Writing is my nemesis! Please help!

[travelgirlut]

My oldest has been my homeschool guinea pig from day one, and this has especially been the case when it has come to writing.  I write well, but I am a complete failure when it comes to teaching it.  I find it impossible to explain why the words my kids use don't work right, which leads to all sorts of frustrations.

 

So now I have a 7th grader who will declare, "I hate writing," about anything and everything that involves the written word.  I know she has beautiful words inside of her because they come out here and there, but most of the time she completely freezes up and her writing is horrendous.

 

Here are the programs we have used so far and what we liked/disliked about them:

 

K-2: Public school

 

3rd: WWE3 - She HATED dictation.  This was a huge fight and we barely finished the year.  Though now she is pretty good at oral narrations.

 

4th: IEW SIC-A - This actually went pretty well, though she hates watching the videos (as do I).  She would rather read instructions than have to watch them.

 

5th: IEW SICC-A - This also went well, but I decided it was time to be exposed to a different style of writing after 2 years of IEW.  And after the fact I can see that none of the decent writing she did with IEW has transferred over to other writing.  The style is just too unlike "real" writing.

 

6th: WWS1 - We made it through the year, but we were both a bit lost through the whole thing.  There were too many trees and not enough forest.  I couldn't figure out what the plan behind it was, and I've read WTM and listened to the lectures.  (I've since done A LOT of reading about writing and I get what it was all about now, but that doesn't help in the past.)  I know she didn't pick up any skills that she will be able to apply later because she didn't understand the point of all the little bits she was learning.

 

7th: We've started Moving Beyond the Page 11-13, but one unit in and I'm ready to drop it already.  The writing assignments, the few there have been, are vague and have no direction.  She's just given a topic and set free, and she doesn't know where to go from there, and I don't know how to help her.

 

So now I'm looking for something new.  We need something whole to parts that is step by step explicit instruction with lots of hand holding for me.  She needs something to build her confidence and give her skills that are easily applied to all writing situations.  Does this exist?  Please tell me you know just what I need!  Thanks!!

[lisabees]

My suggestion would be to outsource.  DD13 is doing Bravewriter and liking it.  I am loving that she has to answer to someone else other than me.  It's a tough age.

 

If you want an open and go program, how about WriteShop?  I liked that for my struggling 7th grade son years ago.  

 

 

[wimseycat]

I agree with the outsourcing idea. I did that about 3 years ago and it has made a big difference in our day. Check this out and see what you think.

[stlily]

A couple of things, in her "Wriing: The Middle School Years" talk, SWB suggested having your student diagram their own sentences so that they can see for themselves why a particular sentence isn't good.  I've had the same issue.  My 7th grade daughter will write something riddled with awkward sentences and, because they make sense to her, she can't see why I say they have to be re-written. On bad days, she'll take whatever editing suggestions I make, as personal remarks.  Having her diagram her own sentences has helped her to see that I'm not just picking on her. 

 

In the latest edition of TWTM, SWB says, "In summary: in the middle grades, students should learn to diagram, outline, and then write from an outline." (p. 452).  We're just about to finish WWS 1 and I'm thankful that she has learned the different types of writing taught there. If she hadn't, however,  I would have been happy if she simply learned to write narrative summaries, diagramming, outlining, writing from an outline, and simple literary essays.

 

Again, in the 4th edition of TWTM when discussing the different writing programs they recommend, SWB says, (in reference to the Wrting With Skill series) "Your engineers will flourish with this program. Young creative writers will find it frustrating (try Killgallon or Writing & Rhetoric instead)." (p. 748)  I haven't used either program but you might want to look into those.  

 

Finally, she lists Writing Strands as another suggestion. She says the following about Writing Strands, "...is best suited to students who need the writing process broken down into small steps; students who are naturally creative, but resist expository writing; and students who prefer to work independently." (p. 481).

 

We plan to continue with the WWS series, but if at any point it simply doesn't work anymore, I will look into using Killgallon.  Hope this helps.

[travelgirlut]

My suggestion would be to outsource.  DD13 is doing Bravewriter and liking it.  I am loving that she has to answer to someone else other than me.  It's a tough age.

