For years my kids struggled with their writing skills. My daughter couldn’t write cohesively, whereas my son was overly verbose. None of it made sense.
Then I discovered Institute for Excellence in Writing.
Because IEW has an excellent reputation from slow learners to gifted students, and everyone in between, I decided to give it a try.
Benefits seen in my kids after Two Years with IEW
The beauty of the program is that it teaches both structure and style in manageable bits and pieces.
Elements that have proven successful to writers for years have been encapsulated into structural models that were simple for my kids to understand and replicate, producing coherent writing without any tears!
Since my kids enjoy expressing themselves with their own interests, their writing is unique from one another.
Critics of IEW
I’ve heard critics complain that all IEW student writing sounds the same, or that IEW students sound like Andrew Pudewa, who heads the program.
I disagree. Since I have copies of many of Andrew’s writings, I can confirm that not one of my kids’ papers sound like his.
Furthermore, when my kids have identical writing assignments on the same topic, their products look completely different.
By the time they have assimilated the facts they deem most important and add their unique style, I find two completely different papers on my desk.
If my kids forget to put their names on the typed papers, I can easily tell who wrote which one because their individual styles are uniquely obvious!
Classical Model
IEW perfectly fits into our Classical education model, because it incorporates so many elements familiar to the classics.
Most interesting is that Ben Franklin, who could not further his own education as extensively as Thomas Jefferson did, became self-taught.
Writing in his autobiography, Franklin expressed how he improved his writing skills, which is the same as the IEW process! Also classically referenced is Dorothy Sayers, whose definition of learning, expressed in a speech to her Oxford colleagues in 1947, is the same as the IEW model.
Our Writing Week with IEW
1-Which writing model best fits the assignment?
2-Review the steps of that model
3-KWO
4-Rough Draft-handwritten in pen
5-Type paper into computer
6-Email a copy to me
7-I print out
8-We edit together
9-Student edits corrections on computer
Epilogue 2024
I’ve updated the header for the most recent version of IEW, which was significantly updated in 2015. In this version is a sample from my son, written in his junior year. If you have a copy of this TWSS, look on page 119 for: To Preserve the Union.
In fact, it’s not the first time IEW published my son’s work. Stay tuned for our Magnum Opus story!
