Unschooling Writing

[hsmom2011]

I am interested in how unschoolers handle wrting with students. My dd is a reluctant writer (aspie), and we have tried many writing programs. I have finally started to wonder if we really need a writing curriculum at all. She will write stories/poetry on her own time, but when faced with an assignment, the you know what hits the fan. Is it really necessary to teach the writing process, or should she just write and let it come naturally?

[woolybear]

Unschoolers wouldn't worry about writing at all. At least that is true of the unschoolers I have known.

[jar7709]

Writing comes naturally to some and IMO, if your DD writes on her own time, she's doing well. :) I don't think those kids necessarily need "writing curriculum". I'd take a look at the The Writer's Jungle/Bravewriter and see if some of those ideas could work for you. It outlines a gentle approach toward writing and a writerly lifestyle that you could start to implement. You wouldn't need to give her "assignments" for a long time, if ever. Just different ideas of things to read or types of writing to try, with ideas to help ease the editing process down the road. This is what I'm currently trying with my reluctant writer son...he loves to spin yarns and write comic books and read on his own time but if I give him a "write this now" kind of thing the rest of the day is ruined, I swear. I feel for you. :001_smile:

[Ellie]

Unschoolers might require their dc to write letters to grandparents or other relatives, because that's a good social skill that they need to learn; the Colfaxes' sons kept journals of what they did on the goat ranch, and they all read them each morning so they'd all know what they needed to do that day.

[serendipitous journey]

I am interested in how unschoolers handle wrting with students. My dd is a reluctant writer (aspie), and we have tried many writing programs. I have finally started to wonder if we really need a writing curriculum at all. She will write stories/poetry on her own time, but when faced with an assignment, the you know what hits the fan. Is it really necessary to teach the writing process, or should she just write and let it come naturally?

 

I cannot imagine that an Unschooler would say you needed to teach writing. I think you do, though, if you want the child to write well ... this board is probably not the very best place to get a lot of unschooling advice ;). Are you really wanting to know how unschooling writing is taught? or are you interested in general board feedback about whether allowing the child to just write is sufficient, and if it is not, what the best way is to help your aspie? or neither of those things?

 

And friendly :)!

[TippyCanoe]

.

[Farrar]

Look at Bravewriter's The Writer's Jungle. Not unschooly really, but she has a lot more to say about encouraging a child's love of writing and helping them find their writing voice.

 

I think from an unschooling perspective, you would only teach formal writing if the child had a goal that required it, like going to college. Then you would say, okay, to do that, you need to learn to write a formal essay so you can take the requisite tests. And the teaching would come out of that, not out of a top down desire from you to impose that type of writing on a child.

[hsmom2011]

I cannot imagine that an Unschooler would say you needed to teach writing. I think you do, though, if you want the child to write well ... this board is probably not the very best place to get a lot of unschooling advice ;). Are you really wanting to know how unschooling writing is taught? or are you interested in general board feedback about whether allowing the child to just write is sufficient, and if it is not, what the best way is to help your aspie? or neither of those things?

 

And friendly :)!

 

I guess what I'm wanting to know is if allowing the child to just write is sufficient. Thanks :)

[PenKase]

To the OP, I don't know how old your dc is but FWIW, last year my my dd7 (at the time) did not respond well to our writing curriculum. I feel the curriculum took a lot out of the writing love for her. Before curricula, dd wrote about something almost everyday...lists, notes, letters, lesson plans (she pretends to be teacher all the time), stories, comics, reports, mini books, etc. This year, she asked that we don't do the same curricula. At first I hesitated but I am glad I agreed. As a result, her love of writing has returned without ceremony (no pleading or prodding from me) and in full force. For the past week or so, dd (now 8) and her big sister have been writing with quill and ink sets we got from Michaels, exchanging letters inspired by and styled after Pride and Prejudice prose.

 

Here's a sample letter:

 

4/15/1812

 

Dear Mr. Collins,

 

Mr. Collins, we shall be coming to Kings Cross in a fortnight and we hope you will be ready for we would not want to come to your home at an improper time. that is it for now and goodbye!

 

Love,

Mrs. Hurst

 

 

Ok, the sample is uncorrected, but this gives an idea of writing that dd does at will when no one is looking. I am so happy I decided to get out of her way. I wouldn't say that we unschool writing because although my girls do spend a great deal of time with pen and paper in hand we do collaborate on output for their varied projects. As with anything else, they will have periods of time when they don't write much too but it does even out over time. Overall, I am satisfied with their progress.

 

ETA: Oh, and yes, I do think that letting dd just write is sufficient.

Edited April 17, 2012 by PenKase

[hsmom2011]

To the OP, I don't know how old your dc is but FWIW, last year my my dd7 (at the time) did not respond well to our writing curriculum. I feel the curriculum took a lot out of the writing love for her. Before curricula, dd wrote about something almost everyday...lists, notes, letters, lesson plans (she pretends to be teacher all the time), stories, comics, reports, mini books, etc. This year, she asked that we don't do the same curricula. At first I hesitated but I am glad I agreed. As a result, her love of writing has returned without ceremony (no pleading or prodding from me) and in full force. For the past week or so, dd (now 8) and her big sister have been writing with quill and ink sets we got from Michaels, exchanging letters inspired by and styled after Pride and Prejudice prose.

 

Here's a sample letter:

 

4/15/1812

 

Dear Mr. Collins,

 

Mr. Collins, we shall be coming to Kings Cross in a fortnight and we hope you will be ready for we would not want to come to your home at an improper time. that is it for now and goodbye!

