Teaching my eldest dd to write! and a review of excellence in writing program

[Kimba15]

Hi everyone,

I had just written a reallly long post about my review of the Primary arts of LAnguage excellence in writing program and I was posting it but I was timed out. GRRRRR

So I have been teaching my child to write with Kumon books and really just plodding along and not really getting any where when I came across this excellence in writing website through the TJed website.

I have been using the excellence in writing program for about 4 months now and I am part 2 of the program which is copy work. The program covers everything form letter formation to composition. It can be used alone orin conjunction with their reading program. The writing program also covers reading comprehension and grammar.

My dd is progressing through the program quite well. It is made to be really flexible so you can taylor the program to your childs' needs

Here are some photos of my dd's writing we practice for about 15mins every 2nd day. She is 3 years 9 1/2 months old

[Kimba15]

Here is another picture

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Fantastic job. This is awesome!

[Kimba15]

Thanks TmT. It is a long process but the program comes with a heap of lectures from the makers and every time I listen to the talks about teaching writing I learn something new.

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Yes, you've definitely inspired me to take a look at this program because it is clearly doing wonders with your LO. (Along with Mom's hard work and encouragement of course!). Can you share just a super quick overview of what the program entails in the different parts? I haven't have a chance to study the link yet, but hearing it in plain English mom-to-mom will help before I do so. 

[aangeles]

I am all ears, too!!!

We have recently started some new programs, and everything is working out great so far, but I keep reading wonderful things about IEW, and, as usual, I over-think and over-analyze these things and want to make sure I am using the best curriculum.   

We are currently using:

Literature and reading - Five in a Row (These are very easy readings for her, but she enjoys it very much and begs for it everyday.)
Spelling - All About Spelling
Grammar - First Language Lessons
Writing - Writing with Ease
Vocabulary - Wordly Wise 3000
Handwriting - HWT manuscript (review) and Kumon cursive

I think we have grammar, spelling, and handwriting well-covered, so I am mostly interested in writing programs as she is showing very keen interest in making up and writing her own stories. I have heard that IEW is generally difficult to adapt for younger children and is more suited for grades 3 and up. So I would love to hear how you go about doing the lessons with her, what a lesson entails, how long it takes, and how much teacher/parent preparation is needed. Also, can you just do the writing and composition part without the reading and spelling?

Thanks!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

@AAngeles- we're just now getting into more deliberate spelling as Lily is writing sentences in "kid spelling" spontaneously (usually not that far off though, like spidr but missing the e, that sort of thing). Anyway, she was playing with wooden letters today from a Melissa and Doug puzzle and trying to spell out a sentence but ran out of letters. I am toying with the idea of investing in lots of magnetic letters because our dollar store sells them so cheap, and breaking up spelling and handwriting to be two different lessons. Hoping that the handwriting won't drag her down, and Owen is spelling fantastically (he types things out) at 2.5 but is no where near ready to write.

So I was curious, were Ella's HW'ing skills far enough along that it wasn't an issue, or do you find that spelling could have progressing faster by using a movable alphabet and then leave copywork/HW'ing to a separate subject? Because to me it seems kind of like when kids are bogged down in math by the handwriting part, but their brains are ready to move fwd. I think Lily's spelling skills would progress faster without being bogged down by it as well. Just thinking out loud I guess!

[Kerileanne99]

TmT-
Have you considered stamps? When Alex supprised me by fingerspelling three letter words using ASL, sounding them out as she went, I decided to try them. They work really well, and are a lot of fun, although she really needs to use them with me
We use the numbers stamps in her math, and the lower-case letter 'l' in our set is perfect for tallying...

[aangeles]

TmT,

Ella's handwriting is developed enough for us not to get too bogged down with the mechanics of it while doing spelling. That being said, I still separate out spelling from hwriting because I don't like her to get tired of it and start hating hwriting practice. As it is, she already needs to write for a lot of subjects that we do - Writing with Ease, HWT/Kumon, Soroban, Singapore math/MEP, Chinese Character Writing, and miscellaneous geography, history, critical thinking workbooks that she likes to do. So, as much as possible, I minimize the amount of writing she needs to do each day. I had used number and alphabet stamps with her when she was just starting out with workbooks and worksheets (I think she was barely 2 at that time and we were doing Jones Geniuses), but she quickly transitioned herself to using a pencil and writing because she didn't like the mess that inadvertently would end up on her hands. 

