Am I doing my sixth grader a disservice by omitting formal writing and grammar this year?

[Kidlit]

My always-homeschooled dd, age eleven, is in some regards what I’d consider the Ideal Homeschooler . She is compliant but also very interested in learning, reading voraciously and researching what interests her (animals and biology-related topics, mostly). She had a horrifically difficult year last year health-wise which culminated in an OCD diagnosis and a nine-week stint in a partial hospitalization program for therapy and medical intervention. We started our year late last year due to her hospitalization but had a good year academically despite the inauspicious start.

 

This year I decided to let dd focus on Latin and take a year off from formal English grammar. She worked through most of R & S 5 last year after having done grammar (FLL and then R & S) every year prior to that starting in grade one. She finds grammar a little bit challenging and I’ve noticed that it also increases her anxiety in the same way that math does. Last year we worked through most of Latin for Children primer A, so this year we finished that and picked up with B. My reasoning is that by skipping grammar I’d be giving her a break from one more thing that increases her anxiety and also that coming at it through the back door of Latin, so to speak, would be almost as good as a frontal attack.

 

I’ve tried for the third time this year to implement WWS 1 (the first two times were with my older dd [emoji13]). I’m sorry to say that it has not been a success any time we’ve done it, though I think it has mostly been my fault. (I have a hard time seeing the big picture of where we’re going with it). Since dropping WWS with this dd, I haven’t added any formal writing curriculum in. We do Bravewriter-style freewriting once weekly as often as we can (which has been 3-4 times this school year) with the goal of revising a piece of her choice after we accumulate a few more pieces. She does written narrations for her geography readings, and she chooses to do other, writing-related projects sometimes. (For example, she has written some poetry by choice to represent her learning about different regions of the world.) She doesn’t struggle with putting words on the page.

 

I mostly feel okay about this benign neglect this year, but lately a bit of panic has begun to boil up when I think about it too much.

 

Anyone care to reassure me that it will all be okay or convince me that I need to pull out the R & S? [emoji848]

 

 

 

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[nixpix5]

You really do not need to do grammar every year. It is fine to let it go this year. Plus you are doing Latin which helps with grammar. To put it in perspective, my niece who is the same age as your DD visited this summer and couldn't even do madlibs because she had never heard of the parts of speech. She didn't have a clue what grammar was and she goes to what is supposed to be a descent public school in WA state.

 

Can she practice writing casually in other ways this year? Keep a journal with daily topics you give her, or start a family newsletter you send out to family, things like that. I wouldn't worry at all :)

[Kidlit]

You really do not need to do grammar every year. It is fine to let it go this year. Plus you are doing Latin which helps with grammar. To put it in perspective, my niece who is the same age as your DD visited this summer and couldn't even do madlibs because she had never heard of the parts of speech. She didn't have a clue what grammar was and she goes to what is supposed to be a descent public school in WA state.

 

Can she practice writing casually in other ways this year? Keep a journal with daily topics you give her, or start a family newsletter you send out to family, things like that. I wouldn't worry at all :)

Thanks for this! Dd does a fair amount of writing naturally by emailing friends, etc. I KNOW theoretically that grammar isn’t a necessity every year, but occasionally I panic. Lol

 

 

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[Tanaqui]

1. I don't think this is neglect, even "benign neglect". This is you being pro-active about your daughter's mental health.

 

2. Even if you had no "good reason" to skip grammar, I don't think it's doing your daughter any harm. One, two, or even three years without formal grammar is not going to harm her. And while I do think writing is a GOOD idea, one year or two years of only doing casual writing when she chooses is not going to harm her either. (To put this in perspective, we deliberately did no formal writing with the older kiddo for two years, starting in 6th and her writing is just fine now that she's in high school. I think your kid is doing more writing than mine was at the same point in time!)

[Lori D.]

6th grade is a great year to be informal about writing (and skipping Grammar), and let the student enjoy doing a variety of more self-directed writing projects. Your DD might enjoy entries in her own blog (with access limited by your website administrator permission). Or writing stories. Or creating her own newspaper or newsletter. Or journal writing. Lots of ways to just get solid in writing without having to be formal about it.

