IEW STRUCTURE AND STYLE LEVEL "A" REVIEW | How We Adapt IEW's Schedule to Better Fit Our Homeschool

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IEW STRUCTURE AND STYLE LEVEL "A" REVIEW | How We Adapt IEW's Schedule to Better Fit Our Homeschool
We have been using IEW's Structure and Style Level A Year 1 since about 1/3 of the way through the last school year. It is really working great for us, but we do adapt the suggested schedule A LOT. As this is the first formal writing program I have done with my girls, I want to take it nice and easy. However, even in doing so, I have see much improvement in both of my girls' writing.
In this video, I will be giving a flip through and review of this curriculum, as well as sharing the adapted schedule that we have adopted in our homeschool. I hope this can help anyone who is considering this program to get a better idea of what it might look like in their homeschool and if it's something that might work for them.
//TIME STAMPS//
00:00 Introduction
01:15 DVD Set
01:35 Teacher Manual Flip Through
02:50 Scope and Sequence
03:25 Possible Scheduling Options
03:45 Week 1 - How It Starts
06:20 Key Word Outline Example
07:30 Week 2 - Writing a Paragraph and What the Videos are Like
09:05 Week 3 - Adding Dress Ups
09:45 Composition Checklist Example
10:45 Week 11 - Writing 3 Paragraph Reports
11:10 Our Alternative Schedule
16:30 Week 12 Checklist
17:55 Week 24 - What to Expect
18:20 Week 23 Checklist Example
19:00 Student Binder Look Through
21:20 Concluding Thoughts
//RESOURCE LINKS//
IEW Structure and Style Level A Year 1: iew.com/affiliate/415946/node...
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//SHOP WITH ME//
If you are interested in looking at or purchasing any of the following curriculum, using these affiliate links is a way that you can support my channel (at no additional cost to you)! I appreciate you being here.
Sonlight: www.sonlight.com/?awraf=3B092... (Get $10 off your first order of $100 or more!)
Beautiful Feet Books: www.bfbooks.com/?tap_a=30494-...
Thriftbooks: www.thriftbooks.com/share/?co... (You will get a free book if you sign up for Reading Rewards)
Not Consumed: store.notconsumed.com?aff=293
Apologia: www.apologia.com?a_aid=6223b9646a4cc
Institute for Excellence (IEW): www.iew.com/calminthechaoshom...
Big Life Journal: biglifejournal.com?aff=1493
Times Tales: www.timestales.com/?rfsn=6456...
Compass Classroom: affiliates.compassclassroom.c...
The Simple Startup Challenge (Entrepreneurship Curriculum): www.choosefifoundation.org/a/...
Tuttle Twins: tuttletwins.com/ref/calminthe...
//MY SHOPS//
Etsy - Printable Homeschool Planners, Chore Charts, Advent Calendars, and More!: www.etsy.com/shop/calminthecha...
Teachers Pay Teachers: www.teacherspayteachers.com/St...
//FIND ME//
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Email: calminthechaoshomeschool@yahoo.com
Facebook: / 875160263177974 (Join us here for more homeschool chats, questions, and support!)
//CREDITS//
Intro and outro music: • Video
//FTC DISCLAIMER//
*This post may contain affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
*This video is not made for children 13 and under. The target audience for this video is adults interested in learning about homeschooling.

Пікірлер: 44

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

I like how you break this up. Super helpful!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Ай бұрын

Glad that was helpful. Really going at 1/2 pace was super helpful for our family.

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

Thanks for linking to this…watching now before I buy cause honestly the sample lessons overwhelmed me. Haha!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Ай бұрын

It’s nice that the teacher in the video really walks the child through all the steps. I watched so I knew the method. I’m now using it to teach my boys from a writing lessons book from IEW, but really, you as a teacher, need to know the process first before doing that. But just going through the Structure and Style videos once helped me be able to do that.

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

@@CalmintheChaosHomeschool ok that makes sense. Now that I’ve seen how you break it up it helps so much alleviate those worries. I’ve always been one that makes sure we go at a pace that works for my kids but some curriculum are harder to do that with than others.

