Writing & Rhetoric Bk 1: Fable Stdt/Tchr Pack

My child was able to complete each chapter in 2-3 sessions. We only do Formal Writing once a week, so a chapter would take two to three weeks to complete. I did not find it necessary to assign every activity in a chapter as the book progressed. We also have a separate dictation curriculum and did not use the ones suggested in the book. Use the material as a resource and assign what your child needs to grow in writing skills. It’s a lovely resource.

It has a CD in the back of the teacher book... I converted them to MP3 for ease of use. I def. recommend doing that with all your digital media - it has been a time and sanity saver, since I'm not slowed down or halted altogether by having to locate a CD (and they're not cluttering up my desk).

That depends partly on the grade you start with and the aptitude of the student. We just did book one in 3rd grade but started later with it. This year we are doing books 2&3 for fourth grade. If you are using this as the primary writing program for 4th and up I'd say you need to cover two books a year.

Yes, this is a composition course only. It does not teach grammar or spelling, although it contains some copywork in books 1-3, and this has excerpts of Classic literature pieces in it, but it is not literature. They need to read well, and even though it says grades 3 and up, it is just fine to start at 5th or even6th grade, depending on the child. For example, I can’t imagine having my 4th grade boy using this right now. I do really like it though. I have my older children Ages 12 and 14, in book 3 and 5 right now. Hope this helps.

Your child would need to know how to spell enough Not to be frustrated with writing. Basic spelling ability would be helpful. If there is that occasional word They misspell during a writing exercise, you can help them, but sometimes the words are contained already in the story they will imitate. Also there is the “look up the word in a dictionary or thesaurus” exercise . Also maybe doing writing would help their spelling!

I think the company suggests these books be used (2 levels/year) with children in grades 3 and up. I used levels 1-2 with my 1st and 3rd grader together, and they loved it! I continued with Levels 3-4 this past year (2nd and 4th grade) and it didn't seem to be too much for either of them. We are planning to continue with the series.

This would be too hard unless your student had very strong writing skills. My First graders have always been at the point where they still need to practice their handwriting, and haven't grasped the concepts of capitol letters and punctuation. The problem solving and reasoning or logic would also probably be too much for a first grader.

That being said, a first grader would probably really enjoy orally working through this with a sibling. The stories are very enjoyable, and there is a lot of "telling back" and fun word play that they would enjoy. This would also make it that much easier when they did get to the point where they were actually doing the writing in a year or two.

I have tried quite a few writing products, and this has by far been the most engaging for my reluctant writers. (My kids are all boys, getting them to sit still or focus is a challenge.) Expense wise is it also very reasonable. I have found you don't need the CD with the readings because reading the stories together is just a natural part of doing the work together with my children.