@PeterPan Thank you so much. You've given me much to think about, and I do feel more encouraged!

Well, I’ve been homeschooling all year and not completely happy with what he’s learned. Maybe he’d be further along with virtual classes with his local school, idk. He’s also seen only a couple of kids since the start of the year because I can’t find nearby homeschool groups that meet (and/or that I feel are taking COVID precautions) and even our church kids’ groups aren’t meeting. And I work weird hours. This school year has been very difficult. Anyway, thanks for the reassurance that you also have to remind your child about these things...my daughter had it nailed very early on, so I can’t help but compare.

Hi! It's my first day on this forum. I started homeschooling this year (likely not continuing next year, but not sure) and have a 4th grader and 8th grader. I pretty much cobbled together my own curriculum using common core and state standards before discovering Classical just a few weeks ago. I love the philosophy and the approach and wish I could go back to September and start the year all over. So here's my concern. The modern approach to teaching writing and language arts is apparently not working for my 4th grader, as he still cannot write a proper sentence. He's a great reader/speller, but the mechanics of sentence writing seem to elude him, including where to use a capital letter, ending sentences with punctuation, and where to place commas and apostrophes. So, how do I move on from here? Should I just spend more time on copywork and dictation, and less time having him write his own sentences? Common Core would have him starting to write good paragraphs and moving into essays and reports, but I don't feel right having him do that if basic sentence writing is not automatic! So, where to start?