Writing With Ease
Writing With Ease is a scripted elementary writing program built on three skills: narration (retelling a passage in the child's own words), copywork and dictation, using passages from classic children's literature. Each level is 36 weeks of four short lessons a week plus an optional creative-writing lesson, taught from a scripted instructor guide with a student workbook. Levels 1 to 3 are sold in print or as PDFs, and a Four-Year Guide lets a parent supply their own passages instead.
- Subjects
- Language arts
- Grades
- Levels 1 to 3 workbooks, about 1st to 3rd grade; the Four-Year Guide covers the first four years, about 1st to 4th grade source ↗
- Method
- Classical source ↗
- Format
- Books and workbooks source ↗
- Faith label
- Not labelled
- Cost a year
- $39.87 a year. Level 2 in paperback: instructor guide $21.21 (list $24.95) and student workbook $18.66 (list $21.95), so $39.87 for the year. The PDF versions are $17.56 and $15.16. Read on October 29, 2026; prices change. source ↗
- Placement
- Free diagnostics to choose a level ↗
What it does well
- Every lesson is scripted with suggested student answers, so a parent can teach it without preparing.
- A full level costs about $40 in print for the guide and workbook, and less as PDFs.
- Free diagnostics help place a child in 2nd grade or older at the right level.
- Passages come from classic children's literature, so a child meets real books in short pieces.
Watch for
- It teaches writing only, so grammar, spelling, phonics and handwriting need other programs.
- Level 4 is no longer printed; the publisher says three levels prepare most students for its middle school program, Writing With Skill.
- Revised and original editions do not work together, so the guide and workbook must be the same edition.
- The parent leads every lesson aloud, from reading passages to giving dictation, so it is not independent work.
It fits
A parent of a young writer who wants short, scripted daily lessons in narration, copywork and dictation from good books.
It doesn’t fit
A family that wants one book to cover grammar, spelling and phonics too, or a child who needs to work alone.
Compare Writing With Ease
- Writing With Ease vs Brave Writer side by side
Other programs for the same subject and grades:
- All About Spelling Levels 1 to 7, designed for elementary and middle school (about 1st to 8th grade); most children start at Level 1
- Blossom and Root Preschool to 6th grade (Level 6 still being finished)
- Brave Writer Ages 5 to 18, about kindergarten to 12th grade, in five age bands
- The Good and the Beautiful Preschool to 12th grade; high school has language arts and biology only
- Institute for Excellence in Writing Primary level for kindergarten to 2nd grade, then Levels A, B and C for 3rd to 12th grade; the publisher says grades are approximate
- Khan Academy Kindergarten to 12th grade, plus early college courses
- Learning Without Tears Pre-K to 6th grade: printing through 2nd grade, cursive from 2nd grade
- Lightning Literature Kindergarten to 12th grade, in levels such as Cloud (K to 2), Spark (1 to 3), Flash (2 to 4), Grades 4 to 6, Storm (6 to 8) and high school courses
Lists it is on
What we read, and how we label
Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.
The publisher’s pages we read on October 29, 2026:
- welltrainedmind.com/c/series/writing-with-ease/
- welltrainedmind.com/about-us/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwe1rev-inst/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwesp1rev/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwe-2-comp/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwe2-rev-sp/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwe3-rev-inst/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/wwe3-rev-stud/
- welltrainedmind.com/p/the-complete-writer-writing-with-ease-instructor-text/
- support.welltrainedmind.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500001427302-Tell-me-about-Writing-With-Ease
Something wrong or out of date? Publishers and parents can send a correction and we will fix it. Publishers can send corrections, never money. All programs compared · Find your homeschool style