workbook is scheduled to be released in 2012 Future editions of the curriculum are presently in development I highly recommend purchasing the book along with the teacher/student workbooks

As you would expect from this author this series is very well written Explanations are clear and concise In the past I have struggled with trying to incorporate dictation into our curriculum This course solves that problemThe text gives a great overview of the program and can be used alone for the parent/teacher who wishes to choose his or her own passages Placement tests help determine whether older students have mastered earlier material I found the workbooks indispensable as they took all guess work out of choosing passages their lengths and complexity They also introduced us to some stories we might want to read in full later! I initially bought this to try to help my struggling 5th grade writer Based on his placement test we started in Level 2 easily completing it in a year without placing too much pressure on him It has been very beneficial It has worked equally well with my 2nd grader As the course is designed more for auditory learners I have allowed her (visual learner) to read the passages along with me for the narration exercises increasing her retention of informationI highly recommend this series

This is a four-year non-consumable writing guide for the elementary writer I say "writer" instead of "student" because the material can be used for anyone learning to write Bauer is so sure that this book will be an asset to older students that may be poor writers that she labeled the courses "Year One" instead of "First Grade" (and so on) She teaches college students who would benefit from this kind of instruction! Older kids don't want to think they are 'as dumb as a first grader' and I'm sure they appreciate her choice of titlesIt starts with 27 pages of Bauer's calm confidence-inspiring way of talking to you about "Understanding the Process" She starts with three pages of "Why Writing Programs Fail" (writing a lot instead of learning to write); then spends 11 pages breaking down her methods for teaching writing to each of the three classical stages Especially helpful in this section are the parts entitled "what you're not doing" and "what you're still not doing" Here she comforts and reassures parents who have concerns about deviating from recent/current methods for those learning writing: write revise repeat She says there is definitely a time and a place for both original work and research papers just not when most students are doing them She doesn't want us to put the cart before the horse as they are doing in most school settings Here the cart is producing written work and the horse is learning to writeThe last section of "Understanding the Process" is four-page-long layouts describing how each year of instruction is going to pan out At the bottom of each layout you are directed to the page for that year's "Mastery Evaluation " so parents can determine which year their student should start with It was really easy to run my oldest through the evaluation and see where she stoodAlong with this non-consumable text goes consumable yearly workbooks At over $20 each though and four children of my own to educate I would buy one each of the workbooks and make my kids copy the work on their own paper When I considered purchasing this book I diligently looked at each of the pages from the table of contents that the Rainbow Resource staff put online I was really confused how week one takes up 4 pages but weeks two and three only took up 1 page Having the book now I see that week one is fully prepared with a chosen passage content questions (and answers) copywork sentences and dictation passages Then you are instructed to follow that pattern for the next few weeks on your own To complete the full course with only the text you would have to find passages yourself a task complicated by Bauer's suggestion to find passages that have certain requirements such as months capitals abbreviations etcAfter going through the fully prepared lessons in Writing With Ease I am convinced that I would rather spend the money on the workbooks than look for the passages myself Finding all those passages and creating your own questions and choosing a copy sentence is lofty and all but I'm sure that I would let it slide and end up doing a lot less than I would want to How does the saying go? "You have time and money If you have more time than money make it If you have more money than time buy it"The book is written in a way that a student could use it independently but there are the dictation segments which do require someone other than the student to read aloud I think that since this is a nonconsumable text it is a great value for the comprehensive instruction on HOW to LEARN to write Bauer always has a very inspirational style of writing that encourages homeschool parents When used with the workbooks it doesn't need any teacher prep time

My only regret is that Writing With Ease wasn't published 1 year earlier so we could have used it alongside First Language Lessons 1! My son was a 2nd grader when he started it and it was a gentle introduction for learning how to write starting with the absolute fundamentals I loved that the reading excerpts are from classic children stories You could easily design a similar program yourself reading from literature and then taking excerpts out to narrate and use as writing models but this book has taken all the teacher prep work out The optional separate workbook even makes it simpler since the copywork is all ready to go written on penmanship practice-style sheets You can use this book alone without the workbook but then you'll have to write down models for your child to copy yourself It all depends on how much time/energy/money you want to invest-- the Workbook is a time-saver Some of the exercises in First Language Lessons can no doubt be skipped since they are covered more fully in Writing With Ease This is a logical and sequential method There are 36 lessons per year with 4 brief lessons per week I hope the author will go on to write a logic stage writing book as well!

I couldn't help but write a review for this book written by Susan Wise Bauer author of The Story of the World books She has been a English/Writing professor at the College of William and Mary for over 10 years She has been shocked at the number of students in her classes that can't produce quality writing Her curriculum is designed to solve that problem! I believe it will do just that This the first book in her new writing program uses copywork dictation and narration as the tools to begin the writing process Her premise is that before we can expect children to write anything original they first have to learn how to organize what to say (narration) before they can write it down (copywork dictation) That takes lots of practice patience and years Organizing thoughts in one's head and the act of writing them down are two separate skills In the articles which are included in this book she lays out the stages of writing for children from 1-12 grade She also tells us why many children struggle with writing It is because they have not been taught how to use the tools they need to write successfully This book will develop those skills in themI have used narration copywork and dictation off and on in my homeschool for years I knew they were good skills but never knew why I wish I had had this book years ago! Now I know the why My older children are too old to begin this book but I am looking forward to using this program with my 9 year old We are using this book currently and I LOVE it It is so very easy to use I use it without the workbooks because I like to pick narrations and copywork/dictations from our studies It doesn't take but a few minutes to locate a sentence for her to copy I just have her narrate from her history nature or read-aloud books It is worth every penny and then some The articles on the writing process were so enlightening and helpful Combined with The First Language Lessons written by her mother Jesse Wise (which I also LOVE) you would have a Language Arts Program that can't be beat!

I went to college to be an English teacher but as a home school teacher & Mom I struggled to help my own children like to write It's one thing to know how to write yourself and another matter entirely to teach someone else to do it Then we tried Writing With Ease - Strong Fundamentals Wow! The author's goal is to make every parent a writing teacher She could definitely accomplish that with this book Bauer spells out in layman's terms exactly what to expect from children at each grade level Writing With Ease takes students through the steps of reading challenging material and putting it into their own words It's designed for elementary aged writers and for older students who still struggle The text is mandatory The workbook is optional Yet if you have the workbook teacher prep time is zero I found both books to be well worth the expense

This book is everything I needed in a writing program five years ago! I am very impressed with the sequential progression of writing instruction The author breaks down the writing process into small achievable goals She also explains why she has done this and why other methods may not work with your child I especially appreciated her advice for an older reluctant writer and how to use her book to get them where they need to beLevel 1 begins with simple copywork and narration Level 2 introduces dictation and longer narration passages Level 3 has the student read the passage independently and teaches them how to do short summaries Dictation sentences are also longer which develops the skill of holding the words in your head as you write Level 4 continues the same process with dictation paragraphs and longer summaries By the end of the book the child is doing summaries of chapters of classics such as Black Beauty Another helpful feature is the evaluations at the end of each level to determine mastery These can also be used to determine the level for a child to begin with if they are starting in the middle There are additional diagnostic exercises to determine where to start an older child I can't wait to begin this with my children I believe this is the solution to the writing struggles my older child has had This book can be used by itself for the elementary years but the companion workbooks make it even easier as all the copywork dictation and narration passages are selected for you to have the child completeI plan to use this book with all of my elementary aged children and to help my older children overcome their struggles with writing