Here we are with another new curriculum. This is the first time we have used WriteShop Junior E. I’m using it for two of my kids this year at once because it isn’t a grade-level kind of curriculum. It’s a where your child is learning kind of curriculum, which is why we are using it in two different grade levels.
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WriteShop Junior E
I really was not going to buy any more curriculum. I originally was only planning on using it for my oldest for a little more structure in middle school. But I liked what I saw in her WriteShop1 schedule and ordered WriteShop Junior E for the other two.
Using WriteShop Junior E with Multiple Kids
I am using it for Gauge, grade 3 and, Brookland, grade 5 this year. Why? Because both at strong readers. Both are strong spellers. And then there is
Brookland who is not a fan of writing, hates it, even just writing her name on a piece of paper can be hard for us.
Gauge loves to write. He has a couple of different notebooks which stories in one, and a comic book he is making in another. I am raising a future author here.
With those similarities and differences, it made sense to do a curriculum together with them. Plus I like doing as much together with them as a group versus trying to do an individual curriculum with all three.
Tip:
When you are using one level for multiple children you don’t have to print off everything in the workbook. Oops, I wasn’t paying attention when I printed off the first lesson. A lot of the pages are for hands-on learning, such as the Great Fable Race, and Choose A Voice which both have manipulative pieces that you can use for both kids.
I will make sure to pay better attention to the next lessons.
First Lesson in WriteShop Junior E
You might this is one day of work, but it’s actually 3 weeks. (See image below.) We are following the standard schedule which has you covering one lesson over a period of three weeks. Following their schedule, we are covering language arts three days a week.
As noted in Using WriteShop Curriculum for the First Time, 1:3 means lesson 1, day 3 in the schedule. They really do make it super easy to follow along once you figure it out.
Breaking down the lesson like this keeps it from being overwhelming. They are designed to be short and sweet lessons instead of taking forever to complete.
Working Together
There are tips and ideas throughout the lesson for working with multiple learners. A lot of it is going to depend on how well your kids work together or if it is better for them to work individually.
Not everything is going to be together.
The hands-on activities are together, in fact, it’s great for them to be working together.
Their journaling pages for example are going to be unique to them and theirs to work on alone. We don’t correct journal pages but allow them to write freely.
What I Love About WriteShop Junior E
- There is a schedule to follow throughout the week – actually there are 3 different schedules to choose from
- The teacher manual table of content has my new favorite feature: clickable links. It takes you where you want to be without all the scrolling
- Hands-on learning that we can do together
- Answer key in the back because I am not back in school
- It’s great for reluction writers and kids that love that to write
Learn more about how to use it easily here!
This year we are using math separately, using Teaching Textbooks on their own. We have WriteShop. And we’re using BookShark Science Level E and History Quest Early Times together.
Secular Language Arts Curriculum