Tell me about Writeshop

[deeinfl]

Okay, after researching sooooo many writing programs, this is one that is also interesting me. I like the fact that it seems mostly scripted and that it seems to be geared to parents that don't really know how to teach writing and that would most definitely be me.

I'm intersted in your opinions about this. This would be for my 9th and 10th grader and he's only just begun to write now. We need something that goes from paragraphs to essays for our first two highschool years and then we can work on research papers and so on for our last two.

I would love to hear your advice...

So far we are doing
Abeka literature
Winston Grammar Advanced
Something for spelling/vocabulary and I need something for writing/composition...:(

Thank you in advance,

Dee

ps My son is mildly dyslexic and the only thing we've done for writing thus far is history narrations, some Wordsmith, and some Writing Trails for outline learning.

[Sue in St Pete]

Hello from across the bridge...

We are using Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th grade. You may read my review in this thread (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69938&highlight=write+shop).

[deeinfl]

Okay Sue, the only thing that scares me were the words "learning curve" in your post. :)

Can you explain just how much of a learning curve there is?

Thank you,

Dee

[attachedto4]

Not Sue, but ime there are so many notes to the teacher to sort through and then the whole procedure, or system for doing the assignments, that it took me awhile to get the hang of doing it. It's not hard, just maybe a tad overwhelming at first. I would read through the whole thing and familiarize yourself with the lessons as much as possible.

It has been very helpful to me and I'm glad we've used it. I like the checklists and system for grading papers and that they tell us specifically what we're working on with each assignment.

[HollyDay]

I agree about the learning curve. I honestly found CW easier to implement than WriteSHop. The authors (I think) are "global thinkers" and I am a "linear thinker" (I think). I found the instruction book similar in tone to SWR. Very big picture - not very "practical".

My dd did not like it. The lessons were very similar. Describe a pet, describe a toy, describe a day at the circus, describe a person. She was a reluctant writer to begin with and the program turned her off completely.

She is doing very well this year with Jump In by the way.

I dont like to give a negative review because what works for one dc or parent/teacher will not work for another. The very reasons we did not like it might be strengths for you!

[Sue in St Pete]

Yes, as attachedto4 says, there are many notes to the teacher. There are extremely detailed instructions. That's bad because it can be overwhelming at first, but it's also good because the authors walk me through how to teach writing step-by-step. Teaching math comes naturally to me, teaching writing does not. I need the hand holding Write Shop provides.

For each lesson, you go over the same thing:
pre-writing activity
brainstorming/practice paragraph
brainstorming/sloppy copy
1st revision
final copy

It took me a while to get the hang of each piece.

In the teacher's book, there are sections for lesson plans, editing & evaluating, positive & encouraging comments, addressing errors lesson by lesson, common problems of mechanics, student writing samples, skill builder keys, pre-writing & lesson activity keys. I don't use all these sections, but I had to get familiar enough with each to decide what I was going to take out of each. The amount of information is overwhelming at first. Sometimes, people will comment negatively about the amount of time they spend flipping back and forth. I did a lot of flipping through all the sections in the beginning. It's all helpful and much of it is not what I would come up with on my own. The authors have done so much work for me.

In the student book, they have word lists: adverbs, characteristics/expressions/behaviors, colors, emotions, personification, prepositions, said synonyms, weak words, and more. There is a lot there and it can be overwhelming at first, but once familiar with the lists, it is extremely helpful for developing more interesting and descriptive writing.

HTH!

[Sue in St Pete]

I honestly found CW easier to implement than WriteSHop.
That's interesting. I really wanted to use CW, and even bought the core book, but I was too intimidated by it.

[HollyDay]

Sue that is funny!! There are some programs I just cannot figure out - TOG is one of them. But others have no problems at all. Again, I am thrilled we have so many choices