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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 12 2013 at 6:13pm | IP Logged
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I recently saw that CHC is offering writing workshops by Sandra Garant as e-books. I looked at the samples and thought- well, for $10 I'll try the first one. Downloaded it... I am in love 
This is the first "writing program" I have looked at that didn't make me feel completely overwhelmed. Each page has a lot of white space- perfect to give me breathing room- plus colorful illustrations and games AND a short list of literary references to look at for examples of different writing. 
The games and exercises are fun and get my dc thinking.... right now ds is in the bathtub trying to come up with a spoonerism to stump me.
I have read The Writer's Jungle and I have looked into IEW, but this program just seems more me/us... fun, creative, easy to use.
We'll keep on with our written narrations, but I think this one is going to be a good fit here. Whew!
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: March 14 2013 at 10:28am | IP Logged
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I am so glad you posted this, Melinda! I looked at that just two nights ago and wondered if it would help us out here. Oldest DS does not enjoy writing at all. Actually, DD doesn't either. 
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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SeaStar
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| Posted: March 14 2013 at 11:40am | IP Logged
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Lindsey-
My ds really *hated* having to write anything until recently. He'd write plenty if inspired (as in writing all the gross-out recipes for his own road kill recipe book ) but if I tried to get him to write anything at all for school..
 He would cry and hide under the table, even, on a bad day.
So this year we built up slowly from oral narration to having me type up his oral narration (one day a week) to having him write his own oral narration one day week. At first I only asked him to write 3 sentences.
Just in the last couple of weeks he has sort of taken off- as if he's discovered that he really can write and it's pretty painless and won't kill him. I am still sort of stunned when he asks for more paper.
But it was so long in coming- I really despaired earlier this year. I think time and patience and his increasing confidence in his spelling all helped.
The CHC program has all the fun that he likes, which is great. We're really liking it so far.
My ds turned 10 in November.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: March 14 2013 at 12:33pm | IP Logged
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I bought the sentence one a couple of years ago and didn't like it, so I was afraid to purchase the writing workshops. Perhaps I should look at the samples again.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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*Lindsey*
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| Posted: March 14 2013 at 1:03pm | IP Logged
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Melinda,
My DS will turn 10 in Novemeber, so maybe next year around this time it will be a good fit! I loved writing as a child and wrote my first "story" in 2nd grade that even made it into the newspaper, so two kids that don't like to write are  to me.
Thanks for your tips!
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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KackyK
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| Posted: March 15 2013 at 2:50pm | IP Logged
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Oh good to know!!!!! I've been thinking about them too but never went for it. We didn't do well with Writer's Jungle either.
Thanks for the review!
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: May 28 2013 at 2:01pm | IP Logged
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Are you still loving it? I looked at the sample and couldn't figure out where the actual writing came in. I am attracted to fun and creative... but we need something that will definitely teach some fundamentals on how to write and to do it well...
I've been eyeing Bravewriter for over a year now and haven't taken the money plunge. Would love to hear a comparison or especially to hear why Bravewriter didn't work for some people... ($11 is a lot more attractive than $90+)
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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knowloveserve
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| Posted: June 30 2014 at 11:21pm | IP Logged
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Still would love to hear an update here! Especially looking to compare this with IEW which is tempting me greatly... 
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Ellie
The Bleeding Pelican
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SeaStar
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| Posted: July 01 2014 at 5:49am | IP Logged
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We did all 6 lessons last fall. Each lesson started with a fun activity or game and then progressed to the writing portion, usually with some examples given from literature or a short book list suggested for examples.
I usually split the lesson up over two weeks: we did the activity and looked at the writing examples in the first week and then tackled the writing project in the next week.
It was a very creative writing type program. One lesson had ds writing riddles according to a set formula. Another was writing captions for funny pictures, and another was rewriting a fable adding in five strong sounds.
I thought it was a fun intro to creative writing...yet I am not sure what, if anything, ds has retained from it. He liked the activities and writing the riddles.... he did not like writing a story that followed the pattern of "The House that Jack Built".
Overall, I would say the whole thing went fairly well, but ds was thrilled when we finished. After that we stuck to our science writing (which was a lot with Sassafras) and narrations.
At the same time we were doing the workshop, his Language of God grammar was slowly introducing more writing as well. That continued throughout the year.
For CHC 6th grade there are two writing workshops along with another bump up in the amount of writing in LOG. I haven't yet figured out what the emphasis in those will be- more creative writing or more structured writing.
We are going to use IEW, as I like the very step-by-step method there.
Also, as I have watched the teacher dvds, I have picked up *so much* helpful information as far as teaching writing. I keep thinking: wow- what was going to be my game plan for this or that? Hmm... did not have one.
How was I going to handle xyz? I did not know xyz might come up... now I know what to do.
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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)
SQUILT Music Appreciation
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: CHC's Writing Workshops
