Encouragement for those with young students struggling with writing

[Pegasus]

I've been there.  The struggle. The procrastination. The tears.  The frustration.  Both of my DDs were highly reluctant writers in the early years. 

 

Today is a very different story.  DD21 has typically been selected to lead the report writing for any of her college group projects.  DD17 just finished a dual enrollment English composition course at the community college.  Her final paper was given back with AMAZING written on it and a recommendation that she submit it for publication.

 

Here are the things I credit for their turnaround:

 

1. Write more.  This was a tip I got right here on these boards. Especially with my first DD, I tended to let writing slide because it was so unpleasant and I thought it had to get better in a year or two. Sometimes a student just has to get over the physical difficulty of wielding a pencil/pen on paper for more than a few sentences. Free writing is great for this.  I didn't care what they wrote, but they had to fill a page a day.  Yes, it was often things like "I don't know what to write. I have to fill this whole page. My sister is bugging me. I would rather be cuddling the cat. I don't know what to write. I don't know what to write. I hate this. Can I stop yet?" That's ok.

 

2. A very basic writing program that takes nothing for granted and takes the student through a slow progression of every step in the writing process.  For us, this was the EPS Writing Skills series by Diana Hanbury King.  I honestly don't know why these are not much more popular among homeschoolers.  They aren't exciting but I truly think they are what finally taught my DDs how to write.

 

3. After these, I let the student's interest lead the way.  My younger DD became interested in creative writing so we did Jump In followed  by Cover Story and the other One Year Adventure Novel programs. My older DD wanted a cut-and-dried get it done program so we used Jensen's Format Writing.

 

4. Introduce typing.  I wouldn't do this too early. I still think the student needs to build up stamina for writing by hand. However, a little later on, knowing how to type is a great boon and a huge time saver.

 

I still remember those early days and how concerned I was that my DDs would never be able to write well or hate it so much that they would avoid it.  I can't go back and give myself a pep talk but I can share my experience here and hopefully encourage some moms and dads who are still at the difficult stages of teaching writing.

 

Good luck!

[Lori D.]

Congratulations to your DDs, Pegasus! And thanks for sharing this super encouragement! :)

 

Just going to add things that helped here, with 2 writing phobic DSs (and one had mild LDs in Spelling and Writing, which made everything 10x harder). Both did extremely well when they hit the college Writing 101 and 102 classes -- whew!

 

 

1. Several short bursts of writing scattered throughout the day worked much better than one longer session.

Especially in the elementary grades, DSs did much better with very short bursts of writing with very manageable goals. Example of where we were with writing along about grades 3-5:

5 min. in early morning = writing warm up of some kind (a short list or journal prompt or other writing requiring no more than a sentence or two)

10-15 min. in mid morning = writing program or writing assignment

5 min. in late morning = copywork/handwriting practice 

10-15 min. in afternoon = continue with writing program or assignment

 

 

2. Spread the stages of the writing process over days (or weeks), as needed.

Again, shorter bites done consistently each day gets that elephant of writing eaten. ;) Eventually, in middle or high school, they get stronger at writing and are able to combine several steps into a single longer session, so your time frame for an assignment shortens up. Example of where we were in late elementary grades:

day 1 = brainstorm ideas

day 2 = organize ideas into a key word outline or structure for a paragraph

day 3 = turn the outline into complete sentences

day 4 = revise (add/subtract, major changes/fixes)

day 5 = proof-edit (minor fixes) and type/write out final version

 

 

3. Scribe for them in the brainstorming and organizing stages.

Take the pressure off of having to *think* AND *write* simultaneously. A lot of students just can't juggle both at once. That may take into middle school, or even high school. Eventually they will begin to be able to handle more.

 

 

4. Mentor and model and patiently walk alongside them (even though you want to run screaming), as long as it takes.

Our DSs needed this well into high school.

 

 

5. In the high school years, do a regular activity that requires supporting an opinion.

The weakest papers are those with the weakest thinking/arguments. The more practice with *supporting* an opinion with a *structured argument*, the better the writing gets, because that's exactly what good writing needs. We did both of the following all through high school, and together, these REALLY helped DSs' writing:

 

- once a week, all together do a timed writing from a past SAT prompt, then gently critique one the essays

(we built up to the 25 minutes/full length in gentle stages, starting with 1 solid/complete paragraph and 10 minutes)

 

- involvement in Speech & Debate, public speaking, Mock Trial, YMCA Youth & Gov't -- anything that requires regularly having an opinion and having to support it with specific examples, facts, etc. -- and requires organizing your thinking -- thinking of 

 

 

6. Outsource as needed.

Students VERY often work harder for an outside teacher than for a parent. An outside teacher can sometimes provide ideas and ways of approaching writing that "click" for a student. And teacher feedback is objective, bypassing any hyper-sensitivity the student might have to a parent doing the grading/commenting.

