Frequently Asked Questions
Q. For what ages do you recommend Writing Tales?
A. Level One works best for third or fourth
graders. It may also work for advanced
second graders. Level Two works best for
fourth or fifth graders, and possibly sixth graders needing to catch up on their
writing experience.
Q. Would one need to complete Level One before
going on to Level Two?
A. No, not at all. A student could easily start Level Two
without having done Level One.
Q. Do I need to supplement grammar or spelling
if I am doing Writing Tales?
A. You will probably want to supplement your
spelling curriculum if your child is not a natural speller. As for supplementing grammar, this is purely
an individual decision. When I (the
author) did Level One with my own third grader, I found that the grammar in the
program was enough and did not supplement.
When I did Level Two with her as a fourth grader, I supplemented, first
with “Easy Grammar”, and then later we switched to “Growing with Grammar.” Now, Level Two contains a lot more grammar
than Level One! It is just my own
personal opinion that fourth graders need to be learning more grammar than
third graders do. Others will disagree
and want to supplement their third graders.
Still others will not feel their children need any additional grammar
until they reach fifth grade.
Q: The games your curriculum
include sound fun! Can they be played if you only have one student?
A: The games that are listed are
adapted in the Homeschooling Lesson Plans for one-on-one play between teacher
and student, or for group play in the Co-operative Lesson Plans.
Q: In your
sample Lesson #8 for Level One, it says to read "Punctuation Takes a Vacation" by Robin
Pulver. When there are extra reading assignments, is the text included in the
TM or Student Workbook or is it something I need to locate on my own?
A: There are few extra reading assignments in Level One, and they are not included in the
teacher's manual. "Punctuation Takes a
Vacation" by Robin Pulver and “Fantastic! Wow! and Unreal!” by Ruth
Heller should be readily available at your library. These two books are
only used once, so it is not necessary to purchase them. The other readings are taken from
"Squids will be Squids" by Scieszka, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” -
poetry by Shel Silverstein, and Arnold Lobel's "Fables." These
three should also be available at your local library, but because they are used
throughout the course, you may decide to purchase them. They are also
easily substituted - really just my own recommendations. If you
already own a book of Aesop's fables and would prefer to read those instead of
Lobel's, for example, that would work fine. The curriculum doesn't depend
on those specific books being read aloud. I just really like these
particular ones! And the students generally do too. They are nice
examples of what can be done with the fable genre. I think it’s valuable for the students to be
exposed to poetry as well, and I am a big fan of using humor to make learning
enjoyable, which is why I chose Shel Silverstein’s poetry book for frequent
read-alouds.
Q: Will there be more levels of Writing Tales?
Yes, I hope to publish three more levels of the curriculum. Unfortunately,
circumstances beyond my control have delayed the start of Writing Tales
- Level 3 at this time. I certainly hope to be able to start work on it in
the near future, but am unable to say when it will be available at this
time.
Q: What writing curriculum do you recommend students use after finishing Writing Tales - Level 2?
A: There are many wonderful curricula on the market right now! Many students will transition very smoothly into Classical Writing - Homer after finishing Writing Tales - Level 2.