The All About Spelling package comes with laminated letter tiles for 2 sets of the alphabet and 1 set of consonant blends/digraphs and vowel teams that you cut out and attach little magnets (also included) to and that is what they recommend using with their program. It is easy enough to use, but I found an even easier way! We have an app called Montessori Crossword and you can select "Movable Alphabet" from the main menu to let the child do freeplay spelling exercises. The letters never get used up, and it is so easy to delete the word after she's spelled it to go to the next word. You can even toggle easily between caps and small letters to teach capitalization rules. You can choose to arrange the letters alphabetically (what AAS recommends initially) or in QWERTY to develop typing skills. This is what we use each time we do our dictation for spelling exercises. I just got tired of having to lay out and then clean up all those magnetic letters and letter tiles after a while. 


P.S. I don't know how to post a link to the Montessori Crossword app in the Appstore, but it is developed by L'Escapadou and here is a video of what it looks like:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/qJZKBYvuLBw&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/qJZKBYvuLBw&rel=1</a>

[Kimba15]

I use the Primary Arts of Language K-2 Program, In conjunction with All about Spelling and I love both the programs.

The PAL program comes in 3 parts Section 1 is learning how to form the letters correctly and you work on approximately 3 letters per lessons which are all formed similarly. It comes with a DVD on how to show your child each letter correctly. You first show them on a small/med sized white board and then the child copies you and then when they are feeling confident they write it in book. The Booklet also suggests that you use many multi-sensory approaches to writing such as polenta or cornflour to write the letters in.

I didn't spend too much time on the first book because Sophia already knew how to form most of her letters. We still completed it but it was mainly to cover capital letters where she needs her practice.

The first booklet also covers reading comprehension. I have not really used the reading comprehension because Sophia didn't really understand  what a main character is or what the plot of the story. I have used www.englishforeveryone.org which  I find a little easier to use until I actually teach Sophia what a main character is and what a plot is.

The second booklet covers copy work and grammar. I prefer to teach Grammar as a separate lesson so I have separated the Grammar lesson. Grammar was my weakest point   and I like to know that I am doing it correctly. You teach it in conjunction with the copy work lessons. Grammar is not in every lesson but the lessons that it is in I have found it best to split the lessons into two parts as it makes it quite a long lesson and the IEW recommend no longer than 15minutes of writing practice a day.  You also cover the first 3 punctuation signs the full stop, question mark and exclamation mark, and when to use.

The third book covers composition I have not gotten this far yet so I can't comment.

The program comes with a booklet and a DVD you can just grab the booklet and the workbook and sit down and do the lesson. I think it is very adaptable for younger children as you can use other approaches to help your child learn to write. You also keep a daily journal where your child sees you write while they dictate to you about their day. You just make the writing large and deliberate so your child can see how you form the letters. Each booklet has approximately 30-40 lesson in it. After this program has been completed they are ready for the other IEW programs.

There is no rush. K-2 is just a guide the IEW really emphasize mastery of each concept taught before moving on. They do not expect the child will have perfect handwriting but each lesson builds on the last lesson so the child needs to have an understanding of each concept taught. Sometimes it might take you a week to complete one step or just a day to complete another step. 

I love the fact that it comes with a DVD and Talks that Andrew Pudewa has given and other members of the institute in writing. I have learnt a lot and each time I listen or watch the DVD I learn even more.

Personally I rate it an 8/10.  I only think the reading comprehension needs to made a little easier to teach other than that If we choose to homeschool our girls I will be using their curriculum.

[aangeles]

Thank you so much, Kimba, for that detailed and helpful review! Please do keep us updated with your dd's progress. She is doing so well!    Also, if you could do a review of the third book that covers composition when you start using it, I would greatly appreciate it. 

Thanks again! Karma! 

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