New and Used Institute For Excellence In Writing

I’ve had a hard time locating discounts on Institute for Excellence in Writing homeschool curriculum, so I am glad to see that there are usually many EIW products for sale on eBay. These recycled curricula provide great savings opportunity for homeschoolers.
See what is on eBay today…
[phpbay]Iew,60[/phpbay]

I want to share with you the best review I have found for the Institute for Excellence in Writing curriculum. It is written by a homeschooling mother about her own experience with the curriculum, using it to teach her son.

 

Here is part of the review by Heather at Faith Family, and Fun

Institute For Excellence In Writing (read the entire review here)

“I have a super creative and smart kid, but one who has a writing and spelling disability and years of frustration with writing in general. In fact, one reason I began homeschooling this son was because he had so much trouble getting thoughts onto paper, and between adhd and learning disability issues, he was not doing well in upper level courses. Ultimately it made sense that while he was quite intelligent, he had not learned some important basics in communicating through written medium.

So, one way I tried to work with him was to try to make writing fun. I studied the Charlotte Mason theories and shared interesting and exciting topics and we also just read as much as possible. I used some curricula to shore up his vocabulary and spelling abilities. We tried a few grammar curricula and more advanced curricula which included research papers. So far, I had a kid who could narrate beautifully, but would not/could not write me a decent paragraph.

Enter Institute For Excellence in Writing (IEW).

When I heard it was possible to review a writing program with IEW, I was very curious. I had seen others very excited about the program, once, at a homeschool conference, but I knew very little about it and frankly, I thought it looked costly and complicated. Too complicated for our writing needs.

I really was very wrong.”

—
“The cost for this combo is $239. We received many pieces, all so organized.

Immediately, I was impressed with the quality of the materials. Binders with printed section dividers, DVDs in sturdy and well labeled cases with hours of teaching, complete lessons plans, scope and sequence information. They even include details on exactly how to format your binders and tips on how to set up the lessons.

Honestly, the package kind of shocked me it was so well done. Unfortunately, it did also frighten me.

I felt like an idiot trying to figure out what I was supposed to do with the pieces. And, I was having a crummy day that day.

So, I handed Nick his student portion (the SWI) and said, “I know you hate to write. But this is supposed to help. Please figure out what we need to do and then we’ll meet up and work on this.” I know, not the best teaching strategy. But, my son did take the SWI and begin watching the disks. While I was working on other things with his little sister, he set up his binder and began to complete the assignments that he was given by Andrew Padewa through the DVD lessons.”
The Dvds include the following “how” to write through nine units:

Units 1-2 Note Making and Summarizing through Notes
Unit 3-Summarizing Narratives Stories and Dress-Ups
Unit 4-Summarizing References & Writing Reports
Unit 5- Advanced Dress-Ups, Decorations and Triples, Writing from Pictures
Unit 6- Writing Reports from Multiple Sources (extension of Unit 4)
Unit 7-Creative Writing with Structure
Unit 8-Essays: Basic, Extended and Super (extension of Units 4 and 6)
Unit 9-Critiques, Conclusion
Student Writing Workshop, Elementary Level
Student Writing Workshop, Intermediate Level
Student Writing Workshop, High School Level

For more information about the products produced by the Institute for Excellence in Writing, just visit the IEW website. There is so much information there. Here is one of many videos with information about IEW.