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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The important piece is that the youngest children (K-2) are also having phonics-based instruction. I heard Lucy Calkins adapted her curriculum to include phonics - is that accurate?[/quote]
The issue is that phonics isn't the only thing wrong with the curriculum. It is all based on theory that kids will teach themselves because everyone is intrinsically a reader, which is total nonsense.  You can't do a short phonics lesson, hand a kid a book, and expect them to teach themselves to read.   It's awful, even with a phonics add on.[/quote]

Different kids need different things. But no one can get anything different so everyone must get the same thing so no one will get what they need.[/quote]
They've done studies.  Something like 5-10% of kids can learn to read using LC.  I'm sure a few more can make progress with some additional phonics.  But the curriculum still assumes kids teach themselves, and that is a recipe for failure for most kids.[/quote]

More parent used to read to their kids and teach them at home. Expecting school to teach your kid to read is a recipe for failure for most kids.[/quote]LC was so so bad.  I knew so many parents panicking and hiring tutors when their kids weren't learning ot reading using LC.  I have also seen huge improvements in learning when schools after dropped it.  The writing coming home now with my 3rd grader is so much stronger than anything my older daughter ever wrote with LC.  It's really night and day.  Don't make excuses for it.[/quote]

What kind of writing did you see brought home at the beginning of 3rd? Asking because I have one in 2nd right now who has brought home maybe 3 pieces of written work all year. The handwriting, spelling, and writing is just really bad. But maybe my expectations are too high for an 8 year old b[/quote]

I'm the Midwest parent PP above.  Below are some thoughts and reactions I wanted to share.  Apologies for the choppy organization.

Everything I hear from teachers about elementary writing these days has the view that requiring correct spelling early on prevents love of writing and writing productivity.  This is a belief.  I don't share it but I'm not in charge.

Handwriting is even more de-emphasized than spelling.  There is little time for it among competing curriculum demands.  And kids who truly have bad handwriting often can't improve it very much even with tons of emphasis in school.  The value of neat handwriting is a bit debatable but having fine motor control is certainly useful.  I probably should have independently required my kids to go through Handwriting Without Tears before 3rd grade.  It felt like there wasn't time in our lives but I wish I had. So maybe work on this over the summers?
 
Some teachers will honestly admit that they believe computers render grammar and spell-checking obsolete. You can decide for yourself.  You will likely notice very few corrections/little red ink on your childrens' English class work going forward.  Teachers just don't seem to have the time.

I am remembering now that despite Writer's Workshop, our 1st grade curriculum taught and enforced proper paragraph structure.  So I think that was an add-on to Writer's Workshop.

I hear Catholic elementary schools are much more traditional at the present time and do focus on things like handwriting and writing correction.  That's not my religious background and I never felt good about what I heard about those schools when I was in middle and high school.  So, despite hearing some good things about elementary curriculum in recent times, I never seriously entertained looking into them.  You might consider looking into Catholic schools if you want a more traditional educational experience.

In second grade, my older kid was producing long pieces of writing.  He had a serialized story that he wrote in his writing notebook. They had regular mandatory unstructured writing time.

Also re: second grade, I remember an infamous battle of wills with my younger son over a piece of fiction writing that was maybe a page and a quarter.  So maybe 300 words or so.  They had worked on it in class for many days and he had to bring it home because it wasn't completed in class.  It took a whole day for him to finish it.  I think in the end he was allowed to have it typed up.  That was the only long piece that year.

A lot of my kids' writing in early elementary consisted of paragraphs written for various units (science, etc.).  They liked opinion writing the best and journaling/writing about themselves the least.  The curriculum seemed to have too much journaling and introspection vs. what I experienced as a kid.

I do think strong reading helps to develop writing skills once the time comes to really demonstrate them (middle school and up).  [/quote]

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