So reading your response about Writeshop, I was like "that is so me!" I have Writeshop Primary B, and when I start reading the intro my head starts to spin. How do you get beyond that and into actually doing lessons?
Me, too! I'm having fits with Phillip, and had never heard of Writeshop and was wondering about it....
Sommer- I feel your pain! I really thought I was going to end up selling it or trashing it because I seriously thought that if I can't get my head wrapped around it then how in the world am I going to have my kids use it? First of all I have only been using it for a month so take what I say with a grain of salt. Also, I don't have the Junior or Primary level so I am of no help there. I did look at them when a friend had them and I should have bought them from her but I didn't. Oh well. I have chosen to do a 2 year track with my 13yo ds and a 3 year track with my 11yo dd. Basically this means that my dd is slightly behind my ds. She has longer to work on her assignments. Also you should know that I tweaked it a bit because the program wants the kids to do a bunch of skill building activities such as copy work, dictation, and other things like that. I don't have my kids do that....they would kill me. I will give you an example of my ds schedule. This is how it works (and hopefully this will all make sense) also the topics are listed in each lesson for the paper they are supposed to write, so I don't have to come up with anything. The topics are so broad that really it is up to my kids what they write. Monday: he does his brainstorming on paper and figures out how to write his sloppy copy. Wednesday: He writes a sloppy copy....and I mean VERY sloppy copy. Spelling doesn't matter, punctuation doesn't matter. Nothing matters in this copy. Friday: He uses the student skills checklist to see if his sloppy copy has everything from the checklist. If it doesn't he revises his sloppy copy, or starts a new one. His choice. Then the next week: Monday: He writes a cleaner copy. Just an fyi...he does it by hand, not on the computer. Wednesday: I edit his paper and give feedback. He does nothing other than listen to what I have to say. Friday: He writes a final draft. He goes over his checklist again and makes sure punctuation, spelling and grammar are correct. I let him type it up if he wants and he turns it in. I grade it over the weekend using the evaluation sheet that comes with the program. That is pretty much it. I hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing. I don't use that program, but I like the idea of having him write out a 'cleaner copy' rather than me trying to edit his 'sloppy copy'. I have wrestled with whether I should have him just re-read and edit by erasing and fixing (which he does poorly) or re-write. We really need to revamp our approach to writing and the process of writing...
I think I need a day when the house is quiet to read through it.... it seemed like there were a lot of "details"??? Keep a book of this and make a poster of that??? All before you start, are those things necessary?
Sommer: I chose to not integrate every little part of the program because I knew it would overwhelm us. There were a lot of "details". Perhaps as i go through the program i will become more familiar with it and add in the "details".
