In this week’s episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker are joined by Heidi Thomas and Joseph Tabenkin. Heidi is part of IEW's Product Development team. This past year she and her team have worked alongside Joseph, a product and software developer, to create IEW Gradebook, an online tool designed to help teachers grade more efficiently and effectively. Listen in for exciting details! Referenced Materials IEW Gradebook Four Deadly Errors of Teaching Writing audio talk by Andrew Pudewa “Simplify Grading with IEW Gradebook”  Teaching Writing: Structure and Style®  Theme-Based Writing Lessons Structure and Style® for Students Heidi Thomas Joseph Tabenkin If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.comPerhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com  

It’s time for another Live Ask Andrew Anything episode! Join Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker as they answer questions from listeners. They were joined by Ashley from Joyful Noise Learning, who asked how to answer a child who asks, “Why do I have to learn writing when I am not going to be a writer when I grow up?” Andrew also shares what he is reading to his grandchildren as well as a few other book recommendations. Referenced Materials Joyful Noise Learning  However Imperfectly by Andrew Pudewa Penrod by Booth Tarkington Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education by Scott Newstok Structure and Style for Students: Year 1 Level C Dual Enrollment with Christian Halls International University-Ready Writing Introduction to Public Speaking If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.comPerhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com

In this episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss the goodness of memory. Andrew shares his experiences with memorization and some of the reasons behind his passion for it. They introduce a new tool that will help you furnish the mind with poetry, songs, math facts, and more.  Referenced Materials Nurturing Competent Communicators audio talk by Andrew Pudewa Mastery Learning, Ability Development, and Individualized Education audio talk by Andrew Pudewa Ten Thousand Times and then Begins Understanding audio talk by Andrew Pudewa By Heart: The Goodness of Memory audio talk by Andrew Pudewa Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization Teaching Writing: Structure and Style "The Fly" by Ogden Nash "Relativity" by Arthur Henry Reginald Buller How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education by Scott Newstok Episode 398: Think like Shakespeare, Part 1 Memory Mentor "The Children’s Hour" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.comPerhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com

In this episode Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss the importance of learning the basic essay model even when many say it is outdated or formulaic. Learn how to take the basic essay model and expand it to a super-essay. Andrew even discusses the name of the longest essay model that uses one of his favorite words. Referenced Materials “De-Confusing Essays” article by Andrew Pudewa Unit 8: Easy Essays and Beyond webinar University-Ready Writing University-Ready Writing free lessons Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Seminar Workbook Magnum Opus Magazine Unit 8 samples   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.comPerhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com  

Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker give a quick overview of how to start with IEW before diving into the question of how long students should use IEW courses. Students sometimes complain that they are doing the same thing over and over again. Learn why Andrew recommends the repetition of the Structure and Style syllabus over multiple years and whether students will ever graduate from the checklist. Referenced Materials How to Get Started with IEW IEW Homeschool Magalog IEW Pathway Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Structure and Style for Students Bleak House by Charles Dickens “Celebrate the Checklist” Introduction to Public Speaking Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization University-Ready Writing   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com  

Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker spend this episode sharing the legacy of Dr. James B. Webster. Hear the stories behind the unit models and a few personal anecdotes from Andrew’s long friendship with him. As Andrew said, “If you have benefitted from IEW in any way, you can be grateful for his brilliance, his vision that all children could learn to write well, and his decades-long friendship with me—without which IEW would not exist.” Referenced Materials Dr. James B. Webster Anna Ingham IEW’s story Dr. Webster’s obituary Blended Structure and Style in Composition by Dr. James B. Webster Blended Sound-Sight Program of Learning by Anna Ingham   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com  

In this Homeschool 101 episode, Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss the importance of attending homeschooling conventions. They reminisce about the conventions they have attended and their favorite things to do when attending a convention. Andrew shares his heart on why home educators and grandparents should make the time and put forth the effort to attend a homeschool convention.    Referenced Materials Great Homeschool Convention-South Carolina (GHC-SC)  GHC-Missouri GHC-Ohio UTCH Convention 2024 IDEA Anchorage IDEA Soldotna  IDEA Fairbanks IDEA Juneau  FPEA Florida Homeschool Convention NCFCA National Championship 41st Annual Virginia Homeschool Convention (HEAV) CHEA's Annual Homeschool Convention 2024 Northern California Homeschool Convention  If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA). If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com

Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker talk to Lisa VanDamme, founder of the VanDamme Academy in Southern California. Lisa is passionate about making meaningful works of literature part of everyone’s life. They are joined by Joseph Tabenkin, who began following her reading program and developed an app for it: Read With Me. Listen to this episode as Andrew and Lisa compare favorite novels and share the joy of reading. Referenced Materials Lisa VanDamme VanDamme Academy Read With Me Joseph Tabenkin Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo IEW Book Recommendations VanDamme Academy favorite books   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).   If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com

More than a podcast episode, this interview is a chance to listen to two friends share the story of how they met and the impact each has had on the other. Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker talk with Adam Andrews about the history of the Teaching the Classics course and CenterForLit as well as the importance of using Socratic questioning to listen to and learn from authors as they speak through their writing.  Referenced Materials Teaching the Classics CenterForLit Ready Readers Pelican Society “Rikki Tikki Tavi” by Rudyard Kipling Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy BiblioFiles Teaching Writing: Structure and Style Transcript of Podcast Episode 413   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).   If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com

Andrew Pudewa and Julie Walker discuss preparing to teach Unit 7: Inventive Writing. While most writing programs start with writing from a prompt, the Structure and Style method does not teach this until later in the course. Learn why this is and discover tips for helping even the youngest writers overcome the blank page. Referenced Materials Episode 398: Think like Shakespeare Cultivating Language Arts – Preschool through High School audio talk by Andrew Pudewa 2023 Essay Contest Winners  Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS)   If you have questions for Andrew, send them to podcast@IEW.com Perhaps your question will be answered at the next Ask Andrew Anything (AAA).   If you have questions about IEW products or classes, contact customer service at 800.856.5815 or info@IEW.com