 

If you want an open and go program, how about WriteShop?  I liked that for my struggling 7th grade son years ago.  

 

I have a couple issues with outsourcing.  One, it doesn't help me understand how to teach writing better, and I really want to know how to help my kids with this, though this shouldn't keep her from getting the writing instruction she needs.  And two, the cost.  I'm not against it, just haven't done much research into it.  

 

Which Bravewriter course would be the right one for 7th grade?  I looked at the website, but there were lots of classes listed and I got lost.  :)

 

WriteShop also looks like it might be a good one.  Very hand-holding!  Thank you!!

 

A couple of things, in her "Wriing: The Middle School Years" talk, SWB suggested having your student diagram their own sentences so that they can see for themselves why a particular sentence isn't good.  I've had the same issue.  My 7th grade daughter will write something riddled with awkward sentences and, because they make sense to her, she can't see why I say they have to be re-written. On bad days, she'll take whatever editing suggestions I make, as personal remarks.  Having her diagram her own sentences has helped her to see that I'm not just picking on her. 

 

In the latest edition of TWTM, SWB says, "In summary: in the middle grades, students should learn to diagram, outline, and then write from an outline." (p. 452).  We're just about to finish WWS 1 and I'm thankful that she has learned the different types of writing taught there. If she hadn't, however,  I would have been happy if she simply learned to write narrative summaries, diagramming, outlining, writing from an outline, and simple literary essays.

 

Again, in the 4th edition of TWTM when discussing the different writing programs they recommend, SWB says, (in reference to the Wrting With Skill series) "Your engineers will flourish with this program. Young creative writers will find it frustrating (try Killgallon or Writing & Rhetoric instead)." (p. 748)  I haven't used either program but you might want to look into those.  

 

Finally, she lists Writing Strands as another suggestion. She says the following about Writing Strands, "...is best suited to students who need the writing process broken down into small steps; students who are naturally creative, but resist expository writing; and students who prefer to work independently." (p. 481).

 

We plan to continue with the WWS series, but if at any point it simply doesn't work anymore, I will look into using Killgallon.  Hope this helps.

 

It would be simple for her to diagram her sentences because they all look like this:  "The book was good.  The main character was fun."  Rambling is definitely not an issue here.  :)  

 

I actually started doing writing the WTM way with my son this year, doing outlines and summaries, but I struggle to implement it properly.  It just doesn't feel like enough?  Maybe?  We've already changed to something else with him as well.  I think it was having to dwell on history and science longer than we normally would.  Having a separate writing curriculum changes up the subject more.  

 

We have dabbled in Killgallon in the past as well, and it's a good series, I just don't think it's a full curriculum.  Definitely supplement.  

 

I will look at Writing Strands, though I've seen so many negative reviews on that I've never actually considered it.  But at this point I'm open to anything!

 

Thank you all for your help!!  Off to research some more!

[lisabees]

A few thoughts.

 

DD is doing Grammar Revolution.  It was expensive, but...it is a perfect fit in helping her understand basic diagramming.  This will come in handy when she writes those awkward sentences.  And she does!  In fact, today, I had just about enough of her comma splices!  We spent half an hour randomly finding them in her writing and watching youtube videos. I will review this over and over again!

 

Killgallon is great, but it is just a supplement.

 

DD now uses Bravewriter's past Boomerang issues.  Copywork and dictation provide practice in attending to her writing.

 

She is also doing daily language review (not Evan Moor).  She likes this; hopefully it will help.

 

Oh - Writing and Rhetoric was a bust here.  I liked it enough, but there was definitely not much hand holding.  You may find that very frustrating. 

 

One more thing - make sure your dd is reading great writing and listening to great writing.  

 

Last year, dd was a different child.  She had a lot of things going on and was struggling emotionally.

 

This year, she is her old self - strong and bright and happy.  This is evident in her approach and attitude to school.  The middle school years can be tough.

[Free Indeed]

We love Writeshop here. â¤ï¸ I have used it with all my own children and taught it at co op. It is my favorite writing program for that age group. The Bravewriter classes also look really good- but the price tag keeps me from trying to see if it is a good fit.

Edited September 16, 2016 by Free Indeed

[Tiramisu]

Jump In.

