IEW Curriculum | Mid-Year Update

Hey guys! Today I wanted to give you all an update on how IEW is working in our homeschool! My oldest two use IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) and we are about half way through this writing curriculum.
What curriculum do you use for writing? Have you tried IEW? Please let me know if you have any questions regarding this curriculum.
*Faith*
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[@caileewoodward3495]

I LOVE your channel. We have left our co-op this year and will be doing IEW and Fix It Grammar on our own for the first time. You showing your kids work and the challenges is so refreshing and encouraging. We did Essentials in CC and being reminded of "Easy +1" is great to hear as I start my 4th grader for the first time in IEW. Thank you for your content!

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

You are so sweet. This made my day! I'm glad you find the content helpful! Good luck starting out with IEW! I absolutely love being able to outsource it to Andrew Pudewa in our home! :)

[@creatingcommunity7022]

Love hearing your update. We just started using IEW Structure and Style. We are also using their Phonetic Zoo spelling and Fix It Grammar. Hoping it will be just what I have been looking for in our homeschool. God bless 🥰

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

That's awesome! I hope you guys find them to be good fits in your homeschool! God bless to you and your family!

[@heatherburlingame471]

thank you for this! We are in CC and do IEW also but have struggled as this is our first year and I have a struggling reader at 10 years old, reads good but misses words, doesn't pronounce words correctly so writing has been a struggle. I always have felt like we needed to keep up witht he other 3rd year students but I see now and I'm grateful for your reminder that this is her first year, I didn't write like that at that age and it's a learning process!

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

It can be a real struggle sometimes. But once you step back and give yourself some perspective, it's easy to see that they are getting better and making strides in their own learning journey.

[@angelsuniverse6021]

Thanks for showing your kid works....really helped me to do iew for my 4th grader...he loves math but struggles in writing....

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

Yes, same with my 4th grader. Writing can certainly be a struggle in my house!

[@learningwithboys7431]

We love IEW thanks you for sharing an update!! You sound like a great teacher!! I am hoping to use the new videos next year😉

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

Aw, thank you! I have really really enjoyed having the videos this year. It has freed up some extra time in my day. Plus my boys just love Andrew Pudewa's jokes! :)

[@DejaDrewit]

My 4th grader has had it with this program. After the Marco Polo story he started crying about the constant summarizing. It was fun and easy in the beginning but i think it got too hard too fast. There is no variety. He is so bored and stressed over it. Ironically the next half of the program is what I think he will thrive in which is drawing from pictures. We decided to take a week off from SS and I found him other writing assignments with drawing, coloring, etc and he did so good. I honestly don’t know if we will do it next year. My son needs variety and creativity where he can write his own stories vs summarizing all the time. He did 2 assignments this week and blew me away with writing his own stories. I am also black and white and i have to finish what I start and stick to schedules so it’s been painful for me to have to find a detour in this program. That’s the benefit of homeschooling though and these videos help so much!!! Ps the SS videos are helpful because I don’t have to teach but they are too long and drag on. My son prefers to get to the point of he lesson because we spend too much time doing HW. My son spaces out during the virtual class and then it’s frustrating because he doesn’t know what to do or does it wrong. I personally think it’s a great program but it’s not for everyone and could use some improvement. Shorten the classes and add variety and not only summarizing. You can only summarize so much at age 9/10. Hope this helps someone I agree I didn’t learn to write until I was in my 30’s that’s why I personally think it’s too advanced and they expect too much too soon for a kid. It’s too much pressure.

[@chardejackson21]

Andrew pudwa would agree with the walk through you are giving learning from his teaching writing and style he talks about how beneficial it is to do just that

[@angelterry2021]

Which would you recommend for a 6th grader. My daughter struggled in 5th grade with writing. This year will be her first time homeschooling.

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

According to the decision tree that IEW puts out, they suggest 6th graders start at Level B, Year 1. Hope that helps. Again, they go through the same process regardless of level. So feel free to move at the speed that is best for your kiddo - whether that is faster or slower!

[@roxannedavis1455]

Do you have a video showing how to file all the papers?!? I just started iew with my 5th grader and are on day one loved it exciting to see how it helps my struggle writer and reader

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

I do not have a video that shows that, but I'd be happy to make one for you! Although, I'm not sure my sons' binders look all that great! :) 😊

[@ualreadyknow321]

You're a good mama!!

