WRITING STRANDS BEGINNING 1

I thought I would write my first curriculum review on one of my most recently purchased and used curriculums: Writing Strands Beginning 1.  I purchased this curriculum because we needed a break from IEW.  (That is a whole other story.  To make a long story short, we got a lot out of it, but one year was enough.)

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My overall review is "save your money."  Unless that is, you also plan to use the "Reading" portion and/or have a struggling writer.  We already have a reading program that we enjoy, so we paid double the price just for the writing lessons.  Currently, the workbook is $25.89. 

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Next, the workbook is advertised as providing a 30 to 45 minutes lessons, 5 days a week.  This is very far from true.  My son enjoys writing, but I think that even a reluctant writer could complete many of the assignments in five to fifteen minutes.  The fifth lesson of the week is actually just the student going back to review the week and doing a self-assessment.  We did that one week and then my plan after that was to only do it if my son asked to, and he didn't.  There are 18 "writing lesson" weeks, but I definitely wouldn't say this is 18 weeks of material for most people.  Also, many of the assignments could easily be done by a 3rd grader, so Master Books recommending this book for 5th to 8th graders is definitely "off."  (Not that I don't love Master Books overall, because I really do!) On the other hand, we were looking for a fun, easy break from IEW and this is definitely serving that purpose.  The problem is that there is a lot of unnecessary scaffolding, which my son completes quickly and which may be unnecessary for him.  We could have gotten the same benefit from Spectrum Writing 6 which goes for $10/$11, has 29 lessons, and is more grade-level appropriate.  (Next year, I am planning a more intensive history year, including writing assignments, so Spectrum Writing 6 will be a supplement and we may not do all assignments).

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So, all in all, if you do not have a struggling writer, I would save your money and purchase one of the more "mainstream workbook" curriculums like Spectrum if you are just looking for a supplement, need a break from IEW, etcll.

UPDATE:  Everything I posted in the above still holds, but we decided to just stop using it!  We are currently doing enough writing through our Rod and Staff Reading 5 program and Story of the Greeks workbook.  We also found some of the assignments towards the end a little to strange for our taste.  (Something about learning dialogue by pretending to talk to something....not my son's style : )