Need writing curriculum advice

[mamatohaleybug]

My DD will be in 6th grade this autumn and has never done any kind of formal writing curriculum. She journals and she can write a decent 5 sentence paragraph. For the past few years she's written up brief biographies (one or two paragraphs). In May we are doing a focus term where we will work on writing book reports and learning to outline non-fiction sources, among a few other things. I'm expecting that she'll fight me the whole way. LOL

 

She is a reluctant writer and reader. They are her weakest subjects. Both typing and handwriting are difficult due to her visual and motor weaknesses. She is intelligent but has pretty severe attention issues (even with meds and therapy) and her processing speed subtest on her IQ test is consistently 30 points lower than her verbal and performance subtests (even on ADHD meds). Her neuropyschological profile is all over the map. Her strengths are auditory and verbal. She reads for at least 45 min a day and listens to literature for at least 90 minutes a day (and loves that) but even with lots of practice, reading is still somewhat challenging.

 

I require very little handwriting and typing since it's such a struggle. I am happy to scribe for her if/when needed. She does a lot of her work verbally. She has great ideas and opinions. I'd like to find a way to get more output from her this next year (across the curriculum). I'm not looking to bog her down but I feel she needs to start being able to put some ideas down on paper/computer herself.

 

Any ideas on a somewhat gentle but age appropriate way to go about this? Specifically, I'm expecting her to research and write a state report every week next year for geography (thus my reason for teaching her how to outline and take notes in our focus term) and write up brief reports on books she reads or listens to. Maybe a 5 paragraph essay here or there. I will be having her do an art journal which will require a small amount of writing and she'll continue to write brief biographies. The reports on states and books can be artistic/creative but must include some actual writing of the facts (she's very artistic).

 

Great resources you've found that might help us? I want to be realistic about her abilities but also challenge her (always the struggle to find balance between the two). Thanks for any advice.

 

[OneStepAtATime]

We will be tackling a similar situation next year for both kids.  I don't have the wisdom of past experience but I can share what we are looking at doing.  For the writing curriculum itself I am looking at Institute for Excellence in Writing or Bravewriter or CAP or FLL/Writing With Ease.  I am leaning towards a program that incorporates DVDs for the student to watch so that I am not the primary instructor.  I think DD will be less resistant then.  We do so many things that are teacher intense, she would prefer to have some things where I am just providing some scaffolding, not the full instruction.  Still looking at the various options, though.

 

We are also looking at incorporating Dragon Naturally Speaking, possibly Ginger, and definitely Inspiration to assist with the writing process.  I have already ordered Inspiration.  I will order the others over the next few weeks as we have resources to do so.  I hope to start working with the kids in a very non-pressured way on using these technologies over the summer.  Hopefully by fall they will have at least a bit of proficiency so they can focus more on the writing process and less on learning the tech.  DS is dysgraphic but DD has some issues as well that make writing somewhat problematic at the moment.  Using these technologies will, I hope, make the writing process more accessible.  As they have more exposure then over time they will hopefully be able to write more independently.

 

You might want to skim through past posts on this board.  LOTS of great threads regarding this....

 

HTH...

[mamatohaleybug]

Thank you! Great suggestions. My DD would prefer to learn from someone else, too. Which writing programs incorporate DVDs?

 

What is Ginger? And Inspiration? I found Dragon Naturally Speaking and I think that will be helpful.

 

I appreciate your suggestions!

[OneStepAtATime]

Ginger is a software program that a tutor friend of mine was using with her dyslexic son.  He uses Dragon for the speech to text aspect, then runs through what was typed by Dragon to check for any errors in grammar, spelling, sentence structure, etc.  After that he runs it through Ginger and Ginger is supposed to correct what he didn't catch.  She says it was a huge help because it gave him independence.  It also highlights what it is changing so he could see and internalize what he missed.  Over time it really helped him to better correct his own writing.  I have not seen it in action, though.  It is currently being offered through the HSBC.

 

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/ginger-software/?c=1

 

Inspiration/Kidspiration is sometimes on sale through Homeschool Buyer's Coop (although I chose to purchase through the parent company so I could own the disks outright).  Several people on this board have used it.  Basically it is a computer based graphic organizer to help visually represent what you are trying to write.  You create graphic representations of your ideas through the software then the software can convert that visual representation into an outline.  Check it out here for more info...

 

http://www.inspiration.com/

 

I have not used these, but others here have.  Hopefully someone else with more knowledge will respond.

 

[Pen]

Possibly of interest in terms of someone else teaching is this thread:

 

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/512047-final-submission-for-bravewriters-mini-reports/

[mamatohaleybug]

Thank you both!