 

Just from what I see in my grade 7-12 Lit. & Comp. co-op classes, you really don't have to get too formal about writing until along about 7th-8th grade, and even then, it can mostly be about just working on solid paragraphs of different types. The majority of my high school students -- sometimes even the 11th graders -- come into class without having written a multi-paragraph essay, or a multi-page research paper. They pick it up pretty quickly (unless there's an LD that we have to work together to figure out how to address). All that to say, you have lots of time before you need to use a formal writing program. ;)

 

 

Esp. as you are all getting back on track from serious illness last year, just enjoy this year! Follow bunny trails of interest. Have fun with some logical and critical thinking puzzles and games to start developing foundations of thinking that will help later on with analysis skills. If it's causing stress, consider dropping Latin to just a study of Latin/Greek roots for Vocabulary purposes. Formal Grammar can be slowly re-introduced next year.  The only thing I'd make sure to keep gently moving forward in is with Math. But no need to rush or push. That's something you could just keep going at a gentle pace over the summer if you don't finish your Math program this year.

 

BEST of luck, and ENJOY the journey together this year and being WELL. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Edited October 22, 2017 by Lori D.

[MerryAtHope]

I agree with the others on grammar--it's not necessary every year, PLUS you are doing Latin. That's not neglect, it's pro-active.

 

For writing, you wrote:

 

We do Bravewriter-style freewriting once weekly as often as we can (which has been 3-4 times this school year) with the goal of revising a piece of her choice after we accumulate a few more pieces. She does written narrations for her geography readings, and she chooses to do other, writing-related projects sometimes. (For example, she has written some poetry by choice to represent her learning about different regions of the world.) She doesn’t struggle with putting words on the page.

 

So, she's free-writing, writing narrations for geography, and choosing to do writing-related projects, plus she has no writing struggles. Again, this is not neglect--you are allowing her to explore different styles of writing, writing that is meaningful to her, and to develop her personal voice. (This is actually more along the lines of how I WANTED to teach writing to my kids, but couldn't as often as I wanted because they had so many struggles with writing.) In other words--this is the opposite of neglect--it's a positive choice in my mind.

 

I like the idea of having her do some journaling at times if she doesn't have other writing to do that day. It's good for her to just explore and play with words, but it might also give her a nice outlet for dealing with anxiety--a double-win in my mind. 

[Kidlit]

1. I don't think this is neglect, even "benign neglect". This is you being pro-active about your daughter's mental health.

 

2. Even if you had no "good reason" to skip grammar, I don't think it's doing your daughter any harm. One, two, or even three years without formal grammar is not going to harm her. And while I do think writing is a GOOD idea, one year or two years of only doing casual writing when she chooses is not going to harm her either. (To put this in perspective, we deliberately did no formal writing with the older kiddo for two years, starting in 6th and her writing is just fine now that she's in high school. I think your kid is doing more writing than mine was at the same point in time!)

Thank you for the encouragement and reminder that I am actually NOT neglectful as I navigate the rough waters of anxiety! Also, I really appreciate your sharing your perspective regarding your own dd. That helps a lot!

 

 

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[Kidlit]

6th grade is a great year to be informal about writing (and skipping Grammar), and let the student enjoy doing a variety of more self-directed writing projects. Your DD might enjoy entries in her own blog (with access limited by your website administrator permission). Or writing stories. Or creating her own newspaper or newsletter. Or journal writing. Lots of ways to just get solid in writing without having to be formal about it.

 

Just from what I see in my grade 7-12 Lit. & Comp. co-op classes, you really don't have to get too formal about writing until along about 7th-8th grade, and even then, it can mostly be about just working on solid paragraphs of different types. The majority of my high school students -- sometimes even the 11th graders -- come into class without having written a multi-paragraph essay, or a multi-page research paper. They pick it up pretty quickly (unless there's an LD that we have to work together to figure out how to address). All that to say, you have lots of time before you need to use a formal writing program. ;)

 

 

Esp. as you are all getting back on track from serious illness last year, just enjoy this year! Follow bunny trails of interest. Have fun with some logical and critical thinking puzzles and games to start developing foundations of thinking that will help later on with analysis skills. Consider dropping Latin to just a study of Latin/Greek roots for Vocabulary purposes. The only thing I'd make sure to keep gently moving forward in is with Math. But no need to rush or push. That's something you could just keep going at a gentle pace over the summer if you don't finish your Math program this year.

