Is WWTB really vital to prepare for Medieval Writing Lessons

[BBTexas]

Hi everyone, I could really use some advice from someone who has gone through CTC on to RTR and Medieval Writing Lessons...

My main question is: If we choose to use Igniting Your Writing INSTEAD of WWTB, will my daughter be ready for Medieval Writing Lessons the next year?

My daughter is 9 (will be 10 in October) and we’re finishing up Preparing this summer. We’ll be starting CTC in September.

She is a great reader, speller, and grammar is a breeze... She is magically already really good at writing – instinctively knows how to use topic and closing sentences, varying sentence structure, etc. But she really dreads it – much like her mother. I would like for her not to detest writing the way I do (ugh), because it’s just such a necessary part of life. Igniting Your Writing actually looks like something she could do happily as humor makes all things bearable to her... whereas I think she will really dread WWTB because it's just so dry. I think she is capable of doing it, but I believe it will be something that becomes a huge headache for both of us. So I’m leaning toward IYW instead.

BUT... If skipping WWTB means that the next year she’ll be blindsided by Medieval Writing Lessons, then maybe we’ll just have to grin and bear it. I don’t want to stymie her growth... but if she can actually ENJOY the process of writing, I figure why not?

Thanks very much for any insights!
Beth

[Nealewill]

I used WWTB and own IYW. When my oldest did WWTB, I was struggling to help her write better. By the third assignment I had a melt down because I had unrealistic expectations. ONe question though - did you use Preparing last year and do the writing through that? If so, then I think WWTB might actually be a better fit. I found that WWTB actually had a little bit less writing than IYW. It may look like it is going to be difficult but we actually found it to be fast past and my dd ended up liking it. We limited the time on some of the assignments (like finding the descriptive words and such). There was a lot of grammar review and I did like that too. You can definitely do IYW and then do IEW. I personally found IEW to be more intensive than I thought it would be. It went find for my dd but it was a step up from WWTB in volume.

I think either program would work fine for you dd next year personally. Good luck with your choice.

[lmercon]

Yes, you'll be fine!

[BBTexas]

Yep, we've done Preparing this year and all the written narrations therein. She can do them just fine, but I always get "Oh man, writing AGAIN?!" So if she can learn that writing doesn't have to be boooorrrring, I'm all for it. I've heard that IEW is a booty-kicker, so I don't want her to be overwhelmed when we get there. But if y'all think that IYW will prepare her enough for that, then I think we may try that. Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback!

[MelInKansas]

I haven't seen IYW so I don't know what that is like. But I do think you could go into IEW from various different programs, because it felt kind of like a "start over" for us. My daughter likes IEW better because it lays out rules a little more specifically and WWTB was a lot more open-ended on what it requested of her. She would write something really short and I would tell her it wasn't enough, etc etc. She likes the specific directions and will work on it and try to get everything in. But yes, it is quite a jump from WWTB and if IYW is introducing the different styles of writing and how to help them write more varied and interesting things, it will probably be pretty good preparation.

FWIW my daughter also disliked doing written narrations and the other writing in Preparing. Preparing was a big turning point for her in writing, it started with crying nearly every time there was a writing assignment but by the end she was doing much better (still requiring a lot of pep talks, but she would get through them better).

[MomtoJGJE]

When my oldest was going through CTC she really didn't understand WWTB. By the 10th unit she was in tears dreading WWTB. So I stopped doing it. I was just going to give her a break for a couple of units, but then life happened and I just never started back. She LOVED the Medieval Writing Lessons and could do it with very limited discussion on my part! I don't know if it was a maturity issue, or if WWTB just wasn't for her/us, but I had zero issues with writing in RtR with her. It was one of her favorite parts!

[my3sons]

Doing Igniting your Writing, I think she'd do alright with Medieval..., but I think she'd have a tougher time with WWTB Volume II in MTMM, having not done WWTB Volume 1 previously. WWTB Volume II is EXCELLENT preparation for high school lit. I know families that have decided to put their children in public/private high school for whatever reason, that have made sure to finish WWTB Volume 1 and II previously to prepare totally for high school. Not sure if that helps, but I'd weigh the decision carefully, and I'd be sure to do WWTB Volume II.

In Christ,
Julie