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We just bought Building With Diligence 4 for our Creation to Christ package. The website indicated BWD is adequate for a writing program as well. But the table of contents seems to just be grammar? And the daily lesson plans seem to assign creative writing from the Write with the Best program. So should I just ignore Write with the Best assignments, and assume my daughter will get enough writing from BWD?

It has 33 composition lessons interspersed with the grammar. You do both the R&S writing plus the Write With the Best assignments. HTH!

JulieKO wrote:We just bought Building With Diligence 4 for our Creation to Christ package. The website indicated BWD is adequate for a writing program as well. But the table of contents seems to just be grammar? And the daily lesson plans seem to assign creative writing from the Write with the Best program. So should I just ignore Write with the Best assignments, and assume my daughter will get enough writing from BWD?

Carrie uses an entire year of Rod and Staff English for the Bigger and Preparing TMs. In those guides she does not add an additional composition program since Rod and Staff does include both grammar and composition lessons.

Starting in Creation to Christ, and continuing through High school, Carrie scheduled 1/2 a book of Rod and Staff English for each guide / year. Thus, in Creation to Christ you will do for your composition/ grammar lessons the first half of Building with Diligence 4 and Writing With the Best. In RTR you will do the second 1/2 of Building With Diligence 4 and Writing With the Best. In High school she schedules 1/2 of R&S 7 in Freshman and Sophmore year and 1/2 of R&S 8 in Junior and Senior year. Thus, since she is using 1/2 a book each year she schedules additional composition lessons in other programs with the grammar and composition lessons scheduled in Rod and Staff English. Does that make sense?

We are in our 5th year of Rod and Staff English. It teaches composition both through grammar and through composition lessons themselves. It is a different approach to writing that has worked well for our children. The Rod and Staff English books can be a stand alone for English composition instruction. Using 1/2 of each book though, starting in CTC, would require the additional writing instruction that Carrie schedules in her guides with the other programs like Write With the Best.

My oldest doing CTC is doing the second 1/2 of book 5 with it. It is a different approach to how I have used R&S other years, but it has added something I think to have him do some IEW and Write With the Best with it. The different approaches of the other written instruction, with R&S, have been well timed for him.

I hope that helps.

Thank you, both, for your replies!! Yes that helps. So it sounds like I do also need to do Write with the Best. I did think that Carrie said tat BWDiligence 4, however, covered writing as well as grammar. But it sounds like you're saying I really need to do Write with the Best as well. Thanks for your help!

JulieKO wrote: I did think that Carrie said tat BWDiligence 4, however, covered writing as well as grammar. !

Building With Diligence 4 English does cover writing as well as grammar. It contains excellent paragraph composition instruction.

In CTC Carrie schedules Building with Diligence 4 twice a week and Writing With the Best twice a week. The Language Arts box also indicates OR your own grammar program OR your own writing program. You could do Building With Diligence 4 four times a week for both writing and grammar instruction, skipping Writing With the Best, if you wanted to do so.

Building with Diligence is enough, alone, for both grammar and written instruction. My oldest used it in 4th grade for his only grammar / written instruction and my current 4th grader is doing the same. I am using, or did use, the complete book in a single year for 4th. With the additional writing in the history and science in CTC you don't need Writing With the Best. However, if you follow Carrie's 1/2 book twice a week plan for BWDiligence you should also follow her twice a week plan for WWTB. If you skip WWTB you should plan on doing BWDiligence four times a week in lieu of WWTB when it is scheduled.

I hope that helps make it clearer.

YES! Makes total sense. Thank you all!