I see that many of you use Writing Strands, so I assume that it is a pretty good program. Do you use a separate grammar program with it or is the Writing Strands enough? I've been to the website, and it says that the grammar portion is built in. I just wanted to get some opinions from people who use it. We currently use Easy Grammar, which does simplify grammar but is very boring. I also find myself wondering if it is necessary to place such a focus on abstract grammar terms and instead focus on writing skills. As I'm analyzing what has worked in our homeschooling and what hasn't, writing is certainly our #1 area where we need to improve. Thanks in advance for your help!
We do grammar/LA with CLE which gets the "facts" down and then we did Writing Strands (we are switching to Writing Aids with Tapestry of Grace because it integrates everything)... WS is a systematic way to get the child to learn to write - I LOVE it.... the kids like it as well.... and they do pay attention. My thing is this - they need to be able to write a paper to be graded.... essays and things like that. My job is to get them to be able to do that. It drives me NUTS that my friend who has a daughter in year 2 of college spends so much time up at night helping her daughter (who was homeschooled but writing wasn't always a serious focus) write her papers. I'm sorry - but in MY opinion that is the fault of the parent not preparing the child correctly and DH & I do NOT want to be in that position later. The only reason we are switching to Writing Aids is because it integrates with the Tapestry of Grace History with the assignments already done and right now for me - consolidation is a factor
I like to use Easy Grammar as grammar and Writing Strands as writing. They don't want you to pick apart the kids writing with WS, and only point out one thing a week... I just don't feel there is enough there to use it as a solid grammar program.
I completely agree with you. In terms of writing, my oldest is not where he should be. It is definitely my responsibility to find a way to teach him good writing skills. Thanks for your thoughts and advice.
we are slowly working through WS along with using Rod and Staff English. We write on Thursdays and Fridays (beginning where ever we left off the previous week) with Writing Strands and M-W use Rod and Staff.
Ok.. with WS, they are written to the kids, they are encouraged to have us read what they wrote... and having the Evaluating Writing book helps with this ALOT!! They tell the kids to finish each lesson then take a week off. It would be really easy to do a lesson in WS (which is usually about a week long, it's broken down into days) and then the week off do a grammar program. I don't like the idea of teaching a grammar concept and then letting it drop for a week and then either move on or try to pick it up where ever we were, so what we did was we did grammar M, W, F, and he followed the WS schedule on his own. Grammar was following my lead, WS was following his He didn't always want to share what he wrote, and I didn't pry. If I'm correct, in the higher levels of WS they do start to learn how to do report type things... but they never learn to do book reports. Going by memory there, I havent' looked a lot at their site since I was picking things last June
We are using a level of writing strands with all three kids - at times it seems almost too simple, so we need the next level up or I use a program I made instead, for my oldest. My dd9 plowed through writing strands 3 in 4 months - she found it too easy, so I'm going to bump her up to level 4. But we switch back and forth with different programs and different activities, so it doesn't feel like the same thing all the time. However, it is just writing -- I have seen no strong grammar/mechanics components at all. That being said, while it is good to know grammar, I am a firm believe that strong grammar and mechanics comes naturally with any good writing program - they go hand in hand. If a student is writing in sentence fragments, you are going to catch that via the writing program and review how sentence needs both a subject and a predicate. We still do some grammar worksheets every week, but only one or two a week. I am an English professor, and I only had one year of any significant grammar study that I can readily remember - part of 9th grade (we studied nouns) before I was bumped to a high level class, where I had just missed sentence diagramming. I was an avid reader and writer by then, and seeing how grammar and mechanics was used in good literature, then replicating it in my own writing, was enough for me. You best bet is to have a supplement text for grammar (we use Loyola Univ Press workbook 2 days a week), but I use their writing as a spring board for most of their hands on grammar/mechanics study. When to use periods, why a sentence doesn't work, how to use reflexive adjectives and why, when to use gerunds . . . When a students knows how to write well, he or she will naturally integrate those elements in, and a good writing program will also show them how and when to do that. I know this may seem a bit scattered (it's too early in the morning for me!) but overall my recommendation is a lot of writing with smaller emphasis on grammar. I hope this helps!
We just started WS a few weeks ago after DS's blow up over writing a 500 word essay on Colonial Georgia. He loves it. He even said "I think this is helping me!" All I know is that he's doing and I'm happy because he hates writing. Oh, and no our book has no grammar in it. We use Working with Words.
If you read the Evaluating Writing Strands book for parents, it explains how and why they feel it's a good foundation for grammar as well as writing... it goes along with what Gwenny said... if you write well and read alot you will naturally pick up grammar.
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful responses. I think I am going to try it. I can get a used copy pretty cheap. My oldest is quite the stubborn writer so this may help get him going. Thanks again!
Haven't read all the responses. We use Writing Strands, and LOVE it. It's a good WRITING program. It's not really grammar at all. We use Easy Grammar for that. And, again, we LOVE Easy Grammar!
