Institute for Excellence in Writing Review

I have homeschooled my children for more than 13 years.  I've noticed that, whether we are just starting out or whether we are "veteran" homeschooling moms, we never feel like we have arrived at the place we want to be as moms and teachers.  There are many things that I would do just the same way if I were able to start all over again.  There are some things I would completely change.  One of the things I would definitely change is the way I have approached writing with my children.


I was never really taught to write when I was in school.  Sure, I learned how to spell, use correct punctuation and grammar, and those kinds of "technical" things.  I don't remember ever being taught, though, how to do creative writing or essays or critiques or any of the other types of writing that exist.  I did learn how to do a research report, but that was about the extent of the writing I was taught to do. 


Several years ago, I began to consider what kind of writing program I could do with my children.  I realized that I wasn't teaching my children to write any better than I had been taught myself.  I knew I wanted to do better than that with them, but I honestly had no idea where to start. 


I began researching the different writing programs that are available.  I looked at so many that they all just began to run together--without any one particular program seeming to stand out above any other.  Then I came across the writing programs offered by the Institute for Excellence in Writing.  I immediately knew that I had found a program I was interested in!


I began to talk to other moms, do internet research, and read everything I could find about IEW.  I loved what I was seeing and hearing.  The next step was to decide which program I wanted to actually try.  As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was given the opportunity to use and review the Teaching Writing/Student Writing Intensive Combo Pack plus a Portable Wall (Level A).  I was thrilled!  This was exactly the program I was hoping to try out with my children during the next school year!  I could hardly wait to get started!


This particular program is meant for students from 3rd-5th grades and costs $239.00.  You can see some information about all 3 levels that are available here.  You can see more details about Level A, the level I'm using with my children, here.  My younger daughter is in 3rd grade this year, and my son is in 8th grade.  I decided to do Level A with both of them since I felt sure I could modify the lessons to require more from my older child while still using a level that my younger child could handle.  It worked beautifully!!


My children absolutely loved watching the DVD lessons taught by Andrew Pudewa.  From the very first lesson, they loved him!  He was funny and interesting and not at all stuffy or boring like my children were just sure that he would be.  In fact, the only negative about the DVD lessons was that my children wanted to listen to a DVD lesson every single day instead of watching a lesson, taking a few days to do the work associated with that lesson, and then watching another DVD lesson.  They actually began begging to do writing each day!  I was so thrilled with their response that I was just sure it couldn't last.  But it did.


I listened to the DVDs that are meant for the teacher because I wanted to know better how to help my children as well as for my own sake.  In fact, I had the option of listening to the teacher DVDs and then teaching my children instead of having them watch the lessons taught by Mr. Pudewa.  I thought I'd allow them to watch the DVD lessons, though, if they wanted to in order to take a little bit of the pressure off of me.  After we began using the lessons taught by Mr. Pudewa, I was really glad I'd made that choice since they enjoy his lessons so much. 


One of my favorite things about IEW is that the students are allowed to model or imitate good writing that was written by other people instead of just suddenly being asked to think of their own topics and information and writing about them.  When we first began using IEW, I thought maybe that wasn't such a great idea and that the students were being given too much help so that they would never be able to write without being provided with the basic outline to follow or copy.  Now I realize, though, that if students are given plenty of chances to imitate "good" writing, they will be much more comfortable and much better able to produce their own "good" writing. 


At first, I was a little overwhelmed by all of the wonderful information that was included in the combo package that I received to use and review.  It didn't take long to look through it all and begin using the materials, though, and now I'm so glad I did! 


I do usually have to help my 8-year-old a good bit on her assignments.  My 14-year-old, however, is perfectly capable of following the directions and doing the assignments independently.  I often work along with them just because I'd like to improve my own writing skills along with them. 


I can absolutely say that this is a writing program I will continue to use with my children.  There are other programs offered by IEW if you want to start with a smaller package.  I enourage you to check out their website at www.excellenceinwriting.com to see what they offer.  I also encourage you to take a look at what some other Crew members had to say about their experiences with IEW.  You can do that here. 


If writing is something you don't enjoy, don't want to teach, or just don't feel adequate to teach, I hope you will love IEW as much as my family and I do!  Happy writing!