 

Love,

Mrs. Hurst

 

 

Ok, the sample is uncorrected, but this gives an idea of writing that dd does at will when no one is looking. I am so happy I decided to get out of her way. I wouldn't say that we unschool writing because although my girls do spend a great deal of time with pen and paper in hand we do collaborate on output for their varied projects. As with anything else, they will have periods of time when they don't write much too but it does even out over time. Overall, I am satisfied with their progress.

 

ETA: Oh, and yes, I do think that letting dd just write is sufficient.

 

Thank you, this is encouraging! My dd is 11yrs and we have been homeschooling since K. Sometimes I can't seem to shake the PS mindset - lol. :)

[AuntPol]

Here is how writing has been getting done here:

 

Write Thank You cards when receiving gifts or for field trips, etc.

Write in conjuction with Scout badges

Writing Contests (one has a motivation to earn money)

Druidawn

Writing stories (DS likes to write about his D&D games and his video games and DD likes to write Monster High Scripts for filming)

Journaling (One does and the other has no interest)

Copywork/Commonplace journal -we all have one and when someone thinks something in a book is cool enough to read aloud to me, I just say "That sounds like something that would be nice to have in your commonplace journal"

Movie/Book/Video Game reviews (Amazon, Goodreads, etc)

Blogs

Emails/IM's with Grandma (who she can't do textspeak with lol).

 

My daughter worked on a play for two weeks for a contest and finished it over the weekend. This week she is working on a small essay in conjunction with a modeling job that she wants and writing a review for a Monster High Doll.

 

My son is writing a Skyrim (video game) story this week.

 

We will play Druidawn at least once this week and I am sure at least one of them will do some copywork.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I am interested in how unschoolers handle wrting with students. My dd is a reluctant writer (aspie), and we have tried many writing programs. I have finally started to wonder if we really need a writing curriculum at all. She will write stories/poetry on her own time, but when faced with an assignment, the you know what hits the fan. Is it really necessary to teach the writing process, or should she just write and let it come naturally?

 

It depends if you plan on her ever attending school or college where she will need to write many papers not of her choosing. If you plan on school, then yes I would use a writing program.

[5LittleMonkeys]

An unschooled dc wanting to attend college would at some point determine that writing an academic paper was a skill they needed to know and would devote the time and energy to doing so. However, it is the parents responsibility to let her know about all the different types of writing and under what circumstances they would be required. Don't let her go blindly through highschool assuming she will "pick it up" when she feels she needs it. Especially if she isn't the unschooling type of dc (one motivated to take her education into her own hands and devoted enough to work hard to attain her objectives).

 

If college is in her possible future then I would not be comfortable with just letting her write as the mood strikes her. Creative writing is not the type of writing she will need in the cc or college\university classes. She will need to learn how to write a formal paper - what kind depends on what field of study she might go into, and it isn't something that can be learned and mastered in the semester before she heads off to college. If you are unsure of her future plans then I would at the very least equip her to write a basic 5 paragraph essay of different types at some point. Here are some bare bones lessons.

[Free]

I feel these posts by KarenAnne will help you.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2363656&postcount=38

 

Guest Post - Part III

 

There is also this really good thread on logic stage writing.

 

These are the writing inspiration resources that I keep coming back to....hope these help you.

[TheReader]

I guess what I'm wanting to know is if allowing the child to just write is sufficient. Thanks :)

 

What I do is print off a calender of daily writing prompts (if you search that term on the internet you'll find several free versions to choose from). Every day, M-F, they write something in response to the prompt. Period.

 

I do not check these for grammar, spelling, etc. If they care about spelling, they ask or look up the word.

 

Starting in Jr. High/Middle School, once/week or so I have them choose a piece they wrote that week and we go over the revision process and turn it into a revised paper. Not always once/week; to start out, it might be just once/month.

 

This is working well for my natural writer and for my reluctant writer.

 

Also, we don't unschool exactly, so they have written assignments for other subjects at times. Not writing assignments, but written book reports or creative assignments for history, etc. If you are doing any written work in other subjects, the revision of that can serve as a good lesson in and of itself without adding "Writing" as an extra subject.

[PenKase]

My dd, just turned 12, has also responded really well to our relaxed writing approach. Last year she mostly wrote across the curriculum per WTM/SWB but after our "school" time she had little energy and/or time for creative writing. This year dd has begun a novel set in 19th century England, completed a presentation board on 20th century American fashion, compiled an ancient Mediterranean cookbook, blogs a few times a week, writes letters to fictional characters fashioned after our read alouds or her independent reading, creates reenactments from our read alouds, writes plays, records her own readings from Jane Austen novels (will soon start on Charles Dickens) which she hopes to submit on YouTube soon, etc. We are currently listening to an audio recording of Little Women (dd8's choice reading) and we've begun to compare/contrast it with Pride and Prejudice. I suspect some great writing will come out of these discussions. Not everything we do leads to pencil/paper output but overall I do believe it will lead to solid writing down the line. We like to play with language and this makes things fun and interesting for us. I am comfortable letting go to let my girls take over.

 

ETA: FWIW, I do have Bravewriter and Write Source on hand for when I think I will need guidance. I really like the idea of the Bravewriter Lifestyle and think my girls would do well with this approach.

 

Best wishes in whatever you choose.

Edited April 17, 2012 by PenKase