Oh, thank you so much! That makes me so happy to hear! The reason we actually have BOTH of these books is because of not really understanding the difference between them and how to use them--I hope by making videos like this I can help other people to be able to purchase exactly what they need.

Thanks so much for watching!

Glad it was helpful!

Yes! WWE can appear tedious...but for some kids, these skills truly don't come naturally or easily and the step-by-step process is very helpful for foundational writing skills.

I'm glad it was helpful!

Thanks so much! Glad it was helpful!

Thanks for watching!

I will definitely plan to do that one sometime!

BTW, do you think Writing with Ease will do well with Sonlight Language Arts? Thank you.

At 11, you definitely may want to look more at Writing with Skill--I have a detailed video on the Writing with Skill program: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/iNZ7dddyt93FhJc.html But, it should be noted that with either of these, the placement should be based on skill/ability level versus age. So a child of a certain age won't automatically be put into one or the other, it will depend on their current skill level. Writing with Ease Level 1 is where I would place a child who can't yet independently write a complete sentence. I don't find these programs to be particularly "inspiring"--they can be a bit on the dry side, for sure, but they are meant to build foundational skills for solid writing. For some reluctant writers, the problem isn't so much lack of inspiration as it is that they aren't confident enough in the foundational skills required to be able to write well--so they are assigned to write but get lost in staring at a blank page because they can't coordinate all the skills required to cohesively put words on paper. I also have a video on fun ideas to use with reluctant writers: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h8d7qpyrxqzSeWw.html

I don't have any special insight...we have used both (level 1 for both) at the same time in the past...there are some similarities/overlap in the type of activities (First Language Lessons includes occasional lessons where the child is supposed to listen to a short story and narrate it back to the teacher, which is a large part of the Writing With Ease program).

First, I would use a dedicated spelling curriculum to actually teach spelling rules and concepts. This isn't designed for teaching spelling, so it's understandable that your child won't be able to spell every word yet--one way to handle this is to go ahead and write the words you know your child won't be able to spell at the top of their dictation page. (i.e. you look at the dictation sentence and see the word: neighbor. You know your child hasn't learned to spell that word yet, so you wright "neighbor" at the top of the dictation page so that they will be able to copy that one." Because the point of these dictation exercises is not that they know how to spell every word, writing down the ones that are above their spelling level will take away the pressure of spelling that word. If you want, you could also explain the rules/concepts at play in the difficult word that you wrote down for them, i.e. the "eigh" making a long a sound in neighbor.

If this child isn't comfortable with writing 1-3 sentences independently, using their own thought...I would definitely start with level 1, but be willing to move through at a little bit quicker pace if needed.

@@SevenInAll thank you so much 💛

They are included in the "Workbook" version of Writing with Ease. The first half of the "workbook" is teacher pages with the passages to be read and the second half of the book is student worksheets.

Yes--if he can do copywork, he can start this. I will say that my own preference is more of a DIY approach using some of these same skills, but it might be helpful to have this resource to get you started in the habit. Having used the WWE Level 1 with other students, I find it kind of difficult/frustrating to be reading aloud short passages from a book that we aren't actually reading because then I ended up doing a lot of explaining of the rest of the story to give context.

@@SevenInAll this makes sense! I thought it would be odd to have copywork with no context. Maybe we can try it as written and after I get the hang of it I can start choosing books we are actually reading to pull from.

Copywork can be very good practice!