[@brookeslooks2440]

Hi there! I am new to your channel and I just subscribed because I love all of your cirriculum choices! I've noticed we have a lot in common in that we will be using IEW Fix It Grammar, Structure and style, Spelling You See, and saxon math. What do you use for Bible/History/Geography and science? Are you connected with classical conversations? If so, how do you like it? I've been wanting shorter but more meaningful days with my kids where we are not slammed with busy work but we are growing and lesrning together as a family . I really want strong foundational skills that will set them up for success and I feel there are SO many choices out there. But like I said, I subscribed to you because of your excellent book recommendations and the fact that I have basically the same cirriculum picks as you for my upcoming 4th grader. I would love to talk more!! Please please please let me know your picks for Bible, Geography, history and science! Thank you and God bless!!

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

Thanks so much for joining me! We certainly sound like we have a lot in common! It's always super fun to find like-minded homeschooling families! Especially when you piece it all together! :). I will be sharing our curriculum choices for the upcoming year soon - including our family style choices for Bible/history/geography/science. We have been a part of classical conversations in the past, but since we have become a travel family we have not been able to be a part of a community. However, we do still use some of the memory work and then we also use it as a guide for our history and science! CC was great when we were a part of it. I do love the classical approach but we also started to get a bit burnt out after 7 years!! So it was a nice change of pace to do it on our own and be a little more flexible with our schedule. Be on the lookout for the upcoming videos (you can also check out what we did for history, science, and Bible last year in the meantime) and let me know if you have any other questions!

[@jaclyn4412]

Hi! So I’ve been watching your videos. I’m curious if you think structure and style with fix it grammar is a full language arts curriculum? Plus a spelling curriculum of course.

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

So we use the Structure & Style along with Fix it Grammar, a spelling curriculum, and then each kiddo reads on their own. (I don't do a formal reading program.) Structure and Style really doesn't do into the grammar/parts of speech/etc. While IEW works on how to write good and interesting papers, Fix it Grammar makes sure the kids can point out the parts of speech, proper punctuation, homonyms, clauses, etc. Hope that makes sense!

[@irfaria1]

Thank you for your review on this curriculum. I learned a lot, especially about being more flexible and encouraging to them! We are considering use IEW this year. As you, I also have a 11yo with some previous experience from a co-op, and a 9 yo with no experience in writing. Someone from the IEW support suggested me to do the same level for both, starting with Year 1 level A. Would you consider it a good advice? Or do you think year 1 level A would be too easy for the oldest one? We are a English as a second language family. My son would be on 5th grade because he started one year later. But, even though it as a little overwhelming for him, he did great at the co-op last year. Thank you!

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

You're welcome! Here are my thoughts on using the same program and why we chose different levels. I have a typical first born son, who grasps things quickly and everything seems to be easy for him. Then my second born is a struggling reader, writer, and speller and everything seems to be more challenging. While I agree that it is possible to buy the same program and work through them together, I chose different ones so that my second born wouldn't be comparing himself to his brother who would likely finish sooner and have a "better" paper. To me, it wasn't worth the daily battle of reminding my second born that his paper was good, but that my older just had more experience. (I hope that makes sense!) Only you know your children and what might work. However, I can say that if you are worried that it would be too easy for your older one you can always prompt him to add in more dress-ups and decorations at a quicker pace. For example, if he knows how to add because clauses and strong verbs to papers already, don't wait and advance more quickly for him! Hope you find that helpful! Let me know if you have any other questions!

[@amandamendoza4181]

Helpful video!❤

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

Thank you!

[@stephferenzkidsforjesus298]

Hi there I just recently found your channel and it’s been very useful! I’m a CC mom with 2 in essentials and 1 in fountains. We are currently making the transition into full time RV living (a cyclone 4007) and won’t be apart of a community anymore. So these curriculum reviews have been great. Do you have a face book page? My oldest will be in 7th grade next year and I’m at a loss at what curriculum to use for her besides saxson math lol.. Also do you still use CC for the foundation levels?

