Advice needed for 11yo behind in writing and spelling!

[Jasper]

We held off on any sort of a writing program for my son because it was such a struggle for him. I didn't want to push it because it was already so painful. The act of writing more than a couple sentences, as well as the frustration on his part to even begin, were too much. Last year we did try a beginner's class in IEW. He did ok with this, although it was rocky at first. After speaking to a different writing teacher, who detests IEW, I am uncertain regarding the direction we should follow. She emphasizes the importance of creative writing and helping your student find their own voice. I love the sound of this, but worry he may be lost in her class without much of a writing background, aside from last year. Any suggestions regarding this? I was looking at Writing With Ease, but feel we almost need to start near the beginning of the program!

 

Part two:

 

He also has great difficulty in spelling. We dropped his program, and went with All About Spelling last year. I hated starting all over, but hoped it would help. It has, but not as much as I thought it would. Now we are far behind where he should be at this age, and he is still struggling! Any suggestions regarding a curriculum for a struggling speller?

 

Thank you for your time!

[Jean in Newcastle]

Has he been evaluated for a learning disability?  I would crosspost on the learning challenges subforum.  

[EmilyGF]

Affter speaking to a different writing teacher, who detests IEW, I am uncertain regarding the direction we should follow. She emphasizes the importance of creative writing and helping your student find their own voice. I love the sound of this, but worry he may be lost in her class without much of a writing background, aside from last year. 

My son would wilt with a teacher with this philosophy. My daughter would love it.

 

My son is blossoming under IEW. Also, if you look at the entire scope of IEW, the skills are being scaffolded to prepare the student for increasingly independent assignments. The key is scaffolding for success.

 

Schools are emphasizing creative writing less and less because it isn't a skill you actually need. If my son can write good formal papers but never a great story, I'm fine with that. 

 

BTW, I described the Suzuki method of teaching piano to my son, which sounds lovely to me. He literally began to cry and asked me never to make him take such a class. This is a boy who loves his traditional music lessons and practices on his own for 30-60 minutes per day without prompting.

 

You need to teach the student you have, not the student you want or the student you yourself were.

 

Emily

[MerryAtHope]

We held off on any sort of a writing program for my son because it was such a struggle for him. I didn't want to push it because it was already so painful. The act of writing more than a couple sentences, as well as the frustration on his part to even begin, were too much. Last year we did try a beginner's class in IEW. He did ok with this, although it was rocky at first. After speaking to a different writing teacher, who detests IEW, I am uncertain regarding the direction we should follow. She emphasizes the importance of creative writing and helping your student find their own voice. I love the sound of this, but worry he may be lost in her class without much of a writing background, aside from last year. Any suggestions regarding this? I was looking at Writing With Ease, but feel we almost need to start near the beginning of the program!

 

Part two:

 

He also has great difficulty in spelling. We dropped his program, and went with All About Spelling last year. I hated starting all over, but hoped it would help. It has, but not as much as I thought it would. Now we are far behind where he should be at this age, and he is still struggling! Any suggestions regarding a curriculum for a struggling speller?

 

Thank you for your time!

 

Hard to say how he would do in her class. I think I'd show her a piece of his writing and express your concerns to her. Find out how she would handle him in class, and how she could ensure that he's not lost, and also that it would be a good environment for him. Evaluate what she says. For a program you could do on your own, I'd check out Essentials in Writing, which really helped my struggling writer/spellers. 

 

As for AAS, how far did you get? I found that my kids' spelling in their outside writing didn't start to improve until after level 3. That's the point at which they have mastered 1000 basic words, and they also have a lot more experience with writing and editing through the dictations and writing station activities. You have to get to level 5 before all of the phonograms are introduced, and then it accelerates quickly as far as getting up to grade level. That's because they have all the foundation at that point in the basic rules and how the syllables work, and they have some experience with analyzing words, and now they learn how to analyze longer words. Advanced phonograms and more rules come in the last two levels, along with Greek and Latin roots in level 7 (which includes high school level words). You really can make great progress, but it takes time to lay that foundation and build up. I found that the gradual progression of writing activities through dictation and the writing station helped my kids be prepared for more outside writing, but again, when you have a student who really struggles, it's going to take time (a few years) to build all that up.

 

Personally, I wouldn't even work on much formal writing until you get through AAS 3. It's just too difficult for kids to put all that together. But if you don't mind scribing for him, I do think that's helpful for working on organizing thoughts, creativity, and other communication skills. We even did revision orally for awhile. Keep reading aloud to him and building up his knowledge of language. 

[Pink and Green Mom]

Gah!  I typed out a response and lost it so hopefully this doesn't double post.

 

My older son is a struggling writer.  We went through 4 years of Writing with Ease which was good, but when we ended with Level 4 he was not ready for the next level.  We ended up doing IEW that year.  I hate IEW with a passion.  But I have to admit, that for this child it was helpful.  It gave him a starting point to begin writing, and that is what always seemed to be the worst part for him.  My goal, for him, was to get words on the paper and worry about the content, grammar, style, etc. later.  This child went back to school.  If we continued to homeschool this child we would probably (begrudgingly on my part) stuck with IEW because for him, it helped.  If it works for your son, I would grit my teeth and stick with it.  If I had put mine in a creative writing class at age 10/11 it would have been a disaster.  Since it is summer can you try some creative writing exercises (maybe the teacher would be willing to help?) and see how he does?  See if that direction is feasible for him. 

 

As an aside, one thing that worked for us for writing was for my son to dictate to me what he wanted to say.  I would type word for word what he said, correcting neither content nor mechanics. It still - and he is going into 8th grade - is the way we do his papers.  I stay silent and just type what he says and he can get a paper done in a lot less time than if he had to sit and write it (we could do in 1 hour what it took him a week of class time to do).  Maybe try that as well and see if that helps. 

 

I agree with MerryAtHope regarding All About Spelling.  My younger son's spelling is atrocious.  It really wasn't until some where through Level 4 that his spelling in his writing finally caught up.  It still leaves a bit to be desired but I really noticed a big difference sometime after Level 3 and into Level 4.  I would try to stick it out with AAS until at least Level 4 unless you are seeing absolutely no improvements.

 

Susan Wise Bauer has some great lectures on her website about writing.  They are I think either $4 or $5 and worth every penny.  If you haven't already listened to them you may want to consider it.  When I was in the throes of it with my older son I found them tremendously helpful for both practical guidance and moral support.