Help me evaluate dd7's writing

[Violet Crown]

We're officially starting 2nd grade, and I really need somebody else's eyes on dd's writing. I have no idea whether this is reasonable work for a 7-year-old; her older sister's writing was much more advanced (though much messier) at this age.

 

The assignment was to re-tell, orally and then in writing, the story of the Fox and the Crow after hearing it read aloud. This is the unedited writing, all errors left standing. It took about 20 minutes, written in neat cursive.

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One fine may morning, a crow sat on a tree with a fine piece of cheese in her beak. A fox came by, and, thinking about breakfast, happenened to see the crow.

 

He knew it was uselless to try to catch the crow, however he had high hopes of the cheese. "I love your glossy feathers, they are so slick and beatiful. I wish I had such wonderful feathers", said the fox. "It occors to me that you must have a beautiful voice."

 

The crow, flattered, began to sing, but as soon as she opened her beak to sing, the cheese falls out! The fox takes the cheese, and the crow has no breakfast!

-------------------

Can I :chillpill: and stop fearing she's way behind? Or do we need to work harder on writing? Boy do I need perspective. Help.

[JadeOrchidSong]

This writing is fantastic. My son 7.75 is nowhere near what this is. He can write two sentences full of spelling errors and punctuation errors. I am envious. :lol:

[Diana B]

Wow. I'm not sure how reasonable it is - but it's WAAAY better than my almost 7, starting 2nd grade son would do. :) He's be able to narrate like that, but actually write it? Not a chance. :)

[truebluexf]

I think I would keep over and die from shock if my 8 year old wrote that for me.

[Caitilin]

:iagree:

I think I would keep over and die from shock if my 8 year old wrote that for me.

:iagree:

 

I wish...

[Sasharowan]

I agree, this is fantastic for a 7 yo. I feel like I'm pulling teeth to get that much from ds9 and that would be with me spelling every other word for him. dd10 would have written that much, but it would have been all written as 1 sentence with 1 capital somewhere in there and possibly a period.

[StephanieF]

Goodness!:D

I wish ds 7 would write 1 sentence as good as that!

I can't believe you have any concerns!!!!!!

Stephanie

[FO4UR]

My 7yo can orally narrate well, but it would take him a LONG laborious hour to produce that on paper! I loosely follow SWB's WWE textbook for guidelines on how much writing and what kinds for his developmental level.

 

He does write, on his own time, in a journal (completely not assigned/required by me;)) and his spelling is mostly fun-et-ik (iykwim:tongue_smilie:). He does not use commas or quotation marks appropriately yet. It's fun to watch his "journaling" mature as he does.

[Violet Crown]

Okay, thanks--I feel a little stupid but really, really relieved. :tongue_smilie: I think I just expected much more in length; her sister used to churn out pages of scrawled stories at this age.

[Robin's Song]

Okay, thanks--I feel a little stupid but really, really relieved. :tongue_smilie: I think I just expected much more in length; her sister used to churn out pages of scrawled stories at this age.

 

It is fantastic! You don't want more length--the original story is quite short!

[BlessedMom]

You can totally relax :).

She is doing wonderfully!

[Earth Angel_79]

WOW! Give her a pat on the back and say "Job well done!" It looks fantastic to me for that age.

[twoxcell]

:lol: I can't even imagine something like that from my 7 year old, and I think he is slightly advanced from many 7 year olds I know.

[misidawnrn]

WOW! I know adults that can't use commas and quotation marks correctly! That is fantastic and I do not think she is behind.....although now you make me wonder about my 6 1/2 DD, who is just learning to put periods at the end of sentences. (Just kidding, she is a rising 1st grader and is doing fine for her age, I think anyways!)

[poodlemama]

Wish my 9 year old could write like that, let alone my almost 7 year old (who thinks writing his name is a chore)!

 

Shoot what was your other daughter writing at this age?

