Wondering if anyone would share...

[g007girl]

...examples of some writing your 9 year old boys are doing. I'm struggling with getting my son to write. I don't mean handwriting, more like essays or narrations, etc. I just don't know where he should be at. It seems like my oldest was way ahead of where my 9 year old is. I know, I shouldn't compare and I'm trying not too, but I'm worried he's way behind and am struggling with how to get him to write more.

 

Thanks!

[kRenee]

I would say your ds should be writing just a little bit more than he'd like to. If you push too hard he will end up hating it. And as far as content, just keep teaching the concepts a bit at a time. IEW has been really good for us. We tweak it a lot to meet my kids needs, but they do have it broken out step by step.

 

 

When my dd was 9, writing came much easier to her than it does now with my 9 yo ds.

[8filltheheart]

How much assistance are you giving him during the process? Are you breaking the writing assignments down into manageable steps?

 

A pretty bad analogy.....think about math. Would you give your child word problems to solve w/o them having any understanding of first numbers, then simple addition/subtraction, etc? No, you would start with simple concepts and gradually increase the diffuculty of concepts so that when they needed to solve the word problems, they have the necessary skills.

 

I teach writing with the same approach. We use samples (copywork) to learn about topic sentences and supporting details. As they master those concepts and progress on to independent writing, I might give them the topic sentence and sit with them while they brainstorm supporting details or vice versa. I help them revise their rough draft with the grammar concepts they know (action verbs, adjectives, pronouns, etc)

 

I do not worry about child x compared to child y. I simply help them progress step by step. :)

[Adrianne]

dictating his narrations to me. I write them on a white board and he copies to paper. I do help him with sentence formation, grammar, and spelling but the sentences are his creations. He says he does not "like" doing the narrations but on the complaining scale, it is low. I feel they are necessary and every year he shows improvement with them. I found that writing it for him first, helps him focus his thoughts.

 

For writing, we use writing strands and, as the program instructs, I only correct one issue per writing project. Spelling and grammar do not count here. He says he does not like this either but again, it is low on the complaining scale. If he has problems with the project, I help him organize his thoughts and this helps him form sentences.

 

None of his writing is perfect but it is acceptable and his ability improves every year. My son hates writing and always has, but he is full of good story ideas and is very intelligent. I have always excepted his writing for what it was, making little corrections as we go. (one at a time)

 

I would say start out slow and simple with the writing if he does not like it. You will see improvement over time if you are consistent.

 

HTH

 

Adrianne

[Adrianne]

SOTW 3 Chapter 3 King James, King of Two Countries.

 

James did not remember his mother. He wrote a book called The True Law of Free Monarchs. James believed nobody should tell the king what to do. Only God told the king what to do. James made the Catholics and the two groups of Protestants angry. The parliment was also mad with King James because James thought he could do whatever he wanted. He created the King James Version of the Bible.

 

I helped with sentence formation, grammar, and spelling. Please excuse any errors. This was not his best narration in the world, but I felt it was adequate. (we were having one of those hard to focus days).

 

I would be happy to discuss it with you further it you need to.

 

HTH,

Adrianne