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 Writing Strands (currently 1,049 views) |
| my3kids |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 12:23am |
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Thinking of using writing strands but I have a few questions.
1. Is it lined up for a lesson a day?
2. Does it cover grammer?
3. Do you use it in conjunction with a reading program?
I'm interested but I've only seen the samples on-line and it doesn't look like a complete program, yet I've heard people use it for their complete "English" program. Any one out there using it and loving it!?* |
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| Genevieve |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 12:48am |
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| No grammar. I'm a professional writer, and I loathe it. It IS easy, though, and it's better than nothing. |
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| my3kids |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 12:57am |
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| REALLY? Huh! Do you know A Beka and what do you think of that, because that is what I'm using now |
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| my3kids |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 12:58am |
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| I forgot to ask...why such strong feelings? What about it do you dislike? |
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| obiwan |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 12:59am |
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| What do you like and what have you used? |
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| Admin |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 2:49am |
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Posts: 1,794
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Hi there. We use WS 2, but not exactly as it's intended. More as a springboard. I like that it teaches the mechanics of composition (punctuation, spelling, capitalization, grammar) as a part of the writing process. I don't like that its writing topics are fairly boring & contrived; they want you to steer your kids into writing sentences that to me personally don't feel like very good composition.
Here are some things about it you might want to know:
- Each lesson is very short, so we actually spend 10 minutes or less per day doing it, and I think that's a very good thing.
- Each lesson introduces some topic to write about, and wants you to steer the child to writing in a particular way to accomplish the assignment. For example, you put stuff on the table, and your kid learns to list the things on the table in a sentence. End result is that the child is given the chance to learn that items in a list are comma-delimited. In our family, it sparked a spirited discussion of whether it was better to put the comma before the "and" at the end or leave it off. (Eric wasn't comfortable that either way could be correct, but I just told him to make his own choice and try for consistency!)
- A surprising number of spelling, puntuation, grammar, and capitalization issues come up naturally during these assignments. Correcting them as part of the revision process really does seem to make that info stick, as they claim it will.
- We don't always follow the lessons, but we use their method of revising and learning from what we write a lot. For example, my son wrote a story with lots of dialog. So, I thought, what better opportunity to introduce him to the strange and wonderful world of punctuating dialog? If you think it's simple, take a look at the next novel you read! Anyway, maybe we're just a weird family, but we had a great time looking at examples from various books and figuring it all out.
So... Bottom line is I think that a similar book with higher quality writing examples would work better, but I don't know of one. On the other hand, I do think their concept of learning by doing is excellent: that is, having someone who knows more about composition help the budding writer revise his/her work. We pick only a few battles at a time. One week it might be remembering that days of week and months are capitalized, another week might be punctuation of dialog, and another week might be making up headlines & who-what-where type newspaper paragraphs.
Long, sorry. Hope this helps! |
Elizabeth
Mom to Eric (8 ) and Ruby (4.5) |
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| my3kids |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2005, 3:50pm |
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| Thank you all. Info to take in and consider. |
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| Genevieve |
| Posted on: December 17th, 2005, 2:18pm |
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>Do you know A Beka
Nope!
>why such strong feelings? What about it do you dislike?
First, it does not separate style from content, and the style that it teaches is...just bad. It teaches "good" writing as a series of tricks--making two sentences into one, making sentences longer, making sentences more flowery. The writing ability of the authors is barely mediocre, and they try to impress that style upon every student through the program. It does nothing to develop an ear for language--for the rhythm of good prose or for the clarity and precision of excellent writing.
Second, the lessons are cutesy and contrived. I am a STRONG advocate of writing for a purpose, and WS just doesn't give a convincing purpose.
Third, they have an utter disdain for grammar and mechanics. It shows in the texts, which are riddled with punctuation errors. I would not recommend that any child learn about writing from a book whose authors can't even get the basics straight! |
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