Feel like a writing failure

[TracyR]

I will admit this was one subject I feel like I've failed at with my girls. I know the importance of writing yet I just can't teach it.

This year has been our worst in the fact we are using K12 and their writing is just insane. The cyber school we are with wants my 6th grader to write a research paper complete with citations. I'm lucky if I can get her to put some random thoughts together on paper let alone do a research paper with citations! Actually it took me a while to learn how to do that and even still I feel I don't have a complete handle on writing down the citations for reference( as even I always seem to do it wrong for my college papers).

 

Anyways I've tried other writing programs, WWE, Writing Tales, which are good writing programs but they aren't the same as what we are doing now. I've tried IEW and my daughters just seemed to not like it at all.

 

Now I can give them paper and pencil and they will write little stories, or they will write random things on paper. But to get them to do something and organize their thoughts seems to literally kill them.

 

I just can't seem to find anything I like that will take me step by step from the very beginning. Their sentences lack in many ways still with grammar, spelling, lack of using adjectives and so forth. Even though I've gone through this many a time with them.

 

Am I the only one who feels K12's writing is not developmentally appropriate? I remember doing book reports in 6th grade or writing about a specific science topic, or writing letters to important people etc. I never learned about citations until I did start attending college.

 

Am I making this harder then what it really is? I was just one of those kids that was in the natural writer catagory. I barely remember how I learned to write. Just that I did.

[Willow]

My youngest is not a natural writer, although the girls are. One dd was published at 14, and I never taught her a thing! So ds was a bit of a surprise!

 

I don't know K12 but what you describe would be impossible for my ds.

 

IEW is great, start at the beginning and take it slooooooooooow. Do Intensive A and carry on from there.

 

OR, if you can bear it, just do loads of copywork in school, poetry, excerpts from favourite books etc, and then when they are 13 or 14 or so, work through The Lively Art of writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne. Small, cheap and brilliant!

 

Willow.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Two things you should look into. Jump In - This program lays it all out, very simple to understand

 

and meaningful composition --- this also lays it out very clear! Check out the samples!

[iammommy]

It is not at all developmentally appropriate, IMHO. My ds, 11, is still struggling to put together a decent paragraph on a single topic. So, I'm right here with you. We also have just left Oak Meadow for the same reason...writing assignments are too involved for my ds.

 

I'll be watching this thread closely, as writing is the only area I'm not sure about for next year (6th grade).

 

We did use The Paragraph Book1 and it's decent, but it got VERY boring after a while. Your girls might like it though. I got it through EPS Publishing.

I hope we both find something that works!

 

Nan

[choirfarm]

Grin. The pull out gifted program that my son was in in 2nd grade had them write a 4 page research paper with a bibliography. They did it. I'm not sure how, though. I can't imagine my daughter doing that. The gifted kids had to do everything in class in that program as they didn't want the moms doing it for them. Even the big science experiments they did. We did the experiments at home, but they had to do the entire dipslay while they were there!!

 

Back to your question. Analytical Grammar has a program. I think it is 15 dollars that is for an Essay and another that is for the research paper. It is supposed to be step by step, cd's to listen to and rubrics to help you grade. That might be a thought! My boys have written research papers with bibliography since elementary school. In 6th or 7th I tackle it with citations.

 

Christine

[debbielong]

The best thing I ever did in homeschooling was invest in the writing classes through The Potter's School. Writing was absolutely impossible for me to teach. I don't know why - it just was.

 

Your mileage may vary:) All I can tell you is the TPS 6-7th grade Writer's Workshop class took my then tearful and writing-reluctant 11-year-old son and transformed him into a journalist wanna-be.

 

I could NEVER have done that on my own. No. Doubt. In. My. Mind.

 

English 7 was a bit more tedious:) Lots of grammar. Not as much writing.

[rafiki]

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[Sunshine State Sue]

We just finished Write Shop for 6th-7th-8th grade. I chose it because *I* needed all the help I could get to teach writing and ds needed all the help he could get to learn how to put his thoughts and expand his thoughts on paper. You may read my review here.

