Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) ~ Review

Hi friends, My oldest daughter and I just had the chance to review the Deluxe Combo Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A [FIX-1 & 2] which includes A Word Write Now and Portable Walls. What an awesome opportunity! Seriously friends, we feel truly blessed by this curriculum.  Writing is an area for my daughter that could use some work.

What is Deluxe Combo Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A [FIX-1 & 2] and what did we receive?

This deluxe package has everything you need to start your 3-5 grade student on the road to writing with ease and confidence and great products for teachers and parents as well.

It Includes:

• Teaching Writing: Structure & Style DVD set

This is a DVD seminar that I found to be very beneficial to myself. It includes twelve DVDs. It helps you teach writing to children and even helped me work on my own writing. It begins with the basics and works its way into advanced creative and essay writing. I have not finished yet and still have a way to go with it, but I can already see huge benefits. I also received a very helpful seminar workbook that goes along with the DVDS. 

• Student Writing Intensive DVDs Level A, including the Structure & Style Overview

This is a four DVD writing course for elementary children that is recorded live with Mr. Andrew Pudewa. Andrew Pudewa is the founder, principal speaker, and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Over the course of  about 30 weeks, students will learn how to effectively use a wide range of structural models and stylistic techniques in their compositions, as they write on a fiction and non-fiction topics. It also includes a student notebook. This notebook comes with handouts, complete teacher's notes, source texts, assignments, and checklists. I really enjoyed that it comes with a three-ring binder that has dividers. Having the binder helped my daughter stay organized. 

• Fix-It! Grammar, Books 1 and 2 with downloadable student e-books

For this review we received book 1 and 2 teacher’s manuals with downloadable student e-books. The e-books are 126 pages and filled with wonderful easy to understand lessons. The teacher's book have been very beneficial in helping me understand the lessons. 

We absolutely love Fix It! Grammar! In these books children hunt for and correct errors in daily passages that cumulatively tell a story. My daughter loved the stories and always felt a since of accomplishment after each lesson. She loves that the lessons are not long or overwhelming. My daughter learned so much using Fix It! Grammar! and I highly, highly recommend them to everyone.

We actually reviewed Fix It! Grammar last year and fell in love with the books then. 

You can read that review by clicking on the link below:

http://www.homegrownheartsacademy.com/2014/09/institute-for-excellence-in-writing-fix.html

• A Word Write Now

A Word Write Now is a thematic thesaurus that contains a treasure trove of  words that will spice up your child's writing. I even find myself referring to the book. It's pretty great. It is organized into four sections. They are:

1. Section A: Character Traits

             This section includes twenty-three character traits which include lists of words categorized by nouns, adjectives, adverbs, verbs, phrases, and additional words. Children can also find famous quotations related to the trait.

1. Section B: Word to Describe

                In this section a list of descriptive words for appearance, color, size, time, temperature, texture, and size can be found. My daughter loved referring to these lists often. She learned many new words this way.

1. Section C: Words for Movement and the Senses

               This section includes a list of synonyms for actions of the feet, hands, thinking and all of the senses.

1. Section D: Appendix

             In this section my daughter found a list of words for transitions, prepositions, and literary genres. My daughter is in the process of trying to memorize all of the prepositions.

• Portable Walls

The portable wall is a handy fold-out that contains writing models, tips, and word lists. Having this really eliminates the need for tons of posters that take up wall space. my daughter really enjoyed having it and it is something that will come in handy many times in the future. It is very sturdy so there is no worry about it getting torn through all the use it will be getting. I love that my daughter has all of the information she needs right in front of her. 

Final Thought

This isn't a program that can be rushed through. We plan on taking our time and continuing it through the year. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to review it and can't wait to see how much more my daughter and I learn. My favorite part about the whole program is how nicely each lesson is laid out. There is no need for me to go into panic mode to try to get a lesson together. This not only make learning fun. but also makes teaching easier. I'm very thankful for that.

What does Deluxe Combo Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A [FIX-1 & 2] cost?

Currently you can purchase it for $299.00

Want to Connect with Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)?

https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting

https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting

http://vimeo.com/iewtv

https://twitter.com/iew

https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv

http://iew.com/help-support/blog

https://plus.google.com/+Iewriting/

Click Below to Read More Reviews from The Schoolhouse Review Crew 

Like our blog? You can Subscribe and/or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest

Enter your email address:
 
Delivered by FeedBurner

Memoria Press ~ New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 ~ REVIEW

Does your child struggle with writing in cursive? My youngest daughter did struggle with it until we had the chance to review New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 from the wonderful company, Memoria Press. She is now writing her name and everything else in cursive. It's been a wonderful accomplishment for her.

A Little About Memoria Press

Memoria Press is a family-run publishing company that produces simple and easy-to-use classical Christian education materials for home and private schools. It was founded by Cheryl Lowe in 1994 to help promote and transmit the classical heritage of the Christian West through an emphasis on the liberal arts and the great works of the Western tradition.

What is New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1?

