Introductory Note: I purchased this on my own. I did not receive a free copy to review. Hence, these are my honest opinions and assessments on the curriculum.
I purchased Writing with Ease by Susan Wise Bauer more out of curiosity than anything else (and indecision of course). I love dictation and thought this would be great to read her opinions on the subject.
Since I am doing a separate writing, grammar, and spelling program, I used this book mainly for the dictation and narration. I did Year 1 and 2 in about 3 months, stopped, and moved onto something else. I will probably do Year 3 & 4 at the beginning of next year.
Ms. Bauer states this book will teach your child to write. Here we diverge.
Here’s my honest opinion: I think this book is too easy. I think Ms. Bauer underestimates what children are capable of. My first-grader does narration and dictation with no problem. She is also writing on her own and being taught how to put sentences together, parts of a sentence, conjugation, etc. I think this book coddles and does not challenge the average student. I believe we should expect more.
You definitely do not need the workbook unless you want something already pre-planned. I chose dictation exercises from all of our curriculum.
Conclusions: I could have done without this book but since I bought it I used it and will keep it for future reference. However, I continue to believe Ms. Bauer’s writing program is too easy. I’m a fan of her history but not writing/english.