I'm still confused about WWE...help me

[Mesa]

I have the book, and bought the level 2 workbook. I'm so confused I put it away and bought Writing strands. My son is in tears with WS. He doesnt know how to write a paragraph and he hates writing... I'm so confused and I feel like a failure right now.
Can someone tell me how to use WWE. Use small words, because apparently I'm slow. ROFL
I'd like someone to explain exactly what SWB is asking us to do on each day? Like day 1, the goal is to, heres what we do....
day 2 the goal is to, heres what we do.....

Thanks so much... I really appreciate the help.

[dcjlkplus3]

I have the book, and bought the level 2 workbook. I'm so confused I put it away and bought Writing strands. My son is in tears with WS. He doesnt know how to write a paragraph and he hates writing... I'm so confused and I feel like a failure right now.
Can someone tell me how to use WWE. Use small words, because apparently I'm slow. ROFL
I'd like someone to explain exactly what SWB is asking us to do on each day? Like day 1, the goal is to, heres what we do....
day 2 the goal is to, heres what we do.....

Thanks so much... I really appreciate the help.


The first thing I do with the workbook is tear it apart. That way I have the student pages and teacher pages as 2 separate books. We are currently using level 2. The only level of preparedness I have found that I need is that I have to copy the student pages for the week (my oldest of three is using them now, so I make copies for her)

On day one - you read the passage in the teacher pages to your student. After reading it, you ask him the questions that are provided (they help you make sure he is listening well). After those are a few more questions to help him learn to summerize/narrate. So far nothing is written on the page provided. Then they narrate the passage you read - you write that down on the paper provided.
Day 2 - They copy the sentence/sentences at the top of the page (it is from the same source material as yesterdays narration)
Day 3 - You dictate the same sentence they copied on day 2 to them, watching closely to make sure they are writing it correctly (check spelling, punctuation, etc.)
Day for is the same as day 1, but... you dictate one of the sentences that he told you back to him, for him to write (day 4 has two pages in the student pages)
HTH.

[Mesa]

Thank you so much Jenny! Thats does help me.. I dont know why it was so confusing to me. I guess it's the words "narrate" and "dictate" LOL.
So this is all they need for writing huh... that sure makes it easy. Hopefully we wont have any tears tomorrow.

[HiddenJewel]

Thank you so much Jenny! Thats does help me.. I dont know why it was so confusing to me. I guess it's the words "narrate" and "dictate" LOL.
So this is all they need for writing huh... that sure makes it easy. Hopefully we wont have any tears tomorrow.

It's deceptively simple but really does build a foundation for more advanced written communication later on.

[paulcindy]

I know I may have asked this before, but since the level 3 and 4 workbooks are not available, is this program still easy to use without the workbooks?

[ldee]

It is simple to use without the workbooks for level 4. I cut and pasted excerpts from the Burgess Animal Books on project Gutenburg website. Or it may have been the Baldwin project website. You could even use a few paragraphs from any reader, book, or the Nature Readers from CLP are good too. He would read it, narrate it back while I wrote the 1st sentence down, then tell me back the sentence. The next day he would do a dictation exerecise. We did this for 2-3 months then went on to IEW. We have kept up the dictation because this is a weak area for him He is in 5th grade and has always narrated.
My younger two are in level 1 and 2 using the workbooks. We are not consistent but I have seen a huge improvements in the listening portion since we started.

[paulcindy]

It is simple to use without the workbooks for level 4. I cut and pasted excerpts from the Burgess Animal Books on project Gutenburg website. Or it may have been the Baldwin project website. You could even use a few paragraphs from any reader, book, or the Nature Readers from CLP are good too. He would read it, narrate it back while I wrote the 1st sentence down, then tell me back the sentence. The next day he would do a dictation exerecise. We did this for 2-3 months then went on to IEW. We have kept up the dictation because this is a weak area for him He is in 5th grade and has always narrated.
My younger two are in level 1 and 2 using the workbooks. We are not consistent but I have seen a huge improvements in the listening portion since we started.

When they narrate it back, if they are old enough to write, they are not supposed to write it themselves? Did that make sense?

And how do they tell you back the first sentence? They are supposed to remember what they said? Or is this where they pick three key words out of the sentence?

I don't have the book in front of me, so maybe it would make more sense after I get it and read it. I skimmed through it the first time I had it.

[Veritaserum]

Rather than tearing up the workbook, I ordered the separate student pages from Peacehillpress.com (which makes it easy to photocopy them so that I can use it with my younger children). :)

I know I may have asked this before, but since the level 3 and 4 workbooks are not available, is this program still easy to use without the workbooks?

I'm debating whether or not to wait from WWE 3 and 4 or to go ahead with my own. I think I might do the latter. DD8 is finishing up WWE2 right now. I feel more sure about doing it myself now that we've done two levels with Susan holding my hand. :) I plan on taking excerpts out of books that she's reading.

[Lovedtodeath]

When they narrate it back, if they are old enough to write, they are not supposed to write it themselves? Did that make sense?You are supposed to write their narration and then they read it so that they can see how you put their thoughts on paper.

The WWE book goes into great detail, more so than the workbook. I recommend you read that over.

[Mesa]

I reread my WWE book lastnight.... and will read it again today, only the level 1 and 2 sections. I'm not sure what was making so confused. I think it was the simplicity of it, I thought for sure we were doing it all wrong.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Tabrett]

When they narrate it back, if they are old enough to write, they are not supposed to write it themselves? Did that make sense?

And how do they tell you back the first sentence? They are supposed to remember what they said? Or is this where they pick three key words out of the sentence?

I don't have the book in front of me, so maybe it would make more sense after I get it and read it. I skimmed through it the first time I had it.
Just because a child is old enough to write doesn't mean he has the skill to put it all together. There are so many things a child must be able to do before he can write on his own. He must be able to form letters, make letters into words, know what he wants to say(narration), be able to remember what he wants to say while he is writing and trying to form letters, spell words correctly, make complete sentences and punctuate. What happens is kids can't remember what they want to say while writing. They had a good thought, but the processing of writing it's self has caused them to forget. That is why you have your child narrate and YOU write it down (changing what is necessary to make it grammatically correct). Copying their narrations allow them to focus on the physical writing without having to remember what they wanted to say. Dictation trains the mind to "hold a thought" long enough to get the words down on paper. Dictation gets longer and longer as the child gets older. Finally when the child's physical and mental development is ready, he will be able to "narrate" in his mind, remembering what he wants to say, while writing it down correctly on paper.

This is a method sooooo different from a classroom school. It is hard to understand, because we were not taught this way. A teacher with a classroom full of kids can't do this process with their students. It would be way to time consuming! So a classroom teacher tries to get kids to put it all together at one time before they are really capable causing a child to have to use inventive spelling or "dumb down" their writing to words they can spell, bad grammar, ect...well you get the picture.:tongue_smilie:

[paulcindy]

Okay, that makes perfect now. Thank you for explaining that to me.:D