EIW Curriculum

This time of year is when I begin to reflect and evaluate our current homeschool year as I begin planning for our next. Where could we improve? What did we love? Where do we need a change or more focus? What do we need to add or take away?

I spend these next few months researching and making a list of the curriculum we will use and what needs to be purchased. Once decided, then I can watch for any curriculum sales into the summer months. I usually plan and gather my curriculum a lot earlier than normal so that I can share with you. 😊

I have decided (and purchased) one subject change for next year; Language Arts. It will be completely new to all my kids, and myself, but I’m really excited! I shared a quick peek on my Instagram and many of you are wondering why the complete switch, so I’m going to share my thoughts and a peak inside the curriculum EIW (Essentials in Writing.)

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A little backstory if you are new: We have used The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts curriculum PreK to 2nd grade. It has been a great curriculum for us and all my kids are very strong readers because of it. Towards the end of the Level 2 (2nd grade) is when we start to become a little bored with it and there is a lot that we end up skipping.

My daughter started Brave Writer Dart in 3rd grade and fell in love! You can read all about them and our switch HERE. They were so great for her and brought so much joy back into our homeschooling and reading. She ended up using Darts for two years and moving to the next level Arrow this past school year.

When my oldest son started 3rd grade I also switched him to Brave Writer Dart. He always enjoyed watching her lessons and asked me to switch.

Although we LOVE the curriculum, I decided we needed a change for next year. Since my daughter has used it for 3 years now, I feel like she is getting a little too comfortable and has been revisiting a lot of the same concepts over and over. I feel like she needs to try something new and be a little more challenged for her 6th grade year.

My oldest son who used Darts this past year loved them as well. However, he learns much differently than my daughter and I don’t think they work the best for him. He needs a lot more repetition and practice to make a concept stick.

My first grade son, who has been using TGTB Level 1 LA this year, is an amazing reader! The Level 1 is now way too simple for him and he is swiftly getting through it. He says it isn’t his favorite and there is much of it we don’t use already (we skip the picture studies, read alouds, stories, etc.) I know he would enjoy a more straight to the point, no fluff curriculum next year also.

It’s crazy how every child learns so differently, but I am so thankful we can adapt and change curriculum for each of them.

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I first began looking into EIW for my oldest daughter, but then realized it might be great for my boys as well. I researched it to death, looked at sample pages, chatted with other homeschool moms, and ultimately decided to switch them all to EIW.

I really like how straightforward and simple the lessons are while incorporating grammar and writing in one. Next year I’ll have four kids to homeschool as I add my youngest in, so having something simple and not as teacher intensive was definitely on the top of my list.

EIW has a short video lesson the child watches at the beginning of the week (or every few lessons for older grades) and then worksheet pages to practice the concepts learned (just one for each day.) The video lessons are super short, always under 6 minutes.

I purchased the printed teacher guide and workbook for Level 2, 4, and 6. This is the smallest teachers guide I have ever seen and I’m stoked. Haha! It gives you a planned out guide for every lesson (32 weeks long) and also gives the older kids some weeks off after completing writing assignments (which they will love.) All the answers to all the workbook pages, and some examples of writing projects, are included in the back.

The curriculum splits the first half of the year learning about parts of speech and grammar first, then covering the writing process and projects in the second half. This is the only “con” I have seen others say who have used the curriculum. They didn’t like how it was split and they were only doing writing the second half of the year. I definitely agree with this looking at everything. Many said you could go back and forth between some grammar sections and writing sections to intertwine them throughout the year and I’m thinking that is just what we will do as well.

*Example: We will complete the “Identify Parts of Speech” lessons, then go over to all the lessons on “Paragraphs.” Then we will go back and do all the lessons on “Common Problems,” then over to the lessons on “Writing a News Article,” etc.

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Below I’m sharing some inside examples of the worksheet pages and teachers guide. You can view many more samples of each level on their website and they will even email you a sample of their video lessons to try out too.

Overall I’m really excited that this curriculum is more independent/student led, is very straightforward, and doesn’t seem like too much work each day. I also really like the way they teach and break down the structure of writing for each grade level. They have Level 1 all the way to high school Level 12, as well as Literature courses available for middle school and older.

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Answering some common questions:

Will you continue to use Write Shop?

We really enjoyed using Write Shop as our writing curriculum this year. We had a lot of fun with the projects. However, we will not be continuing this program because there is already writing instruction included in EIW.

Do you need to add a spelling or reading program to EIW?

Yes! EIW only covers grammar and writing, so we will still need to add in spelling and handwriting if needed. My daughter will continue to use 180 Days of Spelling and Word Study next year. My boys will continue to use Evan Moore Building Spelling Skills and Handwriting from The Good and the Beautiful.

It doesn’t teach reading/phonics either, so if you are using it for younger grades that are still learning to read, you may need to add a reading program alongside it.

Will you still use Fix It Grammar?

My kids love Fix It Grammar! We will continue to use the books they are in until they are finished, but you do not need to use both. Grammar is already included in EIW. We love Fix It Grammar for additional grammar practice and only add it in 2x per week.

Will you still complete your book reports?

Yes! We will use EIW for grammar and writing, but they will still be reading one chapter book each month and completing a simple book report at the end. We have all come to enjoy these and love to see the progress over the school year. (Book Reports) I have another blog post coming soon sharing all the different ones we have done so far!

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I hope this post was helpful! Don’t ever feel like you HAVE to change curriculums. Do what is best for your children and your homeschool. I just wanted to share our journey and why we are in need of a change. *Also, don’t feel the need to panic purchase EIW because it’s on sale! Lol! They have sales almost every month, so you won’t miss it if you need time to research more.

I think it will be a great fit for us for next school year, but I’ll be sure to update and review EIW once we really get into it.

Please ask me any further questions in the comments below!

Now I’m off to research math curriculum…we might be switching in that area too! 😳 ☺️

Have a great week!

– Lindsay

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