Where to go after WT 2?

[ga girl]

I realize that this has been discussed on the WT website... I have some ?'s that I hope you all can help answer.

My 11 year old ( learning disabilities, esp. in writing and language) is currently in WT 2 and doing fairly well with it. He tolerates it and needs lots of assists with adding flair to his story. He's very literal and no-nonsense and doesn't see the point in adding anything that's not factual to add interest to the story.

WT recommends moving to CW. I don't know if this is the best route for him. I love the format of WT, but I don't know if long term it will click. This is the first year we've used WT and I love it. I wish there was WT3, but... oh well.

Connie
dd, 12
ds, 11
ds,8

[Stacy in NJ]

Have you looked at IEW? I think it works well with a child that is very literal. It provides very specific instructions on how to add flair, or interest, to writing. Just a suggestion.

[Trivium Academy]

Do you want to continue with the progymnasmata? If so here is the list of curricula that I know of:

Classical Composition http://www.classicalcomposition.com/
Classical Writing http://home.att.net/~MikeJaqua/classicalwriting.html
Lost Tools of Writing http://www.circeinstitute.org/l_lostoolsofwriting.shtml
(scroll down, the page seems empty but it's not)

Writing With Ease by SWB will contain progymnasmata in the later years, I don't know enough to help about this, maybe someone else can.

Institute for Excellence in Writing has Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales for 3rd-5th graders, which would expand on what you've done, again I have no experience with this but found it when I was looking for progym resources myself.

I'm only sharing resources I know about, I'm not recommending anything and I have no experience with these.

[OhElizabeth]

Normally I would say IEW, but given that you've said he has some special needs and could use a different pace, have you looked at Wordsmith Apprentice? I'm using it with my dd this year. We completed WT2 last year and I wanted something sort of on the same level, not harder, and easy to implement. She's really enjoying it, and it covers more than I first thought it would. It's not going to get into multi-paragraph essays or anything, but it's really enjoyable, gentle, and worthwhile. I assume you can see samples online. It follows a newspaper theme, so you do writing in that vein. Like I said, my dd is really enjoying it. It has small chunks and I just let her do as much as she wants each day. She's not one to love writing either, so it's been a good fit for her.

[Amy from WT]

Hi Ga Girl,

I have two comments for you.

1) Regarding your son's final drafts: please don't feel you need to push him to add creative elements to every story.

Adding creative touches to every final draft is the "fun" part of writing in WT for most of the students that go through the program. But I'm finding that a small percentage of the students using WT really don't enjoy this part of the process. These students, much like your son, are analytical thinkers. They tend to be concrete, factual, and really don't see the "point" in adding all that extra "stuff" to their story. Well, quite honestly, the "point" is simply to make the whole writing process more enjoyable for them. To give them an end product (their story) that they feel ownership of, and to make writing a gratifying experience for them. I can't stress this next point enough - adding these creative touches is not a part of the original process in this level of the progymnasmata!

If this step in the process is adding stress for your son, then by all means, leave it out. Now, I'm not saying leave the Final Draft out, just the creative touches. Use this time to take his Rough Draft and improve on it. Isolate some of his sentences and ask him to make them better. Ask him, how could he make the story more interesting to his reader? Work on the details, in other words. Use the time to make him a better writer, to teach him to slow down and think about his choice of words, and his arrangement of those words into beautiful, well-flowing sentences.

2) Jessica mentioned most of the Progymnasmata programs that are available, but there is one more that I thought of that you might want to look at. Imitation in Writing by Matt Whitling is a relatively simple progym program that might work well for you. I do feel it lacks somewhat in detail, but then that gives it a simplicity that makes it work well for some families. I am intending to try it out this year for my own daughter, adding in some extras, perhaps testing the "extras" for WT 3 someday.

Hope this helps! All the best...

[ga girl]

Thank you all! I looked at Imitations in Writing and he would love the topics - esp the Greek Myths. It looks as straight forward WT. I also like the CW, but I am afraid that it might be too intensive for him. How much more difficult is CW than WT? Is there an easy transition? Selfishly, I'd like something that's not teacher intensive ( that's something I love about WT, too).

Connie
dd 12 ds 11 ds 8

[Amy from WT]

I also like the CW, but I am afraid that it might be too intensive for him. How much more difficult is CW than WT? Is there an easy transition? Selfishly, I'd like something that's not teacher intensive

The material in CW is wonderful!! But I found it incredibly teacher intensive. That said, if you are willing to put the time into learning it, once you've figured out the Teacher's Manual, the intensity level for your son is up to you. That level of flexibility is another nice part of the program.

After finishing WT 2, a student can very easily move into CW Homer. There are some nice storytelling techniques in there that are really valuable for the student.

[ga girl]

Thank you! I've ordered an Imitations in Writing to look at before I sink $$ into CW. I also have 2 others at home and like I said, would prefer something not as teacher intensive. That said, I'll probably look into CW as well.

Connie