Is this age-expected?

[Kiara.I]

My child is pretty reluctant to write unless it's a long note explaining what he wants us to buy for him and his siblings for Easter and how to present it...

So I'm curious to see whether this sample of writing is age-expected (within the range, anyway) or whether it's an indication that we need to be doing something more to shore up writing.  He's just turned 9, in Grade 3.  We've done WWE 1 and 2, and are taking a break with Fable at the moment.

 

The assignment was (from CAP Fable) to re-write the fable The Fox and the Grapes using a different animal and a different unattainable object.  The subject made both my husband and myself laugh out loud (DS kept asking why I was laughing...)  I'm keeping punctuation and spelling as he wrote it.

 

 

 

 

A Hornet wanted to eat some human flesh his mouth watered as he looked unoticed at plump boy inside the house. He tried again and again then he said "I wouldn't bother to try to get him if he was inch away from my nose". And he flew away very very very scornfully.

[OneStepAtATime]

Very cute!  

 

Lots of kids struggle to master punctuation, grammar and spelling.  Some may need more explicit, broken down instruction, some need to focus on one thing at a time to mastery before adding something else in, some just need more time and brain maturity, some just need more practice, etc.  Is it age appropriate?  Yes.  There is a very wide range of writing abilities even in Middle School.  

 

To solidify punctuation and grammar you might look at something like Fix-it Grammar.  :15 minutes or less a day, 4 days a week, and is really painless.  Easy to pair with other writing programs.  It focuses on punctuation and grammar, along with some vocabulary and editing.  

[Shalott25]

There are a couple things I do for reluctant writers.  I think the #1 way to help with writing is to have your child learn how to free write/journal each day.  Teach your children to write without worrying about a grade or feedback.  The whole point is to get them to write about whatever they want.  Occasionally, you can assign a topic if you wish. Overall, make it about what they wants to say.  Encourage them to just write for an age appropriate time without stopping.  If they run out of things to say about the original topic, they can switch at any time to a new topic.  

 

If you want to have them read it or share it, keep all feedback positive.  

 

From time to time, allow them to pick a journal entry they like.  Teach them to revise it into a more formal writing structure with topic sentence, sub-points, support, and concluding sentence.  

 

If you want them to write about something specific, brainstorm together before writing.  Then, encourage them to free write using the ideas from the brainstorm session.  You can work on revising together after the free write is completed. 

 

Hope that helps.