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

That's sooo exciting for you guys! We were between the 4006/4007 when we were looking at campers! We miss our CC campus, but I have definitely enjoyed doing things more slowly, at our speed, and giving ourselves the freedom to step away from the guide and do what we want if our location lends itself to some natural science or history. We use a lot of the guide, but don't necessarily follow it week by week. We are in Cycle 1 - using the history as a guide for our ancient history study. (We are reading lots of living history books and reading through Story of the World. Then I usually find some youtube videos for kids pertaining to those historical moments once we are done reading.). The science is hit or miss - because right now we've been studying marine life and the ocean because we are near the ocean! My oldest will be in 7th grade as well. I have a few holes to still work out. Right now I know we will be using Saxon math, IEW for writing, and Fix it Grammar. The science and history are what I need to figure out. I may continue with the method we've been using or may look into something more involved that he can pursue on this own. Again - not sure! And yes, I have facebook - although I have to say, I don't do much on it. But you can find me on there - Faith Gandee. Otherwise, I'm more active on Instagram - LivingtheGandeelife. :). Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck!

[@arielledrees7721]

Did you watch the teaching with structure and style videos? Trying to determine how necessary they are, I have level 1 year A, and to get the teaching videos it would cost $189….😬

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

So I have watched the teacher instruction videos once in a co-op. But I do not own the videos myself. I will say they were helpful to understanding the process, but I have not watched them since. (It was over 3 years ago.) I might recommend trying out the free IEW trial and watching the beginning videos to see if you think they might be helpful. Some people may feel comfortable in reading the teacher guide and/or watching some of the student videos and that would be enough to help their child through the program while others might need the extra instruction. In the end, I believe they are beneficial. However, I totally see that they are quite costly. So if that is an issue I'd recommend trying to buy second hand, borrow from a friend, or even wing it without the videos until you can save up to buy the program!

[@alis1015]

For reading do you use IEW or do you have a separate curriculum ? Thank you !

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

We just choose books the kids would like to read, have them read for at least 30 minutes a day, and that is their reading curriculum. I don't have them write book reports but rather I just have them share with me what they're reading periodically. I feel like IEW has them write from resources enough that requiring them to write about what they read might discourage their reading. I want them to enjoy reading so we find good quality and fun books to read!

[@alis1015]

@@livingthegandeelife5565 Thank you for taking the time to reply this will be my first time homeschooling my daughters. One will be going to 8th grade and my youngest 3rd grade 🙉

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

You’re welcome! Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck! I’m sure you’ll do great! No one loves your kiddos or wants the best for them more than you!!

[@sarahbennett7235]

Hi! Just watched this video- I was wondering how long do the lessons take per day? I have two that I wanted to try level A with for next year (they will be 3rd and 5th). Currently we are using TGTB LA with both but I feel like the writing process is not really explained to them. We are a secular family but we use both Christian and secular resources.

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

The lessons can range per day, but I think if I had to average it out, I'd say around 30ish minutes a day. Some days are longer, though. Honestly, I have looked online at a lot of writing programs and this one is just far superior to any I've seen. The way it breaks down the writing process is amazing and really works - even for struggling writers such as one of mine!

[@mindykeegan5012]

Did you go through the "Teaching Writing" DVD's? I am trying to decide which package to buy and it seems highly encouraged by IEW for the instructor to go through this course before teaching Sound and Structure to the student. It adds $100 to the package price though! Any thoughts?

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

So I have watched the teacher instruction videos once in a co-op. But I do not own the videos myself. I will say they were helpful to understanding the process, but I have not watched them since. (It was over 3 years ago.) I might recommend trying out the free IEW trial and watching the beginning videos to see if you think they might be helpful. Some people may feel comfortable in reading the teacher guide and/or watching some of the student videos and that would be enough to help their child through the program while others might need the extra instruction. In the end, I believe they are beneficial. However, I totally see that they are quite costly. So if that is an issue I'd recommend trying to buy second hand, borrow from a friend, or even wing it without the videos until you can save up to buy the program!

[@mindykeegan5012]

@@livingthegandeelife5565 Thanks!

[@RM-uv3lp]

I'm homeschooling my upcoming 5th grader this year and have been lookin into this writing program. Will your 6th grader move up to level C for his 7th grade year or will he repeat the B level? Or will he do something else and revisit IEW when he is at the C age level? Does my question make any sense?

[@livingthegandeelife5565]

My 6th grader (who will be going into 7th grade) will be moving into Level B Year 2. My 4th grader (who will be going into 5th grade) will be moving into Level A year 2. Hope that helps!