@lindaburpeau8557 11 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool 11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much! You are my first ever super chat! I really appreciate it! ❤️

@goodfriendacres5633 Жыл бұрын

I found an older copy of Structure and Style last spring. It's basically the version that teaches you how to go through the process and teach it to your child. The Dvds are from a conference. One thing that really stood out to me was how Andrew Pudewa made a big deal about repeating each step until it is EASY. Don't go on from a key word outline to a written paragraph until the KWO is easy. Don't go on from a written paragraph done together to one done on their own until it is easy. Don't go on to dress-ups (or the next dress-up) until the first one is EASY. I really, really like the S&S approach so much! I wish I had learned this way. I started KWOs with my 9yr old this year and he's doing really well so far. So well with writing sentences together on the board that I assigned him his first paragraph this week. We'll see how that goes. If its too soon for him, we'll keep doing them on the board. This is a boy who hates having to write. We're using FixIt! also and he's doing really well with it. Handwriting practice, Grammer, punctuation and vocabulary in 10-15ish minutes. 4 in 1!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Those are great points. And a good reminder. I do cut out pieces if I fee like they are too hard. I also did use this method with my 2 younger boys who were in 3rd and 4th grade last year when we did our animal reports. It worked really great: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m9Scaatmv5rdeIE.html

@goodfriendacres5633 Жыл бұрын

@@CalmintheChaosHomeschool So yesterday I also read in the training materials to not stay on a Unit too long but keep moving through the units (1 think one unit per month was a suggested pace). But I also understood that with dress-ups,etc to not push the student too fast. They even suggested with a class of multiple students, different students could be using more or fewer elements in their writing according to ability.....while continuing to move through the units. Sounds like what you've already been doing. :) I'm looking forward to continuing to work with this writing system. I decided to get "All Things Fun and Facinating" for this year. It sounded interesting and fun for my reluctant writer.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

I think I’ll be trying out Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales thematic unit next year. I’m hoping I’ll understand the system enough by then :) These are my younger 2. I don’t think they would have the patience for the videos.

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

The IEW style is something my son actually had now that I see it in an enrichment program he did for a couple years and he was so overwhelmed by it (they followed the guidelines for papers but they didn’t use the actual curriculum) and he struggled so hard. I’m definitely interested to see how you simplified it.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Ай бұрын

Right! Also, with the checklists, when they are at 3+ paragraphs at a time. We really slow down and allow at least a day per paragraph. I also don’t my kids to do everything on the checklist. They might ask for one ly adverb, one strong verb, one … etc instead of one per paragraph. It’s just hard for some kids to do so much. Better is better… we don’t need to push so hard for something that feels unachievable.

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

@@CalmintheChaosHomeschool we have such similar philosophies it sounds like I am so glad to have found you!

@mountainmamashome Жыл бұрын

I love how informative your videos are. You have a lot of thought and ample experience included in each one. So helpful!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! I was just watching your curriculum picks video last night! Thanks for stopping by.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Definitely will be checking out your high school content soon :)

@carolinescurriculumcorner466 Жыл бұрын

Hi there, We have been using IEW writing for four years now with all three levels (the older version). I feel the checklist gets to be a bit much after awhile, requiring 5 dress ups, 6 sentence openers, and a decoration for every, single paragraph! If I made my kids do that, they would absolutely hate writing altogether! So what I do is have the kids do everything on the checklist, BUT it's once PER paper instead of once per paragraph (most papers are three paragraphs). This shows me they know how to do them without causing burn out.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

That’s exactly what I do with my more struggling writer.

@Tiffanysroyalcleaningtime Жыл бұрын

This was extremely helpful showing us step by step and inside the students notebooks. Thank you for the in-depth review! I’m in some Homeschooling groups on Facebook and they rave about this so looks like I will be getting on board 😊

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

I'm glad this review helped. It is definitely a "complete" program, and can be a bit much, but if you make it your own, it's very doable.

@Tiffanysroyalcleaningtime Жыл бұрын

@@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Thank you for the encouragement, I have never actually seen a break down and look through. I’m glad that you were honest about making it our own sometimes skipping things and going slower. I have to keep reminding myself this is not a race she’s in 7th grade, it’s ok! ❤️

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Yes, not a race :)

@joyiasells4810 Жыл бұрын

We are using Fix it Grammar and my children are loving it so far. I am thinking about getting structure and style.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

We used Fix It! Grammar last year and enjoyed it. We are taking the year off from that, but will probably go back next year :)

@hendricks10 4 ай бұрын

I really appreciate this video. We started Level A about 8 weeks ago. We love Pudewa's teaching style, but it recently started feeling somewhat overwhelming to my reluctant writer. I was looking for how to simplify it or adapt the schedule to make it work better for our homeschool. This takes a weight off of my shoulders. Thank you!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool 4 ай бұрын

I’m so glad it’s helpful! I have definitely found that with homeschooling, trying to push to do what the curriculum says to do is often pretty undoable over the long run. So adapting is completely necessary in our home. As long as the kids are growing and learning, then we are doing the right pace.