 

BEST of luck, and ENJOY the journey together this year and being WELL. :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

Lori D., can I be the founding member of your Hive Fan Club? [emoji4]. I just love reading your responses! Thanks for the suggestion about a journal. That should be an obvious way for us to approach writing given her mental health background, but I don’t always remember the obvious.

 

 

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[Kidlit]

I agree with the others on grammar--it's not necessary every year, PLUS you are doing Latin. That's not neglect, it's pro-active.

 

For writing, you wrote:

 

 

So, she's free-writing, writing narrations for geography, and choosing to do writing-related projects, plus she has no writing struggles. Again, this is not neglect--you are allowing her to explore different styles of writing, writing that is meaningful to her, and to develop her personal voice. (This is actually more along the lines of how I WANTED to teach writing to my kids, but couldn't as often as I wanted because they had so many struggles with writing.) In other words--this is the opposite of neglect--it's a positive choice in my mind.

 

I like the idea of having her do some journaling at times if she doesn't have other writing to do that day. It's good for her to just explore and play with words, but it might also give her a nice outlet for dealing with anxiety--a double-win in my mind.

Thank you for reframing my approach. I love it when seasoned homeschoolers respond. I appreciate it so much!

 

 

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[Kidlit]

You are not doing her a disservice :)

 

IMO.

Thank you!

 

 

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[Ellie]

When your dd was doing R&S, did she do just the grammar or also the writing?

 

Your dd does not need to study English grammar every single year. There are only eight parts of speech and some thingummies like gerunds. :-)

 

I'm betting that most of the most famous writers did not have any formal writing instruction.

 

So, no, you're not doing your dd a disservice by not doing grammar or writing this year.

[Kidlit]

When your dd was doing R&S, did she do just the grammar or also the writing?

 

Your dd does not need to study English grammar every single year. There are only eight parts of speech and some thingummies like gerunds. :-)

 

I'm betting that most of the most famous writers did not have any formal writing instruction.

 

So, no, you're not doing your dd a disservice by not doing grammar or writing this year.

.

 

No, we skipped he writing lessons in R & S and only did the grammar. However, when we return to formal grammar next year, I am considering doing the writing lessons in the text.

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

 

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[regentrude]

I have never taught formal grammar in English to either of my kids. They encountered grammar in their foreign languages. I also never used a formal writing program.

Both became excellent writers with a strong command of the English language.

Edited October 22, 2017 by regentrude

[EKS]

I think that just letting her write this year without formal programs in grammar and composition is a wonderful idea. I'm not a fan of formal writing programs anyway (I've never found one I've liked) and there's only so much grammar one can do without things getting very repetitive very quickly.

 

 

 

 

[Ellie]

.

 

No, we skipped he writing lessons in R & S and only did the grammar. However, when we return to formal grammar next year, I am considering doing the writing lessons in the text.

Thanks for the reassurance!

 

 

You know, R&S's English series is quite comprehensive in its grammar *and* writing instruction (as well as the other things it covers, such as dictionary/reference materials usage). You really can't go wrong by using it exclusively.

[coastalfam]

I think you're good. No worries. I had a lot of mental health challenges around puberty age, and man, when you have anxiety, you can attempt all sorts of learning, but it's not going to stick if your brain is in defense mode. I think you are really wise to lay off of some things. 

 

[Lucy the Valiant]

It's actually a 6th grade tradition in this house to skip grammar completely. :)  

 

[2_girls_mommy]

My 8th grader is just now in the 6th grade R&S grammar book (for writing and grammar,) so if your 6th grader has already completed through book 5, I certainly don't think you are missing anything. Mine finished book 5 just this year at almost 13. We have never skipped grammar, but we move through R&S slowly, a couple of times a week and with Latin. 

[bibiche]

I have never taught formal grammar in English to either of my kids. They encountered grammar in their foreign languages. I also never used a formal writing program.

Both became excellent writers with a strong command of the English language.

 

Same.