 

 

Here are a few past threads that also have some great stuff:

- "Bringing Karen's mention of essay writing to a new thread" -- 8FillTheHeart's philosophy of teaching writing

- "Transition to original writing"

- "What is your philosophy on teaching writing?"

- "My evaluation of numerous writing programs" -- reviews by lewelma

 

- "Can we discuss apathetic writers and college prep" -- high school

- "Resources for teaching writing in high school?" -- high school

Edited December 10, 2017 by Lori D.

[Another Lynn]

Great post! I'm also a fan of the writing skills series. Also, writing everyday was something I did with my oldest when we were at our wit's end with curriculum we didn't like.

 

Congrats to you and your dds!!

[goldenecho]

Thank you!   I am wondering how to get my student started on regular writing and these are such good advice. 

 

One thing that has worked for us to get my son, who is very imaginative and likes pretend, to just write something without crying, was this....

 

I drew an alien on a dry erase boards we have that has a blank place for pictures at the top and lines for writing on the bottom.  I told him that the Alien didn't talk, and couldn't hear...he could only communicate through writing.  I had the alien ask him questions on a dry erase board next to his picture and my son wrote his answers on the line below.

[Lori D.]

One thing that has worked for us to get my son, who is very imaginative and likes pretend, to just write something without crying, was this....

 

I drew an alien on a dry erase boards we have that has a blank place for pictures at the top and lines for writing on the bottom.  I told him that the Alien didn't talk, and couldn't hear...he could only communicate through writing.  I had the alien ask him questions on a dry erase board next to his picture and my son wrote his answers on the line below.

 

I LOVE this! 

 

Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye was a fantastic help for us grades 1-2. Two games that DSs really enjoyed that got them writing voluntarily, rather than acting as though it was torture, were:

 

- make a list

Somehow, "only" having to write down 5 items on a list was not the "burden" that a 5-word complete sentence was... lol  Peggy Kaye suggests great ideas for lists like: 7 ingredients for a witch's brew, or the 3 things you would pack to take on a space ship trip. We came up with other ideas for lists that were equally wacky -- and therefore, not torture.

 

- roll a story

Take turns writing a story -- BUT, you roll a die to see how many WORDS you get to add to the story on your turn (so, one to six words). Peggy Kaye is absolutely right: key to this working is keeping the word amount small (so only a 6-sided die), and only that number of words, because that keeps the child begging to write more. lol. It really did work! DSs would get so upset when they rolled a "1", that I finally had to fudge the rule and make "1" mean a re-roll. We would play for about 5 rounds, and then set the story aside to continue on another day -- again, making sure to stop while it was still interesting and fun, so they always loved coming back to *writing*! ;)

 

If you had an older reluctant writer (say, 3rd/4th grade) who has a bit more writing stamina), I think this would be a lot of fun to do with a gaming die that has up to 12 or 20 sides, so the child can actually make a complete sentence. Or, with a reluctant writer in grade 4-6, use the 6-sided die, but that's how many sentences they get to add to the story *that day*, or maybe just take 2-3 turns total when it's writing sentences.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Lori D.

[goldenecho]

I love the 6 word game....I think my son might actually like that!    I will try it!

 

I LOVE this! 

 

Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye was a fantastic help for us grades 1-2. Two games that DSs really enjoyed that got them writing voluntarily, rather than acting as though it was torture, were:

 

- make a list

Somehow, "only" having to write down 5 items on a list was not the "burden" that a 5-word complete sentence was... lol  Peggy Kaye suggests great ideas for lists like: 7 ingredients for a witch's brew, or the 3 things you would pack to take on a space ship trip. We came up with other ideas for lists that were equally wacky -- and therefore, not torture.

 

- roll a story

Take turns writing a story -- BUT, you roll a die to see how many WORDS you get to add to the story on your turn (so, one to six words). Peggy Kaye is absolutely right: key to this working is keeping the word amount small (so only a 6-sided die), and only that number of words, because that keeps the child begging to write more. lol. It really did work! DSs would get so upset when they rolled a "1", that I finally had to fudge the rule and make "1" mean a re-roll. We would play for about 5 rounds, and then set the story aside to continue on another day -- again, making sure to stop while it was still interesting and fun, so they always loved coming back to *writing*! ;)

 

If you had an older reluctant writer (say, 3rd/4th grade) who has a bit more writing stamina), I think this would be a lot of fun to do with a gaming die that has up to 12 or 20 sides, so the child can actually make a complete sentence. Or, with a reluctant writer in grade 4-6, use the 6-sided die, but that's how many sentences they get to add to the story *that day*, or maybe just take 2-3 turns total when it's writing sentences.