[Jess4879]

http://essentialsinwriting.com/  might be a good fit.  I did find it helpful to watch the lesson (they are pretty short - maybe 15 mins or less, if I remember correctly) with the kids so that I knew what was being taught for that lesson.  It includes grammar, and we didn't use those portions, so it wasn't worth the cost for us and we switched.  I did really like the writing lessons though. 

[KrissiK]

Well... I had a horrible time with writing as well, until this year. I tried lots of things for my two oldest, all fails. The reasons I believe they were fails were... they were expected to write too much. Even though my kids are a little older, they couldn't do a multi-paragraph essay and their writing was so bad that I got overwhelmed reading/correcting/giving feedback. Also, all the re-writes, revisions, editing and proof-reading just dragged us all down. This summer I went to Homeschool Convention with the express goal of figuring out this writing thing. I went to 4 seminars from the same woman and I learned how to teach my kids writing and now, after 5 weeks of school I can see marked improvement in my two older kids' writing. In a nutshell, this is what I learned...

1) kids need to first master the paragraph. Teach them to master one good paragraph. And write one good paragraph every week. Every week.

2) the brainstorming process is very important. She gave us some handouts... first they do a simple web. You have your subject in the middle, then 4 main points and with each main point 2 supporting details. This then gets translated into a simple "Key Word Outline" which then gets translated into a "Sentence Outline". This step really helps keep the thoughts organized.

3) then, they do a rough draft from the "Sentence Outline", I edit that and they do one re-write (final draft) which I grade. She gave us a simple grading rubric. If they get a "D" or an "F" then they have to do it again, otherwise they go on.

4) each week we work on a different aspect of writing. For example, we work together at good topic sentences for a while. And then not using a lot of "be" verbs, but good action verbs. And then they get graded on that. If it hasn't been taught then they don't get graded on it.

 

I have found this method to be extremely simple and doable and most importantly effective. The kids don't get overwhelmed, I don't get overwhelmed, we don't beat a piece of writing to death. And this woman's theory is, if they can write a good paragraph, they can write a good essay. So, mastering the paragraph is the foundation to mastering the essay.

 

You can PM me if you want to know her name and website.

[StillStanding]

My middle child also hated writing (including tears here). She did several IEW programs at our co-op, including The Elegant Essay, and hated every one of them. As your child she couldn't translate what she learned in IEW to any other writing assignment.

 

We did EIW Level 9 last year (mentioned here) in 9th grade and things started to click. The teacher in EIW is kind of goofy and the video/audio was not the best;I had an old DVD copy so that could have been the problem. He does a good job breaking down the writing process into manageable chunks.  He starts by teaching the paragraph and follows all of the tips KrissiK mentions above. I specially liked that he uses different color markers to show students the different parts that make up a good paragraph (same colors all through the program: topic sentence and clincher one color, examples one color, details for each example one color..) so the students can visualize the paragraph.  He models the writing process on a whiteboard as he teaches. The topics are kind of simple but it did a good job helping my reluctant writer get over her fear of writing.

 

EIW is similar to IEW  as it is "formulaic." It doesn't include all the dress ups and sentence openers etc so it doesn't feel as forced. I think it is easier to understand and use than IEW  because the the teacher actually writes essays on the board and explaining what he is doing one step at a time.

 

 

This year we are doing The Power in Your Hands by Sharon Watson , the author of Jump In. I wanted to break out of the "formulaic" approach of IEW and EIW with my dd. So far so good. My dd doesn't love writing but she has been able to write pretty good essays. We are taking it slow and steady. My son is still taking IEW classes at our local co-op and has to pop out an essay each week; he is a good writer and it is easy for him to do so.  Every child is different and what works with one child doesn't work with another.

:grouphug:

 

Edited September 18, 2016 by StillStanding

[travelgirlut]

All of your suggestions have been great, thank you!!!  

 

I hesitate on EIW since I have used it in the past with my son and didn't feel like it covered enough.  It felt light and like there wasn't enough repetition for things to stick.  But that was the 4th grade level so maybe the higher levels cover more?  

 

I do like the look of WriteShop and Jump In, so those are definitely on the short list.  The idea of outsourcing is appealing, but schedules and cost (and all the Bravewriter classes are already full anyway) are holding me back.