New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 is the first book in the New American Cursive program. It was developed by Iris Hatfield, with over 35 years of experience in the handwriting field, the book improves the process of teaching handwriting and allows students to start at a younger age.  It was designed with the first grader in mind. I must say that I started late and my daughter is in the third grade. Was it still beneficial for her? Very! Do I believe it is perfect for a first grader? Absolutely! As a matter of fact, I wish I would have had this when my daughter was in the first grade. I don't think we would have struggled with cursive as much as we did. There is a wonderful page in the workbook that talks about the benefits of starting cursive training early.

New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 uses a delightful meerkat as a teaching guide. Mr. Meerkat is adorable! In the beginning of the workbook there is a page introducing Mr. Meerkat and also a link to learn more about meerkats. My daughter loved learning that meerkats are among the few animals known to actively teach their young.

How did New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 teach my daughter to write in cursive?

The New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 breaks down learning cursive in a bunch of different but very effective and easy ways. 

The first thing my daughter learned about was the Three P's of Penmanship. 

• Posture

         My daughter learned about how important it was to place both feet on the floor and sit straight

• Pencil Position

         She already knew how to properly hold a pencil, but this was still good to review. 

• Paper Position

         She also learned that her paper should be slightly off-center towards her writing shoulder.

I appreciated the fact that illustrations are included for the Three P's of Penmanship. Seeing the illustrations helped my daughter understand what was being asked of her.

The next step was to learn to correctly write the letters. There are three exercise pages per cursive letter. 

• Instruction 

        In this step my daughter learned how to correctly form the letter.

• Practice

        This is where my daughter was able to trace and then practice writing the letters.

• Play

       This page allowed for additional exercises as well as free space for artwork and trying out new            letters.  My daughter loved that Mr. Meerkat showed step-by-step how to form the letters. 

As my daughter progressed through the book and began to master letter formation, she was then able to focus on the Three S's 

• Size
• Slant
• Spacing

I loved the fact that unnecessary strokes are eliminated in this program.  The New American Cursive alphabet has 26 fewer strokes than the top three most common cursive programs. I believe this was very beneficial to my daughter. She didn't seem to show much trouble in learning and writing the letters. Even though the letter forms are simplified they still retain the classic form for legibility. The workbook was simple, clear, and effective for my daughter. 

There is also a teacher's guide included in the front of the workbook. This was helpful for me, as I was able to make sure she was using the book as needed as well as offer additional help and support. In the back of the book there is a wonderful handwriting evaluation checklist. I loved having this! It was very helpful in seeing the areas that my daughter may or may not need more help in. It is recommended to test correct letter formation and connections on a weekly basis.

Final Thoughts

My daughter worked in New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 for about 30 minutes a day and she thoroughly enjoyed it. This was a true blessing for her and I know that it would be very beneficial to other families as well. It was really fun as a mother to see her excitement when she finally got it. It really was simple and effective. I highly recommend it!

What does  New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 cost?

You can currently purchase

  New American Cursive: Penmanship Program Workbook 1 

for only 

$22.95

Do you want to connect with Memoria Press?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Memoriapress1/posts

Instagram: https://instagram.com/memoriapress/

*****************************

Click below to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew

Like our blog? You can Subscribe and/or check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest

Enter your email address:
 
Delivered by FeedBurner

Rainbow Writing Prompt

At the end of the rainbow I found.....................

Follow Jennifer Silcott's board Homeschool - Writing Prompts on Pinterest.

FREE Printable - Writing Prompts for the New Year

Click Here to Download Our FREE Writing Prompts for the New Year

Like FREE Printables? Click Here To Check Out Our Other FREE Printables. 

I'm linking up with:

FREE Fall Writing Prompts

Click Here to Download Our FREE Fall Writing Prompts

See our FREE Thanksgiving Copywork

If I Discovered A New Planet - Writing Activity

If I Discovered A New Planet

      My daughter loved creating and thinking of wonderful things about her new planet. She imagined it to be a planet full of zebras and overflowing amounts of ice cream. Sounds like a pretty neat planet to me. People who go to visit will be able to ride zebras and eat ice cream all day long. Whew! I can assume they might need a break from all that fun. I wonder what she will come up with for her planet next. 

I found this wonderful writing printable here.

- http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2011/08/making-undiscovered-planet.html

Please visit Deceptively Educational for more learning activities

Please visit our Language Arts & Writing Prompts 

Pinterest Boards for more writing activity ideas.

The Best Part of Me - Writing Activity

 

 Activity:

Have your child pick a favorite part of themselves. Take a photo, or have the child draw the part. After they have finished, have your child write why he likes that particular part. Fun and simple writing activity. We sure enjoyed it and I loved hearing why my girls chose what they did. 

I created the page to print. Visit the link below to download and print it.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8g_yLlEkq1TR3BSZ3paWWRVdnM/edit?usp=sharing


Follow Jennifer Silcott's board Homeschool - Writing Prompts on Pinterest.