I would like writing advice for a 10yr old

[tracywag]

My daughter is in public school. She loves to read and write, and is encouraged to do so. She is way above grade level, so is left to her own devices. My concern is there is no instruction or guidance. She is willing to look at all sorts of enrichment topics with me, but on reading and writing she has become quite convinced that she knows everything she needs to know.

 

What does she need to know? How can I convince her it's worth learning, or trick her into learning it while not realizing it? How concerned should I be? I have brought my concerns to the school and they are baffled at why I would want programming for an above level kid.

 

Would Classical Writing be too dry? Can she absorb a lot just from reading the classics and other good literature? Should I be inserting my self at school or just keep doing our own thing outside of school?

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

Tracy

"afterschooling" ELA gifted 10, Science bug 7, and their little grimlin sister

[Guest]

BUMP!

[Colleen in NS]

My concern is there is no instruction or guidance. She is willing to look at all sorts of enrichment topics with me, but on reading and writing she has become quite convinced that she knows everything she needs to know.

 

What does she need to know? How can I convince her it's worth learning, or trick her into learning it while not realizing it? How concerned should I be? I have brought my concerns to the school and they are baffled at why I would want programming for an above level kid.

 

Here are some articles by SWB that might answer your questions about what your daughter needs to know for writing skills.

 

http://www.peacehillpress.com/samplepdfs/03-why-writing-fails.pdf

 

http://www.peacehillpress.com/samplepdfs/04-three-stages.pdf

 

As to how to convince your daughter it's worth learning....I have no experience with afterschooling my kids to comment from that experience. But if it helps any, I did tutor kids after school in reading and spelling for a couple of years, and I tried to emphasize to the kids that I was teaching them skills they'd need for future learning - even if the skills were hard for them to learn at first, and even though they hadn't learned those skills in school. It was tough for some kids to swallow, and other kids "saw the light" so to speak. :) Hopefully some other experienced afterschoolers can help with that. Have you tried the afterschool board?

 

I think it's great that you are looking after her best interests and taking things into your own hands! Seems like it would be easier to teach the skills to her after school if the school is baffled about why you'd want to teach her more skills.

 

Edit: about the absorbing from good literature.....sounds like she is off to a good start if she is reading good lit.. However, I think that writing about what she is reading will help her absorb even more. Have you read the WTM for ideas on writing about literature (either narrations or narrations after casually analyzing a book with you - whatever level she is at)?

 

Good luck!

[Carol in Cal.]

Writer's Jungle and Jensen's Format Writing with her.

 

WJ has techniques and an overall approach to teaching and doing writing that is consistent with what adult writing workshops do. It will really help your DD to add 'punch' and flair to her writing.

 

JFW will teach her, in a dry but effective way, how to write the specific, formulaic genres that she will need in high school and college.

 

The two together will provide her with both the letter and the spirit of good writing.

[tracywag]

I'm going to seek out those books, and reteach myself the concepts of structure. WTM and this board have been a life vest for me in trying to figure out how to aid my childrens' education.

 

Tracy

[Suzannah]

I've just finished reading Deconstructing Penguins about discussing literature with children. You might see if you can find it at your library and have your own family book discussion group. Then after discussing a book, you could have her write a review of it. It is wonderful that your daughter reads good books. But discussing them in depth would almost certainly benefit her writing skills.

 

You didn't mention whether you are particularly concerned about creative writing or reports but perhaps it's just writing in general.

 

I know this may not be exactly what you were looking for, but a full-fledged writing program after school might be a bit much on top of her other homework. HTH

[PeterPan]

What you might do is start with a program that's at her level like Writing Tales 2, do that to build a foundation for accepting helpful criticism, then move onto more difficult programs. WT2 is going to be easy for her first semester most likely and get very challenging in the 2nd semester of material. If you do it over the summer, she could probably do both lessons worth in one week. I would do the grammar, but not get overwhelmed by it. The grammar lessons in 1st semester build to get you to where you can understand the writing goals of 2nd semester. (Can't put in extra description with adjectives and adverbs till you know what they are, etc.) After that I'd go into some structured writing like Wordsmith, Writing Strands, Jensen's Format writing, or even the BJU writing. (That's what I'm doing with my dd to follow WT2.) But like I said, since she's not used to taking criticism or being forced to do something other than what comes naturally, you might want to work into that slowly and build a foundation there. She could easily complete WT2 over the summer if you complete the entire model (rough and final, both lessons) in one week. I have my dd handwrite the first draft and do the edits all on the computer. She's old enough to type her work, making it easy for you.