 

I promised my daughter we'd try one more unit of MBtP before we ditch it since she was really excited about it, but I'm feeling fairly certain that it is not for us.  It's nice to know I have things lined up to fall back on.

 

Thank you again, all of you!!!

[PeterPan]

The person who wrote MBtP is/was a school teacher, and it's very schooly.  If portions of it are killing the joy, axe them.

 

My dd was like yours...  super bright, hated writing, struggling with certain things but with other things that you knew were going to be strong when it came together.  She got an ADHD diagnosis and has low working memory.  WWE uses a LOT of working memory.  I wouldn't take issues with WWE to mean DIDDLY.  

 

Can your dd type?  If she can't type, she probably can't get out her thoughts at the speed/level she's thinking them.  Personally, I would back off required writing and only do pleasure writing.  Your dd may be RIGHT ON the cusp of coming into herself as a writer.  She's right at the age/stage where it happened for my dd.  :)  

 

My dd is downstairs writing a paper for freshman comp or her politics class, not sure which.  She's great now, just fine.  In her case what really helped was paying her to learn to type and doing metronome work plus digit spans. 

 

Have you looked at the Don't Forget to Write series? Given that your dd liked the idea of MBtP, she's probably like DFtW.  It won't disappoint.  :)

 

WWS is fine, but you actually have to do it FASTER to see how it comes together.  You might start her in the Abeka grammar and have her do the writing exercises there.  They'd be just enough without being too much.  Or wait on WWS and reapproach it in a year.  My dd WWS1 in 8th, WWS2 in 9th, and really they were PERFECT then.  We just did it at double pace at that point.  I've had threads on it in in the past.  Do you know how to google site search?  Try something like "ohelizabeth wws pace site:welltrainedmind.com" and see what happens.  

 

We did outlining of interesting articles.  We used mindmapping software like Popplet and Inspiration.  I STRONGLY recommend mindmapping software. 

 

Somewhere around 8th or 9th we started reading essay collections.  You can't really write something when you don't have the genre in your head, kwim?  And I didn't want her reading ill-written stuff and curriculum copies either, kwim?  We used lots of annuals from the Best of series.  They have them for multiple genres.

 

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015

 

Don't freak out too much and don't cram boring writing down her throat.  It will all come together if you let it.  You need to make sure she actually CAN get her thoughts on paper.  You need to bring up her working memory if it's low.  You need to do things that are engaging so she has a REASON to write.  Bravewriter has a photography class.  That would be ok.  Make sure she understands structure.  Really though, people push writing before the maturity has gelled for the student to have anything to SAY.  So make sure the component skills are there and let it come together with time.  Do something she'll find engaging.  My dd has done food writing, fan fiction contests, etc.  SWB published a poetry series.  Find some niche stuff like that.  Let her explore.  

[travelgirlut]

Have you looked at the Don't Forget to Write series? Given that your dd liked the idea of MBtP, she's probably like DFtW.  It won't disappoint.   :)

....

Don't freak out too much and don't cram boring writing down her throat.  It will all come together if you let it.  You need to make sure she actually CAN get her thoughts on paper.  You need to bring up her working memory if it's low.  You need to do things that are engaging so she has a REASON to write.

....

Make sure she understands structure.  Really though, people push writing before the maturity has gelled for the student to have anything to SAY.  So make sure the component skills are there and let it come together with time.  Do something she'll find engaging.

 

Thank you for your advice/help!  I guess I get frustrated in that I can see where the failings are but I don't know how to fix them.  I think pretty much every writing curriculum we've used at this point has been incredibly dry and boring, which could be why she hates writing.  I love the look of the Don't Forget to Write books.  They look fabulous!  

 

I think I need to be willing to let go of what a writing curriculum should look like and do my best to just make it fun and make sure she's getting words on paper.  She had to write a parable for one assignment in MBtP and wrote a page and a half single spaced typed without much of a problem.  So when she has something to say she can definitely say it.

 

When you say "make sure she understands structure," what do you mean by this?  Is this just topic sentence, supporting points, conclusion type stuff?  What would you use to make sure the basic skills are in place or to check if they are?

 

Thanks again for your help!!