After three months of studying writing with Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), my children and I have decided this curriculum rocks. We decided this after three weeks, but I wanted to wait a few more months to blog about it. We got Level 1B, which is for grades 6-8. Since my daughter is in sixth grade and my son in eighth, it is perfect for us.
My daughter building puzzles – a metaphor for learning writing
You should know that Andrew Pudewa used to teach Suzuki violin. If you know anything about the Suzuki method, you know that it teaches step by step, in a very systematic way. Pudewa took the Suzuki method and applied it to IEW. This incremental approach to writing helps children and teens understand how to write. There will be no expectations beyond their ability.
In all honesty, I wish I had done IEW with my children from the elementary grades. It just seemed so intimidating, with the amount of products they offer. I used to check out their website and products and then get all confused. Which packet should I choose? How should I choose? I guess I could have reached out to support. They seem knowledgeable and nice enough.
But somebody had given me Writing with Ease and Writing with Style for free, when my children were small, so I figured I could just use those. They worked nicely for us. But IEW is in a league of its own. At this point, I don’t think we will even finish Writing with Style. IEW is that good. We have switched to IEW completely.
Learning to write is like building a puzzle. There are many pieces to choose. Patience and having a system help a lot. The children find Andrew Pudewa funny and entertaining, too. I am glad to just sit and watch with them, monitor their assignments, and edit their homework. In case you are curious, I chose the forever streaming option, so that I have less DVDs lying around.
