Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Every child has a subject that they don’t want to do, right? For my oldest – it has been writing. She actually hated it. Like – felt like there was no purpose in it and I really wanted to find something that worked for her. That taught her while she had a good attitude about it…so…I quite literally jumped at the chance to review Institute for Excellence in Writing®. It is one of those products that I tore open when it arrived so I could check it out right away.
What is Institute for Excellence in Writing®? Well, sit back while Andrew Pudewa takes your child on a learning journey through writing. Structure and Style for Students: Year 1 Level A Basic [Forever Streaming or DVD] teaches your child through a 24-week streaming course with a humorous style. This course level is for students grades 3-5. IEW® guides your child with clear daily lessons, vocabulary words, literature suggestions and lesson plan for teachers. Andrew clearly instructs your child through a video and takes your child step-by-step through the lesson in a two-part video. Your child works “alongside” him to complete part of the assignment. Then he instructs them on what to do after as homework.
To begin the lesson, you can see the teacher preparation and extra literature suggestions. All materials your child needs can be found in the student binder and also a notebook. You receive the streaming instructions, student binder and packet and teacher’s manual.
I have enjoyed watching Maggie learn about -ly adverbs. Lesson by lesson, she adds words to her list. Not only talking about them, but they also practice saying them descriptively. Maggie is a great reader. However, adding tone and inflection to what she reads isn’t something she does. This is helping her get better at that which makes it more exciting to listen to her read aloud. The lessons are complete with a checklist so she can double check her work. I’m even having some fun being her editor for her final drafts.
The book gives you a few options on a weekly schedule. We discussed the different options and I let her choose. It gives her the chance to be independent and have some control over her workload each day. While there is a homeschool option for five days a week, she generally tries to complete the weekly lesson in 3 or 4 days. Sometimes that means she has to wait for me to edit her rough draft before she completes the final draft though.
My thoughts…I’m a big fan! I love IEW® and Maggie seems to be doing really well with it as well. Watching her be able to take notes about what she reads and then retell the stories to me has been great. As she goes along week-by-week, she progresses to a different checklist by unit. Each checklist includes different things – more things to make her writing more exciting. Each unit adds in what she has learned in the previous units. While Maggie listens to the videos and does the work herself, I love when I’m around and can listen in because then I can focus on those things and look for opportunities to mention them throughout the week. This. Program. Is. Amazing. Amazing!
A few other things worth mentioning. IEW® recommends pairing this program with Fix It! Grammar. The forever streaming means you can reuse this program for your entire family and only need to have a student book for each child. The student book can be reproduced in one family. After the weekly lesson – your child is instructed on how and where to file the papers from this week.
Hear more about what other people are saying about IEW® and how it is working for their family.
