By Well-Trained Mind Press·Language Arts · Writing
2 video reviews: 2 positive
Both reviews here come from one homeschool family checking in across a school year while using Writing With Ease with a first grader, and both are positive. The consistent picture: this is not a program kids beg to do — the reviewer's son doesn't love writing and stays ambivalent about it — but it's gentle enough that he completes it with very few complaints, which the reviewer found remarkable given his history of fine-motor struggles and occupational therapy. Starting sentences run six to eight words, and she credits the program with gradually building endurance and fundamental writing skills. One caveat she raises: depending on the kid, some skills may need extra scaffolding, especially once dictation starts. The unexpected hit was the editing step, where her son enjoyed checking sentences for capital letters and end punctuation.
Synthesized from 2 independent video reviews — every claim sourced from what real homeschool parents said on camera.
A family that wants a gentle, incremental writing program that builds copywork stamina and fundamentals — including for a child with fine-motor struggles.
Families hoping for a writing program their child will find creative or exciting, since even this happy user calls it nobody's favorite subject.
How Did Our First 8 Weeks Go? | First Quarter Update 2025 | Secular Homeschool Curriculum Reviews Hi, All! Today, I wanted to share how our first quarter of school went, a quick look at some of my 1st and 4th graders' curricula, and a few things we've changed. I hope you find this helpful! Videos: Additional Science options: https://youtu.be/XLhnn4hySak SOTW vs HQ: https://youtu.be/6c8VaIsajiY Links: Beast Academy: https://beastacademy.com/ Singapore Primary 2022: https://www.rainbowresource.com/primary-math-2022-edition-grades-k-6 Writing with Ease: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-complete-writer-writing-with-ease-instructor-text/ Writing Strands (only the edition with the bird cages on the front cover are secular. The Masterbooks and My Father's World versions have been modified, and are not secular): https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/writing-strands-level-3-a-complete-writing-program-using-a-process-approach-to-writing-and-composition-assuring-continuity-and-control-writing-strands-ser-writing-strands-ser_dave-marks/293940/#isbn=1888344105 First Language Lessons: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/series/first-language-lessons/ Grammar Bugs: https://rootedinlanguage.com/products/grammar-bugs All About Spelling: https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-spelling/ Fishtank ELA: https://www.fishtanklearning.org/curriculum/ela/ Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: https://www.pressforlearning.com/ Teach Engineering: https://www.teachengineering.org/ Story of the World: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/series/the-story-of-the-world/ History Quest: https://www.pandiapress.com/product/history-quest-united-states/ Time-Traveling Tonya podcast: https://www.gokidgo.com/timetravelingtonya Mysteries About True Histories: https://www.starglowmedia.com/mysteries-about-true-histories The Past and the Curious: https://thepastandthecurious.com/ The Who Was Podcast: https://www.whowasbookseries.com/entertainment/ Forever Ago: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/forever-ago/id1440083927 Artistic Pursuits: https://artisticpursuits.com/ Chinese Language Institute: https://studycli.org/ Flip Flop Spanish: https://www.flipflopspanish.com/collections/frontpage Play and Learn Spanish: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/play-and-learn-spanish-book--audio-cd-play-and-learn-language_ana-lomba_marcela-summerville/408570/#isbn=0071441484 Salsa TV show: https://www.pbs.org/show/salsa/ We Rock! Music Lab: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781592539215 Wildwood Folk song rotation: https://wildwoodcurriculum.com/family-studies/song-rotation/ Penrose the Mathematical Cat: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781884550140 Tiny Worlds of the Appalachian Mountains: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781680516357 Affiliate Links: Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/shop/violet_eclectichomeschoolshelf Thriftbooks ($5 off $30): https://www.thriftbooks.com/share/?code=QtyJWo6y4S0F%252fmYdnbITAA%253d%253d ***I am an affiliate with Bookshop and Amazon. I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.*** #afflink Music credit: https://pixabay.com/music/happy-childrens-tunes-happy-acoustic-guitar-background-music-122614/
