Writing?

[Cera]

I am finally getting around to planning this year with our older dd who is 5. She has a late fall birthday but will be considered 1st grade this year if that matters.

 

We had her tested using the Woodcock Johnson last spring and she fell in the 99th percentile across the board with one exception, writing skills. She wasn't interested and I refuse to push a barely 5 year old (at the time). She is now showing an interest (writing on her own during play) and is certainly capable so I would like to add it as an area of study this year.

 

I need curriculum suggestions. She picks things up very quickly so limited repetition is best and she can read anything.

 

Thanks

[catz]

I would just start with copywork. We like writing without tears and did 1 page a day. Another thing to do is start a journal and have her write a sentence or 2 about her day. This is all we did with my 5 year old last year and she came a long way. It took maybe 10 minutes. She can also spell well for her age just from this work.

[Tracy]

I agree with the copywork. I make my dd's copywork from her own books, so she is excited to see sentences she recognizes and enjoys.

 

I would highly recommend that you consider teaching cursive. I started mine with manuscript, and we are now making the transition to cursive. She is really motivated to do it, but I find it painful to watch her have to learn how to write all over again. If I had known you could teach cursive first, I would have done it that way.

[kathkath]

I agree with the journal. I would start by modeling how YOU journal first--demonstrate capitalization, punctuation, connected thoughts etc. She will pick it up from you and apply it with gentle encouragement as she is ready.

[Cera]

We are going to wait on cursive until she is a bit older as I don't think she has the fine motor skills yet and she is a perfectionist (which would lead to LOTS of tears).

 

She can write well as far as handwriting, basic grammar (capitals and punctuation), word spacing, etc. She was around the 80th percentile when tested.

 

What writing curriculum focuses on copywork for this age (I will probably get either the 1st or 2nd grade level depending on the program)? I can think of nothing I despise more than writing so would like an open and go boxed curriculum for her at this point.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

How about Writing With Ease? We started level 1 halfway through Kindergarten last year and dd loved it. It was her favorite subject.