[Catherine]

Just chiming in here to give my experience, briefly. I have three boys and have taught all three, though the youngest is the only one who's never been in school. He is dysgraphic, and I've used WWE, and now WWS with him. He's almost 13 and finishing seventh grade.

 

What I found is that ds benefitted hugely from copying, dictation and narration. He couldn't begin to do any of these at all when he was 6. He struggled to even spell his own name correctly for many years. Looking back, I think he wasn't (isn't) forming accurate mental images of the words he read and tried to copy and that played a big role in his dysgraphia.

 

Right now, he is actually quite a good writer, though he still requires close supervision doing WWS. Structuring any writing is still challenging but WWS has given him a good start on learning these skills and I hope he will continue to build on them.

 

I'm not sure how WWE could be used with older students, but OP, do you know if your daughter can copy, dictate and narrate well?

[mamatohaleybug]

She can copy, dictate and narrate pretty well. We did that for a couple of years (second and third grades). Didn't seem very helpful for the amount of work it was for her (the copying and dictating) so we stopped. Copying is especially hard because she has visual tracking issues.

[OneStepAtATime]

She can copy, dictate and narrate pretty well. We did that for a couple of years (second and third grades). Didn't seem very helpful for the amount of work it was for her (the copying and dictating) so we stopped. Copying is especially hard because she has visual tracking issues.

This is one of DS's issues.  Visual tracking and dysgraphia just really muck him up for copywork.  DD doesn't mind so much and usually does well at it.  In fact, she sometimes requests additional copywork.  She is not dysgraphic and does not have tracking issues that I am aware of.  The difference between them in this is night and day.  But then she has the issue with dictation.  She can't picture the words in her head when I speak them so she has a hard time with dictation.  This is improving because of the small amounts of dictation (for spelling and confirmation of understanding of reading and spelling rules) we do with Barton, though.

[mamatohaleybug]

Completely makes sense. My DD sounds much like your DS. She has been taking piano lessons since she is very musical. She wants to play but between the pretty serious problems with manual dexterity and bilateral coordination, we also realized that she can't visually follow the written music well enough to be able to have it make sense to her as she's trying to play. Very frustrating for her. Playing by ear is fine but not what we were hoping for. It's amazing how often issues pop up in her daily life. 9 years of OT was helpful in many areas but not these.

[OneStepAtATime]

Completely makes sense. My DD sounds much like your DS. She has been taking piano lessons since she is very musical. She wants to play but between the pretty serious problems with manual dexterity and bilateral coordination, we also realized that she can't visially follow the written music well enough to be able to have it make sense to her as she's trying to play. Very frustrating for her. Playing by ear is fine but not what we were hoping for. It's amazing how often issues pop up in her daily life. 9 years of OT was helpful in many areas but not these.

Have you looked at Simply Music?  DD is using it.  We have lifetime access to the lessons that we purchased through HSBC.  It was originally designed for blind people to learn to play piano but actually works well for anyone, especially those with certain issues like dyslexia, tracking problems, etc.  DD had never played piano. Within a week of using it she was suddenly composing her own pieces.  DS would probably do well with it, too, but he wants to learn guitar.  Still working on that one.  We are trying Chord Buddy but have had a hard time getting the device to work on our guitar.

[mamatohaleybug]

Never heard of Simply Music but will definitely check it out. Thank you!

[Atilla the Mom]

At that age, and with dysgraphia teaching her to type would be the easiest way of getting her to write.  I used Read Write and Type with both my kids https://www.talkingfingers.com/online-demo/ for this because it combines phonics and spelling with typing instruction.  As to the state reports, when I was teaching my eldest (who was the one who had all the hits) , I set up a feltboard with symbols for state flag, bird, flower (paragraph 2) , capital and major cities (paragraph 3), products and economy (paragraph 4), to help organize it, demanded a minimum of three sentences per paragraph on each of them, which could be obtained by using Google, and taught her how to write an introduction using the topic sentences from each of the middle paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph using the same process.  Getting information from textbooks is a lot harder than getting information from Google especially for a reluctant reader. 

[Atilla the Mom]

Also, if the problems are visual tracking, have you tried visual processing exercises?  E.g. scattering pictures of 5 animals holding different numbers on the wall, and then having her shine a flashlight on the correct number on command at increasing speed, competing against prior numbers. Then increasing the number of numbers to a max of 20.  After that, the pendulum swing thing where the kid lies on the floor, and you have her try to follow a swinging pendulum with her eyes.  Developmental optometrists are helpful here. They helped a lot with my eldest.