 

A research paper in 6th grade is ridiculous, imo.

[Colleen in NS]

This year has been our worst in the fact we are using K12 and their writing is just insane.

 

I just can't seem to find anything I like that will take me step by step from the very beginning. Their sentences lack in many ways still with grammar, spelling, lack of using adjectives and so forth. Even though I've gone through this many a time with them.

 

Am I the only one who feels K12's writing is not developmentally appropriate?

 

I have a friend in Lancaster County who uses K-12, and has a really hard time implementing the writing for her 5th grader. This is her first year homeschooling, and she (the Mom) is a smart cookie, yet she feels like she is failing. I told her all about SWB's audio lectures on writing and the philosophy behind them, and I'd recommend them to you, too. Did you not like using WWE for some reason? It is a good very beginning program. Then the audio lectures tell you what to do beyond WWE, and they are very practical. If you listen to all 3, plus maybe the lit. analysis one, you get a "big picture" on the whole teaching writing progression. I guess your use of these methods would depend on whether or not you continued with K-12, though? I understood from the lectures that kids who use her methods should end up doing the same things you are describing for 6th grade - just at a later and much more experienced date. They will have had more time to build foundations slowly and carefully.

 

hth

[Kuovonne]

I started doing Laura's quick writes just to get them over that fear and to enjoy writing. It's done wonders.

 

What are "Laura's quick writes"?

[TracyR]

No , we won't be continuing on with K12 thank goodness. I'll have to look into some of these other programs.

 

As for WWE its not that I don't like it. I actually think this is the way children should learn to write. Just it became something that got set on the shelf because I bought it before starting K12. Just haven't had the time to really implement it like I wish.

 

I guess its just pure frustration at the moment because the teacher believes this is developmentally appropriate , and the families on the support board think this is a good thing.

All I know is my daughter says she would rather fail then to do this, and she's saying it because its frustrating to her. I want her to finish what we've started but in the same breath I want to tell them to blow it out their wazoo. Its to much for her right now. She's not ready for it. Period.

[Night Elf]

We used K12 independently and I dropped the writing not long after we started the LA courses. It wasn't a comfortable level of writing for either of my children and the contrived assignments were simply awful.

[yvonne]

I have my boys analyze the MCT sentences, chunk it, and then write their own imitation of it.

 

What do you mean by "chunk it"?

 

And, as a pp asked, what are "Laura's quickwrites"?

 

Thanks!

yvonne

[Jamee]

I don't think the desire to include citations is wrong at all. I remember having to include bibliographies back in third grade when I was doing my first "reports." When I had DS write in 2nd grade, I had him include citations, although on a very basic level. I think it's very important to cite your sources--but that may just be the history student in me.

 

I too have been struggling to get my son to write. Just recently we had a break through. Rather than saying write a "paragraph" or write "one page," I gave him a word count instead. HUGE difference! After his first "page" of just 30 words, he was able to stretch it out to 250 and make a pretty decent go at it.

 

I am looking for an intensive writing program now. It's rather unsetteling when I hear that DH's sixth graders don't seem to be any better off as my 4th. It helps, but it's still sad.

[rafiki]

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[rafiki]

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[DianeW88]

We loved "Write Shop", too! Easy to use and really taught my kids to write well. Rainbow Resource carries it.

 

Diane W.

married for 22 years

homeschooling 3 kiddos for 16 years

[Kuovonne]

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=796750#poststop

 

 

Thanks! I like this idea.

[Colleen in NS]

I guess its just pure frustration at the moment because the teacher believes this is developmentally appropriate , and the families on the support board think this is a good thing.

 

If it helps any, not all K-12 parents think it's a good thing. My friend is very frustrated about it, too. It's hours of frustrating work, and I hope she will get the confidence to try some different ways with writing next year, if she keeps them at home for their education.