Mid-Year Homeschool Update | 1st & 4th Grade | Secular Homeschool Curriculum Resources and Reviews Hi, All! Today, I wanted to share how the first half of our school year went, a quick look at some of my 1st and 4th graders' curricula, and a few things we've changed. I hope you find this helpful! Videos: SOTW vs HQ: https://youtu.be/6c8VaIsajiY Binder Video: https://youtu.be/G6638ORQBPE Additional Science options: https://youtu.be/XLhnn4hySak Links: Beast Academy: https://beastacademy.com/ Singapore Primary 2022: https://www.rainbowresource.com/primary-math-2022-edition-grades-k-6 Writing with Ease: https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-complete-writer-writing-with-ease-instructor-text/ Writing Strands (only the edition with the bird cages on the front cover are secular. The Masterbooks and My Father's World versions have been modified, and are not secular): https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/writing-strands-level-3-a-complete-writing-program-using-a-process-approach-to-writing-and-composition-assuring-continuity-and-control-writing-strands-ser-writing-strands-ser_dave-marks/293940/#isbn=1888344105 First Language Lessons: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/series/first-language-lessons/ Grammar Bugs: https://rootedinlanguage.com/products/grammar-bugs All About Spelling: https://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/all-about-spelling/ Language Through Literacy: https://sites.google.com/view/literacythroughlanguage/home Fishtank ELA: https://www.fishtanklearning.org/curriculum/ela/ Zaner-Bloser Handwriting: https://shop.zaner-bloser.com/collections/zaner-bloser-handwriting Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding: https://www.pressforlearning.com/ Teach Engineering: https://www.teachengineering.org/ Story of the World: https://welltrainedmind.com/c/series/the-story-of-the-world/ History Quest: https://www.pandiapress.com/product/history-quest-united-states/ Time-Traveling Tonya podcast: https://www.gokidgo.com/timetravelingtonya Mysteries About True Histories: https://www.starglowmedia.com/mysteries-about-true-histories Harlem Time Trotters podcast: https://www.theharlemtimetrotters.com/ Artistic Pursuits: https://artisticpursuits.com/ Chinese Language Institute: https://studycli.org/ Whistlefritz French: https://www.whistlefritz.com/french-programs/ Language Together: https://languagetogether.com/collections/french-for-kids Flip Flop Spanish: https://www.flipflopspanish.com/collections/frontpage Salsa TV show: https://www.pbs.org/show/salsa/ Penrose the Mathematical Cat: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781884550140 Big Life Journal: https://biglifejournal.com/collections/journals/products/big-life-journal-kids-second-edition Tiny Worlds of the Appalachian Mountains: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781680516357 We Rock! Music Lab: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781592539215 Kids Health: https://kidshealth.org/classroom/ Poetry: https://bookshop.org/a/112156/9781536217186 Affiliate Links: Bookshop store: https://bookshop.org/shop/violet_eclectichomeschoolshelf Thriftbooks ($5 off $30): https://www.thriftbooks.com/share/?code=QtyJWo6y4S0F%252fmYdnbITAA%253d%253d ***I am an affiliate with Bookshop and Amazon. I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.*** #afflink Music credit: https://pixabay.com/music/happy-childrens-tunes-happy-acoustic-guitar-background-music-122614/
“it's definitely not his favorite subject and it's not something he's excited to do, but he does it with very few complaints”
“he does it without complaint, which is kind of amazing to me honestly because he really struggled with fine motor for such a long time and he'll do the copy work now with no problem”
“in general, I really like how writing with ease builds those fundamental writing skills”
“he actually really likes the editing piece where we check for capital letters that we're starting our sentences with capital letters and ending with punctuation marks”
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Based on this family's experience, yes. The reviewer's son had done occupational therapy and struggled with fine motor for a long time, yet handled the program's starting copywork without problems. By mid-year she reported he does the copywork with no problem and called the program good at gradually building endurance.
Per the reviewer, the program starts kids with six-to-eight-word sentences, which her first grader was completely capable of copying.
The reviewer found it straightforward overall, but cautions that depending on your kid you may need to scaffold some skills even more, especially once the program gets into dictation.