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  1. Mamasita B
    Oldsmar, FL
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Thorough, easy to follow guide to teach writing
    September 5, 2013
    Mamasita B
    Oldsmar, FL
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    Susan Wise Bauer uses engaging and challenging excerpts from quality sources to lead students through a variety of types of writing. The most thorough and easy to follow guide to teaching writing that I have looked at. Covers how to organize and plan out writing, as well as refining techniques to improve writing. Great for the dialectic stage. We are using it with our 5th grader lesson by lesson who is able with some guidance to complete the lessons on his own. Our 7th grader is using it at an accelerated pace (8 lessons per week) on her own in preparation for moving onto Writing with Skills Level 2 when it is released this fall.

    In our co-op, lessons are introduced to the younger students briefly by the tutor, then the students work independently at home during the following week. Older students work through the lessons on their own at home during the week, then meet with peers and a moderator to discuss the previous week's lessons and participate in peer review.

    Both students enjoy the lessons and look forward to this portion of their daily schoolwork. I enjoy reviewing the lessons with them when they are completed. I am looking forward to using this with all our younger children coming up through the years. Excellent tool to improve writing and to help move students toward self-sufficiency in learning.
  2. Sheri
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Exceptional Resource!
    May 19, 2016
    Sheri
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This program is extremely comprehensive. So much so, we've taken two years to use this one book for 5th and 6th grades. If you have a gifted writer, or someone who loves writing, you can do this in one year. For your average or reluctant writer, you can easily make this last two years. This is an independent writing program which removes the parent/teacher as the "critical eye" and requires the student to use a rubric to complete their work. I can't imagine doing the program without the teacher's guide. The teacher's guide has scripts to follow and requires no preparation on your part. I've compared it to other popular programs, even classical programs and none have been as thorough or comprehensive as this one. You will need to have some basic grammar knowledge for some of the exercises, like objects of the preposition and direct objects. For example, the author teaches how to change passive verbs into active, and vice versa, by modifying parts of speech. This program incorporates a lot of reading (literature, scientific and historical writings), but nothing that is overwhelming. If your student loves to read, this program is an excellent fit. We plan on using the next two levels.
  3. Kathy
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Writing With Skill Student Workbook Level 1
    June 21, 2018
    Kathy
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    Writing with Skill Student Workbook Level 1 is authored by Susan Wise Bauer. She is the co-author of "The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home." Writing with Skill Level 1 is a companion to Bauer's text "Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals." Please see my review of "Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals" for a comprehensive overview of the curriculum.

    Writing with Skill Student Workbook Level 1 is comprised of the following components:

    Introduction

    Overview of the Year's Sequence

    General Instructions

    Part 1: Basic Skills

    Week 1: Narrative Summaries

    Week 2: One-Level Outlines

    Week 3: Using a Thesaurus

    Part 2: Building Blocks for Composition

    Week 4: Chronological Narrative of a Past Event

    Week 5: Chronological Narrative of a Scientific Discovery

    Week 6: Chronological Narrative of a Past Event

    Week 7: Chronological Narrative of a Scientific Discovery

    Week 8: Description of a Place

    Week 9: Description of a Place

    Week 10: Description of a Place

    Week 11: Combining Chronological Narrative of a Past Event

    Week 12: Scientific Description

    Week 13: Scientific Description

    Week 14: Scientific Description

    Week 15: Combining Chronological Narrative of a Scientific Discovery and Scientific Description

    Part III: Sentence Skills

    Week 16: Description of a Person

    Week 17: Description of a Person

    Week 18: Using a Metaphor to Organize a Character Description

    Week 19: Biographical Sketch

    Week 20: Biographical Sketch

    Week 21: Sequence: Natural Process

    Week 22: Sequence Natural Process

    Part IV: Beginning Literary Criticism: Prose

    Week 23: Hero/Villain, Protagonist/Antagonist

    Week 24: Hero/Villain, Protagonist/Antagonist

    Week 25: Supporting Characters

    Week 26: Idea Stories

    Part V: Research

    Week 27: Outlining

    Week 28: Documentation

    Week 29: Writing from Notes: Chronological Narrative of a Past Event, Description of a Person, Description of a Place

    Week 30: Writing from Notes: Sequence: Natural Process, Scientific Description

    Week 31: Writing from Notes: Biographical Sketch, Description of a Person

    Part VI: Beginning Literary Criticism: Poetry

    Week 32: Sound

    Week 33: Meter

    Week 34: Narrative

    Part VII: Final Project

    Week 35: Finding and Researching Your Topic

    Week 36: Writing Your Final Composition

    Appendix I: Time and Sequence, Space and Distance Words/Phrases

    Appendix II: Points of View

    Appendix III: Literature

    Appendix IV: Poetry

    Works Cited

    Permissions

    First and foremost, of all the writing curricula I have perused as a homeschooling parent, the Writing with Ease: Strong Fundamentals series is superlative. The purpose of the curriculum is to prepare students for advanced work in rhetoric and composition. In theory, the curriculum is student directed, but in reality it is teacher directed. The length of time for each lesson will vary based upon the student's as well as the parent's writing skills. As a gentle reminder, the purpose of curriculum is to serve the student and teaching parent. The author states the following in the curriculum introduction: You should feel free to adapt the assignments and pace to fit your student.

    Before attempting Writing with Skill Level 1, I would highly recommend the following language arts sequence from the Well Trained Mind Press:

    First Language Lessons Grades 1-4

    Writing with Ease Grades 5-8

    Writing with Skill Grades 9-12

    Overall, we have been pleased with Ms. Bauer's logical approach to writing instruction. Our child has transformed from being a reluctant writer into a confident writer.

  4. Lee
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    The Complete Writer Series
    October 3, 2018
    Lee
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    The author has included updated grade recommendations for her writing curriculum at her website:

    http://downloads.peacehillpress.com/samples/pdf/WWEandWWSexplanation.pdf

    Writing With Skill 1,2, and 3 can be used in grades 8, 9, and 10.
  5. Mom
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Great follow up to Writing with Ease
    May 19, 2023
    Mom
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    With multiple grades, my eldest needed something more than copywork and I was pleased with how fast this got him writing more. I appreciate how it is directed to him, and use me as a check. (He still wants to skimp!) We tried another course but it was too chaotic and my children are more logical. This is very well ordered, giving a variety of assignments. They try to have the child organize the narrations, topos, ect into different sections of their notebook, and I am not sure he is ready to have that level of self organization.
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