 

:tongue_smilie:

Lindsey

DD 9

DS 6

DD3

[Disney Dreaming]

My 7 yr old dd can't write like that!!

[JadeOrchidSong]

Now that you have us all so envious, why don't you share what you are using to produce two such wonderful writers?

I understand that if it is one that is so advanced, it might be her inborn gift. But if both your girls turn out so many grades ahead of our average kids, then you have to share what you do with language arts. I hope this sounds like a compliment to you for a job well done:001_smile:

[Violet Crown]

Wish my 9 year old could write like that, let alone my almost 7 year old (who thinks writing his name is a chore)!

 

Shoot what was your other daughter writing at this age?

 

 

I kind of don't want to say now, just because I worry it comes off as braggy. One thing she wrote at seven was a really bizarre and disturbing story about a labor of Hercules involving obtaining the liver of a giant rabbit to serve as the king's bicycle seat. It ran for about a dozen closely spaced pages. And later, an equally bizarre epic in iambic pentameter. We figured this was precocious, but it was also just extremely strange in its content. Middle girl is very bright, but in a normal way, if you know what I mean. I try not to compare her to her older sister, but it makes it hard to tell whether she's at an appropriate level for her age. Thus the question in the OP.

[Violet Crown]

Now that you have us all so envious, why don't you share what you are using to produce two such wonderful writers?

I understand that if it is one that is so advanced, it might be her inborn gift. But if both your girls turn out so many grades ahead of our average kids, then you have to share what you do with language arts. I hope this sounds like a compliment to you for a job well done:001_smile:

 

I honestly don't think, having read a lot of writing threads on the K-8 board, that we do anything different from anyone else. We read to them, they read to us, we go through lessons with standard curricula--oldest used LLATL mostly, middle daughter hated LLATL and we've switched to PLL. The girls are so different that it's hard to use the older as a yardstick. Middle daughter's same-age friends are all bilingual (so learning to read and write in Mandarin, Spanish, or Hebrew as well as English) which makes their personal writing "curves" very different from hers. Honestly, I look at her writing and think "That's great for her age! I think. Except the length. And the spelling. Maybe. Oh dear."

 

I am really, really grateful for the reality check here. I showed the repsonses to my dh and he was a little surprised; he remembers oldest girl scrawling out page after page after page, and had assumed middle girl was pretty average.

[parias1126]

I have to say that her writing is amazing! I would be the most ecstatic mom ever if my almost 8 year old could write like that! I don't think you have a thing to worry about! :001_smile:

[parias1126]

I honestly don't think, having read a lot of writing threads on the K-8 board, that we do anything different from anyone else. We read to them, they read to us, we go through lessons with standard curricula--oldest used LLATL mostly, middle daughter hated LLATL and we've switched to PLL. The girls are so different that it's hard to use the older as a yardstick. Middle daughter's same-age friends are all bilingual (so learning to read and write in Mandarin, Spanish, or Hebrew as well as English) which makes their personal writing "curves" very different from hers. Honestly, I look at her writing and think "That's great for her age! I think. Except the length. And the spelling. Maybe. Oh dear."

 

I am really, really grateful for the reality check here. I showed the repsonses to my dh and he was a little surprised; he remembers oldest girl scrawling out page after page after page, and had assumed middle girl was pretty average.

:lurk5:

[Satori]

I think you should be very proud of her!

 

Everyone is different, but I don't think very many children at that age would be able to write like that. But one of the members here (she doesn't post too much), has a 4 year old that has a fantastic storytelling ability, she dictates the story to her parents and they write it down. She tells story better than a creative adult.

[Capt_Uhura]

Sharon - did you see this thread? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200979

[juliecram]

I don't think that I would even get that from my 12 year old!

[Violet Crown]

Sharon - did you see this thread? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200979

No, I hadn't. That looks very useful. Thanks!

 

Usually the Core Knowledge standards are just intimidating. I looked over the First Grade history and science lists and thought "Well we sure haven't covered most of that."