@TheChan7 Жыл бұрын

Thank you! This was so helpful!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

You are welcome!

@HomegrownHomeschool Жыл бұрын

This looks amazing. We might change to it when the kids are a little older.

@familydinamics8261 Жыл бұрын

Extremely helpful! Thank you 😊

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Great! Glad it was helpful!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Have you ever used anything from IEW? How did it go?

@claudialee7909 Жыл бұрын

Yes only used style and structure student intensive B. It was great . Took us 2 years with 2 middle schoolers and one 9th grader. It was all they needed , went on to college and are excellent writers!

@homeschoollifemom Жыл бұрын

This was so helpful to give me a good idea of what the curriculum is and how it works. I loved seeing how you break it down! I’ve considered using Fix it Grammar for my 3rd grader. Did your girls do Fix it Grammar before using Structure and Style? My daughter is a reluctant writer so I don’t think I would do this program for a year or 2.

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

We did Fix It! Grammar last year and my girls were in grade 5 and 6 at the time. We liked it, but it took me about 20 mins on Monday to get them set up for the week, and I decided I couldn’t do that this week. I think some kids wouldn’t need that teacher time, but my girls did. We did like it though and I have plans to get even more into IEW next year. So, these are just tentative plans and it’s still early, but I’m thinking of moving my girls into S&S 1B (which is the middle school version) and have my boys do a thematic unit with me (since I know the program now, but I don’t think they would sit through the videos), and get Fix It! again for all 4 kids (higher level for the girls and start the boys on book 1). I could probably just do a 20 min with all the kids on Monday and they could finish the rest of the week.

@katiegallagher3831 Жыл бұрын

This is a fantastic video - thank you so much! Question: I have an ADHD fourth grader who I’d like to try this program, but the length of the videos do concern me. I loved your approach to breaking up the work, we would likely do something similar. Do you ever even break up the videos? Realistically, I probably have about 20-25 before his brain shuts down (and that’s on a focused day!) thank you again for your perspective and God bless!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

So… I have also have 4th and 5th grade boys (the 4th grader has autism and the 5th grader, ADHD). I want start this program with them next year, BUT, I cannot even imagine the videos working for them. I don’t think I’m even going to try. The system is AMAZING, and I have used it with my boys with my guidance, but this videos… I would not try them with a child you are unsure of. I think you could make the shorter segments work though… that is a good idea. I sometime fast forward through the front when he is reading some kids’ papers too. But, anyways, my plans for my boys is to teach them myself, using the menthol and their thematic units. I don’t love that, because I have to do the teaching, but I really don’t envision them sitting through the videos. IEW has a teacher training program that you could watch and then teach your child yourself. But, if you need to have someone else teach them, I think breaking up the videos could work. Plus, if you sit in on them, you can learn the program and teach in the future. That’s what my plan has been. I think I’m going to MAKE my girls do one more level as I teach my boys so I can get them understanding the system before I try to teach ALL of them together.

@RockSimmer-gal4God Жыл бұрын

Im thinking of adding this for my high schooler but we set writing assignments for language arts with what writing assignments my kids need for I other subjects so they don’t need to do extra writing!!! My son has been told he’s got to write a lot in his future as writing is probably going z to o be part of his career, if he still goes that way!!!

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Жыл бұрын

Yah… you wouldn’t want to add writing on top of this. I think, once you know they “system”, you can do the thematic books. I might do that in the future. Like do the ancient history writing when we are doing ancient history etc.

@goodfriendacres5633 Жыл бұрын

You can use the Stucture and Style system of writing for any other subject. Science, history, etc. The creator of the method was a history professor who got tired of his students not being able to write well for his class. So he taught them to write well as well as the history. IEW has curriculum that aligns with history studies, but I think you may have to do the teacher training to use it if those ones don't come with Andrew Pudewa teaching them on DVDs. Learning the system is worth it IMO from what I've experienced so far. I talked about a little more in my other comment. My goal is to use S&S with History, etc in the future and have double benefit for our study time (2 for 1). We have to work up to that still because my kids aren't ready for that level yet.

@kara8911 Ай бұрын

Does the program help with spelling at all?

@CalmintheChaosHomeschool Ай бұрын

This program is only writing and vocabulary, and will give literature suggestions, but no comprehension questions. It’s primarily for writing.