Review: Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)

6/12/2015

"What you want to do is use a pen".
A pen? I said?
MOM!?!?! He says I'm supposed to use a pen. Where are the pens mom?"

And so was my son's first surprise into the world of Deluxe Combo Teacher/Student Writing Package Level A [FIX-1 & 2]. It's been an interesting ride so far. Come with me through world of excited conversation, improved writing ability and more as I work through this review. :)

I have to admit, I've never used IEW materials before and I really wasn't sure what to expect.   I got this tremendously big package that I initially had NO clue what to do with. Where do I start, what do I focus on, AH!!   What if I can't figure it out? All these questions ran through my head.

Then I caught a grip and said... WHY did I want this?
I wanted this program for ONE reason only. To help my boy become more proficient in his writing. He writes every day for 15 minutes in his book (did you know he's writing a novel?).      So let's focus first on just getting him going, and let me sort out the rest.    So that's what we did. :)   It worked for us. :)   Part of my sorting it out was using the help features provided byIEW. :)

The first day, my son sat down and starting working on Day one Materials and just kept going. I actually had to call him off for lunch he was so enthused. :)   Let me tell you.. my son has never willing sat down to do anything that lasting longer than 1.5 hours unless he's watching a movie or playing x-box games. :)

As he worked I looked through what I received.
Five parts:

Teaching Writing Structure and Style, including the Premium Subscription
A Student Writing Intensive level (A)
Two Fix-It! Grammar levels, with hard copy for the teacher book and e-copy for the student (Books 1 & 2,)
A Word Write Now
Portable Walls

I will be going through each of these sections for you.

Allow me if I might to talk about what causes the most discussion in our household. Fix it Grammar. One sentence a day, each week focusing on different points of grammar. My son talks and discusses these sentences with me all the time. Today he was arguing with me over what small people can be called and that elfin was just wrong... it should only be dwarf! Then he learned the elfin means more than being an elf, it means be a small person and the pieces fit together for him. :) He still thinks it can be a confusing word, and my response was "welcome to the English Language". He groaned. :)

A comment that I often hear while my son is doing theStudent Writing Intensive Level A is "MOM!   He didn't ask me!   I had an answer!"
This statement was often followed by "Mom, you should tell them that they should stop and ask the computer people what they think as well.   It's not fair that we never get asked."

He's learning new words. He's better understanding why one can't use the same word over and over when writing his stories. He's seeing the value in picking out the major themes of story in order to better convey what the story is really about and not getting lost in the minutia.   This has been of benefit to him when he reads a story and I ask him "tell me what it's about".   I no longer hear every detail but the major highlights. :)   I love listening to him responding to Mr. Pudewa.   Geared for grades 3-5 we are doing the suggestion and really taking our time going through these lessons.      I let my son judge the length of time he wants to spend on it. Some days that 10 minutes and other days an hour.   He writes, he thinks, he exclaims and sometimes he explains it all to me and we talk.

How his writing has changed:
from this: Your first day in Minecraft you you shod mine 20 dirt than make a house than you shod mine 2 small threes than make 12 wood planks and than make crafting table than place the crafting table in the house than use the crafting table to make 4 sticks than use 2 of the sticks and 3 wood planks to make 1 wood pickaxe and mine 8 stone and go back to the house and use the crafting table to make 1 furnace place the furnace beside the crafting table than mine 1 more three put 1wood in the top and 1in the bottom wait until charcoal appears in the third slot than take the charcoal than use the crafting table to make 4 torches with 1stik and the charcoal put the torches in the house make enough wood planks to make 1 wood door place the door at the entrance to the house if you still have time make a sword and kill three Shep and make a bed than play the game.

To This
He dove down the tunnel and the rest of them followed him. When they reached the bottom there was a small room about six by six blocks big. The walls, floor and ceiling were made with oak Wood planks. There was just one torch lighting the room. There was a crafting table in the left corner from the stairs and there was a double chest beside it. There was two beds in the right corner.
"so what do you think" Charlie oinked?
"I like it"Steve responded.
"Or so that's were my beetroot is" Grever scowled!

He's making a fine improvement is he not???   :)
So for us the program is a success!   It is doing exactly what we wanted!!

This part of the premium subscription, Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, Second Edition is meant for YOU the parent/teacher.   It helps teach you how to help your young writer become a better writer.

This whole section helps you to talk with your student about what they are learning.   So when my son wanted to talk about what he was learning I was able to back up his thinking (or correct or expand upon it). :) Pretty neat to have this tool eh?

I have to tell you... trying to find time to listen ... in this household is not easy.   Interruptions, or "Where are you" requests... But you will find if you persevere through the 9+hrs of instruction, that it is a beneficial part of the program. :) (Which, if you didn't know, has some Canadian influence in it!). :)

Throughout the nine lessons the Student Intensive Writing program, the students write out lists of words they can use instead of others. A Word Write Now is a handy thesaurus. Organized in a way that makes it sense for children: by character qualities and behavior traits. Words are also classified by parts of speech. Very handy! My lad hasn't ventured into looking through this book yet, when I advised him on what was in it, he gave a rather non-committal "okay, that might be helpful mom, but I like remembering things." So far he hasn't had need of it, but I foresee a time down the road when he will have need and then it will ready for him.

Pictured with it as the Portable Wall. Think stand up poster. Easy reference right at your fingertips without having to post it to a wall somewhere. Sturdy and able to stand up on its own, it's right there, ready to go and be used. Makes a great bookmark my son has learned for holding his place. Learning to use it.. that he hasn't figured yet. :)

I must take a bit of time to tell you two great aspects to this program. One is the supportive elements. First there is a live chat help support section. You can type in your concern and someone will actually type back to you within a couple of minutes and you can get the support that you need. It's way better than talking on the phone and they include links if needed to get you on your way quickly and easily. It's great! From the live chat session I had, I learned about the forum where you can go and get help with any aspect of the program. Rather cool to have that.

But the other aspect I want to talk about is the FILES section. When you login you have access to everything you get. So the Teacher help section is there in streaming video, they give helpful audio talks, the PDF for the Fix It grammar. Everything. Neat huh? So nice to have it all contained in one area. :)

So in a nutshell what do we think?

IEW is a good fit in our household. The lad enjoys it for the most part. :) He's learning, it's accomplishing our goals, the support from IEW is great, and once you got it figured out it's not hard to do. :)

Product details:
Vendor: Institutes for Excellence in Writing.
The whole program which includes the following, as a combo package sells for $299.

Teaching Writing Structure and Style, including the Premium Subscription
- dvds in a leather binder
- online materials, audio and pdf
- retails for $129
A Student Writing Intensive level (A)
- binders
- DVD's
- worksheets
- retails for $109
Two Fix-It! Grammar levels, with hard copy for the teacher book and e-copy for the student (Books 1 & 2,) Nose Tree and Robin Hood.
- hardcopy teacher's edition
- PDF student editions - a week's lessons on one page
- retails for $15 each for teacher's editions which includes PDF student editions. If needing hardcopy Student editions an additional $15 each.
A Word Write Now
- retails for $35
- child friendly thesaurus
Portable Walls
- retails for $7
- short form information right at your finger tips.