IEW -- US History-Based Writing Lessons

[MomOfOneFunOne]

Hello, All!
I'm thinking of doing IEW's US History-Based Writing Lessons in a group setting next year. I would be the facilitator.

I have used the Middle Ages writing lessons (I was not the facilitator) and feel that I could facilitate a group with that very easily but I'm not sure about the US History-Based Writing Lessons. For one, it's quite a bit more expensive and I'm wondering why. Is there more there that I may not be familiar with? From what I can see in the sample pages, the facilitator is expected to grade/correct the papers. That wasn't how it worked with the Middle Ages book (as least how we used it). Is that something that would be part of the US History book?

I would LOVE to hear of anyone's experiences with this!

Thanks!

[MIch elle]

and are on lesson 18 this week. This is his first year of formal writing so I don't grade his writing. We go over the check lists and make sure he adds everything he needs to and corrects his mistakes, but I don't grade his papers.

It's a great program. It's taking us much longer than it's scheduled. It takes us sometimes 2-3 weeks to do one week's assignments due to our other commitments (academic & music).

I'm not sure why it's more expensive than IEW Medieval lessons, but I think it's well worth the price!

[Kathy in MD]

I'm wanting to use the Middle Ages program next year. How did it work out for your dc? Would you recommend the teacher's seminar CD's with it if money's not a problem?

Also what is the facilitator you're talking about?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

At home, Kathy, you are the teacher (or facilitator), right? But in a group setting, unless you are the one leading the group, there is a different teacher or facilitator. I'm not sure why I chose that word . . . sorry. It's the teacher in a group setting. If you're doing it at home, that's you.

Yes, I would and when I do it for the group, I'll have a session for all the moms to come over to view those.

We really liked the Middle Ages book. We liked the subject matter and layout. I highly recommend it!

[Leah]

I used this in a group setting with 3-8th graders, and I loved it. We actually only met for class once a month and then I gave them assignments to complete at home during the off weeks. All the moms were expected to sit in on the class since they needed to know what was going on for the rest of the month.

The course comes with very handy grading checklists for each assignment so each child/mom knew exactly what was to be in each paper. I used these checklists for grading so it did not take too long, but you could set it up so that each parent is responsible for grading their own child's work with the checklist.

I do not have the Middle Ages set for comparison, but I do have Ancients and that one is also cheaper. I am sure this is because of the detail for teacher and student in the American History set that the other sets do not have. I'd have to pull it out when I get home for specifics, but I know the AH set is larger.

HTH,

[Basketmaker Amy]

I would recommend the TWSS - it teaches you how to teach the program. It has a really good resale value also.

[Kathy in MD]

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